Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts is a masterpiece which the worlds of Final Fantasy and Disney collide. To many, the idea of mixing one of the most popular RPG franchises with the likes of Disney seemed to be one of the worst decisions ever. However, Kingdom Hearts quickly became a hit when it created a perfect world in which Disney characters and Final Fantasy characters could co-exist. But is that world able to be successfully recreated on Nintendo’s Gameboy Advance? Continue reading to find out!

Graphics:

There are no words that describe how gorgeous the graphics in Chain of Memories are. Not only are the in-game graphics the best I’ve ever seen in any GBA title, but the cutscenes that Square-Enix made are more impressive than most of the Nintendo DS titles currently released. The only real problem with the graphics lies within the actual level design. Though each world looks different, the design of each area is a linear room-to-room type of style. Other than the repetitive level design, Chain of Memories is a graphical masterpiece.  

Sound and Music:

The thing that made the biggest impression of me in this category was that Chain of Memories reused a multitude of songs from the original Kingdom Hearts. If the music was bad, this would have been a major problem. However, the music in the original Kingdom Hearts was some of the best I’ve ever heard. With the exception of Traverse Town, all of the worlds in CoM are from a specific Disney movie. These worlds include, but are not limited to, Agrabah (Aladdin), Atlantica (The Little Mermaid), and Halloween Town (The Nightmare Before Christmas). The songs each in of the worlds are taken directly from the actual movies, which makes listening to the game very enjoyable. The sound effects are impressive too. Sora (main character) makes noises when he attacks and jumps and battle sequences are a plethora of different sounds that are all easy on the ears.

Storyline:

If you were to number the Kingdom Hearts games, Chain of Memories would be considered Kingdom Hearts 1.5. This is due to the fact that the game’s storyline takes place between the original Kingdom Hearts and the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 2. The game begins right where the original left off as Sora, Donald, and Goofy walk down a long path after Pluto. As the others sleep, Sora wakes up in the middle of the night and sees figure cloaked in black. He tells Sora that up ahead is what he is looking for, but in order to gain it, he’ll have to lose something dear to him. You eventually reach a place called Castle Oblivion, which is where the game takes place. As you make your way through the castle, you begin gaining old memories that you had forgotten, but you also begin forgetting other memories. The entire game’s plot revolves around true memories that you never forget. Most importantly, the game introduces new characters that will surely become more prominent in Kingdom Hearts 2. It’s a bit difficult to say anything else without spoiling the game, but I guarantee you that you’re in for a detailed story worth every minute.

Gameplay:

Instead of the normal fighting system from Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories uses an intricate card system that adds a bit of variety to the gameplay. In order to succeed in battle, you’ll have to learn when the proper time to use a card is, how to prevent enemies from using their cards, and how to string together combinations of cards for more powerful results. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but once you get into the game it becomes second nature. The game itself is set inside Castle Oblivion. Each time you move up a floor in the castle, you’ll reach a new world to explore. As stated in the graphics section, each world may be different, but the design of them all is pretty much the same. This part of the gameplay can become repetitive at times, but the battles help to spice it up. Speaking of battles, there were a few points in the game I was about ready to throw the game out the window. A specific example would be the final fight against Riku. This fight is exactly the same as how I described the end boss in Warrior Within. It’s not that he’s overly difficult; it’s just that he’s very cheap with his attacks. Never have I been so mad at a game’s boss battle that I just lose interest in playing the game. It really does take a butt-load of patience to even pick up the darn game again, let alone beat the stupid boss.

Controls:

For the most part, the controls in Chain of Memories are simple. The only real flaw I found was with the sleight system. When you combine three cards together, it’s called a sleight. The problem is that, in order to use cards together, you have to press both L and R at the same time. While this may not sound difficult, it becomes a bit hard to accomplish when you’re trying to fend off attacks from your enemies. Other than that, the ins and outs of the controls can be learned within an hour.

Replayability:

For a GBA game, Chain of Memories offers a lot of gameplay. The initial quest will take somewhere between 15-20 hours to complete, and there’s a load more to do after you complete it. Not only are there hundreds of cards to try and collect, but there’s even a second quest that involves another primary character in the Kingdom Hearts series. However, this second quest is only half as long as the main quest and should only take 5-10 hours to complete. Despite this, that’s still 30 hours of gameplay packed onto a GBA cartridge!

All in all, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is one of the most expansive Gameboy Advance titles ever made. It’s everything you’d expect from the creators of Final Fantasy, and it is definitely worthy of the Kingdom Hearts name. However, with repetitive gameplay, multiple annoying bosses, an easy end boss, and the fact that this game is mainly for fans of the series, Chain of Memories does have its fair share of flaws. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great game, but it’s got too many flaws to warrant anything higher than an 8.0/10.
Graphics: 9.8/10
Sound and Music: 9.0/10
Storyline: 9.0/10
Gameplay: 7.5/10
Controls: 8.9/10
Replayability: 9.0/10
8.0
Out of 10