Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep - Sony PSP

I recommend this game for anyone that is a KH fan! It was a little hard to get use to at first, but afterward it was great. Word to the wise though: if you have a hacked PSP, I do not encourage buying it, as it may not work. But at least you wont feel as guilty.

This game is amazing. Great graphics and its like having my old PS2 on the go. Great graphics, music and acting. I am just getting into the meat of the story and it is giving certain answers missing from the series. If you have a PSP you must get this game. Sorry PSP Go...But if you dont have a PSP you should consider it. One of my all-time faves!

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. :(

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is probably one of the most high quality titles on the PSP to date. I write with the Vita already launched so its probably mute at this point that this is a great buy. To those who are familiar with the series this instalment meets all expectations that the brand Kingdom Hearts is known for. To those who are not, this is still a great pick-up no matter what. This game follows three keyblade wielders and their individual experiences throughout the timeline of events surrounding the game. This is perhaps the neatest touch to a KH game since 358 days over 2 concept of playing within the organization (for those of you who dont know they are the main villains from KH II). Ill break down this into many parts so please bear with me. Graphics: Probably the God of War titles and the Dissidia games beat out this game for me here, but this is really close with them. It looks just like KH from the PS2 and it was a great surprise to see that this game be as good looking as it was. (One reason why I favor Sony over Nintendo in the handheld market) Every visual you can think of was well put together and had great detail. (5/5) Environments: Like all KH games, this chapter has many different worlds. Most of them are new, focusing on the princesses from KH I that you dont really interact with (Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora) and two worlds that get a proper intro. Im talking about the REAL Neverland with the actual island and lost boys (Not a pirate ship and Big Ben KH I fans), and stitch gets his own location with the space ship with the characters from the movie (Except Lilo, but thats actually a good thing, personally). Radiant Garden, however, is my favorite due to the locations you dont see in KH II. These are all great areas that are worth being in. (5/5) Characters: Im pretty sure that there are those like me who saw the cover and said Hey theres Mickey and Roxas! (KH II) but who are the others? WELP guess what? not Roxas. Thats Ventus with Aqua and Terra. With all kinds of characters, the big surprises were seeing 2 different Soras, Kairi, and Riku. You also get to see Xeanorht (I know thats not how you spell it but I tried by sounding it out.) but hes not who you think. He looks COMPLETELY different form KH II and probably the single best thing about him is that he is voiced by Leonard Nimoy! Thats right! Mr Spock from Star Trek. Master Eraqus (I hope thats how its spelled) is my favorite because he is kind of like Yoda from Star Wars. Each character is well voiced and designed with awesome personalities. You will consistently see characters from games past here. Im not spoiling it but you might want to pay attention to Radiant Garden when your there. (5/5) Gameplay: Movement, fighting, and other nuances are all there. The analog stick is actually of some use here as it did not feel that in the way for me while I was playing. The only negative about this game falls here, and thats the dice board. Its a great way to level up your attacks, but it is really time consuming. In the end it was worth it for me to have powerful attacks by the end of each storyline, but I probably spent half my time on the dice board. Its fun, but it wears off after a while. Otherwise, everything else is very polished and has great control. (4/5) Story: OK, Now the big kicker. Im someone who loves to play games in a series chronologically (Except Final Fantasy where they are not related in universe [I dont count Dissidia]) so this is probably the first game you should play since its set before where it all supposedly began in KH I. As I said, the multiple points of view was the best touch as a story mechanic. With that being said, Im not that big on how it turned out but it answers a LOT of questions from throughout the timeline. 1.) Where did Xeanorht come from? 2.) How did Sora, Riku, and Kairi became wielders of the keyblade? 3.) What is the meaning of the secret movie at the end of KH II? However, 4 really interesting questions that got answered floored me: 1.) In 358 days over 2, near the end, a cutscene involving Xigbar, Axel, and Xion takes place on Wonderland. What did Xigbars statement mean? 2.) How did Castle Oblivion come to be in Chain of Memories? 3.) At the end of the game in the single last cutscene, how do the three come together? 4.) The origin of the organizations founders. This is what had me ending this game with a smile on my face and a sense of satisfaction. Great story told only the way a KH game can, with a vast array of plot twists. (5/5) Pros: + Great Story + Memorable Characters + Awesome Worlds + Answers series long questions Con: - Dice board can take some of the fun away. In summary if you dont have it: BUY IT. If you want somewhere to start the series: BUY IT. If your looking for just a casual PSP Game: BUY IT and you will possibly find yourself caught up in the series as a whole. (9/10)

The product came in perfect condition! No damages or scratches at all! The game came in perfectly sealed and in top shape!

(To add perspective to my review, I am a 22year old male) Kingdom Hearts is one of the few series that manages to nail sequels, and Birth by Sleep is no exception. If you are a newcomer to the series or a veteran, this game will suck you in and keep you enthralled to the end. Every aspect of the game is a rewarding and enjoyable experience. I played the game through on the hardest difficulty (and struggled a good deal) and I found myself playing the mini-game board game (used for obtaining goodies for unlocking new moves) as a welcome relief to catch my breath before the next onslaught of chaos and darkness. Specifics though... Combat: Real-time, fluid, fast paced, combines hack and slash with strategy for a happy mix Character Progression: Unbelievable, this portion of the game resonated with me EXTREMELY well... you start with low level abilities or spells, and you can simply combine almost any spell/move via something called synthesis and presto, a new move! If you toss an item in the mix with the synthesis, it adds a perk such as invulnerable while casting heal or auto suck-in items that drop or even gain 1 exp for every step you take. The premise for these perks is, a spell starts at lvl 1, and by using it etc it levels up, (to lvl 3 or 4 max) and once it reaches that lvl, the perk attached to the spell is yours to keep and use forever, regardless or if you unequip the spell, or synthesize it into something new. Visuals: Gorgeous, a fresh batch of heartless were created with maybe 1 or 2 semi-familiar ones. The keyblades are new and full of wondrous intricacy. All characters have their own styles, animations, and even keyblade grip techniques. Audio: I forgot to pay attention to music, but it was good. The voice overs though....wonderful! Keeping strong in this tradition, dialog and voices actually drew you in and made the story grow deep. (as opposed to those games where youd press mute whenever anyone spoke to avoid embarrassment should someone overhear it...you know you all did it for KH1 little mermaid world haha) and by the way...LEONARD NEMOY is the voice of Xehanort! Thats Spock for those of you who arnt aware...but if you didnt know that, you probably wont care. None the less. Quality voice actors (which is surprising for a mobile game) Story: great, I wont say anything else but it kept me playing for sure. 1 Complaint: The game is broken up so you select 1 character out of 3 (Ventus, Terra, Aqua), play the entire game through them start to finish and see the story evolve from their perspective. Say if your Aqua, you arrive at ???s planet or world and maybe Terra has already been there, so youll be learning about what he helped with while he was there and what needs doing from where he left off. This is fine and feels good and like a full experience...however. Once you beat the game all the way through, its hard to motivate yourself to now pickup the next character and re-visit all the worlds and replay the entire game, granted it is DIFFERENT, with all different experiences, you still see the same worlds and are a part of the same over-all story, all be it from a different perspective. The 3 perspective approach is a great idea, but if they were all together, so you had to (or could choose to) skip back and forth between each character and complete events in chronological order, this would allow you to experience all their stories without replaying the game. Minor fault though...I played it, loved it, will pick it up again sometime for a replay, but instead of replay it will be new with a new character and story...so excellent replay value atleast 3 times!

If more games had been made like this for the PSP, it might not have been such a flop for Sony. The gameplay is fluid, like any other kingdom hearts game, the voice acting is impressive, with a few big names in the script, and the graphics highlight the capabilities of the system very well. The story is interesting, but nothing groundbreaking as far as the Kingdom Hearts universe is concerned. The same overall themes and foils are present in the narrative, ex) friendship, darkness and light. Theres also the whole Disney - Square crossover thing going on. Its a prequel, so it is fun to see some of the same worlds revisited before the first game, or certain worlds visited for the first time, showing characters that appeared in other games. The game follow 3 different characters, one at a time, to give a full picture of whats going on. Its nice, and certain skills are unique to each character, but the levels end up being all the same, with slight modification, between each story line. If you still have a psp, and havent played this yet, give it a try. It might even inspire you to buy a Vita. The hardware is extremely capable, but in the end useless, without good games like Birth by Sleep to showcase it.

I have to admit, I am a die-hard KH fan, but to tell you the truth, I am getting tired of all of these side-story games. I have played every game released in the United States and so I know the whole story. Out of all of the side story games (Chain of Memories, RE:chain of Memories, Coded, 358/2 Days), I think it is second. 358/2 Days is still my favorite. But the storyline is pretty good. The graphics are superb, but personally, I expected better gameplay. It was mixing 358/2 days with the original games. It was good they were trying something different... but I wanted to have some more... KH1/KH2 parts since the game was for PSP, not for the DS or GBA. The controls were sometimes a little hard to handle, but thats coming from someone who rarely plays the PSP. I am more of a nintendo person. XP But yeah, I got it fast and for cheaper than in the stores (about 33% less) through Amazon. A great KH game, and I hope they finally get to making KH3! XD

Such a fun game. Better than the first game after its remaster on ps3. The fighting is pretty easy to get the hang of and the graphics are cleaner than the first one. I have really enjoyed it so far.

If you are looking for a good rpg well you found a better one. Best rpg by far its a meld of a exciting story and gameplay. The kingdom hearts series have not dissapoint after playing this I got kh 1 and 2 for ps2 and I have a new rpg favorite of all time. Your missing out if you dnt play this. I heard kingdom hearts 3D dream drop distance coming out soon too for the nintendo 3ds. I dnt own one but after playing birth by sleep, I will buy one just to play that. Conclusion this game tops my list and yours too most likely!