Some (Fresh) Thoughts on Birth By Sleep

[Neoshadow99 31]

Hey everyone, it's your totally-not-vicious neighborhood Neoshadow! As some of you may have seen in other threads, I have been meaning to finish as much as 2.5 as I can before 2.8 releases. I am currently playing Aqua's story (first playthrough on PS3), and I must say, I am enjoying this playthrough far more than I did on PSP.

My reasons for this are a better understanding of the gameplay mechanics the second time around, as well as a greater appreciation for Aqua's journey, and yes, her character. I know that Aqua has drawn a lot of criticism from the fanbase, but has also become a well-liked character, at the same time. When I first started my PS3 playthrough of her, I had hoped I would be able to overlook the harsher criticisms of her character, and perhaps her personality. As it turns out, I really like both of these attributes for her. As the story has progressed, I have definitely seen a change in her character, and it became quite clear just how much she cares about her friends. It may have made more sense for her to bring Ventus back to the Master Eraqus once she found him, but there are hints that she is conflicted about what to do. I was able to tell that she was internally conflicted between choosing to obey her master's (questionable) orders, or doing right by her friends and letting them decide what they wanted to do for themselves, allowing them to choose their own paths.

I have come to further appreciate Aqua's role in the KH story, as well. Were it not for her actions, and best intentions, the KH storyline would not have progressed the way it did. Future characters would not have daunting obstacles to overcome (Ansem SOD, Organization XIII, Castle Oblivion, etc.), obstacles that ultimately proved how strong in heart and determination they would be. Of course, some may argue that Aqua's actions only lead to others' suffering, and that may be so. However, it is important to remember that she did not intentionally create hardships for Sora and his friends. Castle Oblivion was originally designed to prevent darkness from overtaking the Realm of Twilight (realm between Light and Darkness, if I have that right), and especially protect Ventus while he sleeps. As for her attempts to save Terra from his unfortunate fate, she fought valiantly to free him from Xehanort's control. She even sacrificed her very small chance to escape the Realm of Darkness and instead gave Terra(nort) her armor so he could fly to safety. Aqua did not have any way of knowing what exactly would happen to Terra, or just how strong Xehanort's influence was over him. This is what makes Aqua's ending and fate so tragic, that despite her best intentions to save her good friend, she unknowingly unleashed a great evil into the Realm of Light. To sum it up, I would have to call Aqua a tragic hero, a flawed but caring friend.

Wow, this went a little deeper than I first expected it to, but this is how I currently feel about Aqua's portion of BBS. Oh, if anyone was wondering, BBS is indeed one of my absolute favorite games in the series. It offered so much for being a mere "side game". If it would have originally been released on PS2 instead, it may have been just as long as KH1, for all we know. I will post more thoughts related to BBS if anyone is interested.


I was really hoping to discuss BBS a bit more right before 2.8 releases worldwide. I know some of you may be/are already playing 2.8, but I thought it would be a good idea to talk about the fine points of BBS' plot, and how they have shaped the KH story so far. For quite some time, BBS was the "true" beginning of the series, then (Unchained) Chi came along and really made things interesting story-wise.

Oh, another thought regarding BBS: I am so thrilled that the Shotlock system is carrying over from this game to KH3. I know this is old news, but I'm still excited nonetheless. It really didn't look like much of BBS' gameplay mechanics would be used in other games, as it seemed to be somewhat experimental with its approach. In other words, mechanics like Shotlocks, Command Styles, and Dimension Links all seemed so specific to BBS. It's great to see one of these possibly revolutionary features (in the context of the KH series) return in a future title.

Edit: I finally finished Aqua's main story, the Final Episode, and the Secret Episode! This was my first time playing the Secret Episode, and it was a great, and fairly challenging, experience. Now I'm really excited to start 0.2, but will likely begin DDD tonight.

Edited January 30, 2017 by Neoshadow99