This review contains spoilers
Continuing my playthrough of the Kingdom Hearts games I played Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, the game I never really heard much about beyond having one of the worst bosses in gaming history. I didn't have many expectations or idea of what to expect going into this game because I never really saw/sought out anyone talk about it till I started playing it but I have to say I was pretty impressed with what I played.
Birth By Sleep is a prequel to the Kingdom Hearts series that takes place ten years before the first game and follows Terra, Ventus, and Aqua, three keyblade wielders as they get sent out from their homes on various quests in order to find each other and stop a great evil from destroying all the worlds.The game's story is split between three stories, one following each member of the trio. I found this approach really neat and it allowed you time to really get to know the characters and figure them out while also getting a handle on their gameplay, instead of switching back and forth between all of them constantly throughout the game like I kind of assumed would be the case when I did the prologue of this game. I was also genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed the story of this game getting into it, since I wasn't really expecting anything else in the series to reach Kingdom hearts 2's level of story considering the reputation of a lot of the other games.
So the way the story is told has you playing a character's journey from start to finish with certain points where the stories intersect during each campaign. I found this really interesting and while it did make it very clear what was going to happen at some points given the fact that I had already seen a few things twice by the last playthrough, I found the way they wove all these stories together and also added context to one story through the other stories really worked for me. I think it helped that all three members of the main cast were really strong characters in my opinion that I enjoyed my time with. Friendship and the unbreakable bonds of those you care about were a central theme of this game and you could really feel that through the brief moments of interaction with all of the main cast together. It also helped that the supporting cast such as Master Eraqus, Xehanort, and Mickey Mouse also help to round out the main cast and add a lot of great interactions to the game.
This giving context as to how Xehanort came to be who he is by the time the flashbacks in Kingdom Hearts 2 happened is really interesting and has a lot of implications for what happens in between this game and Kingdom Hearts one that lead to the main plot of the series kicking off the way that it did. I'm generally not a fan of prequel media but this game's story did a good job of convincing me that its not only justified but also adds a lot of really unique concepts of its own that I feel will probably be explored later on such as the keyblade war and Ventus's fate. Really solid story overall and I won't spoil more of it than I have already but I definitely think the tale being told here was pretty good and is underrated from what I've seen of this game being talked about. Though I think, like with Kingdom Hearts 2, the gameplay is where this game really shines in my opinion.
The game mostly follow Kingdom Hearts 2's gameplay style with one major change, that being the command deck. Instead of using ability points to set up different abilities, attacks, and movement options you can use almost everything is relegated to the command deck, which is a rotating deck of attacks you can swap between and use at will in order to attack. Once you use an attack the attack is then set on a recharge timer until you can do it again. I really enjoy this system for a few reasons. The first being that the system did make me actually use magic and more unique abilities than in previous games since it was easier to access than trying to navigate a menu mid fight like in Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. I experimented more and tried a lot of different aspects of magic and special attacks that I probably would not have had it been locked behind trying to navigate a lot of menus like in Kingdom Hearts 2. The second thing that I found really cool about this system was how it made you really think about what you have equipt and weigh the options of what commands you want to have in the deck instead of just equipping all the spells/commands at once. It's like a more streamlined version of Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2's AP system.
I also really enjoyed how you unlocked new commands, which was normally through either finding them or the melding system. After you hit a certain level on each command it would then become usable as a material to mix with another command and make an even stronger command from it. Sometimes while doing this your melded ability can also transform into a much stronger random ability. It is honestly really cool when this happens since you get a free really strong attack you weren't expecting. Another neat aspect of this game's melding system is that by adding gems to the commands when mixing them you can unlock unique abilities such as recharging commands faster, being able to do more combos, and more that stay with you if you get the command to max. It's a neat system in my opinion that I hope sticks around because I really enjoyed how it it gave you permanent buffs for experimenting with the system.
The other new aspect of the command deck system are the command styles. Command styles work as a meter above the command deck that builds up the more damage you do from commands and once you hit the max you enter a new style that changes your gameplay and builts to a command finisher that does massive damage. It's a really neat system that isn't used perfectly throughout the game, since some characters work better with it than others, but its a fun inclusion and something that I hope shows up in future games because I had a lot of fun with it personally. Being able to chain between command styles depending on what command you switch to while using another command feels incredible nice and lets you continue to build up massive damage against crowds and bosses once you fully get the hang of it.
Another new addition to the player's arsenal this time around are shotlocks, which effectively act as ultimate moves that you can use once one of your meters is fully filled. I felt like these were a nice addition to the core gameplay and felt really satisfying to use as a start to a combo. To use them you have to lock on to the target multiple times/the same target multiple times, so its not exactly possible to use it as an endcap to a combo unfortunately but leading into a combo by firing one off and then dashing in afterwards is just as effect and felt really effective and nice to pull off personally.
The final new mechanic they added are calle D-links, which are effectively supposed to be summon replacements but don't quite hit the mark in my opinion. You unlock and can use D links with characters you connect with throughout the game and gain access to sets of their moves and abilities when you go into these forms. They're a really interesting idea but I never actually really needed to use them much throughout the game besides for a quick heal every now and then. It's not a bad system and I'm sure I'd probably have gotten into it more if I started doing a lot of the side content and superbosses, but for me durin the main game this system was really negligible to me personally; which is a shame because I can see this kind of system being super cool if done differently to make them more meaningful.
One aspect of the game that I didn't really vibe with in any way however were the minigames. Though they were not around too much and some were very easily avoidable like the command board I did not enjoy them in the slightest. The biggest offender of this was in the Disney Town world, which on top of having the worst music in the game is basically all minigames that are mandatory to do and which all kind of suck in their own way. Terra's racing minigame is just bad Mario kart with no weight to the car, Ven's is an extremely barebones rhythm game, and Aqua is a one vs multiple others volleyball game that doesn't quite feel balanced around this idea. These are all really short sequences of the game but they all stuck out as kind of frustrating to do. Not a big issue just something that I thought was worth mentioning before getting into how each individual character played and controlled.
The first of the trio that I played was Terra, and I'm kind of glad I started off with him because his gameplay is easily the worst of the three, so I only was able to go up from here. Terra's gameplay is more about moving slower but hitting for bigger damage with normal attacks and physical commands. This type of playstyle is not something I particularly enjoy and it was pretty difficult to get a hang of right off the heels of how fast paced and frantic Kingdom Hearts 2's gameplay was. Not to mention that for some bizarre reason Terra has less invincibility frames on his dodge/roll than the other two for some reason. This made things a bit more difficult than I would have preferred, since I'd watch myself dodge something and still take damage at times which got frustrating later on in Terra's story. This was partially fixed by some commands such as thunder surge and the one that heals you on block but it still felt unnecessary and made things more frustrating at times than I felt like they should have been. Regardless I still had fun playing as Terra despite this but I can easily say that his slow speed and weird lack of invincibility frames easily makes him the least fun of the main trio.
Following Terra I played Ventus next, which felt more like what I was familiar with from the past few games gameplay wise. Ventus plays and moves a lot like how Sora does and it was a welcome return to form after playing Terra. Though that being said, due to how the game is structured Ventus does feel like a watered down version of Sora in a sense. Like without certain abilities that are locked to Terra and Aqua it just makes Ventus feel like midgame KH2 Sora by the end of his route. However, given the scope of the game and what its ultimately going for I can easily look past this, especially since Midgame KH2 Sora still felt strong and fun to use. I will say Ventus probably has my favorite shotlock of the bunch, doing a ton of damage and also working as a quick AoE in a pinch. Ventus also gets som really fun commands exclusive to him such as Tornado, which is such a funny command to watch because it can just pick up and throw around almost any enemy in the game minus a boss or two.
Finally, Aqua's gameplay felt pretty unique compared to the standard Kingdom Hearts style while managing to make her the most fun to play out of the trio. Aqua's whole combat style revolves around using magic to quickly build up the command gauge and quickly switch between styles based on these different types of magic. This style of gameplay almost instantly clicked with me and while it isn't quite Kingdom Hearts 2's level of great combat this is definitely up there as some of the most fun I've had with action combat in a game. Something about the magic (something I have generally ignored up to this point as I mentioned earlier) being directly tied to her gameplay and how quickly you can snowball into doing something absolutely busted by chaining spells and other commands together just feels right to me. The one criticism I have of Aqua's gameplay is that her shotlock feels a bit lack luster compared to the other two's, but ultimately that is a very minor criticism. Aqua's gameplay feels like the most fully realized of the trio and uses almost all the game's systems to their fullest in my opinion; which is really good in my opinion since she's the character you play as the longest if you go for the secret ending of the game.
Like Kingdom Hearts 2 this game's soundtrack is incredible. So many great songs in this game like Rage Awakened, Unbreakable Chains, Another Side, and dismiss. I'm not sure how this series manages to consistently have incredible songs, but I'm glad it does because man are these soundtracks just legitimately great pieces of music. Like I said with Kingdom Hearts 2, even if you don't end up playing this game listen to this soundtrack, a lot of really great songs can be found throughout it. Minus Disney Town's clown music of course.
Overall, I really like this game. It's not perfect but I think its a great prequel to the series that did a lot of really cool things both story and gameplay wise. I also have to say, that while I played the HD remaster of this game I'm kind of impressed that this was originally a PSP game, since it felt like any other Kingdom Hearts game that I've played up to this point. Ultimately I'd say give this game a shot, its not the peak of the series or anything but its a great time in my opinion.
9/10
Birth By Sleep is a prequel to the Kingdom Hearts series that takes place ten years before the first game and follows Terra, Ventus, and Aqua, three keyblade wielders as they get sent out from their homes on various quests in order to find each other and stop a great evil from destroying all the worlds.The game's story is split between three stories, one following each member of the trio. I found this approach really neat and it allowed you time to really get to know the characters and figure them out while also getting a handle on their gameplay, instead of switching back and forth between all of them constantly throughout the game like I kind of assumed would be the case when I did the prologue of this game. I was also genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed the story of this game getting into it, since I wasn't really expecting anything else in the series to reach Kingdom hearts 2's level of story considering the reputation of a lot of the other games.
So the way the story is told has you playing a character's journey from start to finish with certain points where the stories intersect during each campaign. I found this really interesting and while it did make it very clear what was going to happen at some points given the fact that I had already seen a few things twice by the last playthrough, I found the way they wove all these stories together and also added context to one story through the other stories really worked for me. I think it helped that all three members of the main cast were really strong characters in my opinion that I enjoyed my time with. Friendship and the unbreakable bonds of those you care about were a central theme of this game and you could really feel that through the brief moments of interaction with all of the main cast together. It also helped that the supporting cast such as Master Eraqus, Xehanort, and Mickey Mouse also help to round out the main cast and add a lot of great interactions to the game.
This giving context as to how Xehanort came to be who he is by the time the flashbacks in Kingdom Hearts 2 happened is really interesting and has a lot of implications for what happens in between this game and Kingdom Hearts one that lead to the main plot of the series kicking off the way that it did. I'm generally not a fan of prequel media but this game's story did a good job of convincing me that its not only justified but also adds a lot of really unique concepts of its own that I feel will probably be explored later on such as the keyblade war and Ventus's fate. Really solid story overall and I won't spoil more of it than I have already but I definitely think the tale being told here was pretty good and is underrated from what I've seen of this game being talked about. Though I think, like with Kingdom Hearts 2, the gameplay is where this game really shines in my opinion.
The game mostly follow Kingdom Hearts 2's gameplay style with one major change, that being the command deck. Instead of using ability points to set up different abilities, attacks, and movement options you can use almost everything is relegated to the command deck, which is a rotating deck of attacks you can swap between and use at will in order to attack. Once you use an attack the attack is then set on a recharge timer until you can do it again. I really enjoy this system for a few reasons. The first being that the system did make me actually use magic and more unique abilities than in previous games since it was easier to access than trying to navigate a menu mid fight like in Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. I experimented more and tried a lot of different aspects of magic and special attacks that I probably would not have had it been locked behind trying to navigate a lot of menus like in Kingdom Hearts 2. The second thing that I found really cool about this system was how it made you really think about what you have equipt and weigh the options of what commands you want to have in the deck instead of just equipping all the spells/commands at once. It's like a more streamlined version of Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2's AP system.
I also really enjoyed how you unlocked new commands, which was normally through either finding them or the melding system. After you hit a certain level on each command it would then become usable as a material to mix with another command and make an even stronger command from it. Sometimes while doing this your melded ability can also transform into a much stronger random ability. It is honestly really cool when this happens since you get a free really strong attack you weren't expecting. Another neat aspect of this game's melding system is that by adding gems to the commands when mixing them you can unlock unique abilities such as recharging commands faster, being able to do more combos, and more that stay with you if you get the command to max. It's a neat system in my opinion that I hope sticks around because I really enjoyed how it it gave you permanent buffs for experimenting with the system.
The other new aspect of the command deck system are the command styles. Command styles work as a meter above the command deck that builds up the more damage you do from commands and once you hit the max you enter a new style that changes your gameplay and builts to a command finisher that does massive damage. It's a really neat system that isn't used perfectly throughout the game, since some characters work better with it than others, but its a fun inclusion and something that I hope shows up in future games because I had a lot of fun with it personally. Being able to chain between command styles depending on what command you switch to while using another command feels incredible nice and lets you continue to build up massive damage against crowds and bosses once you fully get the hang of it.
Another new addition to the player's arsenal this time around are shotlocks, which effectively act as ultimate moves that you can use once one of your meters is fully filled. I felt like these were a nice addition to the core gameplay and felt really satisfying to use as a start to a combo. To use them you have to lock on to the target multiple times/the same target multiple times, so its not exactly possible to use it as an endcap to a combo unfortunately but leading into a combo by firing one off and then dashing in afterwards is just as effect and felt really effective and nice to pull off personally.
The final new mechanic they added are calle D-links, which are effectively supposed to be summon replacements but don't quite hit the mark in my opinion. You unlock and can use D links with characters you connect with throughout the game and gain access to sets of their moves and abilities when you go into these forms. They're a really interesting idea but I never actually really needed to use them much throughout the game besides for a quick heal every now and then. It's not a bad system and I'm sure I'd probably have gotten into it more if I started doing a lot of the side content and superbosses, but for me durin the main game this system was really negligible to me personally; which is a shame because I can see this kind of system being super cool if done differently to make them more meaningful.
One aspect of the game that I didn't really vibe with in any way however were the minigames. Though they were not around too much and some were very easily avoidable like the command board I did not enjoy them in the slightest. The biggest offender of this was in the Disney Town world, which on top of having the worst music in the game is basically all minigames that are mandatory to do and which all kind of suck in their own way. Terra's racing minigame is just bad Mario kart with no weight to the car, Ven's is an extremely barebones rhythm game, and Aqua is a one vs multiple others volleyball game that doesn't quite feel balanced around this idea. These are all really short sequences of the game but they all stuck out as kind of frustrating to do. Not a big issue just something that I thought was worth mentioning before getting into how each individual character played and controlled.
The first of the trio that I played was Terra, and I'm kind of glad I started off with him because his gameplay is easily the worst of the three, so I only was able to go up from here. Terra's gameplay is more about moving slower but hitting for bigger damage with normal attacks and physical commands. This type of playstyle is not something I particularly enjoy and it was pretty difficult to get a hang of right off the heels of how fast paced and frantic Kingdom Hearts 2's gameplay was. Not to mention that for some bizarre reason Terra has less invincibility frames on his dodge/roll than the other two for some reason. This made things a bit more difficult than I would have preferred, since I'd watch myself dodge something and still take damage at times which got frustrating later on in Terra's story. This was partially fixed by some commands such as thunder surge and the one that heals you on block but it still felt unnecessary and made things more frustrating at times than I felt like they should have been. Regardless I still had fun playing as Terra despite this but I can easily say that his slow speed and weird lack of invincibility frames easily makes him the least fun of the main trio.
Following Terra I played Ventus next, which felt more like what I was familiar with from the past few games gameplay wise. Ventus plays and moves a lot like how Sora does and it was a welcome return to form after playing Terra. Though that being said, due to how the game is structured Ventus does feel like a watered down version of Sora in a sense. Like without certain abilities that are locked to Terra and Aqua it just makes Ventus feel like midgame KH2 Sora by the end of his route. However, given the scope of the game and what its ultimately going for I can easily look past this, especially since Midgame KH2 Sora still felt strong and fun to use. I will say Ventus probably has my favorite shotlock of the bunch, doing a ton of damage and also working as a quick AoE in a pinch. Ventus also gets som really fun commands exclusive to him such as Tornado, which is such a funny command to watch because it can just pick up and throw around almost any enemy in the game minus a boss or two.
Finally, Aqua's gameplay felt pretty unique compared to the standard Kingdom Hearts style while managing to make her the most fun to play out of the trio. Aqua's whole combat style revolves around using magic to quickly build up the command gauge and quickly switch between styles based on these different types of magic. This style of gameplay almost instantly clicked with me and while it isn't quite Kingdom Hearts 2's level of great combat this is definitely up there as some of the most fun I've had with action combat in a game. Something about the magic (something I have generally ignored up to this point as I mentioned earlier) being directly tied to her gameplay and how quickly you can snowball into doing something absolutely busted by chaining spells and other commands together just feels right to me. The one criticism I have of Aqua's gameplay is that her shotlock feels a bit lack luster compared to the other two's, but ultimately that is a very minor criticism. Aqua's gameplay feels like the most fully realized of the trio and uses almost all the game's systems to their fullest in my opinion; which is really good in my opinion since she's the character you play as the longest if you go for the secret ending of the game.
Like Kingdom Hearts 2 this game's soundtrack is incredible. So many great songs in this game like Rage Awakened, Unbreakable Chains, Another Side, and dismiss. I'm not sure how this series manages to consistently have incredible songs, but I'm glad it does because man are these soundtracks just legitimately great pieces of music. Like I said with Kingdom Hearts 2, even if you don't end up playing this game listen to this soundtrack, a lot of really great songs can be found throughout it. Minus Disney Town's clown music of course.
Overall, I really like this game. It's not perfect but I think its a great prequel to the series that did a lot of really cool things both story and gameplay wise. I also have to say, that while I played the HD remaster of this game I'm kind of impressed that this was originally a PSP game, since it felt like any other Kingdom Hearts game that I've played up to this point. Ultimately I'd say give this game a shot, its not the peak of the series or anything but its a great time in my opinion.
9/10
Reviewed on Nov 22, 2021