Hey everyone, IGN has added their own preview/review on the upcoming NA release "Re: Chain of Memories". Make sure you read the article below.



The Kingdom Hearts franchise has garnered countless fans across the globe and the continuing presence of its spin-offs on various release lists is yet another sign pointing towards the continuing success of the series. When Kingdom Hearts II was released in Japan, there was speculation that a Final Mix of the game would be released as well, to follow suit with the release of the original Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. These Japan-only "special editions" included a number of new gameplay elements and new cutscenes. However, the most envy-inducing feature of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix +, which was released last year, was the inclusion of a complete 3D remake of the GBA game Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Fortunately for U.S. gamers, that remake is coming to the PS2 as a standalone product in the form of Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, a card-based action RPG that bridges the gap between the two proper entries in the franchise.

Although the game isn't hitting retail until next month, I spent some time with a preview build in order to see what sort of experiences gamers can expect when it finally makes it stateside. Re: Chain of Memories is a fascinating blend of the traditional Kingdom Hearts formula with surprisingly complex card battle mechanics, which I'll explain shortly. But for those of you who've never played the original Chain of Memories (maybe even some of you who have), this remake is definitely not to be missed.

Re: Chain of Memories begins with a highlight reel of sorts, documenting the main events of the first Kingdom Hearts with a great remix of Utada Hikaru's single Hikari, or Simple and Clean in English, playing underneath. The game then picks up precisely where the first left off, with Sora, Donald and Goofy wandering the vast green fields, searching for Sora's lost friends. During the opening cutscene, when Sora wanders off by himself, a mysterious figure donning a black cloak approaches Sora and informs him that down the road lies something he needs, but he has to lose something dear to him in order to claim it. Intriguing? Certainly.

Once the figure has vanished, the trio soon finds themselves at the doorway leading to Castle Oblivion, a daunting, eerie structure. Upon entering, all the companions have a similar feeling of their friends being close by, but they soon find that their memories are being erased by the Castle's magic. The cloaked figure returns, instructs Sora and the others on what to do, and vanishes into an orb of darkness (people vanish quite a bit in this series, in case you weren't aware).

First off, the visuals in Re: Chain of Memories are easily comparable to those of the original Kingdom Hearts. I'm not quite sure if they stand up to Kingdom Hearts II, but from what I've seen it certainly looks fine (especially for a PS2 game) and it's a tremendous leap from the 2D sprites of the original Chain of Memories. The game's score, similarly, sounds like it was pulled from the first Kingdom Hearts so -- as a massive fan of the franchise myself -- it's great to hear some of those tunes again.

Gameplay in Re: Chain of Memories is what differentiates it the most from the series proper. As is explained via the game's story, Sora must traverse the manifestations of his own memories in order to uncover the secrets of Castle Oblivion, so you'll be passing through some familiar territory. However, as you move from area to area, you need to synthesize each room with cards you collect along the way.

Cards govern nearly every aspect of Re: Chain of Memories and play an especially important role during battle. When you run into a Heartless (the game's antagonistic force) the scene switches to a battlefield where you face off against the creatures like you have in the other games. All your attacks, though, are performed by using cards. After editing a deck together from the main menu, you can hold up to 15 cards in your hand and move around the battlefield as you might expect. Hitting R1 or L1 will cycle through your available cards while X will activate your selected card. You can also press the Circle button to jump and the Square button to roll. Sounds easy enough, but, it's not.

Re: Chain of Memories actually takes quite a bit of getting used to, and I found it very difficult at first (albeit very rewarding). Every card you bring into battle, whether it be a basic attack or spell card, has a numerical value attached to it. When your enemy "plays a card," or attacks, that value is weighed against the value of your own attack and it could possibly cancel out your strike. That means you have to bring a variety of cards into battle with, preferably, high values so you can override your opponents' attacks.

Even more depth comes when you consider "stocking" cards. Stocking a card, by pressing the Triangle button, moves your selected card up to the top of the screen and puts it into holding. You can stock up to three cards and then activate them all at once by pressing Triangle again or R1 and L1 together. This feature lets you create custom attack combos on the fly, which is great. Furthermore, stocking certain cards together can activate Sora's "sleights." For example, stocking a Goofy card (which would normally summon Goofy) with a normal Kingdom Key attack card will activate the Goofy Smash, which enables Sora and Goofy to attack together.

Although I barely scratched the surface with Re: Chain of Memories, I can't wait to play more. The deep battle system, combined with the classic charm of the franchise, makes for an appetizing combination.

Source: IGN