Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Tags: psychedelic

Plot synopsis:
=== Setting ===
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is set after the events of the first game. It is set in Castle Oblivion, a mysterious castle kept by Lord Marluxia. Sora and his teammates are told that the castle causes visitors to lose their memories upon entering. The lobby and areas between floors are white with flower-themed decorations, but each floor can be transformed into a different world from the first Kingdom Hearts game using "world cards" created from Sora's memories. Like before, many of the worlds of Disney and Square Enix reappear.
Unlike the previous game, the worlds are created from Sora's memories. As such, many of the events experienced in Kingdom Hearts are relived in this game, Sora encounters memory-based versions of Disney characters that he has met before (except Deep Jungle in Tarzan). The individual plotlines differ from those in the original game and revolve around the theme of memory. Just as Kingdom Hearts had several worlds created specifically for that game, Chain of Memories introduces Twilight Town as a world created from memories on "the other side of Sora's heart", in addition to the original worlds of Kingdom Hearts.
=== Characters ===
Sora returns as the game's protagonist. Donald Duck and Goofy are less involved in the gameplay and story. Like the first game, Chain of Memories features numerous characters from both the Final Fantasy series and the Disney animated features canon. Being a direct sequel, many of the characters from the first Kingdom Hearts reappear in this game. As each world and the related characters are recreated from Sora's memories, they interact with Sora as if they had never met before. The game also introduces a handful of new characters. Several are members of the enigmatic Organization. Other new characters include Naminé, a young girl capable of manipulating memories, and DiZ, a mysterious man concealed by red robes and bandages. Riku appears as a playable character in the second story mode. After being sealed in the realm of darkness, Riku heads to the basement of Castle Oblivion. He is aided by King Mickey and DiZ.
Six members of the Organization serve as antagonists, four appear in Sora's story mode and the rest for Riku's. Among the four are Marluxia, the lord of Castle Oblivion, Larxene, Marluxia's assistant, Axel, a double agent with hidden loyalty, and Vexen, Marluxia's unwilling participant. Zexion and Lexaeus, Vexen's allies fighting with Riku. Ansem also appears in Riku's story as an entity that Riku trying to gain his control. Many of the Disney villains return with memory-based recreations like the rest of the Disney characters, they have different motivations compared to the first game.
=== Story ===
Sora, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy Cricket walk down a winding path in search of Riku and King Mickey. A man dressed in a black, hooded coat appears and directs Sora towards a massive fortress called Castle Oblivion. Upon entering, the travelers realize that they have forgotten all of their abilities. The hooded man explains that the deeper they go into the castle, the more memories they will lose, but they will also uncover new memories in the process. He creates a deck of cards made from Sora's and his friends' memories, and tells them that everything they encounter in this castle will be based on their memories.
Sora ascends the castle, facing off against other hooded figures who form a group called "the Organization" along the way. As Sora loses his memories, he gradually appears to remember a girl named Naminé as an old friend of his, and learns from the Organization member Larxene that she is being held prisoner in the castle. He also clashes with a replica of Riku created and controlled by another Organization member, Vexen, and believed by both Sora and the replica himself to be the real Riku. Axel, an Organization double agent, releases Naminé and allows her to meet Sora in person. Sora discovers Naminé to be the one manipulating his memories, having been forced to do so by Marluxia, the lord of Castle Oblivion and the figure who lured Sora there, as part of his plan to overthrow the rest of the Organization with Larxene. Sora climbs to the top of the tower and defeats Marluxia and the other Organization members, after which Naminé puts Sora and his friends into pod-like machines to help them regain the memories they lost in the castle, even though they will forget the events that transpired in the castle. Before they are put to sleep, Sora and Naminé promise to meet again as real friends once he reawakens, Sora firmly believing that his memories of her and the castle will remain in his heart despite being forgotten.
In Reverse/Rebirth, Riku has been transported from the realm of darkness and fights his inner darkness as he battles upward from the basement levels of Castle Oblivion. Vexen fights Riku to obtain his data and creates the replica of him to counter Marluxia's plan. Ansem, still possessing Riku's body, tries to regain control of Riku, but Mickey's power keeps Ansem at bay. On the way, Riku battles and defeats Lexaeus, a member of Vexen's circle, only to be dragged into the realm of darkness. However, he is saved by King Mickey when Ansem nearly succeeds in taking Riku's body as his own. With Marluxia eliminated by this time, another of Vexen's allies, Zexion, attempts to dispose of Riku by drowning him in light. Riku is saved by Naminé disguised as Kairi, who helps him to control his darkness, allowing him to defeat Zexion. Riku later meets DiZ, an enigmatic individual interested in Riku who sends him to find Naminé. Riku's replica, who has since learned of his altered memories and seeks to justify his existence, fights Riku only to be destroyed by him. Riku chooses to face Ansem upon learning from Naminé that Ansem lives in his heart, and defeats him after DiZ summons him for Riku to fight. Riku then sets out on a journey to utilize both his darkness and his light with King Mickey as his companion.

Review: Starts off fun, ends up really, really boring..
Unless you're a fan of the original Kingdom Hearts on the PS2 then I would probably stay away from this game.
You'll be totally lost and confused and won't know who the hell any of the characters are aside from the recognizable Disney ones.
Plus, they are all suffering from amnesia and their long, too frequent, cut-scenes have an enigmatic feel to them so you'll still not really ever be sure what is going on no matter how far you get into the game.I think the card-based strategy of fighting and evolving is a horrible, badly conceived misfire of an idea.
This kind of thing may be fine in a Beyblade video-game but in a Disney/Final Fantasy game it's just inappropriate.
The whole concept is scatterbrained and random and has no real skill involved.
It takes ages to build up a decent combat deck and even when you do the fighting is endless, tedious and boring.
You'll fight the same villains in every level and while in appearance the levels may look different (taking their inspiration from many different Disney films) they are essentially all the same.
The fun comes from spotting popular Disney characters and trying to get into the story that involves them.
But the plot is so incomprehensible and alienating that I just didn't care after a while.I did stick with the game for a good few months and found advancing through each level to be an exhilarating and thankless chore.
Nothing changed and I never really felt like I was getting anywhere.
I've played better RPGs than this and so have you.
As RPGs on the GBA go, I've yet to see one that truly works.
Skip this unless you're a die-hard fan of either franchise.Graphics A Sound C Gameplay C+ Lasting Appeal C+.
Absolutely Brilliant!.
When I first saw that there was a Kingdom Hearts game for Gameboy Advanced, I said "Oh that's cool" and went about my business, thinking it was some random unnecessary game that Square had pumped out to earn a few extra bucks.
Then I learned that the plot to it is actually rather essential to the second game, so I decided to pick it up and give it a try.Wow. That's all I can say.
I was blown away by the intelligence of the plot I was witnessing.
There were so many twists and turns, and it really kept me guessing up until the spectacular conclusion (both of them).
What's even more impressive is how well developed all the characters are.
The members of the Organization each have their own distinct personalities and cease to be mere stereotypes that are all too often the villains of gameboy games.
You truly cared about their existence, and it was always a major accomplishment if you took one of them down.The gameplay itself is fairly creative, and a great adaptation to the GameBoy system.
The card system allows one to pull off a plethora of attacks, and building your deck really takes quite a bit of strategy to do correctly.
The only negative that I really see is that all the rooms you travel through really have more or less the same layout, so that can get a little repetitive.
But, being the movie buff that I am, plot line matters more to me than anything.
I more than got what I was looking for - it's a shame Kingdom Hearts II didn't have plot and character development this good...A must play for all Kingdom Hearts fans..
Unique game-play is what makes it good.
Kindgom Hearts: Chain of Memories is a good game.
It's a prequel from the PS2 versions.
This one is an action RPG.After the opening presentation (with surprisingly good graphics) you get to the main game.It's a hack-and-slash game, except with one thing: cards.
Cards decide your attack, and are measured on the number in the corner.
This number tells how good your card will do in battle.
When you are playing a card, your opponent can use a different card.
Depending on the number, either card will break.
You can also choose which cards you want, for strategy.
Cards with higher numbers (Zero can break anything when coming out, but can be broken by anything else.) have less of a chance of being broken.
You can also use custom attacks by putting cards together, and making sleights.
However all this becomes difficult because you have to worry about your opponent attacking you, while you are changing cards.You can also explore too.
They will only change depending on what card you use to open the door.Well, to sum it all up, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories has a unique style of game play, but you soon fight too many enemies with a crowded screen.
It's hard to fight with so much stuff crowding the screen.
You can't sort through your cards without a chance of getting hit.
The worlds seem all similar with no puzzles of any sort.
The only real variation in the worlds depends on what cards you use to open the doors.6/10 Good: Unique game play.
It's fun to customize decks.Bad: crowded screen, you fight way too many enemies, levels are kind of similar Feel free to send me a Private Message regarding this comment.Feel free to send me a Private Message regarding this comment..
Not just a Repeat.
Kingdom Hearts II: Chain of Memories is not just a repeat of Kingdom Hearts.
Though some of the worlds are the same, it has a completely different story line.Though some things are the same, such as the worlds, key blades, and Heartless, a lot of things are different.
The whole game you are actually climbing stories in Castle Oblivion.
I'll try not to give away too much, but everything is not what it may seem.The story starts out with the gang sleeping.
Sora awakens to see Castle Oblivion.
Sora and co.
soon find out that Jiminy's journal is completely empty, and they are losing their memories.
*That's all I will give away* ;) The battles are challenging, the characters are charming, and you will feel 10 times better after you kick Axel's butt.
^_^ It's a really great game, and if you are a die-hard Kingdom Hearts fan, then this is definitely worth getting.I'd rate this game an 8 out of 10..
I liked this game..
I don't know why so many people are flaming it.
It basically follows Sora, Donald, and Goofy through a very creepy place called Castle Oblivion.
*Apparently* Riku and the King are there.
(-koffkoff- Yes and no.
There's actually TWO Rikus in this game, but I'm not going to say anything else.
That's a huge spoiler right there, it is.
^.~) The Castle is controlled/owned/used by a group called The Organization.
There's actually twelve members, but you only get to see about eight.
Axel, Larxene, Vexen, Zexion, Marluxia (who, despite the girly name, is a guy.
And Lord of the Castle.), Lexaeus, DiZ, and the hooded guy in the beginning, who is still unidentifiable.
I personally think it's Larxene, but whatever.
The Castle ALSO is controlled by cards and memories.
It's only a little confusing at first, and the mysterious guy at the beginning does a way better job than me of explaining.
Wanna attack with the (a, really.
There's about sixteen different types of the buggers.) Keyblade?
Use a card.
Spells?
Items?
Same thing.
Basically you're supposed to wander through different worlds of Sora's memory and kill members of the Organization/Heartless.
Not that complicated, but then there's the other storyline with Sora's memories of Kairi being replaced by false memories of a girl called Namine.It's a fun, dramatic (-I- think so), whacking-stuff-with-the-Keyblade game.
And I didn't really get a lot of what was going on ('cos I didn't play Kingdom Hearts), but I had fun anyway.
and a whack with the Keyblade for good measure.(Oh, and if you beat the game as Sora, you unlock both the multiplayer aspect and Reverse/Rebirth, where you play as Riku and basically play the game in reverse from Riku's viewpoint.
It'd be sweet, but I haven't beaten the game yet.
What are the Flames For?.
I agree with the some of the other commenters, what are those flames for?
In fact, I liked Chain of Memories much more then the original PS2 game, though that just might be my own opinion.
The story starts off good, picking up straight from KH's End. Sora finds himself in a mysterious Castle, Castle Oblivion.
I love the character design for this game.
Nomura was able to add many more characters you can find yourself attaching to.
For example, I nearly cried when Vexen was killed by Axel (Yeah, I thought Vexen was cool.
So shoot me.) Then Larxene has a cool attitude, and Marluxia is man enough to wear pink hair and still be lord of the Castle Oblivion.
Then there's Axel, who is cool and confusing at the same time.
Zexion was a lesser character, but he seemed awesome as well.
Not much can be said for Leaxus.
DiZ was weird, but I'm sure he plays a huge part in the plot.
Namine is a simple girl on the outside, but deep down shes confusing.
The battle system was easy once you got the hang of the cards and all, and even though there are hundreds of card based battle game, this one was unique and fun in its own way.
I Definitely RECOMMEND THIS.
Story: A Battle System: A Characters: A+ Graphics: A Music: B+.
To be forgotten is worst than death..
This RPG game is really good compare to other GB games.
It's a sequel of Kingdom hearts in Ps2.
But it's not Kh:2 it's just like a Kingdom Hearts 1.5 it's just like another quest for Sora.
I got surprised when how they turn the characters in Kh in ps2 and kh:chain of memories, the pixels.
And the combat system, it's unique, using different kind of cards to beat the enemy.
The cut-scene, it was good, for a GBA console, they still manage to make a cut-scene.
And the story of the game, to find is to lose, to lose is to find, to remember is to forget, to forget is to remember, its really good.
So many good quotation here, one is when they start to enter the world "Castle Oblivion", "No matter what happens, even we end far a part or forget each other, all for one, one for all, and that's a promise.
Kh series will never be for forget, another history in the world of RPG's is made....
Fun but could have been a bit better.
Kingdom hearts:chain of memories is a good enough game that has a good story but its too easy and you can get out of levels quicker than the other Kingdom hearts games.Its a continue from the first one.
Sora, Donald and Goofy are searching for Riku and they find a castle called:Castle Oblivian.There they lose memories and gain new ones as they go up the castle's thirteen floors.Its very annoying when you need a certain card number to go through a door.Some boss battles are so easy that you can go through them without dieing once.Although Donald and Goofy are not with you you can still go through levels no problem.I still enjoyed it and Kingdom hearts fans might enjoy it more than I did.Like I said: a good enough game.