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Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
Square-Enix
Release date: SD 09/07/2010
Forgot if I made a topic on this, but don't feel like finding it, but anyways. This game will be out next week, street dated on the 7th of September. Not only that, they are offering a bundle pack for 199.99 for the KH themed PSP-3000, memory stick, and the copy of the game itself.
Game takes place 10 years before the events in Kingdom Hearts 1, where you are actually three protagonists instead of one like in previous titles, and each character having their own story that eventually intertwines with the other two characters. The game starts with Terra, Ventus, and Aqua taking an exam to become Keyblade masters, after a few events, each character has their own individual reason for going out to the many worlds, don't want to spoil it. But pretty much the story on each character is solid and the graphics are on par or even a little better than the PS2 Kingdom Hearts. All I will say is that if you have not played through KH1, KH:CoM, KH2, and KH:358/2, then some points in the story will be very confusing, so I would recommend playing those before starting this one. It is not necessary to, but to get the most you can out of the story, I would make sure to finish those titles first.
I played the Japanese version of this game, and I will say, it is definitely top notch and surpasses KH2 in many ways. Each character has their own type of abilities and excel in a certain area. Like Terra is best at ground combos and a heavy hitter, Ventus excels in faster paced attacks and aerial attacks, and Aqua excels in evasion and magic. Of course you are not strictly limited to these styles, you can play them however you like, but their ability lists lean more towards these type of play styles. I would give a review about it right now, but with so many changes coming to the English version, that some of my complaints may not be in this version. Some notable changes from the Japanese version to the English are things such as power of some abilities have been adjusted and some enemies difficulties have been adjusted, also they made an even higher difficulty level, which I will play on. For anyone who is experienced in games like this, I would start on Proud Mode, it is a very easy game if played on Normal, but Proud offers a pretty good challenge.
Overall, this game is very worth it, especially if you are a fan to the series.
UPDATE 9/8/2010
The game is finally over shores, and after playing it for a large amount of hours, it is pretty clear that most things from the Japanese version have not been changed, Critical mode has been increased in difficulty though. But here is my thoughts on it.
PROS:
A great storyline from three perspectives. What I love from the start is how you have three main stories to go through, each having it's own unique experiences so it doesn't make the game feel repetitive. Not to mention each character is unique to the point that you have a new fighting style to go through each character you pick.
Graphics are outstanding for a portable game. If you are familiar with how Kingdom Hearts looks, then there will be no surprise in this game at all. From the looks of it, the graphical power is the same, higher even. The game is so intense on the PSP that it gives you the option to increase your CPU speed at the cost of draining your battery faster. Cut scenes are well done and the character interactions look great.
Battle system is just as great as before. Battle system is, well not going to say an improvement over KH2, but it is different and works with the PSP's controls pretty well. The command deck is very nice and creative when it comes to stringing your combo attacks. Besides that and the big finishing moves, there is nothing different about the battle system, and I welcome that. Not to mention the boss fights are fun.
Voice actors are pretty good. I will admit, I was surprised to how some of the characters sounded, especially Aqua. Aqua was given a more sophisticated sort of British accent. It took a little while to get use to, but I grew into it overtime and think it sounds great now. Not to mention Mark Hammil and Leonard Nimoy give a superb performance as Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort, gave both characters a lot of oomph, which I was hoping for. Not to mention the Disney voice cast sound as great as ever, particularly fond of James Woods as Hades, always does a great job with him.
The new worlds are great! Kingdom Hearts games, especially the spin offs, have been reusing worlds and always kind of felt lazy to me. But in BBS this is not the case, the majority of worlds to choose from are completely new and all are great and represent their Disney titles very well. I am particularly fond of the Deep Space world, I found that very entertaining.
CONS:
Using items should of been its own separate thing. As much as I love the Command Deck, it feels awkward having a line of combos that I use and sometimes slip the finger and use an item. Would of been nice if they found a way to keep items separate so I could be more innovative with my combos.
Mini games as always are bleh. Well, to admit I like the ice cream game, but some mini games in here are simply clunky and not fun. Like the racing game felt like it was put together in a day.
To prevent slow downs, your game needs to at a higher CPU speed. This isn't a big problem for me, since the majority of my game time is at home anyways where an AC adapter is nearby. But for those that are out all day playing their PSP, to get the best out of the game requires draining a lot more power out of your PSP, which is a pretty big drag, but nothing game breaking at all, just those intense moments with a lot of enemies will slow down on you.
Game is easier than what KH2: Final Mix gave. This is kind of my own personal issue, but even at Critical Mode, the hardest bosses in the game are no where near as hard as the Lingering Sentiment from KH2: Final Mix was, so I did not feel challenged by this game at all, a very simple game overall, but it is very enjoyable all the way through.
This is a solid game and a must own for any KH fan, even though they will never announce KH3 and make more meh spin offs, this game on the other hand should keep you slightly well occupied till they one day finally announce KH3.
This post has been edited by Velhart: 08 September 2010 - 12:01 PM
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