Lots of busy doing nothing, lately. New games, lotsa movies, cathing up on thousands of deviations, sketching on random pieces of paper... You know, lots of nothin'.
Continuing on blathering on about things nobody but myself cares, I've played the heck outta Birth by Sleep, doing all but completing the Journal to 100% since we all know what that's like. I've finally tried most-if-not everything, however, and (barring my hatred of how Nomura handles the Final Mixes) I have come to the conclusion that it's time to faux-review it, and [spoiler] it ties with Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix + as the top titles in the series.
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep had a challenge the moment it was announced: it was a prequel. Prequels are always a tricky lot; on one hand, you've got a chance to 'start fresh', so to speak. It's a chance to gather newcomers in without any prior knowledge and hopefully suck them in enough for them to become fans and play/buy the rest of the series. And for the existing fanbase returning that made the franchise popular to begin with, you've got to make it engaging enough to appease the never-quite-pleased fanbase with a relevant and worthwhile installment.
For what it's worth, I believe Nomura succeeded on both accounts. That said, I'm also not a highly-picky person compared to the fanbase. I love those guys, I really do. Fans are what keeps franchises going, for better or for worse. But gosh, a good 85% of them seem to not have all masts flying when they speak. Moving on...
First and foremost is the narrative. I've always been more of a gameplay > story kinda gamer, having grown up almost exclusively on Nintendo platforms. However, I do play a few franchises for their stories, paraticularly Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear. What can I say, I get attatched to characters rather easily and will stick through thick and thin to see what happens to 'em. This is no exception.
Birth by Sleep takes place a decade before the original title (and eight years real-time). It features mostly-new characters, filling in much-needed backstory on how the KH universe operated before Sora's world-hopping days. For the veterans, there are quite a few familiar faces, wonderful experiences in new Disney worlds, and the series' best localization and writing.
It's a tale told by the three main protagonists, continuing the series' much-loved trios - a likable, spiky-haired youth [Ventus], the older friend with a decision to make [Terra], and a girl [Aqua]. They essentially give the game three types of play: the Speedy, the Powerhouse, and the Magician. Each has their own scenarios, meeting up with each other at times, each with their own experiences and motives. As per series tradition, Terra is looking for someone (this case a mentor and his deciple), while Ven runs away chasing Terra, with Aqua to check up on both.
It's a lot more interesting, obviously. Each character gets to focus on a specific part of the mythos: the duality of Darkness and Light, the existential moments of being, and deciding to belive things can be set right again. Each story is dotted with the usual Disney fair, mostly new in this installment, with the individual Worlds having distinctly more purpose to the overarching plot than previous titles. This leads to a sense of brisk progress and purpose, expanding on Days' focus on overall character interactions. The result is a very satisfying tale that unravels just as much as it dangles, which isn't as bad as it sounds.
I was able to correctly guess the fate of one character, half of the fate of another, and was completely stumped by the other. While incomplete individually, the fantastic ending hints at a much grander future in store for the current story arc. While the fans bemoan the lack of a gorgeous FMV secret ending (or, as most forget, a very pretty concept video), it brought a tear to my sentimental soul that maybe, just maybe, their hurting will be mended when he returns to end it.
Being on the PSP, it was able to be the most impressive-looking title on the handheld. The presentation is comparable to it's PS2 predecessors, which is quite a feat. The soundtrack is the best yet, with gorgeous motiffs and excellent remixes of older mainstays (Neverland wins again for Disney battle theme third time running). The voice acting is top-notch as usual, with Mark Hamill and Leonard Nimoy -depicted to the right as the elderly BAMF, solidifying his status as an awesome villain- as opposing badasses; you really can't go wrong with such a Star Wars/Trek combo.Though it's a technical marvel of a game, you can tell it's pushing the PSP to its breaking point. I highly recommend to everyone the full 800mb+ Data Install for a stress-free experience. The loading times with over half it's disc content can get lengthy, with the scratchy whirl of the UMD a common occurance, and I can only imagine them without. I've heard it loads mid-battle, which would be discombobulating for anyone. It burns through your battery life, but the game practically demands it.
The game also boasts the most addicting battle system of the series. A streamlined version of Chain of Memories' Card system, the Deck Commands are equipable abilities, items, and magic which can be chosen and executed in a simple button press that require cooldown times between uses. Commands can be mixed together in the title's form of Synthesis and is essential to obtaining the most coveted abilities, as well as the traditional secondary abilities, like extra HP, quicker reloads, and other stat-boosting benefits.
Like Days, it relieves the use of an MP meter, and encourages players on all difficulties (rather, forces us Critical players for leveling the playing fields with the two superbosses in our much-wanted difficulty spike) to experiment with various combinations. It even reimagines Summons and even includes a crowd clearer/limit break of sorts with it's seperate gauge, similar to KHII's Drive Meter. It even randomizes timed-button presses for more advanced moves, in a commendable attempt to do away with the "mash attack to win" strategy popularized by KHII's otherwise excellent battle system. It's an addicting and wonderful battle system, and I hope they merge this with KHII's controls and ease of use for my ideal battle system.
It's an excellent game, the second reason I bought a PSP half a decade after it's release, and one I would recommend to players new and old. As a fan, it blew away my expectations in both gameplay and story. It delivered on revealing a significant amount of the past, tied up some loose threads, clarified past mysteries, and set up an intriguing future for the series.
Birth by Sleep holds as much weight as a numbered title, effectively being Kingdom Hearts 0 by Word of God. It's sad, as half the fanbase only wishes for Kingdom Hearts III to be released and refuse to play the three gaiden titles. Joke'll be on them like it was for those who passed on Chain of Memories when the plot picks up after events you chose not to play!
Non-Kingdom Hearts posts coming, I swear! I got them outta my system until January (when the Final Mix of this title releases in Japan and Re:coded gets released internationally), so expect a retroactive franchise review coming up on a certain Rare duo from two generations past.
I'm using a blog to review games... Man, I'm a boring person.
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