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[thetechkid]

Getting/borrowing/stealing a psp for this game.

 

[Pureauthor]

Eh, you know what, I'll just post what I did because I don't want it to go entirely to waste.

Cast your mind back, kids. All the way back to the end of ’05. An obscure little game came out in Japan that you might not have heard of. Went by the rather odd name of Kingdom Hearts 2. But at the very end of the game there was a tiny CG movie featuring people standing around in armour.

Fast forward to March ’07. The Final Mix of KH2 was released, featuring an extended trailer showing more of the dudes in armour and a couple of dudes not in armour. For those of you unlucky enough to not have seen this, I offer you this graphical representation of what occurred:

Of course, interest was piqued. And now, several years later, we are on the cusp of the (English) release of the game this CG movie alluded to. Ladies and gentlemen, this is

Random Miscellaneous Info You Don’t Really Care About (Except Maybe The Release Dates):
Platform: PlayStation Portable
Developer: Square Enix

Executive Producer: Shinji Hashimoto
Producer: Patrick Chen
Co-Producer: Yoichi Yoshimoto
Director: Tetsuya Nomura
Co-Director: Tai Yasue
Character Design: Tetsuya Nomura
Composers: Yoko Shimomura, Tsuyoshi Sekito, Takeharu Ishimoto

RELEASE DATE
09/01/2010 – JPN
07/09/2010 – US
10/09/2010 – EU
09/09/2010 – AUS

Ratings
ESRB

Fantasy Violence
Suggestive Themes

PEGI

OFLC

SWAG:

EU Special Edition

This set includes a 48-page artbook and a set of art prints in special packaging.


NA PSP-3000 Bundle

The limited edition Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep PSP Entertainment Pack will include:

- “Mystic-Silver” PSP-3000 system
- KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep on UMD (Universal Media Disc)*
- Movie (to be announced)
- 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo

*Movie content will not be related to KINGDOM HEARTS series

Preorder Bonus

(Where in blazes is the official soundtrack?)

So what’s this game, then?

This is Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, a prequel to the rest of the series, and it’s intended to clear up some of the lingering issues with the story (lord knows there’s more than enough of those) as well as fleshing out the history of the Keyblades and those who wield them. The primary protagonists are these guys, who were the same ones as in the trailer sans armour:

And the primary antagonists, as seen from the Final Mix trailer way back when, are these guys:

The gameplay hews to the fast-paced action style we’ve all grown to know and love from KH2, only done much, much better. Specific gameplay improvements come a little later. First, plot!

THE STORY SO FAR (Spoilers for the rest of the series, naturally)

So there’s this dude, his best friend, and a chick. And he gets a Keyblade, which is like a magic sword and a magic key mashed together and is totally awesome and goes around beating up bad guys. But the dude’s best friend is jealous or something and he turns over to DARKNESS because nothing could possibly go wrong with that. It naturally goes horribly wrong and the bad guy possesses the dude’s best friend and then the dude beats up the bad guy but then due to plot shenanigans the dude and his best friend end up stuck in different worlds while the chick is back home.

Then later the dude finds a castle, beats up his best friend multiple times (except it’s not his best friend, it’s more like a Barbie doll remodelled to look like his best friend), visits places he’s already been to before, except not really because it’s like, his memory is making the worlds again or something, which is problematic because he gets his memory erased by some other chick and he finally goes to sleep to, I dunno, get it back. Also he meets a new chick who is actually the first chick except sort of kind of not really. Also, she’s the one erasing his memory. Naturally they become friends. Meanwhile, a bunch of guys in black cloaks are running around being MYSTERIOUS until the dude kills them.

The dude’s best friend, meanwhile, masters the DARKNESS by beating up the bad guy… inside his heart… somehow (also he beats up the Barbie doll of himself). More guys in black cloaks continue to run around being MYSTERIOUS until the dude’s best friend kills them.

Then later we play as some other dude who’s one of the guys in black cloaks who run around being MYSTERIOUS. He makes friends with another of the guys, as well as yet another chick. Vast quantities of ice cream end up consumed. Over time, he learns the horrible truth, that he is not actually another dude, he is the same as the first dude, except sort of kind of not really. He also learns that the chick he befriended looks like the first chick from way back when but is actually also the first dude except sort of kind of not really. And then he gets his memory erased, and later he gets erased from existence. Sucks to be him.

Oh yeah, the chick who is actually the dude also dies. Sad. This also retroactively erases the memory of his/her/its existence from everyone’s mind. Weird.

And then the first dude wakes up again, and then there’re more of the guys in the black cloaks running around being MYSTERIOUS until the dude kills them. Also the dude’s best friend has apparently forgotten about all the ‘mastering DARKNESS’ stuff because now he’s acting like a pussy over it. (Maybe he got his memory erased?) There’s also another bad guy. As we progress through the game we learn that the original bad guy was actually a good guy and that another bad guy stole the name of the good guy and used it for himself because… um… the Ceteris Paribus principle, I guess. Also, there’s the new bad guy who is actually the old bad guy except sort of kind of not really. The dude kills him too. And everyone has a happy ending.

With hugs.

And so we go back to the past, ten years before the game starts. There’re two guys and a girl and they’re all training with Keyblades, except only one of them makes the cut to become a Keyblade master (it’s the girl, by the way). So one of the guys gets hissy and runs off to find a way to become stronger, which might be okay if it didn’t involve the most obviously evil guy ever. Other dude chases after him to find him, and the girl gets send to bring both of them back.

Also there’re some Disney characters running around. But you knew that.

CHARACTERS:

Terra
Voice Actor: Jason Boring Dohring
“You have to be strong. Strength of heart will carry you through the hardest of trials.”

Oldest of the trio of playable characters in the game, Terra is a headstrong, brash individual who nevertheless cares deeply for his friends. After he fails to become a Keyblade Master at the beginning of the game, he sets out to hunt down Master Xehanort in an attempt to better himself and become worthy of attaining the title of Keyblade Master.

(Those of you who can’t see where this is going, raise your hands.)

Combat Style: Hit ‘em hard and hit ‘em fast. Terra’s the least agile of the three playable characters, but in terms of strength and bulk he more than makes up for his lack of speed with overwhelming force behind his attacks.

Ventus “Ven”
Voice Actor: Jesse McCartney
“I'm asking you as a friend, just... put an end to me.”

The youngest and least experienced of the trio, Ventus was never even a candidate for Keyblade Master rank as of the game’s beginning, and he was pretty chill with this. However, after Terra took off, Ventus decided to follow him and bring him back on his own initiative. However, the more he travels through the worlds, the more he comes to realize a horrifying fact about his true nature:

Spoiler

He is actually Sora’s Nobody. From the FUTURE.

Combat Style: Easily the fastest of the trio, Ven relies on pummelling the enemy with a constant barrage of individually weaker attacks to defeat them. His incredible speed also allows him to evade and avoid enemy attacks with ease.

Aqua
Voice Actor: Milla Holland
“ Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit. And the fruit represents an unbreakable connection.”

Described by Nomura as being like an ‘Ace Student’, Aqua is the only one of the trio to qualify for the status as a Keyblade Master, thus when Terra vanishes and Ven goes after Terra, she’s the one entrusted with the task of bringing them back. Also, since she’s a girl she’s probably going to spend the majority of the game absolutely useless. You know, like all the other KH girls.

SPOILER:

Spoiler

She’s the only one who actually gets the shit done.

Combat Style: The most magically gifted of the three, Aqua incorporates the arcane into her attack combos easily, smoothly switching between physical and magical assaults to defeat any opponent she encounters.

Hironobu Sakaguchi
Voice Actor: Mark Hamill
“[Final Fantasy IX]'s closest to my ideal view of what Final Fantasy should be.”

After the disastrous collapse of Mistwalker (circa 2014), the Gooch decided to pursue a career in Keyblade fighting and promptly went off to the Land of Departure. Over time he got three apprentices, the aforementioned Terra, Ventus and Aqua. It’s said that he views Terra as his son, and Terra largely reciprocates his feelings.

(Also I can’t find any decent fanart of this guy whatsoever. Bleagh. I did, however stumble across fanart involving him, Master Xehanort, and a disturbing lack of clothes.)

Master Xehanort
Voice Actor: Leonard Nimoy
“Heart HEARTS Keyblade wars Darkness Heart RAGE dark shadows DARKNESS Heart Keyblade Light shadow Dark keyblade wars rage channel heart Precious light LIGHT shadows darkness KINGDOM HEARTS”

A Keyblade Master, one trusted and respected by the known members of the Keyblade… um, community, and a close friend of Eraqus (Nomura likened their relationship to being like old classmates). Which just goes to show you that everyone in the KHverse is a complete idiot. I mean, look at the guy. The only way he could be any more obviously evil was if he had a helmet with blood encrusted spikes and the word ‘EVIL’ embossed on it in day-glo orange.

Yeah, pretty much like that.

Vanitas, aka Evil Spider-man
Voice Actor:

Spoiler

Haley Joel Osment

“KEIBURAIDO SENSODA!!!!!”

A mysterious, helmeted individual that appears to Ven shortly into the game’s beginning, mocking him and claiming that soon Terra would no longer be himself. Throughout the course of the game he appears often to antagonize our heroes and generally be a big jackass. What are his true intentions?

(This is like, one of two pieces of good fanart that doesn’t reveal what’s under his helmet.)

THE SCENARIO:

One of the main ideas of the game is that you take control of each of the three protagonists and you’ll see events that play out from their respective points of view. Each storyline is estimated to take around 15 hours (which means more like 7- 10), and only at the end will you have a complete idea of the entire story.

Spoiler

And it will be very stupid, much like almost all other KH stories.

WORLDS:
Here are the various worlds visited in the game.

Land of Departure (Original World)
Radiant Garden (Original World)
Keyblade Graveyard (Original World)
Destiny Islands (Original World)
Mirage Arena (Original World)
Disney Town (Mickey Mouse & Friends)
Olympus Coliseum (Hercules)
Enchanted Dominion (Sleeping Beauty)
Castle of Dreams (Cinderella)
Deep Space (Lilo & Stitch... actually, it’s mostly just Stitch)
Dwarf Woodlands (Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs)
Neverland (Peter Pan)
100 Acre Wood (Winnie the Pooh)

GAMEPLAY ADDITIONS:

Gameplay is largely the standard Kingdom Hearts fare that we all know and love. However, there’s been a pretty big overhaul to the battle system (based on impressions, largely for the better), and it can be summed up by way of the Command Deck.

The Command Deck system allows you to customize what moves you want to bring into the battle instead of simply having a huge menu and/or choosing AP to equip moves. By using these actions in battle, you increase a Command Gauge, and when the gauge is filled you change your style of combat based on the kind of commands you used. One example given was that if you used lots of aerial and wind based attacks, you’d get the Sky Climber style, giving you access to even more of the kinds of moves you’ve been using.

Command Deck moves are selected by using the Triangle button, largely replacing the Reaction Commands of KH2. Furthermore, you can further customize the commands available to you by using Command Meld system. When you use your commands, they’ll level up and you can merge them together to create all new commands. Yay.

Another way to level up your characters is the Command Board, which is basically a souped up Monopoly. Points earned in this game can be used to strength your various Commands. I have it on good testimony (aka duckroll) that this is extremely addictive.

The D-Link or Destiny Link system is the revamped summoning system, and once again it ties into the Command Deck. By linking with a character you gain access to their commands, and get to wreck shit using the linked character’s customized style. One example is the D-Link with Stitch, where apparently you get to play the ukulele to beat up bad guys.

Another addition is the Shotlock system, which is basically a fancy way of targeting multiple opponents at once. The various Shotlocks range from magic beam spam to teleporting over the place and hitting them with you Keyblade.

LINKS THAT MIGHT PIQUE YOUR INTEREST:
NA Official Site
EU Official Site
KH BbS Import thread
KH BbS Western announcement thread
Developer’s Blog
Kingdom Hearts Music Appreciation Thread

REVIEW SCORES:
Who cares.

SPECIAL THANKS:
Seda, for giving me advice on how to build up the thread, and for providing me some info when I needed it.

TL,DR SUMMARY:

This game will feature:

Keyblades!

Darkness!

Incredibly Ugly Pants! (Seriously, look at those things)

More Darkness!

Incredibly Tight Clothing!

Even More Darkness!

Glorified Monopoly!

Loads More Darkness!

Fire Lord Ozai!

DARKNESSSSSSSSSSSS

Spock!

Darknzzzzz

Hamminess!

And, get this, I shit you not, darkness

An incomprehensible plot (A picture of The Last Airbender was offered on GIS. You don’t know how much I wanted to use that.)

And maybe some light.

This game will not feature:

Xion and Roxas

Namine

Organization XIII

The Slender Man (I think)

Gummi Ships

A Coherent Plot (Don’t look at me, this is what GIS gave up)

And so, in conclusion, as you leave to enjoy the wondrous insanity of KH:BbS, never forget the greatest, deepest and most fundamental truth of the KHverse:

 

[Mejilan]

Well done. At least you hit the top of the new page.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

wow :lol

 

[Jeels]

When I get home I'll put a banner at the top of my OP with a link to yours "Alternative OP" =]

 

[kyo_daikun]

That KH PSP3000 is cool, might have to order one.

 

[Gravijah]

ok pureauthor, you should steal the pkmn bw OT from whoever is making it


please

 

[Shadow780]

EU package is sexy.

 

[SlickVic]

Sorry if I missed this, but is there a particular order I should play the characters as far as the story making the most sense?

 

[Peff]

Sorry if I missed this, but is there a particular order I should play the characters as far as the story making the most sense?

Terra->Ventus->Aqua.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Eh, you know what, I'll just post what I did because I don't want it to go entirely to waste.

Almost as good as your other OP.

 

[SlickVic]

Terra->Ventus->Aqua.

Cool, will keep that in mind when I get the game. Thanks.

 

[Pureauthor]

Almost as good as your other OP.

I have another OP? When did that happen?

 

[Fuu]

I have another OP? When did that happen?

Probably the one made by the nobody Puhuroxtare.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Edit: Oh wait, that was someone else?

 

[GotchaForce]

Woah, woah, woah....he's not really called Hironobu Sakaguchi?

 

[pulga]

Epic Alt-OP, Pureauthor :lol

 

[xero273]

Woah, woah, woah....he's not really called Hironobu Sakaguchi?

no, the character name is eraqus

 

[kyo_daikun]

Probably the one made by the nobody Puhuroxtare.

See im confused now, god knows what im going to be like when playing the game... :lol

 

[jj984jj]

See im confused now, god knows what im going to be like when playing the game... :lol

Better? :lol

 

[JustAnotherOtaku]

I have the standard UK version preordered for cheapish but really tempted to cancel it and pay extra for the SE...

 

[sciplore]

Bravo pureauthor for that awesome could have been op.

Just saw a ad about this game while watching Huge (fuck off it's a good show) and to be honest I am kind of getting bored of the constant replays of "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary". I really wish Square bothered to get Utada to do a new song that just went for all the handhelds at least.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Seeing more videos is making me more excited for this! It really looks much better than I thought!

It kind of sucks that I can't get this off of PSN, but I guess I can live with that.

 

[Crash Station]

Eh, you know what, I'll just post what I did because I don't want it to go entirely to waste.

No Slender man?

Also, I really like that gummi ship fanart.

 

[Volcynika]

IGN posted their review: 8.5

http://psp.ign.com/articles/111/1118030p1.html

Video review: http://psp.ign.com/dor/objects/964460/kingdom-hearts/videos/khearts_bbs_vdr_090210.html?show=hi

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep has the best battle system in the series and one of the most ambitious storytelling devices yet; the game's few issues aren't enough to spoil the fun. With three characters to choose from, plenty of fun mini-games and a rich combat experience, Birth by Sleep comes highly recommended.

7.5 Presentation
Well polished, though load times are a bit longer than I'd like. Overall story is engaging and has plenty of charm, though some Disney side stories lack a punch.

7.5 Graphics
Superb character models and particle effects, but environments feel hollow and static.

7.0 Sound
Some of the same flipping tunes show up again in Birth by Sleep, but there are new songs to enjoy and the voice actors do a splendid job. It's great to hear Leonard Nimoy as a villain.

8.5 Gameplay
Fantastic combat system with plenty to upgrade and customize. Robust multiplayer. Mostly fun mini-games.

8.5 Lasting Appeal
Three different campaigns, with tons of secrets to unlock along the way.

 

[Jerk]

Good all around.

Still, reviews--and the reviewers that 'write' them--suck.

 

[ExtraKr1spy]

Anyone know what firmware will BbS require(please be 6.20)?

 

[SuperSonic1305]

7.5 Graphics

 

[Sydle]

Definitely picking this up Tuesday. I'm not even going to pretend that I enjoy the story (KH2 was awful in that regard), but the game play is still fun.

 

[asdad123]

So I understand this isnt coming to PSN, but SE, can you please stop advertising that you'll be able to play it on a PSPgo?

I just saw a commercial for it on tv (awesome commercial by the way), but at the end of the commercial, they showed a PSPgo :lol

 

[Jeels]

Added a separate banner in the OP linking to pureauthor's great OP, also added three new reviews.

As a game Birth By Sleep fills a couple of important functions. Partially it’s about a necessary explanation to one of Square Enix storytelling-wise most advanced series throughout the ages. Partially it’s an important lifesign from a format who during latter years has felt more and more shoved to the side. PSP truly needs more games like Birth By Sleep. And especially those that belong to that rare kind that makes you play a game to the final credits three times.

On top of the deep combat, seasoned fans of the genre will appreciate looting and leveling through this sophisticated action-RPG. Rounding out the experience is one of the prettiest presentations to pop off the PSP's wide display.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep has the best battle system in the series and one of the most ambitious storytelling devices yet; the game's few issues aren't enough to spoil the fun. With three characters to choose from, plenty of fun mini-games and a rich combat experience, Birth by Sleep comes highly recommended. Read More: http://psp.ign.com/articles/111/1118030p2.html

 

[Freyjadour]

So level with me GAF. How heavy-handed with the bullshit story ala KH2 is BBS? I rather enjoyed 1 but have been jaded on the series since.

Also, is it a necessity to play as all three characters?

Spoiler

Fuck you Suikoden III!

 

[Pureauthor]

So level with me GAF. How heavy-handed with the bullshit story ala KH2 is BBS? I rather enjoyed 1 but have been jaded on the series since.

Also, is it a necessity to play as all three characters?

Spoiler

Fuck you Suikoden III!

It's Kingdom Hearts. The story is bullshit by default.

Also, it depends on what you mean by 'necessity'. The overarching plot can be more or less surmised from a single character's playthrough, but if you want all the pieces of the puzzle + each one's perspective on a particular situation, then yeah, all three.

 

[Larsen B]

I wasn't following the game at all until this thread and now I've ordered the SE. Thanks a bunch, GAF. Now to find time to fit this, Ys 7 and VCII into my schedule.

Already preordered. But I won't be playing it until I'm all caught up with the franchise.

I've only finished the first one. Should I do like Mejilan and play the rest of the series first?

 

[Spiegel]

7.5 in graphics??

Oh, IGN

 

[Pureauthor]

I've only finished the first one. Should I do like Mejilan and play the rest of the series first?

Well, in terms of gameplay, this game is supposed to trounce all the others by a good bit. The other systems have their ups and downs.

 

[Larsen B]

And story-wise?

 

[Pureauthor]

And story-wise?

Read the story summary in my OP to get yourself up to speed!

On a more serious note, caring about this game's story for anything beyond humour value (and usually unintentional humour at that) probably isn't the best of ideas. And this is coming from someone who really likes Xion. (Don't ask who Xion is if you know what's good for you. Just don't.)

 

[jaxword]

I have that special edition Kingdom Hearts PSP with the original Japanese game...I never opened it, though. I wonder if there's any buyers for it?

 

[Larsen B]

Read the story summary in my OP to get yourself up to speed!

On a more serious note, caring about this game's story for anything beyond humour value (and usually unintentional humour at that) probably isn't the best of ideas. And this is coming from someone who really likes Xion. (Don't ask who Xion is if you know what's good for you. Just don't.)

Ha. Reading your synopsis and the Wikipedia summary for the plot makes me think that I'll just be playing BBS for the actual game.

 

[Mael]

I think....I think I prefer the alt OP :lol
Great job OP and great job too for the alt one, it's so KH and the last picture embodies the serie so well!

 

[Stumpokapow]

7.5 in graphics??

Oh, IGN

7.5 is a bit ridiculous, but they did tap into a pretty serious problem with SE's PSP engine. Crisis Core obviously looked spectacular, but the environments were flat and dull. BBS looks pretty great to me, but the environments look flat and dull. 3rd Birthday looks great to be, but the environments look flat and dull.

I refuse to believe that 3 games with 3 sets of creative staff all suck at designing environments, so I'm assuming the engine sucks at doing them

 

[darkjedi187]

So Hyped. Got my psp charged and ready for release day gaming.

 

[Urban Scholar]

Honestly I didn't think much of this game at first because KH2 burned me on the series. A friend stopped by at work with his import copy thus I played it for 5 minutes or more with Ven....and my faith was restored. Any word on what the bonus content for the NA version is?

 

[Peff]

Any word on what the bonus content for the NA version is?

Yes

The game now features:
2 new Keyblades
A new Command Board (Neverland)
4 new songs in the Ice Cream Beat game (Blast Away! -Gummi Ship II-, Dessert Paradise, Destiny Islands, Hand in Hand).
1 new D-Link (Pete)
Crown stickers
New Deck Commands
New boss ("Mysterious Figure")

Crown Stickers are similar to the Puzzle Pieces in KH2: Final Mix +, they are around the environments, you get them, and place them in an album. When you have enough, you get a certain bonus.

 

[Pureauthor]

7.5 is a bit ridiculous, but they did tap into a pretty serious problem with SE's PSP engine. Crisis Core obviously looked spectacular, but the environments were flat and dull. BBS looks pretty great to me, but the environments look flat and dull. 3rd Birthday looks great to be, but the environments look flat and dull.

I refuse to believe that 3 games with 3 sets of creative staff all suck at designing environments, so I'm assuming the engine sucks at doing them

Yeah, but environments were pretty dull in KH2 too, so maybe it's a design choice in this particular case.

BTW, one of the new playable Keyblades is called 'Void Gear' and is apparently Vanitas' standard Keyblade.

 

[Phatcorns]

This comes out on Tuesday? Ah, shit, just when I thought I could quit you...

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Yes

They still forgot to give Aqua her exclusive water based Command Style. >:|

 

[duckroll]

Any word on what the new commands are? Has anyone done balance comparisons? I wanna know how badly they nerfed Megaflare...

 

[darkjedi187]

This is gonna be great. Still wish we would have gotten the final mix games.

The game now features:
2 new Keyblades
A new Command Board (Neverland)
4 new songs in the Ice Cream Beat game (Blast Away! -Gummi Ship II-, Dessert Paradise, Destiny Islands, Hand in Hand).
1 new D-Link (Pete)
Crown stickers
New Deck Commands
New boss ("Mysterious Figure")