Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Game Title: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Date Launched: 12/07/04
No. of Players: 1
Console: Game Boy Advance
Difficulty: Medium
Genre: RPG
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Rating: General

Game Play
85/100
Chain of Memories is certainly unique in it’s approach to game play, rather than just have it be a simple slash and jump game the implemented a bizarre card system. It’s rather hard to describe how it works; it really is just trial and error. A player uses cards–which each hold a certain attribute–to attack, heal, and do a variety of things, a player can create combos that when done correctly can do even greater things that alone (the power of team work). The battles themselves are quite different than in Kingdom Hearts for the PS2, in Chain of Memories when the player is approached or attacks an enemy they are switched to a battle field type scenario then the battle begins in real time. The battles are fast due to the fact that a player must concentrate of what cards will be drawn next from his/her deck and at the same time be ready to counter the enemies move. In order to do this well it takes a lot of practice, or you could just wing and just keep clicking the A button and pray that you win. Once outside of the battle “field” the player can walk and open doors, which can only be open through “Key Cards” and open crates that might contain revive your health. The cool thing is you are free to use whatever Key Card(s) you want to open doors as long as they fulfill that doors value requirement. Chain of Memories takes gaming in different directions by implemented new ways of game play, it will take you a while to fully grasp the new concept but it will get easier as you progress.

Graphics
90/100
Kingdom Hearts has been known for stunning people with cool graphics and Chain of Memories doesn’t disappoint. The graphics in this game is very well done–it’s like playing with a tiny Sora. I’m very pleased with this, because every characters looks different instead of the game sprite with color variations that we are all use too in RPG on portable consoles. Definitely plan on being stunned by the graphics when you play.

Controls
80/100
The GBA has a control pad, with four basic directions, the game play is in 3-D–this could be problem. I’ve played this game and I haven’t seen any north-south axis scene/area that I can think of, everything is diagonal. It takes some getting use, but it isn’t too bad. The Battle fields are Left-Right but even then you are playing in 3-D world, enemies are dodging moving around, again it takes some getting use. Chain of Memories is the type of game that will give all the time and practice you need to handle everything so don’t worry if you might not seem to get it right away.

Sounds & Music
85/100
The amazing Utada Hikaru’s hit song “Simple and Clean” gracing it’s presence on us once again. But the music doesn’t stop there (remember this is Disney we are talking about) the music during and outside battle is simply, “kewl.” Probably the best music for a hand held game that I’ve come across in years. It certainly won’t bore you to just pump up the volume and listen.

Story
85/100
Right after the events of KH, Sora, Donald and Goofy have found themselves in the Castle of Oblivion, a place where memories and dreams intertwine with the present. The Crew, while still on the search for King Mickey and Riku, now finds themselves in the hands of a mysterious group of cloaked warriors. Sora, who has been separated from Goofy and Donald and are only able to summon them in battle, must go deep inside his memories and himself, and find the courage to make it out of Castle Oblivion alive.

Replayability
90/100
There isn’t a focus on completing the deck or anything, the cards themselves really aren’t that important–which makes you wonder why they added them in the first place. What makes this game so amazing replayable is the fact that you get to as Riku when you are done with Sora. Yay! That alone should be enough for you.

Overall
85/100
With its unique version of game play, a cool story (especially for die hard fans of the PS2 game), amazing music and so many more things. Chain of Memories is certainly one for the ages. Sequels to games (especially when the sequel will be on another console) are aimed for a selected audience, and probably best so. If you are just in the mood for a good game, you could pick this up and go “Wow this is great” but you’ll have to go through the process of learning a complicated battling system. So it’s safe to say that Chain of Memories is aimed towards Kingdom Hearts fans. Chain of Memories is certainly pushing the limits on what hand held games can and cannot do. The only major downside is that there is nothing new to this, besides the Castle of Oblivion and the mysterious cloaked fellows you are basically going back though all the old worlds from Kingdom Hearts with a few twist but nothing major. I can assume that Chain of Memories is the stepping stone between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts 2, Chain of Memories is probably there to connect the dots between the two games, since many of the new characters that will be in KH 2 make their appearance in Chain of Memories, and that’s enough for KH fans for me. If you liked KH and want to dig deeper into the mind of Sora and Riku, and find out what’s going on with Mickey I suggest picking this us. It won’t make everything clear but it will certainly a few clouds out of the way.

By Cherubim

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Official Final Fantasy VII Strategy Guide, Playstation Version (v. 1)