Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

by Square Enix

• Disney worlds and characters never before seen in KINGDOM HEARTS, such as Enchanted Dominion (Sleeping Beauty) and Castle of Dreams (Cinderella) will make their first appearances in KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep.
• Unravel the mystery surrounding the origin of the KINGDOM HEARTS saga through the tales of three unique characters - Terra, Ventus and Aqua. The whole story is revealed only after playing through with all three characters
• The familiar action-packed experience that fans have come to embrace returns with an enhanced battle system, with all new features such as Command Styles, Command Decks, Shotlocks and Dimension Links making it the most advanced KINGDOM HEARTS title to date
• Share the excitement and fun with your friends with four brand-new multiplayer modes: Versus, Arena, Command Board and Rumble Racing
• World renowned creator and character designer Tetsuya Nomura brings the the latest installment of Kingdom Hearts to life with vibrant, colorful and stunning graphics in 16:9 widescreen presentation made possible by the PSP system hardware

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002I0GZ5Y
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches ; 3.7 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 7, 2010
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (171 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #374 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Play as Terra, Ventus, and Aqua – three friends with a common dream who find themselves in the middle of a crisis affecting worlds far beyond their own. Their destinies will unfold across memorable Disney worlds in three intertwining stories. Secrets will be unraveled and friendships will be tested. The KINGDOM HEARTS saga starts here.

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Key Features
An essential piece to the KINGDOM HEARTS series arrives on the PSP system: From world-renowned creator and character designer Tetsuya Nomura comes the latest installment in the beloved KINGDOM HEARTS series. The vibrant and colorful KINGDOM HEARTS world comes to life in 16:9 widescreen presentation, through stunning graphics made possible by the PSP system hardware.

Disney worlds and characters new to the KINGDOM HEARTS series: Disney worlds and characters never before seen in KINGDOM HEARTS, such as Enchanted Dominion (Sleeping Beauty) and Castle of Dreams (Cinderella) will make their first appearances in KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep.

Three distinct gaming experiences through the eyes of three protagonists: Unravel the mystery surrounding the origin of the KINGDOM HEARTS saga through the tales of three unique characters—Terra, Ventus and Aqua. The whole story is revealed only after playing through with all three characters.

An action-packed combat system with intuitive controls: The familiar action-packed experience that KINGDOM HEARTS fans have come to embrace returns with an enhanced battle system and all-new features such as Command Styles, Command Decks, Shotlocks and Dimension Links. KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep is the most advanced KINGDOM HEARTS title to date.

Four exciting multiplayer modes: Experience the excitement and fun with your friends with four brand-new multiplayer modes: Versus Mode, Arena Mode, Command Board and Rumble Racing.

New game features: The North American release will include a number of new features including an extra boss, additional multiplayer options, and Crown Stickers: a reward system where players earn prizes by collecting and placing stickers into an album.

An outstanding voice cast: KINGDOM HEARTS fans will surely be in for one unforgettable experience, thanks to an impressive voice cast featuring the talents of Mark Hamill, Willa Holland, Jesse McCartney, Leonard Nimoy and James Woods, among others.

	One of a certain Keyblade Master's three pupils. Beneath Terra's mellow exterior lies a young man with tremendous drive; he is wholly devoted to his training and determined to find greater strength. He relies on brute force in combat.
	A kind young woman whose sense of right and wrong never wavers. Aqua's dignified bearing belies an inner sensitivity, and she often looks after Terra and Ventus, who study with her under the same Keyblade Master. She is nimble and gifted at magic.
	A cheerful and likeable boy who studies with the same Keyblade Master as Terra and Aqua. For "Ven," as his friends affectionately call him, every day is a new discovery. He holds his Keyblade with a reverse grip, and fights with incredible speed.

Product Description

Long before Sora was chosen by his Keyblade, the worlds’ safety lay in the hands of Keyblade Masters. Three youths — Terra, Ventus, and Aqua — have been training long and hard under Master Eraqus to prove that they, too, exhibit the Mark of Mastery. But they will soon find themselves in the middle of a crisis affecting worlds far beyond their own—just as another Keyblade Master, Xehanort, goes mysteriously missing. Three friends, three destinies. Everything will link back to the beginning.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 90 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing September 7, 2010

By Radames

Amazon Verified Purchase

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

This is a brilliant prequel to what will be one of most well known video game crossovers of all time.

Beautiful graphics, the PSP shines like the PS2. True sceneries could be played with more but for the PSP Im massively impressed.

The story is absolutely heartbreaking, and incredibly dramatic. A perfect tie in to Kingdom Hearts, while also setting up potential storylines for KH3(whenever that decides to be announced).

I despised 356/2 days, absolutely loathed it this is such a breathe of fresh air. True its a hack and slash but there are so many minigames and story to tell its just a fantastic experience.

The gameplay like any Kingdom Hearts game is the typical God of War hack and slash with reaction commands every now and then. I like how they added D links and I LOVE the new combat system, its very enjoyable.

The one problem with the gameplay is the camera mode, they fixed the problem in KH2 but it came back in this one, granted it does not really effect the game play but when your trying to fight the boss and it locks on to a crate it can kind of make or break you.

Which now leads me to difficulty, this game is HARD. It is very challenging especially on Proud Mode, I underestimated the level of difficulty. It seems all those fans that complained about how easy KH 2 was can breathe a fresh air because BBS especially on proud mode is HARD. I think I died 6 times in the Sleeping Beauty world, very difficult.

This game is well worth the money, well worth the wait and an incredible experience.

5/5 easily, I hope I helped. The 1 star review for this amazing game is just a huge hell no.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing departure from button mashing September 7, 2010

By Unkhato

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I've followed the Kingdom Hearts series from the beginning and this one is the one I would consider the best out of all. Many have complained that the prior KH games were just button mashing. It's nice to be able to say that that is no longer the case. This game requires strategy in battle to beat the bosses (assuming you're playing at a difficult higher than easy). The battles are flashy and fun and the graphics are very nice. I have had no issues with the loading times using Data Install. The graphics are some of the nicest I've seen on the PSP and the voice acting is top notch. You might notice that Mark Hamill (Star Wars, Avatar the Last Airbender) and Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek)do voice acting as well as many of the VA from previous games. Some newcomers to KH may find the cutscenes a bit long but there is a skip scene option. Birth By Sleep is a great place to start for those who have never played a KH game before and for those who are already quite familiar with the story. With three scenarios and a fourth secret scenario as well as several fun minigames and a theatre mode that allows you to watch cutscenes after you complete the game, BBS will give you your money's worth.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Worthy Addition to the Kingdom Hearts saga! September 22, 2010

By Prinny_dood

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep does not disappoint.

STORY:
If you're unfamiliar with the series, the general idea is that you play a hero who wields a weapon known as the Keyblade and you visit various Disney worlds (Aladdin, Hercules, The Lion King, Sleeping Beauty, etc.) to fight the forces of evil. This is a gross simplification of the story, but that's the general idea.

This game takes place about 10 years before the events of the first game. Instead of usual lead Sora, the story revolves around three friends: Terra, Ventus, and Aqua, who are in training to become Keyblade Masters. Early in the game, the heroes get sent on a mission to defeat monsters called "Unversed" that have appeared in the various worlds. In addition, they are tasked with locating the mysterious Master Xehanort, who has vanished under strange circumstances.

Since this is a prequel, we know that things can't end well for our heroes -- otherwise Sora would have nothing to do in the other games. As such, BBS has a much darker story than any of the previous games. The ending in particular is rather heart-wrenching, but I won't spoil any of the details. Despite saying all this, don't expect it to be as dark or depressing as something like the Matrix or Battlestar Galactica -- this is still a Disney game and you will definitely find yourself smiling and/or chuckling to yourself at many points throughout the game.

The story has been very well crafted and all the new characters have a great deal of depth to them. Aqua in particular I found to be a very good hero; I like her as much as, if not more than Sora. The main villain of the game is easily the most cunning and insidious villain to appear in the series. In fact, I would argue that he is one of the best villains to come out of Square-Enix in a very long time.

Do you need to play the other games to appreciate this story? No, but you will appreciate certain events more if you have played the other games (in particular, Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts 2). Even if you're new to the series, I'd still suggest picking it up.

Story: 10/10

GRAPHICS:
This game is beautiful. It is likely one of the best looking games on the PSP. It easily surpasses the graphics of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, and is probably about as good or slightly better than RE:Chain of Memories or Kingdom Hearts 2. In particular, I found myself admiring the detail of the expressions on the characters' faces during cutscenes.

Graphics: 10/10

SOUND:
Voice acting is, as usual for the series, stellar. Perhaps not the best voice acting ever (the Metal Gear series is probably better), but nevertheless quite good. Disney characters tend to sound just like in the movies (in some cases, voiced by the actual Disney voice actor!) and the original characters are voiced well. Of the three leads, Terra is probably the weakest for voice acting, but it's not intolerable. Special mention goes to Leonard Nimoy for his role as Master Xehanort -- he is outstanding at voicing the character.

Sound: 9/10

GAMEPLAY:
If you enjoyed the gameplay of Kingdom Hearts 2, you will likely enjoy playing BBS. The combat is fast paced and there are a variety of attacks to use, from standard keyblade strikes to casting spells to using shotlock attacks to hit groups. You can customize your character's arsenal of attacks by selecting different types of attacks and moves, allowing you to tailor the gameplay to your own preferences.

In addition to just finding new commands/spells as the game progresses, you can also fuse 2 spells together to make a new, more powerful one. In addition, you can choose to add a crystal to give the spell extra powers/abilities. It is like a simpler (albeit less addicting) version of the fusions that occur in the Shin Megami Tensei games.

Summons and Drive Forms from KH2 return as D-Links and Command Styles. D-links allow you to inherit special powers from a friend that you've met in the storyline (like Mickey or Snow White). Command Styles alter your basic attacks. By using various attacks and spells, you charge up the command gauge, and once it is filled, you may enter a Command Style. This greatly improves the effectiveness of your standard Keyblade attacks, just like entering the Drive Forms in KH2. By charging the command gauge with different types of attacks, you may enter different Command Styles.

You play through the story 3 times: once as Terra, once as Ventus, and once as Aqua. At first, you might expect this game to suffer from a lot of repetitiveness, but it never feels like that. While you visit the same worlds, you have different interactions with the characters and see a different part of the storyline. You may not even visit the same parts of a particular world. For example, in the Cinderella world, the Ventus part takes place completely within Cinderella's home, while Terra never even goes inside.

After playing through all 3 stories, if you have achieved a certain condition, then you get to play though one final story as Aqua. While it's pretty short, it gives you an extra boss fight and provides closure to the story.

As usual, there are plenty of fun minigames to play, and a couple not-so-fun minigames. But they add a nice sense of variety to the standard gameplay. Multiplayer is hypothetically fun, but only if you know someone else with a PSP. As I do not, I can't comment on that.

There are 4 difficulties to the game, as opposed to the usual 3 for Kingdom Hearts games. The newly added "Critical Mode" makes the game a serious challenge. Unless you do a lot of level grinding, expect the boss fights to be on par with Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden for difficulty. So if you're inexperienced, do not choose Critical. If you're up for the challenge though, it is a very fun and rewarding experience.

Gameplay: 10/10

At the end of the day, this is my favorite KH game. No question about it. If you're a fan of the series, then you're probably going to pick this up regardless of what I say. If you're unsure, I'd say go for it.

One last note: If you buy the game, I STRONGLY encourage you to do the full 600 MB data install. Unlike some other games, this one really benefits from it. Also, if you only have a PSPGo, you may be out of luck; at time of writing this game is not available for download from the PlayStation Store.