Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

[SoulBlazer]

Two new games I was really looking forward to came out today -- and with myself having just taken a offer of employment, I decided to treat myself by paying for my preorders when I was thinking of canceling them.

I just got home, so I have'nt done anything short of popping the game into my GBA SP, but I'm curious to know other players thoughts.

From what I can, you don't need to have played Kingdom Hearts to enjoy this one. Some knowledge of what happened is helpfull, as this game is the 'next chapter' in the KH saga. It also sets the stage for KH 2 when it comes out next year.

I never thought I'd like Kingdom Hearts -- Square and Disney teaming together? It turned out to be one of my favorite RPG's of the year. The gameplay is fun, the game was a good challenge, nice story, beautiful artwork in the game, and a very good cast doing the voice work.

I hope Chain of Memories can live up to the legacy.

[studvicious]

Yeah, I loved the first one and I can't wait to play this. Let us know it is!

[SoulBlazer]

Why do I always feel like the guinea pig? :P

I read the manual -- the game does take place right after the events of Kingdom Hearts, and you control Sora, Goofy, and Donald as they explore a strange castle. The combat system in this one is card based -- you can gain cards to fight your enemies, and you do that by running into them on the main map. There are some random battles you can do and also story battles. When you finish all the story points of a floor you can move on. Different worlds can be accessed as well (same ones as in KH) and can also call upon some allies to aid you in battle, including Final Fantasy characters.

I'll give the game a actuall game play soon.

[Querjek]

Blah, I have to wait for my copy to come. I want it so much!

[SoulBlazer]

Played for about 30 minutes just now.

Basicaly gameplay is like I said in my first note -- you gain cards through battle, items, and story events and you can use those cards to do your Keyblade attacks, call upon allies, use magic, and heal yourself. You can arange decks, group three cards together for a stack, and learn special combo moves.

The game opens with the closing scenes from Kingdom Hearts -- Pluto has the letter in his mouth bearing the seal of King Mickey, and the three chase after him. They follow a long road, and that night, while sleeping, Sora wakes up and goes for a walk. A mysterious stranger mumbles something about 'follow the road to gain what you seek, but lose something dear' and vanishes. The next morning, they find a strange castle -- Castle Oblivion. The mysterious stranger gets their memories, makes a illusion reality of Traverse Town, and Sora is on his own -- as Goofy and Donald are now cards also who can be called upon in battle. After a pratice fight, the stranger is gone and you're on your own.

Combat actually flows like Kingdom Hearts -- you can jump, roll, do special combo attacks, and attack by using the cards ready in your deck. You can pick up cards in battle as well as healing items, and strike the enemy on the field map with your Keyblade to gain a advantage. The further you go, the higher level cards you need to unloack doors. And you can make most of the rooms by picking the card you want to use. Most cards stay in your deck and can be used over and over again -- save for some special cards.

There's a lot of music carried over from Kingdom Hearts here -- the old title screen theme plays on this game's title screen, and Traverse Town has the same music, as well as the combat magic. The graphics are very nice -- striking detail in the drawings, good sharp clarity. Only a few voices, which are used in combat. You can find save points in special rooms, or do a quick save. Jimmy Cricket is around again with a Journal for help. Even the box looks nice, a striking silver cover.

While using cards instead of hacking and slashing changes the feel of the game, it's close enough to Kingdom Hearts in other ways that I can encourge playing the game even if you did'nt care for the first one, if you're a fan of games that use cards to battle. I'm enjoying it allready.

[Psycho Mantis]

i gotta wait til christmas for mine. it looks cool from the commercial i saw on tv.

[Querjek]

Is it turn-based or... well, not?

[EnemyZero]

you make it sound so nice...i may have to get this one

[towerofsong]

I just keep watching the intro. It's incredible for a GBA. Might reach the actual game soon.

[SoulBlazer]

Yes, the intro really IS nice -- taken straight from the ending of KH on the PS2 from what it looks lilke.

No, the game is NOT turn based. You wonder around the map, whack enemies with your Keyblade to stun them and gain a edge, and then use your cards to attack in a real time battle. You can also jump, roll, use combo moves, and stack cards. (There are boss fights also, I can just imagine one!) Basicaly I'm getting away with just mashing the A button at this point, but I know that will change later on. You're also on your own, unless you use a friend card to help you in the battle.

I played for a few more minutes before bed last night and ran into the charming trio who helped you so much from Kingdom Hearts -- Squall, Yuffie, and Aerith.

[soniko_karuto]

i played the special preview version at the comic con, and i really did liked it.

I mean, just the music, it is so god damn good! it's like listening to the ps2 version, just on a smaller sized screen.

Also the card thing, doesn't make it turned based. A perfect explanation would be a revolver. You load the bullets and fire away.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I've got a ROM of the Japanese version, and I was surprised at how they managed to squeeze such a detailed intro sequence into one little GBA cart!

The in game graphics are also amazing too!!!

[soniko_karuto]

there are differences from the retail version from the special preview i played.

It was actually a better cotron scheme.

You had the jump on A, slash on B.

The cards: when you ran out of cards, it did charged the same way, BUT, the cards were arranged in group, not shuffled.

I mean, they were shuffled but not mixed toghether. You had as the default ones the keycards, the basic attack, when you pressed L or R, it flipped to the next card, and if you press both, it did the same thing, the difference is that if you leave (let?) pressed the L or R buttons, it would jump to the other group of shuffled cards, they were arranged in 4 groups:
attack, magic, summons, enemies.

So you would just not get the attacks and summons all mixed up as easily as in the reatil version.

still, it's very cool to see the game in the gba.

[Querjek]

My copy came yesterday, and I like it. The card system definitely works well. The sprites are large and impressively drawn. I've gone through Olympus and Traverse Town so far, and I can't decide where to go next!

[Lady Jaye]

Sounds good. It'll be on my to-buy list for either the next paycheck (which is 2 days before Christmas) or the one after (early January).

[soniko_karuto]

oh, btw, it's 24.99 at best buy.

carry on.

[GrayFox]

oh, btw, it's 24.99 at best buy.

carry on.

$20 bucks with a Gamer Gift Card ;-)

And damnit, I gotta finish my KH game and pick this up, PRONTO!

[-hellvin-]

My sister's been nagging me to get this one for her for xmas. Think I'll probably pick it up tomorrow when I get to work...

One of these days I gotta work my way through kingdom hearts. I got a bit into it but then when it started explaining all the gummy ship stuff I just kinda quit.

[soniko_karuto]

One of these days I gotta work my way through kingdom hearts. I got a bit into it but then when it started explaining all the gummy ship stuff I just kinda quit.

then try to shark your way out of the planet of the little mermaid, it plain sucks. On the ps2.

[ninja edited]

[Lady Jaye]

I finally got it, a mere 3 years after I said I would buy it.

And... I really don't like it. I find the card system awkward and overtly heavy for nothing. I think that Squeenix should have used a more traditional approach for KH Chain of Memories: either turn it into an isometric platformer (a bit like the Capcom Disney games on NES), or actually use a traditional RPG fighting system like Final Fantasy's (since they use traditional RPG fighting screens).

Thank god I only paid $15 for it, cuz I'm reselling it at our next swapmeet.

I hate it when a game that has potential to be utterly satisfying for me, turns out to be so disappointing.