- "Adventure is in the cards."
- —Tagline
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories is an action role-playing game developed by Jupiter and published by Square Enix in 2004–2005 for the Game Boy Advance. The game serves as an intermediary between the two larger-scale PlayStation 2 games in the Kingdom Hearts series, and is a direct sequel to Kingdom Hearts. Chronologically, it is the third game in the timeline after Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts, and takes place during Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. It was one of the first Game Boy Advance games to incorporate full motion video.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is the direct sequel to Kingdom Hearts, and its ending is set about a year before Kingdom Hearts II. The story centers around Sora exploring a mysterious castle in search of his friends. As he ascends the castle, his friend and rival, Riku, explores the basement levels and fights his personal demons. The game introduces new characters and plotlines that further expanded the Kingdom Hearts universe and set up the premise for Kingdom Hearts II.
Though not as successful as the other Kingdom Hearts video games, it received positive criticism and sales. It was praised for its story, graphics, and full motion videos. The game features a new card based battle system that is a departure from its predecessor. When it debuted in Japan, it sold 104,000 units in only 48 hours, a record for a Game Boy Advance title at the time. Since its release, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide.
The game was remade into a PlayStation 2 game titled Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, which was released in Japan as a second disc packaged with Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix in March 2007.
Story[]
Sora, Donald, and Goofy walk down a long path that seemingly goes nowhere. They see Pluto and start to follow him. He leads them to a crossroads. While deciding which path to take, a mysterious man in a black cloak approaches Sora and speaks to him, but at that moment his words are incomprehensible. The path becomes one and it leads them to Castle Oblivion. The cloaked man appears as they enter the castle and gives them a card. They use the card to proceed through the castle. The first world they go to is Traverse Town, where they discover that Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid have forgotten all about them. Strangely, though, they remember Sora, Donald, and Goofy's names, with Yuffie even mentioning that her heart still holds memories of them, even if her head doesn't. After Leon gives Sora a tutorial on fighting and gives Sora a Simba summon card, they leave Traverse Town.
The man appears once more after they arrive on the next floor. Another cloaked man appears and introduces himself as Axel. Sora battles him, and when Axel is defeated, he gives him more cards, disappearing soon after. Sora, Donald, and Goofy go through each floor, experiencing their memories, all of which are somehow distorted, each in a different way. They start to lose their memories. A Nobody named Naminé begins to replace memories of Kairi with fake ones of herself. It turns out she is good and is manipulating his memories under the orders of the head of the castle, Marluxia. This escalates to a final battle in the end, for Sora's life and Naminé's freedom.
Meanwhile, Riku awakens down in the castle, and as he goes up the basement levels of Castle Oblivion, he must take control of the inner darkness inside of him while dealing with Ansem, the Riku Replica, and three members of Organization XIII, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion, along the way.
Journal entries[]
Sora's story[]
Sora's Tale I
Our friends may be here...
It was that thought that led us to Castle Oblivion, where cards rule over all.
A mysterious man gave Sora a card, using it to took us to Traverse Town--of all places!
It turned out the town was just a figment of our own remembrances, the first world of many that lie in Sora's heart.
And so our journey through these worlds begins.
Sora's Tale II
It seems we're slowly losing our memories of what happened before the castle. And all my notes about the last journey have vanished!
But in exchange, Sora is remembering other things he must have forgotten until now--like a girl he knew when he was little.
While fighting Larxene, Sora finally remembered the girl's name...
Naminé.
Sora's Tale III
Sora pressed on in his search for Naminé, and can you believe it? He found Riku, his best friend whom we thought was lost.
Sora was so happy, but Riku attacked him just like that, saying, "I'll protect Naminé!"
What could he mean? Will something happen if Sora finds Naminé?
Sora is chasing after Riku...and the answers.
Reverse/Rebirth[]
- Riku's Tale I
Bored with his secluded island life, Riku dreamt of seeing other worlds.
He got his wish when darkness devoured Destiny Islands and he was thrust into the outside world.
While looking for his lost friend Kairi, he met Maleficent, and accepted her help.
But Maleficent had her eyes on Riku's strength and was working to make him her underling. She gave Riku the power of darkness, but as he used it, it gained power over him.
This is why Riku fought his best friend, Sora, and how his heart fell to Ansem, pursuer of darkness.
But Riku was freed by Sora's light. Riku, Sora, and the king worked together to close the door to darkness, but Riku was trapped inside, in the realm of darkness.
Will he see the realm of light again?
- Riku's Tale II
Led by a mysterious voice, Riku made his way through the card-worlds, but met only dark beings within.
Riku was told that because he rejected the other things in his life to claim darkness, his heart is now devoid of anything but the darkness he sought.
Unable to accept this, Riku encountered Ansem, who tried yet again to conquer him.
The king intervened to save Riku, but Ansem had not let go of his heart.
And so Riku must fight the darkness within.
- Riku's Tale III
Embattled with the darkness in his heart, Riku met someone who looked just like him, a replica crafted by Vexen, a member of the Organization.
The replica commanded darkness freely, and called Riku cowardly for shunning the dark.
Meanwhile, agents of the Organization laid their rivalry bare. Sora and Riku seem to be the reason they control the castle—but why?
- Riku's Tale IV
Vexen took his replica of Riku and headed for the surface, but finally fell at Sora's hands.
Lexaeus confronted Riku, intending to bring him to submission using all force necessary.
It was then that the powerful darkness in Riku's heart awakened. The darkness defeated Lexaeus, then dragged Riku into the realm of darkness.
There, Ansem's shadow loomed large, but Riku was again saved by the king's light.
Gameplay[]
The gameplay is a combination between a console role-playing game and a collectible card game. The cards are utilized in the progression of the story as well as in combat. The game features a field map and battle screen. The field map is an isometric area where the player can traverse between rooms. Enemies inhabit the field map and track the player to engage in combat, which can be initiated by either the player or an enemy. Once combat has been engaged, the game switches to the battle screen which utilizes a card-based battle system.
Another aspect more unique to this game is the synthesis of new rooms: to advance through the game, Sora must utilize Map cards he has found after winning a battle to create rooms and everything in them, from enemies to items. Each card has a specific effect, ranging from creating a room with more enemies or slower-moving enemies to save rooms and rooms containing treasure.
The game features three modes of gameplay. The first two are story modes that feature either Sora or Riku. Initially only one mode is available, Sora's story mode. After it has been completed, "Reverse/Rebirth" is unlocked. Reverse/Rebirth allows the player to play a second story mode featuring Riku and a link mode where a players can battle each other via a Game Link Cable.
Combat[]
Combat utilizes a card-based battle system. The player can jump and maneuver around the battle screen as they would on the field map, but all physical attacks, offensive/defensive magic, items, and summonings are activated by playing cards. Cards are numbered from 0 - 9, which are used for making attack combos, or breaking enemy cards. The higher the card number, the more Card Points are required to equip it for use. Zero cards is special in that they can break any card or sleight, provide they are played after the opposing card combination. Otherwise they can be broken by any card. Premium Cards do not require as much CP to equip, but they become unreloadable for further use during a battle unless they are restored by an item card that can reload such cards. Enemy cards are obtained by defeating enemies and bosses, and are used to give Sora a temporary ability, ranging from enhanced offensive and defensive capabilites, to modifying the attributes of Sora's cards.
Combining cards in sets of three will create combo attacks that are more difficult to break because they are higher in number than a single card. Certain card combinations will create a sleight, a special combination that will create a powerful physical attack, magical spell, or a summon. The cost of a combination, whether broken or not, is the loss of the first card of the sequence and it will not be reloaded, unless they are restored by an item card that can reload such cards.
Both Sora and Riku's card playing system are different. In Sora's story, Sora must obtain cards through playing through the game or through Moogle Shops. In some cases Sora must earn the specific card first through gameplay before it becomes available in a Moogle Shop. Sora can create a total of three different decks so long as each deck does not exceed the current Card Point (CP) limit, which can be raised by leveling up. Unlike Sora, Riku has a closed deck that cannot be customized. The deck is dependent entirely on what world he is in. Riku cannot use summons, magic, Premium, most items, and certain map and enemy cards. While he can still combine cards, Riku cannot use sleights except for the Mickey Mouse Miracle, unless he is in dark mode. He can use Boss Enemy cards whenever he wants and standard Enemy Cards can provided a the normal effect once per world. Riku also does not need to charge a reload counter in order to reload, and he can raise his attack power at certain levels. Since Riku can't use magic cards, he can only restore HP by using certain special cards.
Box Art[]
