Project 5.08: Birth by Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage

Posted on by misterbinger

Before We Begin

While it’s not a full game by any means, I really like A Fragmentary Passage. It’s a nice little glimpse of what KHIII could look like, and it’s a pretty fun play on its own. Looking it up, I did forget that it begins where the Back Cover movie leaves off, but at this point I’m resigned to wiki readings about whatever I need to know from that movie and from X/Unchained X/Union X. The movie had little to nothing to do with the story as it currently exists, so I didn’t get much out of it, and I again refuse to play a pay-to-win mobile game.

I digress. Here’s the last piece of our journey through the series.

Day One

Going through this a second time managed to connect the dots on one particular point for me: the Chambers of Repose and Waking. This entire subplot had basically eluded me both times through the series, and I could never figure out what the significance was of the Land of Departure becoming Castle Oblivion (as cool a reveal as that was). Terra-Xehanort asking Aqua in the Realm of Darkness where Ventus was made it click. Xemnas is trying to find the Chamber of Waking because he knows it contains Ventus, and as Xehanort’s Nobody by way of Terra-Xehanort, he wants to know what the significance of Ventus is because he’s trying to recover his past memories as both Terra and Xehanort (which is why they go out of their way to show him using the Chamber of Repose in KHII). This story is…really something else.

I really like the way this game is presented as a story that Mickey tells Yen Sid, Kairi, and Riku. Although the frame story takes place directly after DDD, the main action takes place concurrently with KHI, ending with Mickey closing the door. It’s the only midquel we’ve had other than Days, and although I’m not begging for them to use this format for another full game, it’s kind of a nice way to connect one that doesn’t really have enough time to do so on its own.

In terms of gameplay, Aqua is way more fun to play as here than in Birth by Sleep – and not just because she’s leveled up to 50 when you begin. She’s no longer the noticeably weakest member of a trio, and her weird propeller move that finishes out her combo has been adjusted so that it hits enemies just as often as any other move, rather than having a bad habit of going straight around them. Better yet, her Finish command has been upgraded to the (very powerful) last move of her combo, so now you can launch as many waves of light as your heart desires.

And that’s to say nothing of the rest of the movement. This game really feels like an upgrade in comparison with the rest of the series, mostly thanks to a few little touches here and there. You can move while using magic. Spells launch almost instantly instead of after a longer windup animation. Keyblade attacks feel like they have more weight behind them. You can stay in the air for long enough to start a whole new combo before you hit the ground. The biggest drawback is the frame rate – at 30 fps, it’s pretty hard to adjust to after every game before it running 60. I’ve heard it gets better on the PS4 Pro, but that won’t exactly help me when KHIII comes out. I would be surprised if they don’t fix it (and judging by the trailers they already have), but it would still be a minor disappointment for me if KHIII doesn’t run as smoothly as the others.

Teaming up with Mickey is neat too – and I’m pretty sure that between this game and the final minutes of BbS, Aqua is the only player character you’ve been allowed to do so with.

Conclusion

It’s not a full game, even in the sense that Re:coded is a full game. At just three-ish hours long (less if you plow through, slightly more if you really take your time), it won’t move many extra copies of the 2.8 collection that people weren’t already buying for DDD. So this next part might be a bit of a shock.

I’m ranking this above Re:coded and below KHI. For all intents and purposes, it’s a demo – but it’s still a damn good one, and I enjoyed my time with it far more than Re:Chain or even the DS games. While I can see myself skipping those on series replays, I’ll play A Fragmentary Passage every single time, not only because I like the gameplay but because it finally offers us an extended look at what lurks in the Realm of Darkness, as well some extra insight into Aqua that we didn’t get in BbS alone. And to those who would say a game this short can’t make that much of an impact, I’d like to submit Portal, which takes roughly as long to beat and is revered by the gaming community to this day.

That does it for my second time through the Kingdom Hearts series as it currently exists. It’s been almost a full month, but I still wish it had been longer. I debated waiting until KHIII comes out to do my conclusion post, but unlike the Marvel movies, my video game posts are done as I play through them – and frankly, I don’t want to be worried about blogging my experience while I play KHIII. I’ll probably do a quick bonus post after I beat it. In the meantime, watch for my Project Five conclusion soon.

The Ranking

  1. Kingdom Hearts II
    1. Timeless River
    2. The World That Never Was
    3. Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden
    4. Space Paranoids
    5. Halloweentown
    6. Land of Dragons
    7. Pride Lands
    8. Port Royal
    9. Twilight Town
    10. Hundred Acre Wood
    11. Disney Castle
    12. Agrabah
    13. Olympus Coliseum
    14. Beast’s Castle
    15. Mysterious Tower
    16. Atlantica
  2. Dream Drop Distance
    1. Symphony of Sorcery
    2. The Grid
    3. Country of the Musketeers
    4. The World That Never Was
    5. Traverse Town
    6. Prankster’s Paradise
    7. La Cité des Cloches
  3. Birth by Sleep
    1. Enchanted Dominion
    2. Deep Space
    3. Dwarf Woodlands
    4. Disney Town
    5. Land of Departure
    6. Castle of Dreams
    7. Neverland
    8. Mysterious Tower
    9. Olympus Coliseum
    10. Keyblade Graveyard
  4. Kingdom Hearts
    1.  Halloweentown
    2. Traverse Town
    3. Hundred Acre Wood
    4. The End of the World
    5. Hollow Bastion
    6. Agrabah
    7. Deep Jungle
    8. Wonderland
    9. Monstro
    10. Neverland
    11. Olympus Coliseum
    12. Destiny Islands
    13. Atlantica
  5. Birth by Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage
  6. Re:coded
    1.  Wonderland
    2. Castle Oblivion
    3. Olympus Coliseum
    4. Traverse Town
    5. Hollow Bastion
    6. Agrabah
    7. Destiny Islands
  7. 358/2 Days
    1. Halloween Town
    2. Agrabah
    3. Twilight Town
    4. Wonderland
    5. Beast’s Castle
    6. The World That Never Was
    7. Olympus Coliseum
    8. Neverland
  8. Re:Chain of Memories
    1. Hundred Acre Wood
    2. Halloweentown
    3. Twilight Town
    4. Castle Oblivion
    5. Destiny Islands
    6. Wonderland
    7. Traverse Town
    8. Olympus Coliseum
    9. Agrabah
    10. Hollow Bastion
    11. Neverland
    12. Atlantica
    13. Monstro

Leave a comment