Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Vorlage:Infobox CVG Vorlage:Nihongo is a video game for the Game Boy Advance and the second installment in the Kingdom Hearts series, bridging the gap between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II.
This game was released in the United States on December 7, 2004 and in Europe on May 6, 2005.
Plot summary
The story of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories takes place directly after the ending of the first installment, Kingdom Hearts. We find Sora, his two friends Donald Duck and Goofy, as well as Jiminy Cricket, walking down a seemingly never-ending path, when suddenly a mysterious man dressed in a black hooded trenchcoat tells Sora, "Ahead lies something you need. But to claim it, you must lose something dear." As they continue down the path, Sora and his companions find a massive fortress called Castle Oblivion. When they enter, they find the mysterious figure.
When Sora and his companions attempt to engage the figure, they find that their abilities seem to have no effect. The figure then explains that at the moment our heroes entered the castle they forgot every ability they had previously known. This figure continues by creating a deck of cards made from Sora and his friends' memories, and tells them that everything they encounter in this castle will be based on their memories. But the higher they go, the more memories they will lose in the process.
Meanwhile, floors below, Riku has somehow managed to return from the World of Darkness and fights his own inner demons as he battles upward from the basement levels of Castle Oblivion. But neither he nor Sora are aware that they are being targeted by a mysterious group called the Organization. As Riku ascends Castle Oblivion, he, like Sora, encounters various members of the Organization. One particular encounter with an Organization member known as Vexen served simply as an analysis of Riku's combat data, which Vexen used to make a replica of Riku. Unlike the real Riku, this replica chose to embrace the Darkness and proclaimed himself the stronger of the two because he was able to wield the full power of the Darkness, while the real Riku did all that he could to suppress it within himself. The Riku Replica crosses blades with the real Riku on a couple of different occasions. After losing to Riku in both encounters, Vexen decides to find a different use for him...
As Sora ascends through the castle, he battles Larxene, a member of the Organization. After battling her, he remembers the name of a former friend of his that he forgot: Naminé. He learns that she is being held in the castle, and continues to ascend the castle, clashing with the Riku Replica who now believes himself to be the real Riku. After witnessing the death of Vexen, another Organization member, Sora learns from Naminé herself that the hooded figure he met earlier is named Marluxia, and is in fact manipulating both of them into being his servants. He also learned that everything he remembered about Naminé was fake, planted in his memory by her. Naminé was never on the islands, but the only thing Sora can remember is her. Marluxia hoped to enslave Sora with these false memories and use the Keyblade's power to overthrow the Organization, but Naminé was able to admit the truth to Sora due to the intervention of Axel, an Organization member who served as a double-agent. Forming an alliance with the Riku Replica—who turns on the Organization when he finds out that he is a fake and that the memories he had were also created by Naminé—they fought to the top of the castle and defeated Marluxia. Sora then bid farewell to the Riku Replica, who left to find the truth to his existence. After sealing the Keyhole on the top floor of Castle Oblivion, Naminé then put Sora & company into an unnatural sleep inside a cluster of pod-like machines to help them regain the memories they lost in the castle, even though they would forget about the events that transpired in the castle.
Meanwhile, as Sora was fighting his way through the castle, Riku began destroying dark beings he met in the depths of the castle in an attempt to rid himself of the darkness. "Ansem", who took over Riku's body in the previous game, attempted to gain control of Riku again, but was continually thwarted with the intervention of King Mickey (Mickey Mouse). On the way, Riku battles another Organization member named Lexaeus. Riku then used his dark abilities and noticed that Marluxia had been killed. He was confronted by Zexion, a manipulative Organization member, but embraced his darkness and overcame him. Arriving in Twilight Town, Riku learned that the "Ansem" who had goaded him earlier was in fact DiZ, an enigmatic man who seemed interested in Riku. DiZ sent Riku to speak with Naminé, but a new foe blocked his way:the Riku Replica, who now sought to justify his existence by finding out which of the two Riku's was the strongest. After eliminating the replica in a fierce battle, Riku learned from Naminé that what remained of the "real" Ansem lived in the bowels of his heart. Riku chose to face him, and after affirming this with DiZ, the odd man loosed "Ansem" from Riku's heart for him to battle. After successfully defeating "Ansem", Riku learned that as long as he had darkness at his command, "Ansem" would reside within him. He set out on a quest to keep his darkness but remain his own master, with King Mickey as his companion.
Worlds
All the worlds in Chain of Memories (with the exception of Twilight Town) are the same worlds contained in the first Kingdom Hearts, except for the "Deep Jungle" world. However, the plotlines differ slightly from those in the original game, and generally revolve around the themes of memory and feelings.
The Disney Worlds:
- Agrabah, from Aladdin.
- Olympus Coliseum, from Hercules.
- Wonderland, from Alice in Wonderland.
- Monstro, from Pinocchio.
- Atlantica, from The Little Mermaid.
- Halloween Town, from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
- Neverland, from Peter Pan.
- 100 Acre Wood, from Winnie the Pooh.
The Original worlds:
- Traverse Town
- Hollow Bastion
- Destiny Islands
- Twilight Town
- Castle Oblivion, the 'real' world in the story; the others are memory-generated environments.
Gameplay
This game's gameplay is a fairly even combination between a computer role-playing game and a computer card game. Every action you do (except moving and jumping) is based on cards (for example, for a physical attack, offensive/defensive magic, using items, summoning, and cards that are based off of the enemy that give you support (Where you use an enemy card to give your character a temporary ability, such as better offensive or better defensive capabilities).
Cards are numbered from 0 - 9; you can defeat an opponent's move only if your card or card combination is higher than theirs. The exception are cards numbered 0, which can break any combination but also be broken by any card depending on when you execute its use. The higher the card number (which 0 being the highest, 1 being the lowest) the more Card Points are required to equip it for use. Premium Cards do not require as much CP to equip, but they become unreloadable unless if they are restored by an item card that can reload unreloadable cards (using them as a second or third card in a sleight doesn't count).
Combining cards in sets of three will create attacks that are more difficult to break because they are higher in number than a single card. They can still be broken by a well-timed 0 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,(with the exception of the Friend cards, which appear at certain times and remain only in your deck during battles) is the loss of the first card of the sequence and it will not be reloaded. While combinations are powerful, they can quickly drain your deck from overuse.
Using some of the Boss Enemy cards can also have an additional side effect. Other than receiving the temporary special ability associated with that card, Sora and Riku will also become resistant and weak against the same type of damage, such as using Axel's card makes Sora resistant to fire-based magic, but becomes stunned by ice-based magic.
Another aspect more unique to this game is the synthesis of new rooms: to advance through the game, you must utilize Map cards you have 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 treasure-containing ones.
Both Sora and Riku's card playing system are different. In Sora's story, you have to obtain cards through playing through the game or through Moogle Shops. In some cases you have to earn the specific card first through gameplay before it becomes available in a Moogle Shop. You can create a total of three different decks from the cards you obtain so long as the decks do not exceed your current Card Point (CP) limit and each deck contains at least one attack card. Although Sora's game can take longer than Riku's because of the time of building up his deck with new cards, the effectiveness of Sora's deck depends on its contents and the enemy you fight.
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 summon, magic, Premium, most items, and certain map and enemy cards. While he can still combine cards, Riku cannot use sleights unless he is in dark mode. Three clear advantages that Riku has over Sora is that Riku can use any of his Boss Enemy cards whenever he wants after he receives them (The Non-Boss Enemy Cards are only temporary and each one individually can only be used for one world), he reloads his cards at a faster rate than Sora, and he can raise his attack power at certain levels instead of collecting cards of a new weapon that has higher attack power (Sora has to equip the new Keyblade attack cards that have higher attack power, but they take more CP to equip than less powerful cards of equivalent value). However Riku's greatest weakness is that he can't heal as easily during battle, as his King Mickey Friend card, Search Ghost enemy card, or the Oogie Boogie boss card are his only set of cards that can restore HP.
Cast
Though many characters from Kingdom Hearts were voiced by the cast from before, the Japanese version had these voice actors (all voice acting was done only for the battle sequences of the characters below):
- Keiji Fujiwara as Axel.
- Tatsuya Kando as Vexen, Marluxia and Lexaeus.
- Rieko Katayama as Larxene.
It should be noted that the Organization characters only had vocal commands spoken in battle in the Japanese version of the game and not in the English version.
The English version had only giggles for Larxene in battle and a Kefka-like laugh for Vexen, neither of which reflected their original Japanese battle cries.
Axel's "fire" vocal was entirely removed for the English version and the only remnants of Marluxia's voice are the deep grunts which were present in the Japanese version.
Characters who appeared in Kingdom Hearts such as Riku, Sora and others simply had voice clips from that game inserted into the English version.
Sequel
A sequel to Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II for the Sony PlayStation 2 was released in Japan on December 22, 2005, and on March 28, 2006 in the United States. It is to be released in Europe on August 25, 2006, and later in 2006 in Australia.
Manga
A manga series is currently running in Monthly Shonen Gangan in Japan. It is written and illustrated by Shiro Amano, the author of the original Kingdom Hearts manga. Currently, two volumes of the manga have been released. It is accompanied by three novels - two set during Sora's storyline, and the third during Reverse Rebirth, Riku's game.
The manga is being released in English, beginning October 2006, by Tokyopop.
External links
- Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - Square Enix's official website for the Kingdom Hearts series
- Vorlage:Moby game