A great addition to the series but of course has some flaws
User Rating: 8.5 | Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep PSP
I've loved Kingdom Hearts it is a great series and an amazing game at that too, but started to go down after the 2nd game until this game came along. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is a prequel to Kingdom Hearts (the first one) so basically the story shows you where it all began. The Story is wonderful, (even for a prequel) you play the roles of not one, nor two, but three characters in Birth by Sleep; Terra, Ventus (Ven for short), and Aqua are the main protagonists in this story and all keyblade wielders and are all best friends. Terra wants to become a keyblade master but has a spark of darkness inside his heart which he is forbid to become one due to his exposure during his exams and leaves his home to seek guidance to help him get rid of the darkness... or maintain it. Ventus is a young boy who has a serious case of amnesia (then again who doesn't in this series?) who he cannot remember anything before he enters the land but becomes close friends to Terra and Aqua and shares the same dream as them: to become a keyblade master. After Terra leaves the land Ventus runs off to find him. Aqua is a girl (first female protagonist in series too :P) becomes a keyblade master during her and Terra's exam and since she becomes one she learns the secrets only keyblade masters are suppose to know but are they really secrets or events yet to come? Aqua is then order to find Terra and Ventus and bring them back home but not because they ran away... The Gameplay kinda lacks a bit in this game. The worlds you visit are new some old but still enjoyable and some are new and still enjoyable which means you get to see some old and new faces in the Kingdom Hearts universe. You go through the world map like in Kingdom Hearts II except no space adventure you just travel around. The enemies are WAY too annoying in Birth by Sleep, these enemies are call unversed which most of the time they keep on running away so most of the time you chase after them and for some reason is very difficult to do so (of course hard in a very low level) and at times do hit and runs which can become very annoying. Also they like to gang up on you as well which can deplete your HP in seconds leading to death. But once you get the hang of it, it won't be much hard but still annoying. What I liked about Birth by Sleep is the command is different but better if I must say. You create a deck (not card) of moves you can put into a character as well as abilities and special move, for the moves you can have up to 8 special attacks, magic spell which cost no MP, items etc. which if used will have a wait time on it to use it again which doesn't take that long. The Music is Beautiful from old classics to new epic ones the music in this game is by far the best one in the series and I love it so. The Sound Effects are great every keyblade has their own effects to which ever one you've equip as well as special attacks, magic spells, specials, drives, moves lots more. The Voice Acting is kinda plain at time for example Terra and Aqua don't seem to be into it as I thought but then at times they really fit the scene. Ventus voice is the same as roxas so no harm there. There are other characters too but won't go into details there for they are spoilers. The Graphics are top-notch for a PSP game and well made models for each character which I even forget at times I'm playing a PSP game. The opening intro is beautiful just beautiful and cut-scenes epic and gameplay is flawless I just love it to death. The Controls are the other problem to this game, the camera is a troll when it comes to fighting the lock-on system is also broken in this game when locking on it really does lock on to that target (the camera) leaving you behind and hard to control. Also the new command system is kinda broken at times too, when using a move make sure your at a good distance because if your using a move and get his while trying to use that move the game believes you've already use that move and you have to wait until you can use it again, for example when trying to use cure will in the dying state and trying to use it but get hit you cannot use it until you wait but you are not heal so it's basically a waste (you have no idea how many times I've died because of this). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is a wonderful addition not just to the Kingdom Hearts universe but to anyone ones PSP collection as well.
Score:
Story: 9.5
Gameplay: 8.0
Sound: 9.5
Graphics: 10
Controls: 5.5
Overall: 8.5
