Birth by Sleep Birth by Sleep - Best in series so far?

Hi everyone,
So thinking about it Birth by Sleep is probably my favourite game of the series, rivalled by Kingdom Hearts 2. I think BbS could have been extended or perhaps more challenging, excluding boss fights, but the graphics and gameplay are the best from my point of view.

 

I think it's one of the best because of the three playable characters. And it's not the same as the 3 playable characters in KH2 (Sora for most of the story, Mickey (at times) when you die, and Riku for about 10 seconds during the final boss fight.) This time you actually get to play story mode with three different fighting styles and some unique moves for each character, different command styles like wing blade and ghost drive. Overall, it was really a great game. My only complaint was that it felt kinda short.

 

Well in my opinion I'd say nothing can beat the original game which would be Kh1 and think its the best one in the series because it isn't a short game it does takes awhile to complete it, and its more challenging, but that's my opinion. Birth by sleep however is alot of fun with the mini-games and the way you fight using the command decks/styles, D-links, or finish commands. So I say its the 2nd best, The story does feel short and it gets kinda annoying seeing some of the same clips over & over. Kh2 is just too easy even if it is on proud mode, but at least it's long.

 

i was actually slightly disappointed in Birth by Sleep. the reason was the story. i felt the story was very weak this time around and i felt that Terra's story was the only well developed story. Ventus' was ok, albeit a few minor things like:

1. when you go to Dwarf Woodlands and Unversed show up, i was wondering if Ventus somehow already knew about the Unversed because he just started killing them like it was nothing?

2. why did Ventus leave home again? his leaving home felt very forced to me and the motivation for him doing so also felt VERY forced.

i thought all 3 stories were good up until you complete Radiant Garden, everything after that just felt really pointless. Aqua's story, was not worth even putting in because it was seriously underdeveloped. i felt all she does is say "Terra and Ventus were here? i must've just missed them". though you discover some secrets at the very end with Aqua.

anyways, the story was weak. but the combat system was SOLID. it worked on so many levels and was perfect for the portable system. the multiplayer was done really well except for the fact that there weren't enough variety of stages for it (though it looks like this will be fixed in Final Mix).

anyways, my score for this game would be 7.7 out of 10. it was still better than KH2, though very short.

 

As far as the handheld-releases I'd say, Yes. - The game was fun really enjoyed it from the characters to the worlds to the new panel system. I believe that the hype for this game was just as similar as for the one for KH2. I felt at somepoints going to the same worlds with just three different characters to play from can be repetitive, but the game portrays it in three different point of views which I felt was a good way to change from the repetitiveness 358/2 days had.

 

I think it is the best kingdom hearts game yet! ^^ It is very enjoyable to play and It has three different characters with three different stories and three different sets of abilities for them. some things stay the same but on the most part, it changes. Each story connects to one another and it flows nicely!

 

I feel like Evil_Man89 : doing everything thrice is boring in the long run, and the plot seems a little forced sometimes.
"Gasp ! Xehanort ! You ... you' re the bad guy ? No way !!?!? How come ? We didn' t have a clue ! Is that why you used dark magic during the exam at the very beginning of the game ? Oh but wait, we must not make assumptions, maybe you have a good reason ..."
Right ... x_x
"No Ventus, don' t come with me. I want you to be safe ... alone". Yeah, that makes sense !
However the gameplay is the best so far, and the end of the game was very enjoyable, despite the secret KH2 cool CG ending displayed with in-game graphics.

 

The Square voices were pretty bad in comparison to the originals, with the exception of Vanitas, who has a spectacular voice, and Terranort.

The gameplay is far better in BBS than any other game. Finally, all those awesome magic attacks are actually practical to use. In other games, my magic would rarely be used on offense. instead it would be reserved for Curaga. Now all of that is separate, so I can finally spam magic as much as the keyblade. It makes the entire thing more fun, and getting an awesome ability is way more satisfying.

D-Link isn't so good, as I find little incentive to actually use it. But it's a nice feature. Perhaps make it more like summons, instead of a deck-change, and it'll be good.

The plot for Terra is superb. I find the others somewhat lacking though. Aqua's mission was to keep an eye on Terra, and take Ven back. She finds both of them, then loses sight of Terra and tells Ven to go home before going off to somewhere else. With Ven, it just seems really forced.

 

Personally i love BBS and i like it just a little bit mor ethan KH 1. KH was the original and i just love playing it even more than KH 2 or KH 2 FM. but sadly idk where my memory card is so im kind of S.O.L. on that one... but yeah i agree BBS is the best so far except thecamera which is a continuing problem fo rthe KH games but other than that i like them all but love those 2 the most.

 

Ventus was my first story and I thought the same thing. It's funny, Eraqus only tells Aqua and Terra about the unversed, yet when Ven sees them he evens says, "The Unversed!" and starts attacking. My only explanation is that when you leave The Land of Departure (which, come on, they couldn't come up with a better name?) after you leave there, you get Xehanort's letter, which I'm pretty sure does mention the unversed. So maybe Ven decided to read that when he was on the world map.

 

The best? I don't know... in a way it is, with combat being improved, the fleshing out of the PSP's capabilities (after completing it I thought they condense both KH1 and 2 down to be palyed on it.) not to mention the great addition of the Mirage arena, allowing multiplayer capabilities. In those terms, yes it's the best, but in reality it's not my favourite. Kh was a favourite until I felt it was trumped by KH2, but BBS didn't seem to live up to its previous games to me. The plot was decent but wasn't that solid from three different perspectives in any random order you could play them, not to mention the lack of challenge in the storyline bosses (however the optional bosses, toughest *******s i've ever seen).
As a best it could be seen that way, however there are a number of problems with it that make it also one of the worse so far, or maybe i'm exaggerating.

 

The graphics are really amazing, but that could just be because of the smaller screen. I would have to say Kingdom hearts 2 is my favourite because it's the one I first played and it's the one I've played countless times and enjoyed each play through. I know how you're supposed to fight as Sora in KH2 which doesn't make the game too challenging but sometimes I like it that way.

When I first played Birth by Sleep I thought that it would surpass KH2 because the fight style is so different and new while the stories are exciting and fun. However, I have to say KH2 is better because when I think of it, I have good memories so every time I play it, it reminds me of those memories. It's weird, but I don't think any game can ever beat that.

 

I thought Birth By Sleep was close to favorite, a lot better than Kingdom Hearts II due to the fact it went back to the root of Kingdom Hearts I one with the in-world storyline and character interplay. But there were flaws that made it lose it's edge over Kingdom Hearts I.

One was the painfully obvious missing third of the storyline. Sorry, Aqua fans, but Aqua didn't cut it for me in any way. Her story was flat and dull as much as her personality through the whole thing, there was no development or anything that really changed compared to the other two which were rich and well-developed, and don't get me into Neverland and not having to fight any heartless. That left you not only poorly prepared not only for the last world, but it made the already slightly dull storyline to flat out dull with nothing going for it.

The whole Disney world also made it painful, not with Terra and Aqua as much, but Ven's drove me insane. I'm sorry, but I hate sing-alongs, I hate rhythm and beat stuff, I hate everything to do with it. Bash me if you want, but that should not be part of a game made for action. It doesn't fit in, and it makes people who curse guitar hero and Dance Dance Revolution to the bottom of their heart to want to go and murder someone. I was so turned off I nearly went and returned the game after SIX HOURS straight of playing that mini-game listening to "It's a Small World", and I already hated that song. No more singalongs. From the bottom of my heart.

Kingdom Hearts I in my opinion is the best of the series. Excellent storyline, well blending in with the worlds, excellent villains. *yes Xenmas still ticks me off with the lack of anything* Great mini-games that at least didn't make me want to cry or resign myself to play it for some requirement. Excellent sidequests, no button mashing that became so popular in Kingdom Hearts II with the triangle button. Just straight out excellent game.

 

I never play DDR or GH either but this mini-game was fingers in the nose stuff to me. I studied music several years when I was young and I' m really good at rhythm stuff. Did you know the timing in the Japanese version was even tighter ? ^^
KH are action games but the whole mini-games deal is a direct FF heritage. They' re optional you know ?
Completionist usually don' t ***** about hard games ...

 

Not in Ven's story. YOU HAVE TO COMPLETE BEGINNER "It's a Small World" WITH a 1,000 points in rhythm and beat game to continue. It flat out refuses any other option. I know because I tried my damned hardest to get through a loophole for it. I posted everywhere asking for another way around it, no, you have to beat that game with a great score to continue.

And I played mini-games before, I know some are required at least once, and I know some aren't. Like Blitzball for FFX and the magic carpet ride in Kingdom Hearts II. I played them both and had no complaints. But something that gets a person stuck for six hours with a song that drives most people into a murdering spree just thinking of the song, no, just no, and having to COMPLETE it with a 1,000 point limit? With no other options around it? No.

Kingdom Hearts II with Twilight Town mini-games were fine, there was a huge variety of games to choose from, and I liked a few to play through it and even collected the max amount of munney. Atlantica was fine, even though yes, I did curse that world to no end and still hate it, it was optional. I tolerated it because I wanted the secret ending.

The problem I had with the sing-along was there was no options, you had to do it and you had to do it in such a way that you were at least great at it. There was a minimum so even if you played it, you had to get a certain amount of points. And it no longer in my POV becomes part of the game, it becomes very tedious and annoying. And having it so you had to beat it to continue? Why not make it optional to win like Blitzball like in Final Fantasy X? Or a single part of the story like the magic carpet ride in Aladdin in Kingdom Hearts II?

Yes, some will argue it was the storyline of the world, but it was the PROGRAMMERS choice to have that story in there in the first place they could've chosen to change it at any time, like they could have done with Aqua's very underdeveloped story. I wouldn't be surprised if I wasn't the only person who went insane trying to beat it and some returned a really good game with a few flaws based on it. Yes, some people do return a game based on one very frustrating aspect, no matter how small it is.

And yes, I know some people do have good rhythm, that's why it should be optional, or at least not a song that makes people want to bang their head on a wall when hearing it. I know several people love the song, I personally loathe it with the bottom of my heart, good if you like it, that's up to you. But no more part of the game, or at least make it tolerable.

And yes, I spent three days straight trying to get Tidus's celestial weapon. I enjoyed it, I know it was tedious and frustrating for other people, and I understand why. There's both sides to everything. And it should be accepted by both. Also, about the Japanese being harder, yes, I know. I heard about it, but that doesn't change my opinion of it.

The programmers and story writers had excellent ideas but some were carried out poorly or were massively underveloped. I stand by my decision that though BBS comes in close to second, Kingdom Hearts I is first. Though the removal of the Gummi gameplay and graphics along with the story line of Terra and Ven were better than Kingdom Hearts I, the flaws out weigh the good against Kingdom Hearts I.

 

I think you're one of the first people I've seen who couldn't complete that mode first try, really. It's not even that hard.

 

Nope, it was also frustrating for me. Admittedly for the first few tries, I didn't realise I could change which duck was selected...

 

For me, it was. Maybe it's just me, but me and rhythm never, ever get along. I suck mostly at DDR and Guitar Hero. I have to actually at least partially memorize the sequence to beat it. I couldn't get the timing right, and I couldn't get the beat right, no matter what I did. Maybe it's just me, but I still stand with no more sing alongs. Add some more variety to the whole mini game, at the least.

 

This one has it's flaws like some of the worlds -cough-Disney Town-cough- and Aqua's story could've been better developed but it was overall a great KH game. I don't necessarily have a favorite but this is in my top three without a doubt. Still, Vanitas' Sentiment is too hard... I still haven't beaten him.