TGS07: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep impressions

by Andrew Yoon { Sep 20th 2007 at 3:45PM }

Remember this? This is the original Birth by Sleep trailer that was hidden at the end of the Japanese release of Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix. But this is not Kingdom Hearts III for PS3. No, it's not what you were expecting at all.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, revealed at Tokyo Game Show today, is a brand new PSP game that expands the story of the franchise not by looking forward, but by looking back. This prequel stars a character that strongly resembles (but is not) Zack from Final Fantasy VII (and most recently, Crisis Core). In addition, we see a character that appears to be a clone of Roxas -- but that's impossible, considering the massive time difference between Birth by Sleep and the original console games. Certainly, there's a lot of mysteries surrounding this upcoming title.

As this preview video shows, the game features a much darker and sinister feel than the console predecessors. The character designs feature a rougher look, especially the main villains, featured above. The new hero, being of a much older age than the previous heroes, also adds a much more mature feel to the overall presentation. The new keyblade also feels much more menacing, being able to shoot projectiles rather quickly. From the little we got to see at Tokyo Game Show, it seems as though the gameplay of Birth by Sleep will most closely follow the PS2 originals of the new Kingdom Hearts games announced today.

This is easily the most technologically impressive Kingdom Hearts game announced today, and although it's not a next-gen sequel, this PSP iteration looks to satiate the needs of the Kingdom Hearts gamers everywhere.

Tags: birth-by-sleep, kingdom-hearts, tgs07

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

NATO_Duke @ Sep 20th 2007 3:55PM

I just wanna hear about a PS3 KH game to be honest.

Stephanie @ Sep 23rd 2007 6:18AM

There is a KH game for PS3!

Mal F4cti0n @ Sep 20th 2007 3:57PM

yes....i am sure that is what the game will look like when you play it on the PSP.

Why doesn't squar enix make more movies? That final fantasy movie they made was pretty good, I would rather watch a two hour long movie than try to play one of their games.

Good story, good characters, good looking makes for a damn good movie.

NATO_Duke @ Sep 20th 2007 4:53PM

Then you will be thrilled to know they made more than one FF movie already.

Mal F4cti0n @ Sep 20th 2007 5:07PM

They did?

Your not talking about "FF:Spirits Within", are you?

So what's the name of the other FF movies? I will trow them into my Net-Flix queue.

Kael @ Sep 20th 2007 6:01PM

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. As over-the-top and beautiful as this crazy trailer.

Evan @ Sep 20th 2007 6:59PM

Why doesn't Square-Enix make more movies? I think because movies only sell for about $20, but by throwing in some interactivity and calling it a game, they can sell their movie for over $50!

Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Sep 20th 2007 3:58PM

"... This is easily the most technologically impressive Kingdom Hearts game announced today..."

That was CGI.

Benny @ Sep 20th 2007 4:13PM

"From the little we got to see at Tokyo Game Show, it seems as though the gameplay of Birth by Sleep will most closely follow the PS2 originals"

They saw some gameplay.

rchsux @ Sep 20th 2007 4:25PM

Damn dude. You should learn to read. Due to the NDAs, all trailers shown in the closed Squeenix theater will not be released to the public. The video in the article is a teaser from the JP release KH Final Mix +.

Exo @ Sep 20th 2007 4:32PM

They didn't see any ingame footage, it was all cgi trailer

Andrew yoon is just flexing his Sony fanboy e-peen a bit

required @ Sep 20th 2007 5:20PM

Even if the entire title was simply one click and watch video it would still be the most technologically impressive Kingdom Hearts game announced.

Steve @ Sep 20th 2007 3:59PM

Still looked wonderful...

soupbase @ Sep 20th 2007 4:00PM

Sigh...psp.

Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Sep 20th 2007 4:00PM

Wii port after poor sales confirmed!

Wait, is that good?

Seroth @ Sep 20th 2007 4:02PM

This Kingdom Hearts stuff looks like it's getting ridiculous...Mickey looks so out of place in that video. Are the games still Disney games? Or has it just turned into a "generic" Square game?

Ska Oreo @ Sep 20th 2007 4:38PM

Yeah, I don't want the game to become too dark cause then it'll lose what made KH awesome and become just another generic action rpg.

capt_carl @ Sep 20th 2007 5:54PM

Kingdom Hearts has a pretty dark feel to it deep down if you look into the story beyond the bright, plucky Disney tie-ins.

jonathan @ Sep 20th 2007 4:03PM

didnt they something about a wii version a while ago

isedcold @ Sep 20th 2007 4:03PM

I agree of course the game isnt going to look that doog when the real gameplay footage comes out. But until then these movies serve their purpose in getting gamers like me pretty hyped and excited for their game.

-They really should ake a couple animated episodes and just ship them with the game.

Robotheart @ Sep 20th 2007 4:05PM

i dont see the appeal behind KH at all, but that shit was kinda dope. except for SE asking me to suspend my disbelief at the end there as mickey mouse stands on a cliff looking like a level 7 badass.

Mickey mouse on a desolate cliff with a scowl and a sword is a little much to believe when a drunken whirling dervish of a starfish routinely kicked my ass on the second level of Mickey Mousecapade.

riggs @ Sep 20th 2007 4:09PM

that says alot more about you than this game lol.

Ska Oreo @ Sep 20th 2007 4:41PM

Dude, go play KH2. Mickey is a total badass in the game.

bm @ Sep 20th 2007 6:03PM

I like Donald Duck, I like Goofy, but Mickey mouse is retarded. Shut up.

JodyAnthony (VGDF) @ Sep 20th 2007 4:05PM

hot!

ThornedVenom @ Sep 20th 2007 4:07PM

People keep complaining about CGI... I think it's not bad as a medium trying to convey the feel of the game's universe. That trailer was full of action and drama: you can't do that with ingame graphics (well, not as effectively).

I'll keep an eye on this game because the themes and artistic direction caught my eye. Will it be a good game? We'll have plenty of time to find out, but that wasn't the point of the trailer.

Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Sep 20th 2007 4:23PM

Except that what you have here is deception. If "you can't do that (full of action and drama) with ingame graphics (well, not as effectively)", then you are deceiving the userbase into thinking the game will have more action, drama, and eye candy than it will actually have. This is a classic sony tactic that SE is all to happy to oblige themselves in. Even when its obviously CGI, and they're not claiming its gameplay, it still gives an impression of the game experience that is false.

If you can't show us real gameplay, just announce the title and show us nothing. CGI tells us nothing we don't already know: You have a really good CGI studio.

upz @ Sep 20th 2007 5:32PM

Crono, if you're stupid enough to think the game will actually look like that, you deserve to lose your money.

ThornedVenom @ Sep 20th 2007 7:06PM

@ Crono

You'll only be deceived if you expect a CGI trailer to reveal anything about the way a game's played. It's about how the game is presented. It offers hints about context, storyline, themes, etc... they're still related to the game and they still matter to many people.

I wouldn't disagree that there's some underlying marketing bullshit underneath that all, but I'm just stating that not all CGI videogame trailers have bad points.

FM @ Sep 20th 2007 4:17PM

It's either PS3 or Wii for the next game...
So the three must have titles for the PSP now looks like:Crisis Core,Dracula X and this. I really cant wait.

JodyAnthony (VGDF) @ Sep 20th 2007 4:23PM

and LocoRoco!

It is my mission to get everyone to love the original LocoRoco as much as I do.

Duscrom @ Sep 20th 2007 4:57PM

Or the Xbox 360... remember that macine? still doing pretty good, Dominating sales in America, Highest attach rate for games... US still the biggest market in the world... yadda yadda yadda...

Noshino @ Sep 20th 2007 5:45PM

...yah, I remember the 360, but do you remember that SE is japanese? also, that it is the 360 userbase that is the one that complains about CGI (something in which SE is amazing) the most? also remember that their main title in production right now (FFXIII) is PS3 exclusive? so yah, what reason could SE have to bring KH3 to the 360? :]

FM @ Sep 20th 2007 4:18PM

It's either PS3 or Wii for the next game...
So the three must have titles for the PSP now looks like:Crisis Core,Dracula X and this. I really cant wait.

rchsux @ Sep 20th 2007 4:19PM

Sweet. Seems like Square Enix is finally sharing some love with the PSP. I already own a DS, so the DS KH game is already a must buy for me. As for the PSP, I'm gonna buy one whenever Crisis Core comes out and will get this game as well.

Dougtron @ Sep 20th 2007 4:40PM

Everyone keeps complaining about the trailer posted above, but that is not what was shown at TGS. That trailer is the secret ending from Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ which was never released in America. It is a continuation of the secret ending from the regular KHII. They did indeed show gameplay footage at TGS, but, like all the other trailers shown at the Square-Enix conference, videotaping was not allowed.

NeoAngelicPrince @ Sep 20th 2007 5:08PM

So wait a min...

Thats NOT from the upcoming PSP game RIGHT?

Its a sweet movie though. I was really worried there for a moment about the bad guys winning. And I felt a lil sad at the death of the guy or girl who got turned into ice.

Mickey looked BADASS at the end there.

That being said this is such a pointless post.

velocitystrike @ Sep 20th 2007 5:23PM

Great, but where are the Disney characters? =[

SuMtOnE @ Sep 20th 2007 5:44PM

i wanna play RPGs on the big screen... not on handhelds... either way i guess ill pick it up when it comes out... speakin of that i havent beaten KHII and final fantasy XII yet... n a few other RPGS games... so much games so lil time...

Jon @ Sep 20th 2007 6:02PM

I might have to buy a used PSP after all.

So does anyone know about a US release for KH:FM+? After all the news today and no mention I'm begining to lose hope. 1UP has a sheduled date for 1/1/08 but that seems a bit off. I'm hoping that you guys (gals) have some info that I've missed.

Kael @ Sep 20th 2007 6:08PM

Even after all this time since Kingdom Hearts came out, the basic concept is still COMPLETELY BANANAS. The sheer tidal force of how improper it is for Mickey Mouse to appear in that trailer was so powerful, it blew out all the windows in my house and set off car alarms up to three blocks away. Just the sight of him there, trying to look so tough made me burst into laughter; it's just so wrong. So wrong!

bm @ Sep 20th 2007 6:13PM

This video says so much about what I think of this series as a whole.

Huge epic violent movie-like battle, with grey dark tones, serious looking characters and dark emo drama... then suddenly out of nowhere appears on the scorched battlefield: Mickey fucking Mouse! With his huge round head, trying his very best to pull a serious expression on his cartoony face right out of a saturday morning show.

It's so completely ridiculous that I cannot bear to play the games.

ssuk @ Sep 20th 2007 6:40PM

Just to prove to you that the Halo 3 excitement has kicked in for me; all I could think about through this trailer was Halo 3. First, the bubble-head guy... I kept thinking of the new (well, I say new but they're seen on the cover of Ghosts of Onyx) Spartan helmet dudes in the Halo 3 multiplayer. And then the Reflect spell cast on that guy getting his ass rammed with a metric fuck-tonne of steel keys, just reminded me of the Bubble Sheild in Halo 3.

Damn you Bungie, you've warped my mind!