Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep - Sony PSP

Im going to try to make this short and simple. Gameplay/Controls: If you have ever played Kingdom Hearts and its sequel, then you may know how it works when you start, except for the Command Deck for your abilities. There are also some mini-games that can be played with other people that have the game localy. The controls are kind of the same, except for the lack of a second analog for the camera,(using L and R for camera), but you might not seem to care because the controls are pretty good for the PSP. Story: The story is suppose to take place before the first Kingdom Hearts game, so your not missing anything if your new to the series. The story involves 3 characters in the game, so theres some replayability to know the full story. Difficulty: The difficulty is pretty fair. Not too easy, not too hard, but dont take my word for it, I havent played past hard yet. In conclusion: If you want to play a fun game, then get this game, just make sure you have at least maybe 700mb of free space to install the game,(load times are long).

Okay, so I am a huge fan of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. As a result, I was very, very excited for the latest installment, Birth by Sleep. So excited, in fact, that I actually went out and bought a PSP just so I could play it. $170 for the system, $30 for the memory card and $45 to get this game on release date. Was it worth the almost $250 I paid to play it? Absolutely. In case youre not aware, Birth by Sleep is a prequel to the Kingdom Hearts series, taking place roughly ten years before Soras tale kicks off. Does this mean you can just jump in? Well, yes and no. A lot of what is contained in this game is nods and winks for what will come later in the series, so if you havent played KH, Chain of Memories, KH II or 358/2 days yet, you might miss some of these (but I doubt that would be critical). This game, if nothing else, begins the tale by explaining a lot about why a lot of the things that happened in the series did, so its beautiful for continuity. About the storyline of this game specifically: there are three. Thats right, three beautifully interwoven stories. You play as Terra, Ventus and Aqua - three students yearning to become Keyblade Masters. But right at the beginning, their fates take a twist, and you end up separated. You can play as all three characters in any order you desire. (Though Terra, Ventus, then Aqua is the order recommended by the games designer). In my opinion, the story build-up through each *individual* story is kinda sub-standard compared to the rest of the KH series, but putting the stories together makes it just as awesome as its predecessors. As far as gameplay is concerned, I have to say that it is, by far, the best combat system that the Square Enix has come up with yet. The command deck system is a good compromise between the standard battle system of KH and KH II and the Panel system of 358/2 Days. (Thankfully they neglected to add anything of the horrid card system that Chain of Memories sported.) They also added a couple of new features. One, for instance, is the addition of Shot Lock commands. Using this neat feature, you can lock on to a large number of enemies (or just one enemy repeatedly) to unleash multiple attacks simultaneously, even sometimes launching massive combos that can do insane damage. One big difference in this game is that there is virtually no party to help you in combat. Every so often youll get a little help for a boss fight, but its mostly you on your own for the majority of the game. But, to counteract this, they added a D-Link feature. Basically, when you switch D-Link mode on, you can get different command decks based on the character you linked with. You can also get powerups that are shaped like stars as you defeat enemies in D-Link mode that will strengthen the deck, give you a new finish command, and make it more powerful overall. That is something I neglected to mention about combat. There is the addition of Finish commands. As you unleash combos against enemies, you will fill a combo bar. The more damage you do, the faster it fills. Once it fills completely, your character will unleash a finish command, which can evolve into several more powerful versions as the game progresses. Also, if you use deck commands (attacks, magic or both) in the middle of building up a bar, you can sometimes trigger different combat styles. This will allow you to build your combo bar up again, while using far more powerful attack patterns - maybe powered up by lighting your keyblade on fire, or by dealing critical damage with every strike (very similar to Limit Attacks in Days). Oh yes, and to make sure your commands are leveled up as far as they can be, you have several options. One great one is playing on the new Command Board feature. Thats right, the designers at Square Enix added a fully functional board game to the KH game. And trust me, it is really a lot of fun. Plus, as you play, your attacks and commands will get stronger. How cool is that? But if board games just arent your style, you can also go try the Mirage Arena. You can either play multiplayer and try to compete either with or against your friends, or go it alone for some really tough battles. And all the while you can collect loads of XP to make your character strong. Not sure ive missed anything else. So as far as gameplay, its absolutely outstanding, by far the best in the series (and one of the best Ive ever played - and Ive played a lot). When it comes to story, its pretty much par-for-the-course, but trust me, Squares set the bar very high, so even par is very good. No digital version, so youd better by the UMD if you have a PSP and like Kingdom Hearts. Heck, you should buy this even if you *dont* like Kingdom Hearts - yet.

I admit Im never very good at finishing games, but when I grabbed my existing copy to play around in the world again I noticed the crack in the case surrounding the UMD disc was so impacted that it prevented the disc from loading. So I needed another one. Birth By Sleep is one of those games in the series that goes almost TOO light on the actual cooperation between Square Enix designs and Disney characters, but remains one of the most polished in combat and options. If you want a look at how things started BEFORE Kingdom Hearts 1 happened... its a must-buy. And thankfully by this time price has gone down enough that I didnt feel bad at all for just getting a second (working) copy.

One of the best Kingdom Hearts games period. It helps connect all the worlds and will hopefully be expanded upon in Kingdom Hearts 3. Highly recommenced as it has one of the best battle systems in any RPG ever.

As a life long Kingdom Hearts fan, I can safely ay I love this game and I am very, very glad I got it. The story is broken into three different perspectives, which you have to play through in order to unlock the final ending that reveals the hidden truth. The perspectives are the three playable characters, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. I chose Ventus because I prefer speedy combos over magic and power. I am still playing through his campaign, but I can tell yu right now, this game is worth the money. Especially if you are a Kingdom Hearts fan trying to see the story in chronological order, like me.

Im aware of the kingdom hearts series but i was really surprised by the level of content that it contained. The 3 story plots have their own uniqueness and it makes the game seem new when starting a different characters story. there is some overlap but thats expected since the 3 characters are connected so deeply.

I absolutely love the game so far! If youre a fan of the KH series like myself then you know all the games from this series are awesome, at least in my opinion, and this one is no exception. The soundtrack is amazing, the graphics are great as usual as well as the color! The minigames, most of which take place in a certain world, with the exception of a few, are super fun, my particular favorite, and the most challenging, once again in my humble opinion, being Ice Cream Beat! There is just so much to do for each of the three characters that youll never run out of things to do to acomplish 100% completion if you like doing that sort of thing like myself! The battling system is great! It is pretty much a button masher. Itll take some getting used to but once you get it down battling is easy as pie and you guessed it...FUN! There are a new set of enemies, some TOUGH bosses, awesome new characters, the worlds leave much to be desired, at least from the particular character Im playing as, and the cutscenes and the stories are wonderful! In conclusion: Great game and I know if youre a fan of the KH series youll love this one equally as much as the other games, maybe even more so. I recommend purchasing it! Its worth your money!

A great prequel to the series. At first I thought the series was kind of lame in terms of story, although the game play was fun. After extensively playing birth by sleep, I felt like the story is very in depth and the characters and their relationships (including KH 1 and 2) are fun to watch unfold. I always thought the idea of their hearts were lame and childish but now I can see a deeper meaning and how it relates more to the overall story. Maybe its my own meaning I put onto the game but nevertheless I enjoy and cant wait until the next release to fill in the pieces.

If youre a Kingdom Hearts fan you will love this game.Had lots of fun playing it.Its everything youd expect out of the series. With a few added features that are pretty cool such as the Command Decks,Meld Commands and D-Link, Command Board,Mini Games,and the Mirage Arena where you can battle waves of enemys alone or with a friend via system link (Or online if you can find anyone)making the game very familiar and different.Best thing about it is that you can play through the whole game with 3 different characters so each character has different outcomes. Overall Its a good game and lives up to the other KH games.

If you loved the Kingdom Hearts series you will definitely love this game. It has all the features you would expect from the PS2 versions of the game plus much more. I felt that the first Kingdom Hearts was lacking when it came to game-play, but that all changed with Kingdom Hearts 2. Birth by Sleep only enhances what already worked by adding a more robust level up system and putting the PSP to work with its fast paced action. If you loved the Kingdom Hearts games for the PS2 and are sick of waiting for Kingdom Hearts 3 then this game is more then enough to soothe that pain.