is a 2010 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios for the PlayStation Portable, serving as the sixth installment in the Kingdom Hearts series. The game was released on UMD worldwide in 2010. An international version of the game titled Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix was released in Japan in January 2011, featuring the changes made in the non-Japanese versions. A direct sequel, Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage, was released in January 2017 as a part of a bundle of games called Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue.
The game utilizes an overhauled battle system different from previous games in the series which features new elements. It is a prequel to the original Kingdom Hearts, taking place ten years before its events. The game centers on the journeys of Ventus, Terra, and Aqua, characters briefly featured in Kingdom Hearts II, in their quest to locate the missing Master Xehanort and protect the worlds from creatures known as the Unversed. The player has access to the three characters' different scenarios when playing.
Development of the game began in June 2005, with parts of the game Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix meant to hint at Birth by Sleep. The game was directed by Tetsuya Nomura and co-directed by Tai Yasue. Nomura has referred to the game as "Episode 0", as well as "Episode 0.1" following the release of Kingdom Hearts χ, stating that it is on the same scale and plays as large a role in the series as Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. The game has been well-received, selling 1.27 million copies worldwide as of November 2010, and received positive comments from video game publications. Critics praised the game's gameplay, graphics, music, and storyline, but criticized the level design and characters. A high definition version of the Final Mix edition was released for the PlayStation 3 in 2014, PlayStation 4 in 2017, Xbox One in 2020, Windows in 2021, and Nintendo Switch as a part of the Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix collection.
Gameplay
Birth by Sleep is an action role-playing game with hack and slash elements that introduces a gameplay aspect to the series called the Command System. This system allows players to customize a Command Deck with techniques and abilities that they can perform at will, called Deck Commands. Performing ordinary attacks and Commands fills a gauge displayed above the Command Deck. When certain requirements are fulfilled and the gauge is full, the player's basic attack is changed to the "Surge" Command, which racks up powerful combos depending on the active Command Style. Filling the gauge a second time replaces the "Surge" Command with the more powerful "Storm" Command.
Unlike previous games in the series, the game does not utilize Magic Points (MP) for spells or magic casting. It instead uses a system known as Focus, which is displayed in an orange gauge on the interface. The player can use Focus to perform a technique called Shotlock, in which they enter a first person mode to attack enemies with homing spells that differ with each character and technique, depleting the gauge relative to the number of enemies targeted. Once depleted, the Focus gauge gradually refills with every attack and Deck Command the player lands on an enemy.
Another aspect introduced in the game is the Dimension Link (D-Link), measured in a blue gauge on the interface. It is used to draw power from certain companions who the player characters meet during the game, such as Experiment 626, temporarily replacing the commands in the player's customized command deck with a pre-determined set of commands that differ with each D-Link. Once the command gauge is filled while performing a D-Link, a powerful finishing move is activated to take out enemies. Each finishing move has two levels which can render a finishing move more powerful than before, similar to that of the Command System. The D-Link can only be used when its corresponding gauge is filled completely, and can be activated by pressing right on the directional pad to access the D-Link menu, followed by selecting the chosen ally.
The game also features the Command Board, which appears when the player completes a world and can be accessed from save points and the world map once unlocked. Each world has its own unique Command Board with its own tricks and mechanisms. The Command Board plays like a simplified version of Fortune Street, as a die is thrown and the player moves, with each space having a unique effect. Various Disney characters from throughout the game appear on their respective Command Board to either aid or hinder the player. Special panels in the board game can trigger "special events" when the player lands on them.
Scenarios The game is divided into three separate scenarios, with each one focusing on one of the three main characters: Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. While the first ten minutes of the story are the same regardless of the chosen character, the events that follow differ in each scenario, with each character's narrative occurring parallel to the others and intersecting with one another at different points. The gameplay of each scenario differs based on the abilities of each character, such as their power, speed, and magic: Terra deals the most physical damage, Ventus is the fastest, and Aqua specializes in magic. Players may choose which of the three scenarios they wish to start with near the beginning of the game. The recommended scenario order of play by Nomura is Terra, Ventus, then Aqua, as it allows the player to best understand the story. Completing all three scenarios unlocks the story's final chapter.
Multiplayer The game supports up to six players at a time in four multiplayer modes, all set in a world known as the Mirage Arena. In each mode, players control one of the three main characters. In Versus, players fight against each other in a deathmatch-style game, while in Arena players fight co-operatively in a "Survival Mode" style of gameplay against waves of Unversed. Rumble Racing features players racing against each other competitively on their Keyblade vehicles, which can also be used to attack rivals. Command Board is a board game using the in-game Command Board mechanic, where players try to reach the end first as in traditional board games. Setting records in the Mirage Arena earns players medals which can be exchanged for rare items in-game. Only Ad-Hoc wireless multiplayer, where all of the players need to be physically near each other, is allowed.
Plot
Setting
Birth by Sleep is a prequel set ten years prior to the first Kingdom Hearts game. Like other games in the series, the player progresses through a collection of various worlds, based on various locales from the Disney animated features canon: Dwarf Woodlands (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Enchanted Dominion (Sleeping Beauty), Castle of Dreams (Cinderella), Olympus Coliseum (Hercules), Deep Space (Lilo & Stitch), Neverland (Peter Pan), and Mysterious Tower (Fantasia). The game also features various new worlds specially created for the series by Square Enix, such as the Land of Departure and Radiant Garden. Disney Town, the town surrounding the castle grounds of Disney Castle, serves as the game's minigame world. Worlds such as Destiny Islands and Castle Oblivion appear in cutscenes, while the Hundred Acre Wood from the Winnie the Pooh franchise appears as a Command Board. The staff first chose the worlds based on the game's scenario, leading to the inclusion of the Princesses' worlds. Neverland and Deep Space were included to add variety to the game, while Olympus Coliseum was selected to reflect the game's earlier setting compared to the original Kingdom Hearts.
Characters
The three main characters are Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, a trio of Keyblade apprentices training under Keyblade Master Eraqus who aspire to become Masters themselves. Another Keyblade Master, Xehanort, and his apprentice, Vanitas, serve as the game's antagonists. Other characters from previous games return, such as younger versions of Sora, Riku, and Kairi, though they have less prominent roles. Several characters who later come to form Organization XIII appear: Ansem the Wise's apprentices Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo; and Lea and Isa, two boys from Radiant Garden. As with the Heartless in Kingdom Hearts and the Nobodies in Kingdom Hearts II, Birth by Sleep introduces a new type of enemy: the Unversed, "fledgling emotions" that are "not well-versed in their own existences" and feed on negativity.
As with other games in the series, Birth by Sleep features an extensive cast of Disney characters. The most prominent of these characters is Mickey Mouse, the king of Disney Castle, who serves as a Keyblade apprentice under the sorcerer Yen Sid at this point in the series. Donald Duck and Goofy, who assist Sora in other games, appear in smaller roles. Other Disney characters remain in their respective worlds regardless of their overall importance to the story in previous installments, such as Maleficent and Pete, who served as major antagonists between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, and several of the Princesses of Heart. Like other games, some characters, such as Experiment 626, Prince Phillip, and Mickey, occasionally fight alongside the player characters in battles as partners, providing assistance and performing combos. However, unlike Donald and Goofy, they do not follow the player around constantly. Unlike other major installments, which featured various characters from throughout the Final Fantasy series, Birth by Sleep only features two of these characters: Zack Fair from Final Fantasy VII, and the Moogles, creatures from several of the Final Fantasy games, who sell items to the player. As Birth by Sleep is a prequel to the first Kingdom Hearts, the staff decided to add Zack since he is the protagonist of the Final Fantasy VII prequel, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.
Story Xehanort brings a comatose Ventus to the Destiny Islands after his heart is damaged; a newborn heart senses Ventus's heart and connects with it, saving him. Four years later, at the Land of Departure, Terra and Aqua take an exam to achieve the Mark of Mastery, with Xehanort in attendance. Eraqus passes Aqua, but fails Terra for attempting to utilize the darkness in his heart. Shortly afterward, Xehanort disappears and a horde of Unversed appear throughout the worlds. After learning about these developments from Yen Sid, Eraqus sends Terra and Aqua to travel across the various worlds to destroy the Unversed and find Xehanort. Meanwhile, Vanitas convinces Ventus to follow Terra against Eraqus's wishes, while Eraqus requests Aqua to monitor Terra and retrieve Ventus.
As the three travel through several worlds, Terra attracts the attention of villains who offer him Xehanort's whereabouts in exchange for assistance in their own agendas. He eventually finds Xehanort, who urges him to use his inner darkness to gain power. Xehanort further instructs Terra to destroy Vanitas, the source of the Unversed, who was created from the darkness extracted from Ventus's heart. The three friends briefly reunite at Radiant Garden, but a schism forms between them when they argue over Terra's presumed actions and Aqua's espionage.
Ventus encounters Xehanort, who reveals his intention to recombine Ventus and Vanitas's hearts to create an all-powerful Keyblade called the χ-blade. Xehanort sends Ventus to the Land of Departure to confront Eraqus, who attempts to destroy Ventus to foil Xehanort's plan. Terra arrives to save Ventus and duels Eraqus; upon Eraqus's defeat, Xehanort vanquishes him and enshrouds the Land of Departure in darkness, telling Terra to go to a world known as the Keyblade Graveyard. Ventus is instructed by Vanitas to do the same, as is Aqua by Yen Sid upon being informed of Eraqus's demise at Xehanort and Terra's hands.