Another series that needs no introduction. Another series that is close to my heart. Out of all the series in this list, I’d say this is actually my favorite overall. Not that you could tell by the list itself I just think this series is the least flawed overall, considering there’s only one installment of it that I consider “meh”. But I know there’s a lot of people out there that will disagree with me, simply because it’s…
KINGDOM HEARTS BIRTH BY SLEEP
I always thought the handheld titles in the Kingdom Hearts series were the better ones (excluding coded, of course ). This is probably due to the fact that a handheld release allows for more freedom, as the stakes are lower when a risk is taken. So what does BbS do differently? It introduces a very unique battle system utilizing a command deck, where every skill can be used freely, but later requires a cooldown period. Combine that with three new protagonists, unique battle styles and plenty of never-before-seen worlds (even if they’re a bit on the small side and get revisited a tad too often), and you’ve got yourself a real treat. Oh, did I mention this is a prequel to Kingdom Hearts I?
Mickey's held up pretty nicely, you gotta admit.
While the battle system is fantastic and flows incredibly well, I think the strongest asset of this game is its story. While BbS does retcon some of the things already established in the KH canon, it does so quite elegantly, while answering many nagging questions people had after KHII, but also introducing new story arcs that are very well developed and put the series on its head in a good way. This is quite possibly the darkest entry in the series so far. Though the pacing is a bit disjointed due to the game being split between the three protagonists, the emotion is there and it is surprisingly genuine. As a long-time fan of the series, I was expecting a lot of the twists that came along, but the game still sucked me in completely. It’s an emotional roller-coaster. And I mean real human emotion, not the soap opera-ish drama we got fed in some popular SE entries (not gonna point any fingers BUT…*cough* FFX *cough*
About those characters now. While Terra and Ventus are really nice additions to the series, it was Aqua that I felt was actually the heart and soul of this game, and this was really unexpected. Terra and Ventus’ roles were pretty obvious from the beginning to anyone familiar with the series, but Aqua at first, at least to me, seemed to be put into game just so we can have a token chick. Well, luckily, I couldn’t be more wrong. Not going into spoilers too much, let me just say the series has a very interesting relationship with the Mary Sue trope. I always had this idea that maybe Nomura reads all this fanfic where people create replacements for Kairi and then put all those ideas on their head and turns them into something really smart. At the beginning Aqua seems like she’s just there to be the Kairi to Terra and Ven’s Riku and Sora, and that may be partly true. But then you start to see just how much she matters in the plot of the entire franchise, and what exactly her relationship with all those nagging questions is. Also, she’s hands-down my favorite character to play as in this game, because magic is awesome, and she’s much more graceful than Terra, without Ventus’s fragility. I still can’t decide if she or Riku is my all-time favorite KH character. Does it really matter, though?
A lot of good that'll do ya, huh.
The music is once again composed by the amazing Yoko Shimomura. This and the KH3D soundtrack are probably my favorite work ever done by her, with BbS’s version of Dearly Beloved (above) being simply magical – the best one yet – and the battle themes are also friggin’ amazing, as could be expected. Like with Bravely Default, I don’t think there’s a single track I dislike.
Birth by Sleep is a very important entry in the series that cannot be missed by series fans. If you think this is a good opportunity to jump into the series – I would not recommend that approach. Kingdom Hearts is pretty dense story-wise, so going in out of order is just asking for getting lost in all this. Still, it’s really an amazing game, and it’s now even more accessible, thanks to the KHII.5 HD remix.
I just think this series is the least flawed overall, considering there’s only one installment of it that I consider “meh”. But I know there’s a lot of people out there that will disagree with me, simply because it’s…
). This is probably due to the fact that a handheld release allows for more freedom, as the stakes are lower when a risk is taken. So what does BbS do differently? It introduces a very unique battle system utilizing a command deck, where every skill can be used freely, but later requires a cooldown period. Combine that with three new protagonists, unique battle styles and plenty of never-before-seen worlds (even if they’re a bit on the small side and get revisited a tad too often), and you’ve got yourself a real treat. Oh, did I mention this is a prequel to Kingdom Hearts I?
