Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix 5/6 Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix Review

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix 5/6 Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix Review

Robert Knuckles

“The Beginning”

Now this is the game that I was probably looking forward to the most mainly because I didn’t get a chance to play this game and thats Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix. Birth By Sleep Final Mix is the updated version of the original Birth By Sleep. Final Mix was released in Japan on January 20, 2011 on the PSP.

Birth By Sleep is the fifth installment of the Kingdom Hearts series but the story takes place before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts game. The story focus on three characters that the player controls; Terra, Ventus and Aqua. Terra and and Aqua are training to become Keyblade Masters and must take an exam. Ventus is behind but he continues to train with Terra and Aqua to become a keyblade master as well. Aqua passes the test due to an interference from the game’s antagonist Xehanort but the heroes didn’t notice. Aqua and Terra are given a mission from their Master Eraqus that enemies called Unversed are causing troubles across the worlds. This mission also gives Terra redemption from failing the test. Terra goes to the worlds and Ventus follows him because he gets a message from a mysterious person telling him Terra is in danger. Master Eraqus tells Aqua to go bring back Ventus and watch Terra. Each character's story is different and a special ending is revealed after completing each story. Players can pick any character from the start but it is highly recommended that the order played should be Terra, Ventus and Aqua. The story plays out a lot better that way.

Each character plays different. Terra is the heavy hitter, Ventus is the fastest and can perform quick combos and Aqua has the best magic of the three. Just like the other Kingdom Hearts game Birth by Sleep is an action role playing game but it plays a bit different. Similar to Chain of Memories players make a command System. They can put techniques and magic spells in their deck. Every move that the players use that move will have to recharge for them to use it again. When players attack enemies their gauge fills up and when it reaches the max the players will perform a finisher or in other certain situations players attacks become surged making their attacks even stronger and fill the gauge again with the surge attacks and once it's filled players can perform a final strong attack. There are many different surge attacks that the players can use.

Another cool new feature is that players are able to combine their attacks with the meld commands. Players can combine a fire command with a spinning attack and it can be a fire spinning attack. You can be very creative with certain combinations and it can be extremely useful for boss fights and they can also level up as well.

Lock-On commands return but if the player holds the lock-on button it transforms into the Shotlock command. This uses the player's focus gauge and they are put in a first person mode locking onto targets in a certain amount of time after the time is up players will attack or perform a spell but if the player reaches the max while in shotlock players can add a more finishers.

D-Link is another new feature that has players use power from their friends. For example if the player is using Terra and D-Links with Aqua. Terra will have a new deck and his magic will be even stronger because Aqua is a mage. D-Link's have two levels and players will get more D-Links with other characters throughout the game. D-Link is the blue gauge over the player’s health.

Final Mix adds a couple new features to the original game but the biggest ones are the battle missions. Battle missions are in every level. Players will see the Unversed symbol and it has players doing a different mission in order to get new moves.

Now what’s a Final Mix without challenging boss fights. Players will have fun battling these new enemies and just like all other boss fights they are extremely difficult.

In the end Birth By Sleep Final Mix is a fun game and running on 60fps is awesome. This game also answers questions as to why Roxas looks like Ventus and a couple of others that I won’t share. My only grip with this game is the camera. It’s zoomed in a bit closer to the character mainly due to the fact that this game is originally released on the PSP so the camera view will be different. I really fell in love with the three characters and can’t wait to see more of them in the future. Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix receives an 8 out of 10.