That gorgeous girl above is Aya Brea, the star of the Parasite Eve series of games, in a concept drawing for the latest game in the franchise, The 3rd Birthday . According to Siliconera, the upcoming PSP exclusive (mobile phone version has been scrapped) will be developed by Hexadrive, who was responsible for Rez HD.
What's more, we've got the leaked TGS trailers for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and The 3rd Birthday. The Birth by Sleep one is quite the long one, and it begins at about the 2:00 mark -- it includes both cut scenes and gameplay -- most of us haven't seen the game in action, so this is quite a treat. The trailer for The 3rd Birthday, is considerably less exciting, with no gameplay, but keep in mind this is the first trailer. Check them out after the jump.
The Kingdom Hearts series was first born on the PlayStation 2; however, it has gone and spread its wings into other realms since then and now it carries a new bundle of joy in the form of portable PSP title Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. While the title radically takes the story aspect of the game farther away from the original setting with Sora and friends, this new game will focus on the three (slightly) new faces pictured above (from left: Aqua, Ventus and Tera).
Birth by Sleep was indeed playable on the show floor at TGS and we sunk in some time with the title. The playable build that was available let us try out both Ventus and Tera in battle. We decided to just go with trying out Tera's abilities and then go straight into the action. Tera's level starts off in a forest area which gets you into a fight right away. Kingdom Hearts vets will notice that the controls are incredibly familiar; they're nearly identical to the original console games from the past, though with slight differences due to the change in input interface (ie, shoulder buttons once again control the camera since there are no dual analog nubs).
2008 looks to be yet another excellent year for Tokyo Game Show. There's a lot of excitement over the potential surprises at the show. Square Enix has posted its lineup for this year's show, and we're a little saddened to see Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) still not playable. At the very least, we'll be getting some one-on-one time with Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP). Check out the full PlayStation list here:
We're expecting many of these trailers will be shown behind closed doors. Fear not, though. We'll provide detailed impressions of the trailers live from Tokyo next month.
Wowzers! So there is a lot more information out there on Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep than we anticipated. First we got some translated hands-on impressions gathered from various Japanese sites over at KHInsider, along with a trailer summary. Some of this information we know about already, so here are highlights of the new stuff:
Ven's level is the Castle of Dreams, Cinderella's world. Ven cooperates with Jaq the mouse to collect materials to make Cinderella's dress. After going through a maze and finding the necessary items, a boss fight ensues with Lucifer. No, not Lucifer the demon, but rather the cat from Cinderella.
Secondly, we have 3 pages of Famitsu scans courtesy of PSPHyper. Reading the hands-on impressions while looking at these scans, you can almost pretend you were playing the demo. Lastly, IGN has a few seconds of video footage of both Birth by Sleep and Dissidia from their Game Scoop show. Look for that after the jump.
Not only did those who were invited to the ultra-exclusive DKΣ3713 Private Party get a chance to play Dissidia, they also played through two levels of the upcoming Kingdom Hearts prequel Birth by Sleep. As we predicted, Square announced that a Japanese release will occur some time in 2009.
IGN had a chance to play through the two stages, and here's what they had to tell us, after the jump:
Japanese publication Shonen Jump is providing us with another small update on the Kingdom Hearts prequel Birth by Sleep. A new special skill for Terra (not to be confused with Final Fantasy VI's Terra, whose name is Tina in the original Japanese version) named Shock Lock System is shown, along with a screenshot of Ven. PSPHyper has the entire scan for you right here.
Nomura has commented before that the DS Kingdom Hearts title 358/2 Days will likely debut before Birth by Sleep. Since the scan shows 358/2 Days coming out in 2008, we can safely assume Birth by Sleep won't be arriving until 2009.
We stumbled upon a great collection of fan-made box art for the upcoming PSP Kingdom Hearts game. Many of these efforts do a great job of capturing the spirit of previous Kingdom Hearts games. In fact, many of these look like the real deal. Check them out here.
Square Enix is notorious for being overly secretive about its upcoming projects. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, the upcoming PSP addition to the popular Disney franchise, has been no different. When a new trailer leaked to the web, Square Enix's ninjas destroyed the video.
Well, it looks like a new vid is making its way through the web, this time with English subtitles. However, considering how cryptic the story of Birth by Sleep is right now, maybe the translation doesn't help too much! Regardless, we're excited (and we hope this trailer doesn't get taken down too soon).
In case you've forgotten, there's a brand new Kingdom Hearts game coming out on PSP. Entitled Birth By Sleep, very little is known about this mysterious addition to the franchise. Finally, a video has been leaked to the web, showcasing some of the characters and environments in this PSP-exclusive adventure. The quality suffers due to its off-screen capture, but it's clear that Square Enix is working its magic on PSP yet again. We can't wait to see more.
Birth by Sleep looks good. And, new details and screenshots from Famitsu make it even better. The article highlights two new features of the new PSP Kingdom Hearts game's battle mode: the Command meter and Fatal Mode. Players are encouraged to battle furiously, as each attack they execute will fill the Command meter. Once the Command meter fills, players will be able to launch a special attack (which can supposedly be custom mapped).
Terra (the guy that looks a bit too much like Zack from Crisis Core) also has an extra mode: Fatal Mode, which unsurprisingly delivers one-hit kills to enemies. Make sure you check out the screenshots by visiting Famitsu.
Birth by Sleep, the upcoming PSP-exclusive prequel to Kingdom Hearts looks incredible. The game features PS2-quality graphics, as seen in a new scan from Famitsu. Of all the recently revealed Kingdom Hearts games, this looks to play most like the original. We even see Donald and Goofy in these images. How will they integrate into this new game? New details on Birth by Sleep will be hard to come by, but if we find anything more, you'll be sure to find it here.
Although Birth by Sleep is taking the franchise to a darker direction, a recent interview with Gemaga magazine reveals that the upcoming PSP Kingdom Hearts game will take place entirely in Disney worlds. IGN notes that "The game takes place in the past, years prior to the original Kingdom Hearts, and the worlds will be updated to reflect this. Nomura envisions having a young Hercules appear in the Hercules world, for instance. New Disney worlds will also appear, as will favorite characters like Disney and Goofy."
Development is being handled by the same studio that managed Re: Chain of Memories (unreleased in the States). The battle system employed will be largely similar to the card-based system featured in the PS2 remake. "You set up a card deck consisting of commands that are fed into your command menu," Nomura explained.
Details for Birth by Sleep are still hard to come by, but we're intrigued to see how this battle system will feel, especially for Kingdom Hearts regulars. Considering Square's incredible job with Crisis Core, we're confident they can pull off a PSP title that not only looks good, but plays well too.
No blurry scans of magazines here, folks. These are crystal-clear direct-feed shots of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. And considering the history of Square Enix games, this might be the only screenshots we'll see in quite some time. Enjoy the PS2-quality graphics. See the return of a very familiar HUD. And check out the moody angst, in the way only Square Enix can do it! Check out all the pictures at Famitsu.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of Tokyo Game Show was the debut of three new Kingdom Hearts games from Square Enix. Of the three, the PSP title Birth by Sleep looks to most closely resemble the original PS2 games. In a recent issue of Famitsu, character designer and game director Testuya Nomura explained that although Birth by Sleep will play similarly to the original console games, fans should expect new gameplay in this PSP exclusive prequel.
The game has been in development for a long time, but Re: Chain of Memories took much more time than originally anticipated (this is the PS2 remake of the Game Boy Kingdom Hearts game). However, because the story was completed so long ago, the team has had plenty of time to work on the various scenarios in the game. IGN translates: "The game has three scenarios, each told from the perspective of one of the main characters. Yasue joked with the magazine that players may think the game was made by three different teams, as the play style is different for each character due to their varying personalities and abilities."
The character growth system will apparantly "shock" players and will encourage players to link up with others. However, don't expect multiplayer: that's reserved for the DS 358/2 Days. The game will feature brand new Disney worlds as well, such as Sleeping Beauty's Forest. Finally, although the game has been in development longer than either the DS or Mobile Kingdom Hearts games, it'll most likely be the last one to see release: it seems to be easily the most ambitious of the three new games.
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.
