Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Voices of: Haley Joel Osment, David Gallagher, Alyson Stoner, Meaghan Martin, Richard Epcar, Derek Stephen Prince, David Boat, Vince Corazza, Quinton Flynn, Bill Farmer
Developer: Jupiter/Square Enix
Director: Tetsuya Nomura
Rating: E
Genre: Action RPG
System: Game Boy Advance
2004

Times Completed:
Tim: 1

Summary: Sora (Haley Joel Osment) finds himself in Castle Oblivion, where the higher he goes, the more of his memories are lost.

Review:
Tim: I really enjoyed the original Kingdom Hearts- the combination of Disney and Final Fantasy was brilliant, Sora is a tremendous video game character, and the plot, albeit convoluted, was intriguing. So, I felt genuinely excited to play Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (I played Re:Chain, the remake). I was quite surprised when I discovered a slew of issues that made this one of the worst video games I've had to suffer through. I need to tap into the rage and frustration I felt throughout this game, verses the elation I feel now that I'm finished.

I have to start off by mentioning the newly designed battle mechanics- a card system that is unnecessarily obtuse to start. It's a huge departure from the action fighting in the first game. This system is unwieldy and looking online, many gamers gave up before mastering the mechanics. I wouldn't say I mastered it, but I got it down enough to complete the game. It's incredibly frustrating at times and I felt so much rage at trying to learn this stupid new way to battle. The cards are just awful. Now, as you subject yourself to the system more, you do learn it inside and out. As your cards get better, you are at times forced to rethink your approach. Deck building is something I avoided for a dozen hours or so before the game forced me to learn how to do it right. The same thing with sleights- I avoided them for a long time, before it became impossible to continue without them. With Sora, I played on Standard and I was only interested in finishing the game, which means I mostly just spammed Sonic Blade once I'd mastered that and built a deck around it. I ended up doing Sonic Blade 1,652 times. It helped take down ridiculously hard bosses in very easy ways. I know some gamers will really leverage the different sleights and adjust them based on their opponent- I just Sonic Bladed them to death and felt relieved to be able to move forward. Maybe there is some joy to be had towards the end of the game, when you have a stupidly strong deck and you can just wipe the floor with the bosses. The problem is all the heartache it takes to get to that point. So, I have to say, even though I figured out the deck enough to make it work for me, I hated the card battle system. It felt totally unnecessary and it was a slog to get through.

So, is that why I disliked Chain of Memories so much? Nope. It was certainly a factor, but there's more. The biggest complaint I have with this game is that the entire game is redundant from the original. Sora spends his time replaying the same levels as in the first game- but, they are minimized, less interesting. You fight all the same bosses, just with the new battle system. Think about this for a minute- the entire game (and I spent 38+ hours on Sora's story and 12+ hours on Riku's story)- 50 hours I invested playing the same worlds and same bosses that we've already seen. All the words are a redo from the original game and that is so unbelievably stupid. Then, as I just stated- once you feel unbounded joy in finishing Sora's story, the game really encourages you to REPLAY THE WHOLE GAME again, this time as Riku. Now, his levels are abridged even further and you spend far less time with the cards- there's no deck building mechanic. But just consider this. You play the main game with Sora, which involves the same levels and bosses (besides Organization XIII) that you've already played. So, the main game is stuff you've already seen. Then, when you finish this redundant game, you need to play the whole thing again! Copies of copies. I couldn't believe it. I was stunned when I read what I'd need to do.

This is when I made my quality of life decision, of which I have no regrets. I read some people skip Riku's story and just watch the cut scenes online. I didn't want to do that, but I had zero desire to play through this game again. I compromised by playing through Riku's story, just on Beginner Mode. Sure, some may see this as "cheapening" or "cheating", but that's dumb. I still invested 12+ hours, I just made it as easy as I could. I hated the idea of playing this game further- I was so burned out and fatigued by this game when I finished Sora's story. So, I stuck with it and finished Riku's path, just on the easiest mode possible. I have no qualms with this decision and I'm so thankful I did it.

So why bother playing this game at all? Completionist tendencies aside, the game does further the story and mythos of Kingdom Hearts. It introduces a bunch of new characters. The ones from Organization XIII are overwhelming (so many new characters), but it's fun to learn about them and their plans. Namine was a great add as well- learning her story was fantastic. And, as much as I hated having to redo the game as Riku, his story brings in King Mickey and it adds a good deal to the lore of this world. If you really want to understand the world of Kingdom Hearts, this game should be played (read: endured). It was worth it in that context, although I routinely gritted my teeth and expressed how much I disliked this game while I was playing it.

Re:Chain is really the way to go. This was originally a Game Boy Advance game and I can't imagine playing it on that system. The updated graphics and voice actors make a huge difference- the only times I legitimately enjoyed this game were when I was watching the cut scenes and not forced to play it.

As I've clearly stated, I did not like this game and I just wanted it to end. I had zero desire to do anything but finished. On Sora's mode, I covered 83% of the Journal. I honestly never looked at that at all, no clue what I missed and I couldn't care less. I was a "Rare Card Hunter". The idea of searching out more bad guy cards and playing this game longer than necessary? No way. I defeated 4,763 enemies, only obtained 2/24 Special Treasures (not interested) and did 7,536 card breaks. Ridiculous. With Sora, I got to Level 71- 488,2922 EXP, 410 HP, 1,175 CP.

On Riku's (Beginner Mode) story, I defeated 4,640 enemies, did 1,102 Rapid Breaks, won 58.54% of Card Duels (no interest in that at all), activated Dark Mode 250 times. I got Riku to Level 61- 310,811 EXP, 335 HP, 30 Attack Points, 54 Dark Points.

As I've said throughout this review, I did not like Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. It felt like a completely redundant game that you had to learn a cumbersome and unwieldy new battle system to complete. The bosses were stupid hard, for no reason, forcing many players to look for the easiest way to finish (spam Sonic Blade and move on!). I'm glad I finished this game and I did appreciate learning more of Sora and Riku's story. However, as a "bridge game" between the main games, this one shaved months off my life. It was so stressful, so frustrating. I disliked it immensely.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Game, We Recommend: Kingdom Hearts, and keeping it to yourself if you actually enjoyed this game (more power to you!)