Gameboy Advance - Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Format
Gameboy Advance
Publisher
Square Enix
Developer
Jupiter
Country of origin
Japan
Release date
December 7, 2004
Genre
Turn-based strategy

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

By David Rasmussen
16th Jan 05

Studio - Disney/SquareEnix)
Age - E for Everybody
Genre - Fantasy/Action

It's been two years going on three since the original Kingdom Hearts game released.
Now I reviewed that already, so I don't need to recap here... EXCEPT for the changes that has occurred between the original and this GBA version that is.
Oh, and I wrote this review about at the same time the original KH : CofM review came out so I was already done with my review when it premiered. Well, since I put a lot of time into it I went ahead and submitted it since I already did the work on it.
Now the lead up to the review.

Lots has happened since the original game came out.
Between then and now SquareSoft became SqaureEnix, Disney/Pixar began to "divorce" each other, and Final Fantasy went online with FFXI & FFXII (due out anyday now).

But despite all that, FINALLY, after what was supposed to have been a 2004 launch (from everything I heard on the topic of said release) the next installment of the Kingdom Hearts trilogy is coming!
Mind you it's not as long of a wait as, say, Galleons for the X-Box (from one of the creators of Tomb Raider)... but hopefully it won't be as bad as Galleons was either.

That is, however, IF we ever see KH2!
Mind you while FFXII is just about on it's way out, Kingdom Hearts 2 has no such firm release date planned... yet. Last time I checked the game was still a mystery. Huh? Well, I went over to the Playstation site for some info, and with the first quarter games listed Kingdom Hearts 2 is as of yet a no-show.

Anyway since it looks like you'll have to wait awhile for said release, why don't you take time to consider the GBA's "prequel/sequel" called Chain of Memories while waiting for KH2 to release? Disney thinks that's a good idea, especially since they're rolling out a lot of advertising to promote this game, but what does that mean to you?

Chain of Memories, which is supposed to be the sequel to Kingdom Hearts AND the prequel to Kingdom Hearts 2, bridges the 2+ year gap between the games as we return to the KH universe.
We rejoin with Sora, Donald and Goofy after the end of the original game.
Now I won't tell you what they're up to SINCE that'll spoil the ending to the original game (and if you haven't played it yet -- which you should since it's been out for over 2 years -- I figure I'll save that until I review Kingdom Hearts 2) so for now I'll just have to leave that unsaid... for now.

Along their journey (on foot) they run into a huge castle which turns out to be a place called "Castle Oblivion". Here they begin to lose their memories, while Sora begins to regain hidden "memories" buried deep -- but what are these memories, and what is it about these memories that is just at the edge of his mind that he can't yet remember? These new memories may yet doom them forever if they can't escape the castle.

Because they're forgetting things, Sora (and you) must learn new ways to fight as you learn the combat system of this game (which, as you suspected, is far different than that of the PS2 version).
To escape you must travel the castle going from level to level, revisiting "worlds" you have gone to before (cast in the form of illusions that are not real, filled with people who seem familiar but have the same problems with their memories as you do). Along the way utilizing that new "combat" style (the use of cards in battle) to fight your way to the top of the castle.

There is, however, a new threat this time out. Or, to be precise, an old threat from the first game.
That threat, in the form of enemies known as "The Organization", which sort of sounds more like a thing meant to menace a certain Mr. Mulder than appear in a Kingdom Hearts game, is your nemesis.
These people, who track your progress throughout the game, seem to have their own private agenda for Sora (of which you‘ll discover as you play). But who are they, and what is their agenda?
And, come to think of it, who is -- uh -- better stop there.

Now last review said it ties up loose ends from game 1... So does this mean Game 2 will be entirely fresh and new and I won't have to revisit any of the worlds from Game 1 now that said loose ends are tied?
Then again I haven't finished the game yet so I'm still wondering how it'll end.
In other words whether or not all questions are answered, and whether or not the Organization appears in Kingdom Hearts 2, is something only time, gameplay, and that pesky as of yet seen sequel, will tell you.

Gameplay is kind of simplistic, which is expected considering this is the GBA version.
The "worlds" are basically the same "rooms" over and over again (dressed differently but with the same basic shape and idea... get to the doors to progress). The combat is simple once you learn it but has some challenge once you start mastering your "cards" and putting them to use in battle.

Cards? Right. Toss out the old combat system of KH for now since you're learning a brand new bag of tricks here. The whole game's combat system revolves around "Cards" this time.
Cards to fight, cards to progress from room to room on each "world", cards to defend or use magic, cards cards cards. Each card has a value (set from 0 to 9), and the best way to defeat your opponent's "cards" is to have a higher number (though a zero card, used properly, can beat any cards).
Of course that's just a simple explanation of a detailed combat system. You'll get the hang of it, though, as you play. It's simple enough, yet has some depth to it so it has a little challenge to it.

You start out with a set "hand" of cards, but gain more as you play.
You also, as you gain levels, can learn new tricks (sleights) or gain a level up in hit points or points you can use to add more cards to your deck (99 max).
HOWEVER I have found that I have no real use for the Sleights. Why? Because most of them require that you use up THREE cards at once to use each "sleight". Yeah. You can combine your cards up to 3 for killer moves, HOWEVER each time you use this you lose a card (that will not reshuffle back into your deck during that battle). So it's a losing strategy to use it to extreme. I'm sure with proper management Sleights can be useful, but I found that a great deal of battles can be won without such tricks.

That means the most useful thing to upgrade right off the bat is your Card Points (CP), which allows you to hold more cards in your deck (you can make up to three decks to switch from as you play).
After that Hit Points (HP), then Sleights (one per "world" from what I could see of it).
True, in Kingdom Hearts hit points was important but here you need Card Points more since they control the size of deck you use in combat, and the bigger the deck means you have to reshuffle less times (and have more useful cards to use during combat).

But keep an eye out while fighting. This time out while your friends are not there side-by-side with you, their cards are. During fights a card will appear (and bounce along the field for a brief time). This is either a Donald card, a Goofy card, or the card of the one ally (friend) of that world. Peter Pan, Jack Skellington, Aladdin and so forth.
Now while you have these you'll have to select them. Just waiting for your deck to draw down to nothing for these cards to pop up won't happen. Apparently they're put aside from your deck, and you'll have to select them for use (I usually hold them until my deck is used up for that final little punch before recharge).

Another thing is the need to battle, lots and lots of battles.
Why? Because every victory leaves you a special card, which is used to open the doors in each "World".
Certain special doors require a certain special card PLUS a certain combination of number cards in order to pop the door, and there is nothing more frustrating than having to backtrack to previous worlds because you ran out of a certain number in a certain letter group which you needed to open a certain door.
So fight often, and gather as many of the cards as you can... you'll need them.

Most doors are pretty forgiving, and you can use cards of a higher value than the number to pop them (except probably a 9 door). But that is not the case for a few doors, in particular the "event" doors.
"Event" doors, which lead to an area where the story on each "world" moves forward, has a door that requires a specific set of cards to open. One is an "Event" card, the second is a set of one or more specific cards (either/or of a specific number and/or letter (color) set) which work in unison to open the door.
And with the exception of the card that opens the door to a treasure room the rest can only be gained after opening the previous "event" door, so you can‘t progress through that world‘s "story" unless you open the "Event" doors in a specific pattern.
In other words you need to use the "beginnings" card to move along to the next card, and so on and so forth, in order to pass through the "world" and onto the next level of the castle.

Yes, gameplay is simple compared to KH. Too simple in some areas.
You can use your Keyblade in non-combat situations to hit things. That'll either break them to reveal stuff, open treasure chests to reveal stuff, cards or enemies, or manipulate large items (jumping on some things also has the same effect which releases stuff or cards).
The Keyblade can also be used to start combat, which is necessary since you can enter the field of battle at an advantage (your enemies stunned briefly) if you strike your enemy with your Keyblade first.

Enemies are run of the mill enemies from the first game. For the most part they're pushovers.
In fact I found some major enemies I had a hard time fighting against in KH to be pushovers here.
On the other hand I found a few enemies I had an easy time fighting in KH to be quite challenging to defeat (even a tad hard) here in this game.

The best example I can think of in that dept. would be Cloud (FFVII) and Captain Hook.
While Cloud totally wiped me out the first time I fought him in KH, I "returned" the favor by wiping him out without much challenge here in this version. On the other hand, while Captain Hook in KH didn't prove to be much of a challenge (lots of potions and hard work wore him down) he has some killer moves in the GBA version that makes him a harder opponent to best.

Of course it's not like that's such a hardship or anything. Some challenge is good for you.
Anyway it's not like all of the major baddies are pushovers so you'll meet with some challenge as you play.
Add to that the fact that you have unlimited continues and you won't have any problem dealing with this game, yet still find something to sink your gaming skills into to keep you playing.

One problem I do have with the game is that it seems to be a revisitation of Kingdom Hearts, and I have yet to unlock any original worlds. And, sadly, the first review seems to hold no hope in any such original worlds existing in this game. Somehow I would have wished for this game to have been a tad more original, but yet I guess that's not a total killjoy by any stretch. Another problem I have here is the story... can't tell you the story, but I will tell you my problem with it in the Not section.

So, then, to buy or not to buy? Let's break it down.

Kingdom Hearts Breakdown the 2nd
What's Hot? - It's not Kingdom Hearts 2, but it's not a disaster either.
Yes, while I do wish the game was more original and allowed for the exploration of new worlds, I still liked it nevertheless. And since it seems that the new Kingdom Hearts is someways away it'll be a suitable "filler" game to keep you occupied until the official release of Kingdom Hearts 2 (hopefully later this year).

I did like the new "combat" system, but I also had problems with it. For one thing it's a "disposable" art... in other words I don't think we'll be having this system again in KH2 so it's as good as gone past this game... UNLESS they use it for Kingdom Hearts 2 for the GBA that is.
Anyway I did not have enough problems with the combat system to be totally down on it.

What's Not? - Besides the wait for the new Kingdom Hearts on the PS2? I disliked the unoriginality of this game. I could forgive the part where all the worlds seem to mostly mirror one another in level, that is no problem for me. What I can't forgive is having to relive Kingdom Hearts all over again world-wise.

This whole "Castle Oblivion" thing, to me at least, seems to be nothing more than a gimmick to rehash old Kingdom Hearts worlds without the gamemakers having to come up with new ideas (and new worlds) to explore until they finally get around to rolling out KH2... Whenever they decide to roll that out that is.

Another problem, for me, is that the whole story at times seems to come off like an ABC Afterschool Special. Way too preachy, way too much with the "lessons" to learn, and I didn't have to go through that in Kingdom Hearts so why the heavy heaping of sentimental preaching now in this version?
I don't know what they were thinking when they wrote some of the moments of this game, but it couldn't have been good thoughts.

Moments to Remember? - Well there IS a few little "cut scenes" here and there, and the occasional "new" storyline is memorable... if it only wasn't sandwiched between a whole bunch of worlds I've already seen and beaten once already. Not to mention sandwiched between a lot of preaching here and there.
Sora and company may have a hard time with their memories, but my memory works just fine.
But still, there are SOME memorable moments here and there... some.

What to Ignore? - If it seems that you're having a bit of déjà vu as you play this? That's because you ARE having déjà vu... you've done some of this before. But since Sora and company are having a wee bit of trouble with their memories it's all new to them... pity the same can't be said of YOU!
So ignore it. You'll enjoy the game that much better if you treat it as new-to-you... because I guess you can say in a sense it IS new to you. The story has been changed slightly for the new "situation" so it won't play out exactly as KH did... but still it‘s not enough of a departure from the original to call it "new", and some new worlds would have been most appreciated over revisiting worlds I already seen before.

Overal1? - As a "filler" between the two games it's not so bad, HOWEVER it just seems to be an excuse to rehash the old worlds from the first Kingdom Hearts (as opposed to having some new worlds for you to sink your teeth into). But is that really a bad thing?

Ok. It's not original, and it tends to drone on and preach at you from time to time, but it is kind of fun despite all that. Heck, even if the new "combat" system is most likely a throwaway one, soon to be forgotten once you beat this game, I still liked it nevertheless.

Still, when it's all said and done? If you are a fan of Kingdom Hearts and you REALLY REALLY REALLY need your fix badly? You should have no problems picking this game up and adding it to your collection. If you're looking for a good GBA RPG? Uh -- maybe you should pick up Breath of Fire II along with this -- y'know, just in case. Oh, and check out the new Final Fantasy GBA release if you're looking for a FF fix... you won't get one playing this game. The FF connection is even smaller than it was in KH, if that was humanly possible.

Anyway bottom line is this! Are you a KH fan? Must you play every version of the series because you are such a die-hard of a fan? Then you won't need my glowing recommendation to be running out there to snap this up ASAP. Until Disney/SquareEnix finally gets around to releasing KH2 this should fill your need for KH until the second game... whenever THAT comes out.

One final thing -- why Sony didn't roll out a KH game for their PSP is a mystery (especially since KH came out originally on the PS2)! The game might have been more original if it did come out on the PSP, and it might have had the original combat system as well, but I guess we'll never know now.

-- David Rasmussen 16th Jan 05

Gameboy Advance Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Images