Kingdom Hearts: Chains of Memories (GBA)

Metachronos overall score = 7.9 / 10

Positive
- Unique Kingdom Hearts crossover universe
- Plenty of Disney worlds to explore
- Ties together Kingdom Hearts and its eventual sequel

Negative
- Locations are the same as they use to be in the first game
- Real-time card-based battle system can be unwieldy

The fan focus is evident right off the bat, as Chain of Memories picks up immediately where the original Kingdom Hearts left off. Our spiky-haired protagonist, Sora, is wandering a land of open fields together with his fast companions, Donald Duck and Goofy. They end up drawn to the gates of a great castle, where they are confronted by an enigmatic robed and cowled figure speaking in riddles. It turns out that the trio has become trapped in a place called Castle Oblivion, where simple cards adopt special properties. It's evident that nefarious business is afoot, but the band of heroes has no choice but to explore the castle in an effort to find King Mickey and Sora's friend Riku. And there's an added twist: The worlds you'll visit and the familiar characters you'll meet are all drawn from Sora's memories. His memory is being manipulated by a group known as the Organization, a clan of mysterious folk that seems to be intent on guiding Sora and his friends to accomplish some dark purpose. The events in this game are meant to tie together the stories from the original Kingdom Hearts and its eventual PlayStation 2 sequel, making it a Kingdom Hearts 1.5 of sorts.



You'll be controlling Sora alone on his adventure, because whenever he enters a new world by means of a set of special cards, Goofy and Donald are separated from him. Moving from floor to floor in Castle Oblivion is accomplished by clearing the various worlds, which are essentially the same Disney worlds you might have visited in Kingdom Hearts. The desert city of Agrabah from Aladdin is here, as well as ghostly Halloween Town from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Winnie the Pooh's sleepy 100 Acre Wood, and more. You won't be visiting any new Disney locations or very many original areas, which might be disappointing for those who hoped for new places to explore. The worlds are all segmented into a series of small, interconnected rooms. You move from room to room by unlocking doors with cards that you'll find in the field, pick up from enemies, or gain from special encounters or events. You can jump and swing your keyblade in the field; your blade can strike objects to open them, allow you to interact with doors, or let you hit an enemy for an initiative attack. The rooms are typically filled with foes (called the Heartless) that will roam the area, and while you can avoid them if you wish, getting the first attack nets you a good battle advantage.



Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories actually has two gameplay campaigns. You can play through the main story with Sora, and then a scenario with a second character opens once you've finished the first. Playing through both will give you a fuller picture of the story and the unfolding events, though those events might not make a whole lot of sense to Kingdom Hearts neophytes. This game undeniably caters to existing fans of the series, and those people will get the most out of Chain of Memories. For everyone else, it's worth checking out if you enjoy Disney, Final Fantasy, or a basically good adventure game with a unique world and premise.

a gba game this must be a REALLY old game

december 2004

told u lol


the gba died a long time ago

there are still same few released, but only 3 or 4 a year, normally unpopular games