RATING: 4.5/5.0

Many people are familiar with the Kingdom Hearts series by now.

The concept of combining Disney characters with Final Fantasy characters into one game was a strange one that seemed to work for some reason. Featuring cheesy dialogue that uses the words “heart,” “light” and “darkness” in almost every line, the series has mostly been a fan-service affair mixed with fun, Action-RPG gameplay.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for the PSP is no exception to this rule.

Birth by Sleep is a prequel. The basic catalyst for the story is that creatures called the “Unversed” have started popping up around the different Disney worlds and they need to be stopped. Starring Aqua, Terra and Ventus, players must play the game three times with each character to unravel the entire mystery behind the Unversed and what leads certain characters to their decisions in the game’s wild finale.

Similar to other Kingdom Hearts games, Birth By Sleep features a seemingly simplistic combat system. Mashing the “X” button will give players regular attacks. Meanwhile, they can also use special moves and magic that they equip to their “Attack Deck.” Along with this is the “D-Link” command which allows characters to utilize moves from other characters they meet during their adventure.

These things prove to be vital in battle, as simply mashing the attack button will not be enough when it comes to some of the game’s bosses. By the end, players will have to become pros at countering, dodging and biding their time instead of attacking full-on, which makes the game’s combat a much more evolved and solid state than previous games.

Despite the fact that people will have to play through the game three times to get the full story, this prevents players from receiving the same experience over and over. Each character controls differently enough that it doesn’t feel the same, and goes to different areas of each world to have their own adventures. The story is also crafted in such a way that it makes repeating the game much more tolerable, with the narrative picking up where another character left off.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep will obviously appeal to anyone that is a fan of the series, but everyone else should have a pretty good time, too. The game’s high-end graphics, fun combat, brand new Disney worlds and characters make the game’s shortcomings-like a poor camera-easier to overlook. PSP owners looking for something to play should give the game a shot.