Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Review

Tons of Mini Games
There are plenty of reasons in the game to get sidetracked. Whenever a player wants to have fun and take a break from the main story of Birth by Sleep, a decent amount of mini games are available to occupy one’s time. Collecting stickers throughout the different worlds will have their own benefit by unlocking various awards. For players who like to play board games, a Command Board will be there where up to three players can compete with one another and try to decide their fate through a single die. Another mini game that is worth checking out in Birth by Sleep is the Rumble Racing. For fans who love playing Mario Kart and ModNation racers, players can compete with other people or NPCs as they race through the finish line and slow down their enemies with different power ups. These are just some of the mini games players can unlock, as there are more yet to be revealed in the game.

Adhoc Multiplayer
Players who have friends that also own Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep can team up with one another and join the mini games and arenas the game has to offer. With Mirage Arena, up to six friends can team up and play in a variety of modes. There is no co-op in this game but the Mirage arena will be enough for players who seek to have fun with friends and family.

Stories of Disney Characters
Each story of the Disney characters somehow follows the story of their own respective feature film. In Birth by Sleep, players will uncover the roots of these Disney characters. Taking Snow White as an example, players will be able to meet the Queen and the Magic Mirror. The plot of Snow White’s world will focus on the first scene of the game where Snow White is being asked to be killed by the Queen. Also, the three princesses of light from the first game will feature prominently in this game.

Balanced
There are a lot of bosses that a player needs to defeat in Birth by Sleep. Half of them are easy to beat while the other half will test the patience and skills of the three individual characters. Bosses in the game that are hard have a pattern as to what way they attack. Once you figure out their pattern, it is possible to defeat a boss without draining a part of the character’s HP bar. For major bosses of the game, a player can expect the same thing. Just watch out for the last boss as it’ll be a long and epic battle!

NOT

Horrible Loading Times
Square Enix has decided not to have the game available on the PlayStation Store, so players will just have rely on their UMD drive to play the game. Speaking of UMDs, players will experience horrendous load times despite installing the 600MB worth of data on a memory stick. The load times will be even lengthier if the player decides not to install the game’s data. With the game’s data installed, players can expect slightly reduced load times. Please note as aforementioned, you cannot download the game via the PlayStation Store, so if you own a PSPgo you cannot play this game.

World Feels Empty
The characters and the worlds of Birth By Sleep sure seem to be colorful but one thing that makes the world go down is the emptiness the player can experience. Through the different worlds of Birth by Sleep, something on the tip of the tongue is quite missing. It’s either that the available areas that are explorable are too small or the worlds are just too empty because all a player can see are just the main Disney characters in that assigned world. For example, the Radiant Garden City is quite empty, where one would noramlly expect it to be densely populated with NPCs.

VERDICT

Despite the horrible load times and the emptiness of the world that a player will experience, Kingdom Hearts: By Sleep is a solid title that any Kingdom Hearts fan will enjoy. The battle system is the best yet in the series and the storytelling of the game will keep its audience interested as players make their way through the different three chapters of the game. The flaws of the game are evident, but they are not significant enough for players to shy away from this great title.