Birth By Sleep first impressions

I’ve just started to play Birth By Sleep, the latest Kingdom Hearts game for the PSP. It’s extremely impressive, really, what Square can get out of a handheld console. The DS was pushed hard with 358/2 Days, but BBS really does look and play like a PS2 title. The graphics are beautifully-rendered, in a similar style to Crisis Core but if anything, suiting the more cartoony look of Kingdom Hearts more.

And while 358/2 really didn’t bring much to the story of Kingdom Hearts, I actually quite like the angle BBS is presenting. Honestly, I was fully prepared to hate it, thinking the pretentiousness would further ruin a neat concept, which after all has got progressively less coherent, more morally dubious and certainly less interesting as it has got more focused on Organization XIII. I always found them underdeveloped, clichéd and poorly-motivated, no matter where fandom has taken the characters. Going way back for a prequel in a more Final Fantasy-like setting with lots of mysteries and a new cast isn’t just recycling the formula, and there are some differences in paying style. I like the new gameplay elements like the focus bursts and going into speed rave mode is lots of fun.

For once, Proud Mode is also actually quite tricky, although almost entirely because the damage is up so high.

I think I like Ventus a lot more than Roxas, too. He’s sweet and a little bratty, his world isn’t as annoying as Twilight Town and his connection with Terra seems much more substantial than his doppelganger’s friendship based on…well, the guy who’s generally around when he wakes up and sometimes has ice cream with him.

That said…even though it’s not quite such a load of squares, the back of his head is still annoying to look at! Ooh, and I like the fact that Xenahort looks like the Harkonnen mentat from Dune 2, heheh. There’s a lot of plot to uncover yet, but so far it’s been packed with minigames and fun little stories. Nice, too, to see some Disney worlds that aren’t repeated from the first two games – although dear Shirayuki-hime was quite annoying, always needing saving.

At the very least, it’s the first game since #2 that’s actually made me want to go back to it quickly. That says a lot!