Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories ~ review

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, released in late 2008, is a PlayStation 2 remake of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories which was originally released on Game Boy Advance. The game took place in a castle called Castle Oblivion and Sora, along with Donald and Goofy, had to unravel the mysteries of the castle. As they did so, they met with a new set of enemies who seemed to have their own agenda in drawing Sora to the castle.

Plot-wise, KHRe:CoM deals a lot with the theme of memories, hence the name of the game. As Sora, Goofy and Donald travel higher and higher into Castle Oblivion, they start losing their memories of their loved ones and this makes them much easier to be manipulated by the new enemies introduced in the game called the Organization XIII. I have a weakness when it comes to stories with characters losing their memories so I find KHRe:CoM's plot to be very amusing and interesting. Since the game levels are basically ripped off from the original Kingdom Hearts game (because Sora and the gang revisit their memories hence the events in the different worlds of the original KH were relived again), some might feel that the story was a bit repetitive. But luckily the events from their memories and the current events in Castle Oblivion with the Organization XIII were played back to back so the story still feels fresh and not just a repeat from Kingdom Hearts. It is also interesting that the studio decided to include Riku's side of story in the game, revealing what had happened to him after the event in Kingdom Hearts and revealing his part in the Organization's plan as he explores basement levels of Castle Oblivion. It helps to widen the story through his perspective and cementing his position as part of the main characters in the game.

There are not much to be said about the characters of the Disney worlds featured in this game as they are the same when they were introduced in Kingdom Hearts. So it is best to say that, other than Sora and Riku, the members of the Organization took centre stage in this game as we get introduced to them with their unique abilities and agenda. Six members from the Organization XIII were featured; Axel, Larxene, Vexen, Marluxia, Lexaeus and Zexion. Out from the six members, Axel is my favourite character. As for their fighting abilities, I like Zexion the most with his book and illusion power. Not to forget, Namine, a mystery young girl with the power to alter memories who was kept in the castle and manipulating Sora's memories as ordered by Marluxia. All the characters were very well designed and the good voice acting also contribute to the overall appeal of the characters.

Now let's talk about gameplay. KHRe:CoM introduces card system in which players use numbered cards to defeat enemies who also have their own set of cards. At first I was kind of confused with the battle system but after I got used to it, it was pretty interesting and, not to forget, addictive. Unfortunately, the player got to choose which Disney worlds they want to explore first and each world have different difficulty level. If somehow players accidentally pick a harder world as their first level, then it might get frustrating for the players to get used to the card battle system. This directly will impact the learning curve of the game based on which Disney Worlds that the players choose to play first. But a persistent players will find that it is very rewarding to master the system earlier in the game for the later harder boss fights.

I didn't play the original Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories on Game Boy Advance but I do know that this remake has been improved a lot especially on the graphics to suit with PlayStation 2 system. Some scenes with dialogues or FMV (full motion video) were added and I also read that some additional battles were included too but sadly I can't tell which one. The FMV were amazing and nicely done, they also play important part in absorbing players into the new conflict in the game. The overall graphics were somewhat the same with what you see in Kingdom Hearts which means that it is visually beautiful, wonderful and stunning, especially the FMV. And, as I stated before, the voice-acting of the characters were good and help bring the characters to life.

What about the soundtrack or music for the game? I can absolutely say that the soundtrack is one of the best aspect of the game. It follows the mood of the story and accompanies each scenes perfectly well when it comes to the FMV. The music for the gameplay is very easy to the ears as well. Basically the soundtrack are reworked version of the original soundtrack from Kingdom Hearts.

So should you get KHRe:CoM? Consider this; great FMVs, powerful story, addictive gameplay, and wonderful soundtrack. I personally think KHRe:CoM is a lot better than the original Kingdom Hearts even if it is just a side story that bridge the gap between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. So the choice is yours. For me, KHRe:CoM is absolutely a wonderful game.

Thank you for reading!

Image sources: KHReCOM and IGN