Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Review

Fans of the Kingdom Hearts series can rejoice at the release of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for the PSP. The release is a prequel to the original Kingdom Hearts for the PS2. It features the back story of the the Key-Blade Wielders and the battle between the darkness and the light. For those of you who are not familiar with the series, Kingdom Hearts plays off of the concept that with all worlds, every living thing has a heart and that there is light and darkness within each heart. Key-Blade Wielders are the protectors of the light and battle the darkness. This is about as close to the force as one can get without George Lucas suing. Seriously, all we need now is a “metachlorian” explanation of the light/darkness and a useless throwaway character that everyone hates and you will have Star Wars lite. But just like Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey, it’s a little silly, but we keep coming back for more.

In Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, the game follows 3 different characters, Terra, Ven and Aqua who have all been training to become Key-Blade Masters. In the beginning of our story. The eldest, Terra and Aqua, are in the process of taking their mastery test to obtain the mark of Master. A mysterious Key-Blade Master arrives to watch (more like leer) the test commence. Once the test is over, the results are in and then hi-jinx ensue to cause our heroes to spring into action to battle the Unversed (this game’s version of the Heartless).

Earth, Wind and Water... Fire was laid off.....

This latest effort features the voice acting of Jason Dohring (Terra), Jesse McCartney (Ventas (Ven)/Roxas), James Woods (Hades), Willa Holland (Aqua), Leonard Nimoy (Master Xehanort), Mark Hamill (Master Eraqus), and Haley Joel Osment (Vanitas/Sora) and many more. It’s quite a menagerie of voice talent and well done by all.

What makes this game different from it’s predecessors, is that they don’t all travel in one happy group, they each go off on their own to follow their own path. This gives gamers the opportunity to explore the same worlds in different ways and fight different bosses with a wide array of attacks. This adds to the replay value of the game since each character has their own storyline, making it seem like a different game.

The game play of KH:BbS is a lot of button mashing. Players have the ability to combine attacks and create combos that lead to some pretty nifty finishing moves. Because this is all automatic when pressing the ‘x’ button, the majority of the game can be played without giving too much thought to strategy. However, advanced gamers have the ability to change it up and use the “deck” to add magic attacks, physical assaults and items. The deck is an interchangeable arsenal that gamers can customize. Once each command is leveled up it can be combined or “melded” into a new command or action. In addition, attaching fallen synthesis crystals can offer up different abilities to the command for the characters to learn.

When Mary Kay turns to the darkness...

Another new component is the “D-link” option in the battle menu. A “D-Link” is where one character joins with another to use a specific fighting style unique to that character. For example, Terra is primarily a physical attack kinda guy. He can use his D-Link with Aqua who is more of a mage than fighter so that Terra can use magic commands that may or may not be in his own deck. The drawback to the D-Link is that it’s not always available when you might want it, during certain boss battles for example.

And like any good Square Enix RPG, there are mini games available, and true to form there are not just “some” mini-games, there are tons of mini-games. The first that players are introduced to is the Command Board which is a cross between Monopoly© and Risk©. Command cards that are already in your possession are used instead of properties with the option to buy. Some squares have preset cards that can be acquired by landing and purchasing them, adding to the player’s inventory. Any cards used that are in need of leveling up can gain experience during the game. All in all, it’s a great way to cleanse the gaming palate and also level up commands at the same time. This is just one example, there are many other options for mini-games in Disney Town, The Olympus Coliseum and the Battle Arena.

There are some things that might turn off gamers from this title. Immediately following the intro and opening cutscenes, players are inundated with information about the battle system and how to play. Since there is a lot to learn it seems the developers wanted gamers to get the whole experience right from the start, however, this tends to over complicate the tutorial and possibly leave gamers with a slightly dizzy feeling, much like twirling on an office chair one time too many. Another thing is the graphics aren’t as cohesive as they could be in the background, the texture of the world tends to break a bit in parts. However in the foreground the detail on the characters is spot-on. Fans of the series will recognize some of the musical elements featured in this installment. We personally like the touch of nostalgia included. After all, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Leonard Nimoy takes "creepy" to a whole new level

SquareEnix didn’t miss a thing. With it’s nostalgic elements, degree of difficulty and touch of magic, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep delivers a successful prequel to the Kingdom hearts series that keeps us playing over, and over, and over, and over…

Overall Rating: 9/10