So... Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories... it is definitely... A game. Is it good? NO! Last post, i saw some comments saying I should skip COM and play 2. I should have listened. Because I'm not gonna lie, I gave up on this game. I've never felt so much hatred towards a game in so long.
The pros:
No Gummi ship. Yeah, thankfully there was no Gummi ship. I could instantly get to those levels without having a boring ass mini game.
The soundtrack. Of course it was. Yoko Shimomura can make magic even in the crappiest of games. I heard she broke her back from carrying this game.
Riku is actually pretty decent this time around. Yeah, his arc may be very simple, but i liked it for what it was. His self acceptance was undoubtedly the strongest point of the story. I would argue it's the only good thing in it. Funny because I didn't like him in KH1
I like Naminé. Her manipulating Sora's memories, and make him think that she was always there was pretty interesting. Her redemption was nice.
Axel's design is cool.
And the ending to the game was pretty nice. It builds up the sequel really well.
Now the bad...
I appreciate that the game tried to make the levels a bit bigger, but quantity doesn't mean quality. Those rooms were so empty, and small that it felt less engaging, and honestly, kinda lifeless.
The fights get really repetitive. Once you fight against one enemy, you've fought them all. The combat was just not fun. Either because of its RNG, which I will get into... the gameplay is Monotonous. Plain and simple.
The story legit felt like filler. I did not feel like nothing was that important. Pluto really couldn't wait or rest with us? Yeah, just keep running, it's not like we need you or anything. The Disney stuff felt more like filler than in KH1, which is saying something! Sure, Organization XIII is important, and Riku's character is actually decent this time. But aside from those very small moments... i did not care that much. So much filler, only for less than 20% of the story to actually matter. (I heard the story for this game is really liked, sorry, but I didn't vibe with it.)
The card keys are so annoying. Especially when you don't have a specific number or color, so you must engage in boring fights, and get those cards you need. Ugh, I did not like that at all either.
Some boss fights were atrocious. Especially the one that made me drop the game entirely. LARXENE. That might have been one of the worst boss fights in any game I've played. And it wasn't because she was hard. Far from it. THE STUPID RNG! I was in level 30 or so, and even then, the boss fight did stuff that should be straight up illegal. EVEN WHEN I USED MY JAFAR SO SHE DIDN'T DESTROY ANY OF MY CARDS... SHE STILL DID IT BECAUSE SHE FEKT LIKE IT! OH BUT WHEN I USE A 0 CARD, *SHE* GETS TO IGNORE IT! HOW IS THAT EVEN FAIR?!?!?!
I threw my controller down due to how stressed and angry I got. Even when I was SO CLOSE TO KILLING HER! Suddenly, she feels like doing a comeback like that Street Fighter clip, and I end up dying ANYWAY!
CONGRATULATIONS LARXENE FOR MAKING ME QUIT THIS HORRIBLE GAME!
Now for the things I'm mixed on:
The way Sora and the gang go back to square one was... i guess it was clever? But it also felt kinda sloppy.
I did not know how to feel about Sora's character in this game. There were moments he was kinda unlikable, but other times he was fine.
The boss fights were inconsistent. I like that this time there actually needs to be a strategy involved. Sometimes. Because it's still mostly RNG. Some fights were pretty bad, like the Parasite cage, and Oogey Boogey. But even without those two, I was left feeling empty for the most part.
Chain of memories was a baaaaaaad game. I know it may sound like exaggeration, but it's one of the worst games I've played in some time. Not just RPGs. There was never a moment when I was playing the game where I enjoyed myself. Genuinely hated it.
1/10. Next game is either 358/2 days or II. I'm not entirely sure. But I am taking a biiiiiig break. After 9 and half hours, I gave up on this game. The second game in the series, and it's one of the biggest Ls I've seen a franchise take.
Sorry this was super negative. I really tried to like this game. Maybe too hard. But I did not like this one bit.
Onwards and upwards.
Edit: This is how I decided to spend my free day btw.
Edit 2: Before you ask, yes, I played a tad of The GBA version. Did not like it very much either. Fun fact: technically this was my first KH game. I just didn't know until I played it again lol