Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

I’ll be honest—I’m biased when it comes to Kingdom Hearts. But that bias didn’t come from nowhere. I’ve been a fan of the series for years, and it was one of my first JRPGs. At first glance, it might not seem like much—a game where some kid with spiky hair and big shoes runs around meeting Disney characters? It’s easy to write off. But as a child, Kingdom Hearts stood out among every PS2 game I could get my hands on.

The character arcs were powerful, and every line of dialogue felt like it had weight, like it was teaching me something. It made me look inward and ask myself questions, shaping the way I saw stories and characters. You grow with Sora and the rest of the cast—it’s a journey that sticks with you.

Gameplay-wise, the series evolved in ways that kept it fresh. Birth By Sleep, in particular, introduced the command system, a unique twist on action combat that blended strategy with fast-paced slashing mechanics. But what really set it apart was its structure—this was the first game in the series that allowed you to swap between three different perspectives. Rather than playing just one story, you played three, each through the eyes of Terra, Aqua, or Ventus. Each character had a uniquely defining playstyle, which meant that while you might have gotten used to Aqua’s swift, magic-based combat, switching to Terra’s heavier, more deliberate attacks or Ventus’s fast, acrobatic movements required subtle readjustments. It wasn’t too jarring, but it was just enough to make you rethink how you approached each world.

For anyone who enjoys strategic gameplay with a fluid, engaging battle system, Birth By Sleep is an experience like no other. It’s not just another Kingdom Hearts game—it’s one that redefined how the series told its stories and played with its mechanics.