Celebrating its 15th anniversary, Kingdom Hearts has been given yet another compilation of titles rather than the much anticipated third entry. However, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue finally offers fans a new look into the next generation of the series with Birth By Sleep 0.2, an incredibly fun battle system with Dream Drop Distance HD, and a fascinating peek into what really is going on with the Tome of Prophecies in X Back Cover. However, there are a few technical issues with Birth By Sleep 0.2 and a disappointing plot from Dream Drop Distance to keep in mind.
Let’s start off with Birth By Sleep 0.2. Aqua, after the events of the PSP title, is now stuck in the Realm of Darkness. She is trying to fight the darkness within her and the environment as she explores multiple sections of worlds she has seen before. However, they have been altered as they have been taken by the darkness. Birth By Sleep 0.2 does a good job at filling the holes that the previous game made; a few of many many holes that need to be filled in Kingdom Hearts 3. If you are looking for something meaty within the Kingdom Hearts mythos, you won’t find it here. There’s little substance to the plot, but one thing that it aggravatingly does well is how they set up Kingdom Hearts 3 at the end of 0.2. From what narrative there is to find, though, the voice actors do a great job at portraying the characters again. One particular character I won’t mention for spoiler’s sake sounds more mature than usual and it’s surprising to see a new take.
Birth By Sleep 0.2 is a blend between the initial PSP title and Kingdom Hearts 2 with its battle system. It has a traditional command system but the shot-locks and transformations return. The battles are as riveting as always with clutch-based rolls/reflect blocks and heartless designs that desire some thought rather than bashing the X button. However, there are issues on a standard PS4. Firstly and most important, the game doesn’t always feel precise. You need to be accurate with your rolls and reflect blocks, especially during boss battles, but there’s too much of a gap between pressing the button and Aqua reacting. This led to many frustrating deaths, mostly because of the delayed reflect blocks. Second, the game freezes for about a second during intense parts of a fight. Birth By Sleep 0.2 runs smoothly at 30FPS at most points, but when there is a lot happening on screen, it freezes for a split second and then continues. It’s not too much of an issue, but it can take you out of a pulse-pounding battle. Lastly, the end boss fight. This part of the game felt unbalanced during my time with the game, but it has been patched. Still, some of the moves from the last section of the fight were way too widespread and rarely allowed you to avoid its attacks.
Despite a few issues technically and its overpowered last boss, this game looks beautiful. The jump from PS2/3DS to PS4 is night and day. The glow of a light on the street, the brimming sky of stars set above a stunning remade Castle of Dreams, the emotion of Aqua’s face during cutscenes, the particle effects from the slash of a keyblade or a fire spell, and the imaginative visuals of the dark versions of these beloved Disney worlds all make this game magical. As a long-time fan of the series, I was screaming internally and externally. I was just in awe and I can’t wait to see more Disney worlds realized in Kingdom Hearts 3 in this engine.