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Spoilers ► Why did people hate the idea of playing three separate stories in Birth by Sleep?



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Guernsey

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It was a long time ago when I first heard of this but there are people who felt that the game had been one complete story as oppose to playing different stories with the same levels. I really like playing as other characters if only for the novelty but why did people hate the idea of playing as different characters with similar levels?
 

Katsagu

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Maybe some people just didn't like the idea of going throught the same worlds multiple times, even though the stories were different.

Not sure, I really enjoyed it too.
 

Ballad of Caius

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Maybe some people just didn't like the idea of going throught the same worlds multiple times, even though the stories were different.

Not sure, I really enjoyed it too.
Stories were different and some of the characters had exclusive areas.

In my case, I didn't mind. I actually like the game as is.
 

redcrown

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Multiple reasons. One being how once you completed one character's story, you would move onto the next and be forced to rebuild their levels and stats from the ground up all over again.

Two, it made the 3 character's adventures feel disjointed and not interconnected to each other despite how the game's story keeps insisting that they truly are. As a gaming experience it doesn't feel like a fluid narrative either.

Three, playing each character solo for that amount of hours makes you realize how empty and stale they all were individually, and as a consequence, as a trio too honestly, which doesn't work if it's also the title that's introducing these characters for the first time. All the while it tries desperately to tell you that they deeply care about each other instead of showing it, except for the cringey first scene of them the night before the exam.

And four, if you end up completely uninterested or annoyed at even one of the characters and don't feel like playing through the game all over again as them (which was Ven for me, I couldn't stand his whiny battle cries), the game's impact and full experience is pretty much robbed and forever unfulfilled.

People give DDD a lot of crap, but the structure of playing more than one character in a parallel narrative instead of in separate blocks is something they nailed completely right.
 
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Chie

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People complain about every 'gimmick' (aka a game being something other than the previous games). Some people might have real criticisms but ultimately there being some people who hate the game for it is inevitable no matter what the format of choice is.
 

Elysium

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I didn't really hate that part... It was more that the characters were completely alone which made the game feel very cold and isolating, for some reason, exacerbated by how cold and stiff the majority of the characters were. 3D would be the same if not for the Dream Eaters + Riku and Sora being superior characters overall for me. Also, I hated the Command Deck. 3D also features the command deck, but I enjoy flowmotion and links, which offsets my annoyance with the deck's return. Plus, just filling the deck out with Balloons and Cure spells meant I could ignore it for the most part.

A nice idea that I've read suggested before--I think it's unlikely to ever happen, which is a shame because I'd love it--is that they make a game where you have three scenarios like BbS again, except, instead of playing as one character solo, you play as a team (maybe with one leader and two party members, or the ability to alternate). One scenario is Team RAXI, one is Team ATV, one is Team SRK (possibly with MDG or some combination of the six as options). That's the best way to actually utilize an enormous cast of characters, if they plan to keep them around. I think the main reason that would never happen is because BbS was really a case of all three characters going through the same worlds... Whereas a game of teams would require four or five individual worlds to be built for each scenario. Even if they all went to the same first and last original worlds (with say four unique Disney worlds inbetween), that would be around 14 levels, and KH3 shows us the most they can hit is eight or nine--and that's with the original worlds being completely crap at the same time, which I'd like not to be repeated going forward.
 

kirabook

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I don't think the concept is bad, but Birth by Sleep could've done it way better.

Instead of making all the characters go the same world (even if the playable areas are different), they should've kept each character to make like, 3 worlds special to them only.

The rest of the worlds would be worlds where their stories and characters intersected, allowing more time for the characters to develop together and TALK.

I think that is Birth by Sleep's biggest flaw. The three characters needed more time to spend with each other, and each world was too small/short.

Like, maybe Ven should've been with Cinderella through her whole journey, start to finish. I'd miss Aqua falling off the balcony, but Ven falling off a balcony could be just as funny.

Maybe Terra was exclusive to Olympus or something. Terra v Hades would be an interesting battle for him, especially after Hades tried to stoke his darkness. Maybe if he stayed longer he would've become suspicious of Xehanort sooner. I dunno. Inject more plot stuff into that whole interaction.

Maybe Snow White is exclusive to Snow White. Her original role in that world was pointless, but since she later encounters that mirror again in the dark realm (which was pretty awesome imo), it would've been so cool if it was because she faced off against the queen and the mirror as part of the story (and not just a random fight from walking into the room....?)

Maybe doing that would've given them more space to have more worlds/events for TAV to interact with each other. Maybe they're all running around that space ship or Neverland at the same time.

So I can see why people didn't like it. I don't think it's the worst thing ever, but it could've been much better. DDD suffered the same issue for even sillier reasons.
 

Face My Fears

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I think it comes down to the story itself. These characters aren't really characters. They're just tools to explain Nomura's story. They do exactly what Nomura needs them to do and are never really given moments to flesh out their characters organically.

I haven't played BbS recently (I only just finished replaying Terra's story a few weeks ago). From what I recently played, you don't get a sense of their friendship (which is positioned to be so amazing), you don't get a sense of what Terra wants (he really just comes across as stupid), and I kinda forgot what exactly Terra did in the worlds but just assumed it was dark - the only world he actually did something bad in was Enchanted Dominion where he released Sleeping Beauty's heart (or thought he did or was possessed or whatever). So even the "Terra seduced by darkness" plot didn't work out well because in all the Disney worlds, he basically is a good guy except for the first time when he made an honest mistake/was possessed.

Now the split storyline idea I actually like, especially for a handheld game. It was a pretty creative way to use resources and stretch the game. Instead of getting all the information in one playthrough, you have to play the game 3 times with 3 different characters and get some exclusive areas per character. I'm not sure how that concept would hold up on a main console game since we're spoiled with KH3 sized worlds now and don't expect to go back (some Disney worlds in BbS were just 3 locations and that was it to complete the world).
 

Guernsey

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I do not hate the idea of playing as other characters but I wish the rest of the series utilized that type of storytelling or gameplay at least.
 
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