Information
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (キングダムハーツ バイスリキングダムハースバイスリープ) is a Kingdom Hearts game for the PlayStation Portable. It was first released in Japan on January 9, 2010, and will later be released in North America on September 7, 2010, and Europe on September 10, 2010. The English versions will feature extras such as altered cutscenes and the appearance of a cloaked figure.
Chronologically, Birth by Sleep occurs ten years prior to Kingdom Hearts. It follows Terra, Ven and Aqua in their quest to find Master Xehanort, and investigate what is happening to the worlds.
Like Kingdom Hearts, the theme song of Birth by Sleep is Hikari in the Japanese version, and Simple and Clean in the English version. Both songs are by Utada Hikaru. Other music in the game is composed by Yoko Shimomura.
Story
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep begins in the Land of Departure, where three Keyblade wielders and close friends-Terra, Aqua, and Ven (more commonly known as Ven)-train to become Keyblade Masters under Master Eraqus. To achieve this rank, Keyblade Apprentices must take the Master Qualification Exam once they come of age. Terra and Aqua take this test together, but while Aqua passes the test, Terra is deemed unfit to become a Keyblade Master due to the abundant darkness in his heart. Afterward, a group of mysterious creatures called the Unversed begin to surface in other worlds, and another Keyblade Master, Master Xehanort, disappears without a trace. Terra is sent to destroy the Unversed and find Xehanort, who had earlier encouraged him to embrace the darkness in his heart if he desires the strength to become a Keyblade master. Ven, meanwhile, is goaded into following Terra by Xehanort's mysterious apprentice Vanitas, against Eraqus's wishes. Aqua is dispatched by Eraqus to survey Terra and keep him from falling into darkness, as well as to bring Ventus back to the Land of Departure.
Upon arriving in other worlds, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus encounter various Disney characters, new and old, fighting off hoards of Unversed along the way. Among the characters they meet is Mickey Mouse, apprentice of the sorcerer Yen Sid, who is also on a mission to destroy the Unversed. Terra ends up attracting the attention of several Disney villains, who offer him the whereabouts of Master Xehanort in exchange of assistance for their own dark agendas. Terra reasons that Xehanort is after the seven Princesses of Heart-maidens who lack darkness in their hearts-and encourages Aqua to help them strengthen the light in their hearts, hoping it will draw Xehanort out. However, Aqua and Ven grow increasingly concerned for Terra when they hear rumors of him committing sinister deeds throughout other worlds. The three briefly reunite at Radiant Garden, where Aqua meets Kairi, a young girl containing a strong and pure light in her heart, and helps strengthen her light. Aqua and Ven also confront Terra, who distances himself from them to keep them out of the way of his increasingly dangerous dark powers. Terra and Aqua try to convince Ven to return to the Land of Departure, but he refuses until he is certain Terra won't fall into darkness.
Terra and Aqua eventually find themselves at Destiny Islands where they encounter two young boys, Sora and Riku. Terra sees potential within Riku and deems him worthy of one day wielding the Keyblade, while Aqua senses strong ties with Sora and Riku to Ven and Terra, respectively. Ven, meanwhile, comes across Master Xehanort, who reveals his intentions to use Ven's heart to create a final Keyblade known as the Χ-Blade, something Xehanort says Master Eraqus had known all along. Ven returns to the Land of Departure to confront Eraqus, who tries to erase Ven to prevent Xehanort's plans from succeeding. However, Terra, who had been sent there by Xehanort, misinterprets the situation and attacks Eraqus, teleporting Ven to safety. As soon as Terra realizes his error, Xehanort kills Eraqus and tells Terra to go to the Keyblade Graveyard, leaving the Land of Departure to be captured into darkness. At Destiny Islands, Ven once again encounters Vanitas and learns of his hazy past: Ventus was once Xehanort's apprentice, but his heart was deemed too frail for Xehanort to use him as he intended, so he extracted the darkness in Ven's heart and used it to create Vanitas. As with Terra before him, Ven is instructed by Vanitas to go to the Keyblade Graveyard. Aqua, in the meantime, learns of Eraqus's death from Yen Sid, who tells her to go to the Keyblade Graveyard as well.
Terra, Aqua, and Ventus gather at the Keyblade Graveyard, where the remains of the mysterious Keyblade War are found. Master Xehanort appears with Vanitas and reveals his plan to use the Χ-Blade to unlock Kingdom Hearts and unleash the forbidden secrets of the Keyblade War onto the various worlds, as well as to use Terra's body as a new vessel for his own heart so that he may survive long enough to see his plans come to fruition. An epic battle ensues, with Xehanort freezing Ven, and Vanitas knocking Aqua unconscious. In his rage, Terra unleashes the darkness in his heart, inadvertently allowing Xehanort to unlock his own heart and successfully transfer it into Terra's body, which resulted in the birth of Xehanort. However, Terra's soul continues to linger in his discarded suit of armor, which comes to life and defeats Xehanort. Ven, meanwhile, manages to thaw himself before Vanitas can kill Aqua, and discovers his dark counterpart to be the source of all Unversed. Vanitas merges with Ven, possessing him and creating the Χ-Blade. Aqua awakens under Mickey's care, and the two fight the possessed Ventus while he battles Vanitas from within. Aqua shatters the Χ-Blade as Ven destroys Vanitas, bringing an end to the Unversed, though Ven's heart is lost in the process. The destroyed X-Blade unleashes a burst of light, which consumes everyone present and scatters them to the corridors of space, save for Terra's Lingering Sentiment, which remained in the Keyblade Graveyard.
Mickey saves Aqua and Ventus and brings them to Yen Sid's tower, where Aqua learns that Ven has fallen into a deep sleep and will not awaken until his heart returns. Aqua brings Ven back to the ruins of the Land of Departure, where she discovers Master Eraqus's Keyblade and uses it to unlock the Chamber of Waking and create Castle Oblivion from the ruins. After leaving Ven within the chamber, Aqua goes to Radiant Garden where she encounters Xehanort still in Terra's body, but having lost some of his memories. Aqua then battles Xehanort who attempts to unlock his own heart again losing his memories completely in the process. Soon after, Terra's body starts sinking into darkness, but Aqua dives into the darkness and saves Terra from disappearing. She ends up getting trapped in the Realm of Darkness and beginning a journey to return to her friends. Xehanort is discovered by Ansem the Wise, ruler of Radiant Garden, and goes on to become his apprentice. Ventus's wandering heart finds its way to young Sora, merging with the young boy's heart.
Gameplay
The game is divided into three separate scenarios, with each scenario surrounding an individual of the three main characters: Terra, Ventus and Aqua. The gameplay of each scenario differs based on the personalities and abilities of each character such as power, speed and magic. Players are able to choose which of the three scenarios to begin with and are able to switch to another scenario, midway through playing a scenario.
Birth by Sleep features several new abilities, such as Deck Commands, ShotLocks, and Command Styles. Each are triggered via the battle menu. Deck Commands are the standard abilities, equipped via the menu with a certain cool-down time similar to the deck system of Re:Chain of Memories. ShotLocks are unique attacks that involve precise timing to unleash a dangerously powerful assault on an enemy. Command Styles are even more deadly abilities that are unique for Terra, Ventus, and Aqua, just like the ShotLock.
Besides leveling up the normal way in the other games in the Kingdom Hearts series, players can also play on the Command Board, where they can land on special squares in a system similar to a board game in order to gain special prizes, certain boxes summoning Disney characters or having other effects.
The Dimension Link, also known as D-Link, is a feature of summoning in Birth by Sleep. Its name connects to its purpose as a link to summon a character's power from another world. The player is also able to D-Link their friends while using their wireless functions. They appear as Terra, Aqua, and Ventus in their armor.
To use the D-Link system, it must be added as a D-Link Command in its own separate D-Link menu and can only be used when the D-Link gauge is full. The D-Link gauge is blue and next to the HP meter. The D-link gauge is filled by obtaining dropped blue prizes from enemies similar to obtaining Drive Orbs to fill the Drive Gauge in Kingdom Hearts II.
Once characters have been linked, the Command Menu gauge, which is also used for Command Styles, changes to indicate the linked character, including his or her name, and the face of the linked companion will show up on the bottom right of the screen. By linking to them, the character that linked them will become more powerful and will also be able to use unique finish moves which have two different power up levels: one for each symbol next to the character image on the right of the screen. While linked, the D-Link gauge decreases continuously, and the link is broken when the gauge is completely empty.
The following list is the list of D-Link characters:
Joint Struggle is the new multiplayer mode featured in Birth by Sleep. You will be able to use wirelessly connect with fellow players to be able to play in multiplayer. In this mode, up to six players can take on the role of Terra, Ventus, or Aqua, the Keyblade warriors wearing their armor from the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, rather than their usual gameplay attire. The names of who is playing with you appear above their respective character and while fighting their HP is displayed like someone who is in your party.
Various Deck Commands appear in Joint Struggle that do not in normal gameplay, such as:
Development
Development of Birth by Sleep began in June 2005. The game was originally intended for the PlayStation 2, but later decided to be for the PlayStation Portable. Birth by Sleep was developed by Square Enix's Osaka team.
The game was originally shown through the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts II, and later the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, which was a teaser trailer for Birth by Sleep. Later, Birth by Sleep was announced at the Tokyo Game Show in 2007, along with 358/2 Days and coded. Here, a trailer was shown. Trailers were also shown at Jump Festa 2008, DKΣ3713, the Tokyo Game Show in 2008 and 2009, and Jump Festa 2010.
The game was eventually released in Japan on January 9, 2010. The English version of the game was announced on March 16, 2010, with a trailer and demo featured at E3 2010.
Birth by Sleep was rated A by CERO, E10+ by the ESRB, PG by the OFLC, 12+ by PEGI, and 6 by the USK.
Covers
 Japan |
 North America |
 Europe |
Characters
Worlds
External Links
Official Japanese Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep website
Official
North American Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep website
Official
European Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep website
