Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep - Sony PSP

This was a gift for my 14yr old nephew he saw it at Amazon.com and put in a wish list he has there he really likes this game a lot hes into these types of games he also likes XBox Games also will purchase more later on.

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.

The battle before kingdom hearts, it is the start of it all. Before the Nobodies and the heartless (Oh, and Sora & Riku) Birth by Sleep follows 3 keyblade carrying fighters who are trying to find the cause of a new threat to the world. This prequel is short but you must play each characters story to understand what is happening. The boss battles are shorter then Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 but dogging, blocking, and one cure will be more critical as the wrong move = quicker lost. The combat is different with the ability to customize attacks and skills. The story is a bit dry and repetitive (If you play all three characters at once) but this PS2 looking game would not be missing from any KH Fan library. One more thing, no Sephiroth fights. :(

I like the game. If youre a kingdom heart fan then youll like it. If you dont understand why this game is here, its part of the story line you can say. Look it up if you dont understand the story of how this adds into the kingdom heart series.

I was late to the party with the Kingdom Hearts hype. All of my friends were recommending that I buy and play the game ... so I bought this one. I have to say, I played it through--with all three of the main characters and was pretty unimpressed. Movement and controls were perfect, but story-line was lacking. I didnt feel anything for the characters nor did I connect with any of their stories. Also, I felt that each journey to a different Disney adventure was forced and jumpy and had no purpose. The graphics are fantastic, the characters all look great ... but, again, the story was just ... ugh. Im glad I played the game, but its a one-time play--not a game Id pick up again.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep is a great prequel to the kingdom hearts series that helps understand kingdom hearts complex story line. I highly recommend this title to new comers to the series and old fans that want to enjoy a kingdom hearts tittle until Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD remake comes out in September for PS3 and the long awaited Kingdom Hearts 3 which comes out in two to three years for the PS4 and XBOX1

Nothing special but not too bad either. Just the endless repeating is kinda boring and the side-quests are not that great. Story was rather hollow and uninteresting but it was ok at times, i enjoyed it to some extent. Liked Aqua and Mickey the most. I consider 358/2 Days way better than this one. My favorite games are I and 358. Then II. The other games are decent but not a favorite.

The game was delivered much quicker than expected and is in wonderful condition! No scratches or smudges on the disc and the manual came with. Best thing I’ve ever ordered on Amazon.

I love the Kingdom Hearts games, but im a little sick of all the side games. This birth by sleep game gets pretty confusing with the story line. The graphics and the music are wonderful, so I need to give it credit for that. I just think the writers are getting off track with the story line.

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!