User:Troisnyxetienne/Re:Chain Walkthrough

Sora's story is done !

However, I shall not be able to continue Reverse/Rebirth except for parts where I actually did play. Anyone with the Japanese release of Re:Chain of Memories who has already finished Sora's Story, please help !

Welcome one and all to Kingdom Hearts Wiki's sole Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories walkthrough !

Now it all started when nine people asked me for this walkthrough, and since I'm playing (or more precisely, re-playing) Re:Chain of Memories, I reckoned it'd be great to start bit by bit and compare the differences between the two versions of Re:Chain. By the way, I'm not playing the single English release, but the extension to Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+, so there will be some notable differences. I'll highlight those as we go along.

This walkthrough's bound to have some minor expletives. Even so, I think it's okay for everyone to get in and help... ^_^

Note that while most of the strategies are mine, quite a few pointers have been added by a few willing users. The walkthrough will be written in my voice for the most part. And because it's in my voice, I'm begging you, please do not Americanise my walkthrough ! I'm aware I spell words like... "materialise, hypnotise, valour, vigour", given that I've been indoctrinated with British spelling. Let me at least keep that for the walkthrough, if not for the mainspace !

Controls

• to attack
• to jump
• for Dodge Roll
• to Lock On. Note : I don't know why they had to change this when we were already so used to using to lock on...
• Left analog stick to move around.

And after that, gameplay is entirely up to you. You're the master of your own floor, you create the rooms as and when you please, and once you've pwned the bosses of every single level, you'll soon find your way on to the 13th floor taking down the lord of the castle himself.

Note that the attack/jump controls are reversed in the Japanese version, which I'm playing.

See Deck Setup for the deck configuration. I'll just mention it briefly here : the first deck, which I'm calling Troisnyx*, is offence-based. The second deck, Mylène (named after the first half of the terror duo, Mylène Farmer) is the deck I'm reserving for boss battles, and the third deck, Boutonnat (named after the other half of the terror duo, Laurent Boutonnat) is the magic-based deck.

For my previous save file it was Esterel (magic), Ricordel (offence) and Fonterel (boss battles).

Gist of the story

Re:Chain of Memories is a remake of the story which picks up from where we left off at Kingdom Hearts : Sora saves Kairi and successfully brings her back to Destiny Islands, while Riku and Mickey are trapped behind the Door to Darkness - the one leading to Kingdom Hearts. Sora and company set off to find Riku and the King, only to end up in Castle Oblivion no thanks to Marluxia's guidance and have their memories manipulated... yet another unlucky day in Sora's story, and I'm gonna make this entire walkthrough as spoiler-ific as possible. I mean, c'mon, for one whole day of misfortune, Sora has to sleep in a pod for a whole year !

Meanwhile, for some reason or other Riku ends up in the 12th basement of Castle Oblivion and he decides to get rid of his darkness. He often sees Xehanort's Heartless tormenting him, though the King comes to his aid. But later on he is told that his darkness and his light belong to him, and that he should use both to his ability. So he finally gets rid of the embodiment of Xehanort's Heartless, though a part of the villain still remains in him. Poor soul, I wonder how he even lives.

Sora's Story

Entering Castle Oblivion/Traverse Town

Sora opens the doors to Castle Oblivion, and Donald and Goofy follow suit. I think once they enter into that wretched castle they start losing their memory... they get all sorts of weird feelings that the King and Riku are both there (well, indeed they are there, but in the wrong place). The door closes on them and is locked ; Marluxia confronts them and tells them all sorts of riddles, Donald tries using magic on him but it's no use, he can't even remember a single spell... Marluxia gives them their very first world card : Traverse Town. So now, for lack of anywhere else to go, we open the door to a very familiar place...

First steps

Sora enters in commenting on why Donald and Goofy are not there with him, and why he has ended up in Traverse Town... and that sinister music plays. During my first playthrough this thing gave me the creeps. So after a brief chat with Marluxia (which I can only read in bits and pieces) he takes you to the battle arena and teaches you how to use the card system.

Again, let me play Marluxia here and remind you how to use the card system :

• You just click (or for the Japanese version) on a card to use it.
• If you take out, say a 7 and your enemy takes out a 4, you have "broken" your enemy's card and you'll be able to perform your attack.
• Same goes if your enemy takes out a 9 and you take out a 2 - he will have broken your card and will attack you.
• If you take out a 7 and an enemy takes out a 7, the cards are both "broken", but no attack will be performed.
• The 0 card is the most usable card of them all - it can break anything from cards to sleights, even the most powerful of all sleights.
• Okay, speaking about sleights - putting two or three cards into a fold is known as a Sleight. To use a sleight, you press on three cards of your choice, and press + (or alternatively, ) to activate the sleight. If you want to remove cards from your sleight, you press . However, I have to think first before activating my sleight, because the button doesn't work for me at all !

Traverse Town Map

New Friend Cards obtained !

Friend Card : Donald Duck

Donald is the Royal Court Magician, who has been there as early as the events of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, and whose magic abilities have been seen as early as Kingdom Hearts. He reprises his role in this game. Using his card will allow you to make use of a whole lot of magic attacks. Whilst his card is not particularly useful against elemental bosses, the ultimate sleight makes use of it. List of Attacks Ability Description Obtained Requirements Magic Lv2 (マジックLv2, Majikku Lv2) Donald double-casts Fira, Blizzara, Thundara, or Cura. Available from the beginning. + Magic Lv3 (マジックLv3, Majikku Lv3) Donald double-casts Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, or Curaga. Available from the beginning. + + Blazing Donald[KH CoM] (ファイアドナルド, Faia Donarudo, lit. "Fire Donald") Donald flubs a Fire spell... Agrabah Reward + + Fire + Donald Duck + Any magic card Stardust Blitz[KH Re:CoM] (スターダストブリッツ, Sutādasuto Burittsu) Knock up to three of Donald's fireballs towards the enemy. Press when it flashes on-screen to hit the fireball. 1st Twilight Town Reward + Wild Crush[KH Re:CoM] (ワイルドクラッシャー, Wairudo Kurasshā, lit. "Wild Crasher") Carry Goofy and ram into the enemy. Use the left analog stick to control the direction of attack. Available from the beginning. + + Trinity Limit (トリニティリミット, Toriniti Rimitto) Inflict heavy damage on all enemies in sight. Enter Castle Oblivion. + + + + + + + + + + + + [KH CoM]

Friend Card : Goofy

Goofy, the Captain of the Royal Guard, accompanies Sora on this quest as well. Now Goofy's card is one of the most useful, considering that most of these slights are physical and offensive in nature, and physical attacks do work well against all enemies. Where there's a choice between Donald and Goofy, you'd pick Goofy just to lower the enemy's HP, and if you're not sure of what element Donald's going to cast. List of Attacks Ability Description Obtained Requirements Goofy Charge[KH CoM] (グーフィーアタック, Gūfī Atakku, lit. "Goofy Attack") Goofy rushes at enemies, bashing and stunning them with his shield. Available from the beginning. + Goofy Tornado Lv2[KH Re:CoM] (グーフィートルネドLv2, Gūfī Torunedo Lv2) Goofy whirls around Sora and bashes the enemy with his shield Available from the beginning. + Goofy Tornado Lv3 (グーフィートルネドLv3, Gūfī Torunedo Lv3) Goofy whirls around Sora and bashes the enemy with his shield over a long period of time. Available from the beginning. + + Goofy Smash[KH Re:CoM] (グーフィースマッシュ, Gūfī Sumasshu) Goofy and Sora's joint attack knocks enemies into the air. Press when it flashes on-screen for the joint attack. Pressing when it isn't on-screen will cancel the sleight. Available from the beginning. + Wild Crush[KH Re:CoM] (ワイルドクラッシャー, Wairudo Kurasshā, lit. "Wild Crasher") Carry Goofy and ram into the enemy. Use the left analog stick to control the direction of attack. Available from the beginning. + + Trinity Limit (トリニティリミット, Toriniti Rimitto) Inflict heavy damage on all enemies in sight. Enter Castle Oblivion. + + + + + + + + + + + + [KH CoM]

Progressing ahead

Once the battle tutorial is under way, you'll be given the Key of Beginnings card. That's the first card you'll ever get to progress through the story. Okay, I'm not sure which one comes first, but I believe the order of the story is like this :

Key of Beginnings - Leon teaches you how to use sleights.

Key of Guidance - You speak to Leon and company in the Second District.

Key to Truth - This is usually the Keycard which engages a boss battle, though other Keycards have been known to do this as well. For this level it's Guard Armor, and it's definitely no walk in the park.

I recommend you to level up to at least Level 8... or whatever level you're comfortable with - at least it's safer to defeat the Guard Armor. No, please don't go there at Level 2 and say "No, the Guard Armor pwned me again..."

The room cards I used were Black Room, Meeting Ground, Sleeping Darkness, Moment's Reprieve, Tranquil Darkness and Martial Waking. I don't know why, but I just hate Lasting Daze. I did use it once in this game, and I never used it again. I think I know which cards to submit whenever they ask me for green cards !

Guard Armor

Okay, so once you've fought your way through hordes of Heartless it's time to take down their so-called leader. Man, he's pretty weak for a Heartless leader. I SAY DUSTFLIER RULES SUPREME ! *will shut up now*

Boss : Guard Armor

HP : 200 EXP : 48 Blizzard : 0.5 Physical : 1.0 Difficulty : So obviously you wouldn't think of using Blizzard, which is the first Magic card you receive (apart from Cure) ; you'd play safe and use physical attacks. Just load that deck with cards 5-0 - I say try finding lots of them - top it up with a Cure card and a Potion card (I think the only one you begin with is #5, but it's enough to break Guard Armor if you have the chance). Don't forget the Gimmick Card ! - using it will shatter the Guard Armor to pieces (literally... well, maybe I'm exaggerating), giving you all the room you need to attack.

After Guard Armor

Once you've taken down Guard Armor, you'll see a cutscene with Sora and the Final Fantasy VII + Leon gang. All I do know is that Aerith realises that she is a memory-based facsimile, and Sora has to come to terms with the fact that she isn't really there. Sora is saddened by this, but he slowly understands. He turns to Donald and Goofy, saying that he had just talked to Aerith, and he turns around to see if Aerith is there, but she disappeared in a flash... confirming Sora's sad notions.

Side note, I'd have totally spelt it as Guard Armour but the link would die.

Meeting Axel/Entering the 2nd Floor

Meeting Axel

After you finish Traverse Town, you bump into Marluxia and another black hooded figure, who calls himself Axel. This is also the first instance where he says "Got it memorised ?". Now, note that immediately after quitting Traverse Town you'll engage into battle with Axel, so stock up the deck before entering the 1F Exit Hall.

Boss : Axel

HP : 320 AP : 2 EXP : 75 Difficulty : Blizzard, Potion, Cure and attack cards are a must : Blizzard because Axel uses Fire, Cure because.... well, that's self-explanatory, Potion because you might exhaust that deck of yours even before the battle is over. Do not - and I say DO NOT - stock that deck up with a single Premium Card - not yet. You risk losing that card even when you use a Potion. Attack cards must be numbered 6-0. I believe, with all this, you won't give Axel room to even attack ! That was the case with me - I practically thrashed him. If you feel insecure about Axel using sleights, break his sleights with sleights. Or the 0 card. Keep the 0 card for emergencies, I say.

Post-defeat

So after defeating Axel Sora and company think that he's dead and gone, but he materialises right in front of their eyes, saying he wouldn't have died oh so easily (good thinking, Axel). He offers help to Sora so that he could find what he's searching for, but Sora says he'll do it by himself. As recompense for defeating Axel you get the Fire card. Woohoo ! Now we get to burn things !

Entering the 2nd Floor

So Sora and company recollect lots of stuff, and Goofy mangles the name Castle Oblivion (I can't help but laugh when he says Bokyokyu instead of Bokyaku no Shiro !). He also makes passing mention about how Sora sacrificed himself with the Keyblade of People's Hearts. Sadly, he forgot the name Hollow Bastion... and he was going "Hollow... Holler..." (over here it'd sound like Horo... Horouu......). He apologises, saying he can't remember...

Save the game where it is, we're now bound for the next world. You have a choice between Wonderland, Olympus Coliseum, Monstro and Halloween Town.

Second Floor : Olympus Coliseum

So I chose Olympus Coliseum for my second floor. I happen to have clear data for Re:Chain (Sora's story), but I chose Wonderland for the second floor back then. Well, I thought I'd go with a change. For once. I'm entering in LV8, the level I was in previously when I defeated Axel...

Upon entry Sora and friends see the board and there's a tourney going on, and they're happy to participate with the hopes of being called heroes one day. They leave the scene ; Hades comes in, ever determined to take down that pesky Hercules, and he hires the Buster Sword-wielding Cloud. Almost the same story as in the first Kingdom Hearts, though a little bit distorted due to the contortion of Sora's memory.

After that scene is over, you get the Key of Beginnings card, which is your ticket to another story.

Olympus Coliseum map

• Note:This map works on any world, on the second floor

Key of Beginnings

I believe this one takes you to Hercules and Phil, though I'm not sure of what's going on (I can only read Japanese in bits and pieces, that too, I learned by myself)... so I risk having to replay that scene over again. Not sure if this thing's included in theatre mode, but I'll try.

So right after that you get the Key of Guidance. Now don't haste to open it just yet, because you might need to level up a little more. Hint hint.

Room Creation

The rooms I used were Black Room, Meeting Ground (for the friend cards), Strong Initiative and Premium Room. Thus far. I also made the mistake of opening a Moogle Room when in fact, I shouldn't have opened one. Because the only cards I'm ever gonna get are Fire, Blizzard, Cure, the Kingdom Key and Olympia... wait a second, I'm getting Olympia, and that's a card I used for a very long time, I say !

I haven't got a Calm Bounty yet but if I do, I'll be able to unlock Monochrome as a Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix Completion Bonus. No, what am I talking about ? I believe that's Room of Rewards. Oh well...

Well, I haven't done much of the leveling up yet, but I have completed the next stage, which is...

Key of Guidance : Battle with Cloud

Note: I used my Troisnyx deck for this. The Key of Guidance leads you to a face-off and a boss battle with the mercenary himself, Cloud. Yes, a fight I didn't expect when I first played Re:Chain. But this time, I was actually waiting to pounce on him - and I won.

Boss : Cloud

HP : EXP : Blizzard : Physical : Difficulty : The stats for Re:Chain aren't given but I'm taking a wild guess : his HP is 300 just like in the first encounter. So I loaded my deck with cards numbered 5 - 0, preferably Olympia, two Cure cards, one Potion (well, maybe going to the Moogle Room wasn't a mistake after all because I managed to get a #8 Potion card). Only a few of my cards - the ones I thought I could afford to lose - were Premiums. My 0 card wasn't. Ironically, I didn't use my 0 card at all. My key was + + (all sevens - Stun Impact, I presume) for at least thrice. Every time I did this Cloud would be stunned and open for an attack. So whenever he came to, I just had to keep my distance. Dodge Rolling is a must. I evaded his Omnislash (yes, Sora's actually too fast for Cloud's liking). However, I saved the Blizzard cards for the next boss battle. Once this battle is over you obtain a Hi-Potion card #3 and the Key to Truth.

Power level

Well, the one reason why I'm putting this here is because there are two things that require mention so far :

1. I used a Calm Bounty in Traverse Town and voilà, look what it gave me ! A Hidden Dragon card as a KHIIFM completion bonus ! :D The stats, however, are the same as an Olympia card, and cost more Card Points, so I won't be using this card anytime soon. Also note that once you get this in Traverse Town, you'll get this on any of the lower floors.
2. I used another Calm Bounty in Olympus Coliseum and this time, I got + + Blizzard Raid ! Note the sequence : Strike Raid first, followed by Blizzard Raid (because Blizzard is one of your default Magic cards). I think, following this sequence are Fire Raid and Thunder Raid respectively, though I'll need to play through the entire game to confirm this.

So after that I'm going back and forth like a ping-pong ball between F1 and F2 just for the sake of leveling up and obtaining more Moogle Points. The sleights I have now (minus Magic and Friend Cards) are Strike Raid, Stun Impact, Sliding Dash and Blizzard Raid.

I also obtained Final Break + + (all fives) at Level 17.

Key to Truth : Battle with Hades

Note for battle with Hades, part 1 : For this, let's switch to the boss battle deck - Mylène.

Boss : Hades

HP : EXP : Blizzard : Physical : Difficulty : This fight is not easy, even at the second floor. And it's simply because Hades is one of those enemies which won't hesitate to use sleights. He and Captain Hook are pains in the derrière - both of them know how to use sleights. Anyway, let's focus on Hades. If you're at the second floor you need to be at least in LV20. If you're in any other floor, same thing : you have to power-level-up Sora before he enters this room. So you'll definitely need cards numbered 6 - 0 - which explains the power-leveling and the Moogle Room, Blue Rhapsody and Blizzard because Hades is weak to Blizzard (and Blue Rhapsody increases the damage dealt by Blizzard attacks), two Cure cards, and a Hi-Potion card (so that you can at least reload more attack cards than usual). I added one more card into my deck : Bouncywild. That's one card I ALWAYS have in any deck of mine. It's only 10 CP, and it brings Friend Cards and experience to your side, instead of just letting them fade away. In this case, I need the Goofy card, because Goofy Bash helps. A lot. NEVER use the Donald card for this battle because for all you know, he might accidentally cast Fire on Hades and cause him to recover. Worse if you're using the sleight Magic LV2 or Magic LV3. The Pluto card appears from time to time, particularly when you're fresh out of cards. But grab him quick - preferably when the card comes out of Hades ! Because when you grab a friend card instantly it'll be numbered 9, and you'll be able to break Hades' normal card attacks just to get more cards onto your side. If you fail to get a number 9, at least try for a 0 - that's better. If you get any other number than that, then tough luck, I say... He's my most hated character, to the point that I like fighting him. Even in the first game I didn't win in my first try, I decided to reset the console and try again. And when I finally whooped his arse, oh, the joy that came with it ! ^_^ Winning this battle will give you the Hades enemy card. However, I made my second mistake — I went into the battle with Hades without my boss battle deck. I was using Troisnyx all the way. No sleights, three reloads (if the reload with a Hi-Potion #9 counts). No Friend cards, even though I had the Bouncywild equipped. And I was in Level 18. That move is pretty dangerous, I must say, and I advise you against doing this... unless you're sure of your gameplay.

After Hades

All the congratulatory messages come in, and again, Cloud is there, outside the arena. Sora approaches him and asks if he's okay, he says yeah. And it's something gotta do with finding Cloud's memories... and then Sora asks him if he'd join the party, and Cloud passes him a card. And we have the usual line of "How about a rematch sometime ?" and he flips his spiky Chocobo hair :P saying, "I think I'll pass."

Third floor : Wonderland

Leaving the Second Floor

Sora and company enter into reflection once more. Goofy tells them about the episode where Sora stabbed his heart with the Keyblade of People's Hearts to release Kairi’s heart, but Sora asks "Are you sure it happened in a castle ?" Donald thinks he remembers, and tries to recollect the name... but he can't.

Wonderland map

• Note : This map works on any world, on the third floor.

Entering the Third Floor

Again, Sora and company enter into reflection. But this time, Jiminy Cricket gives them a hint of what Axel said the other time (to be honest, I actually forgot)... but all I do know is that they finally find out the meaning of the name Castle Oblivion - see the root words ? Oblivion --> oubli = forget ! They finally understand the reason behind the name, and they learn to live with it... or summat.

Entering Wonderland

So after much hesitation I finally picked Wonderland as my third floor. I decided to battle it with the man himself. Sort of a retribution for what he did to my Riku back in Reverse/Rebirth ! Now the story begins such : Sora and company spot the White Rabbit rattling out "Oh my fur and whiskers ! I'm late I'm late I'm late !" And they can't even stop him for a chat. Looks like he's headed for the Queen's Palace !

First round of gallivanting

So right after that we get the Key of Beginnings. I was pretty lazy through this level - I took out all the Heartless in the Unknown Room, then used three Calm Bounties (one of which gave me the Stop card, yay !), then entered into a Moogle Room because I had some 300-odd MP to spare. And so the bulk of the cards which I obtained were Olympia cards. Especially Premiums, this time. I needed some. I virtually didn't do any attacking, so I stayed in the same level as I was when I exited Olympus Coliseum : Level 18. Thankfully Wonderland is not as confusing as it was in the first game.

My first blunder

Using the Key to Beginnings card will take you to the Queen's Palace, where Alice stands on trial for allegedly stealing the Queen's memory. Sora intervenes... just like he did in the first game, and the Queen of Hearts orders her Card Soldiers to attack Sora and company.

Boss : Hearts and Spades

HP : EXP : Blizzard : Physical : Difficulty : So the formation is as follows : Card of Spades x3. These are easy to evade as they swing their axes in a horizontal radius, and their attack radius is pretty short, so you can easily dodge them. Card of Hearts x2. This is where I made many unsuccessful attempts in Dodge Rolling. Since they use spears, they attack with a forward thrust, so you can't Dodge Roll with bad timing. It was no thanks to this round that I ended up with critical HP. Card of Hearts x2 and Card of Spades x1. Note why I'm calling this a blunder : I should have levelled up prior to beginning this battle, and I should have switched my deck to something more useful, but AGAIN, I went and took the more dangerous way out. I entered in Level 18, used the Troisnyx deck, no sleights, only a few friend cards... you can imagine how I suffered ! And I ended the battle with critical HP, but I still managed to take them out. So here's a gist of what I used : An entire attack deck of Olympia cards. (Note that in the Japanese version they're called Power of Hero or something like that...) I chose not to go with Lady Luck (or, Last Resort) because as the Japanese name suggests, it's a last resort ! The stats are lower than Olympia, and I believe I can use these Olympia cards right up to the 11th floor, just like I did in my previous save file. Only one Fire card and one Blizzard card. Pathetic, isn't it ? I chose not to risk it by adding in more because I don't have Ether cards to start with. My Hi-Potion #9 is still there... Bouncywild card MUST be equipped. But at the end of it all, I equipped it just so that I could draw the experience orbs together. Three reloads - once using the Hi-Potion card and twice using the reload card. A lot of Dodge Rolling, with many unsuccessful attempts. And I can't believe that with that, I managed to go to the next level. Having won this level, I received the Card Soldier (Heart) card. Strangely, I didn't get the Spade one. Or is it that we don't actually get the spade one in Re:Chain ? It seems that we actually do get the Card of Spades card in Re:Chain, and yet, I never did get it. In both tries I ended up getting a Card of Hearts. Never do what I just did if you're playing Wonderland. SERIOUSLY. Because if you're not prudent enough, you risk having to start that level again.

Leveling up

So right now I'm in Level 19, and trying to level up... and the only card I've used thus far is Strong Initiative. That's the one card that makes me level up like crazy because all the Heartless in the first round have low HP. Pair that up with a Bouncywild card and we get instant experience ! Yet for some reason, I'm leveling up too slowly... I must be in at least Level 21 to get to Trickmaster. That's my target.

Once you see the next section on the Trickmaster, you'll know that I've already reached my level of choice. Here's hoping that I don't make any blunders again. I have to use the battle deck, and the only thing I know is that I'll have to stock it up with Blizzard cards.

Oh, and I also used the Key of Guidance, and let me remind you that I'm playing the Japanese version, so I can only understand about 25% of what's going on. Sora and co. are taken to the Lotus Forest, where they meet Alice and obtain hints from the Cheshire Cat. And I know the Cheshire Cat says something along the lines of "Cheshire Cat's hints" and "a hint which your eyes can trust" those are the only parts I managed to grasp fully. Oh well, I still have the scene player, so I can at least grab the gist of the story there. I hope...

Last steps

After several uses of the Strong Initiative map card, I go up a few levels and my HP is at 200, I forget what my CP is at... The good thing about Strong Initiative is that if you manage to hit at the enemy and initiate a battle, you get to have instant experience - you knock out a horde of enemies WITH ONE HIT. That's why it's my most favourite map card. Ever.

Right, so at Level 22, I get + + (0 or 27) Zantetsuken. And I have quite a number of 9 cards in the deck, but very few 0 cards (actually, only one 0 card, and that's the Kingdom Key) and with that, in I go to take out the Trickmaster.

Trickmaster

Boss : Trickmaster

HP : 600 AP : 9 EXP : 372 Difficulty : Note that I did not see the need to change to my boss battle deck - I went in with my Troisnyx deck - the one I use for normal battles. It's got several Olympia and Kingdom Key cards (as I said, the sole 0 card in that deck is a Kingdom Key), two Cure cards (one of them is a Premium), one Hi-Potion card #9 (which is virtually unbreakable), one Fire card and one Blizzard card. The Trickmaster starts the battle with his batons lit up, and since I have terrible aiming (which also explains why I scored 0 marks for the M16 target practice in 2009), my Blizzard didn't get him it. Its moveset is rather predictable : it slams its batons onto the floor, creating a fiery shockwave, and twirls them around hoping to attack Sora with at least one of them. Now those two can be easily evaded. You have a choice of going onto the table, or remaining on the floor and jumping to evade the shockwave. If you have a card with thrust stat A (Olympia, for that matter), you'll be able to stun it within three hits, so it'll drop HP balls and give you room to attack. But within three hits, it'll be back to normal again, so keep watch ! When his HP bar is down to one, it'll start shooting fireballs at Sora. Now, I really hate that they didn't bring back the Guard ability from Kingdom Hearts back into this game, because quite a few of the fireballs hit me. Evade those - STAY AWAY FROM THE TABLE IF YOU CAN ! - and then, when it returns to its two basic attacks, repeat the same strategy. Now, whether or not the table disappears all depends on your choice of Keyblades and/or attacks. My Fire attack did manage to hit it, because it has homing properties (yes, Fire in Re:Chain of Memories has homing properties). Finishing the Coliseum (or alternatively, Monstro) first is a good move, because you'll have a set of cards with thrust stat A. Its HP can be depleted much faster (in the previous save file, I could only rely on Kingdom Key, Hidden Dragon and Lady Luck, all of which didn't help me much). So because the Trickmaster's HP was depleted much faster than it could attack me, the table was always up for me, and it was never destroyed. I only reloaded twice : once using the Hi-Potion and once with the Reload Card. Winning this battle gives you the Trickmaster card. Which I won't be using at all, but as people say, it's bragging rights we're talking about.

End of 3rd Floor

So Alice with her quick thinking resolves the chaos between the Queen of Hearts and the remaining characters, and the Queen of Hearts leaves the Bizarre Room rather satisfied. The end. :D

Fourth Floor : Monstro

We see Goofy and Donald remembering the scene where they found Mickey behind the Door to Darkness, and Sora is sure that the King and Riku are there. Well, they are there... just that they're not that high up. And from the fourth floor onwards, the trouble starts brewing...

Entering Monstro

Mind you, I'm still in level 22 when I'm writing about this part - I enter into the Unknown Room, take out all the Heartless and receive my first Stop and Wishing Star cards from piles of junk. The next card I use is a Calm Bounty, and I get a new sleight + + Fire Raid. So the Raids I have right now are Strike Raid, Fire Raid and Blizzard Raid. I use a Sleeping Darkness card and several Strong Initiative cards in order to power up my level to about 25.

Note that this world is slightly different from the rest because you don't have the predictable order of beginning - middle - boss fight. Yes, the three Keycards are still there, but the story is in a different order now.

When you first begin, you see Pinocchio, who tells Sora and company that they're stuck in the big whale (kujira), Monstro - and to make the sarcasm sound more evident, they ACTUALLY USED KATAKANA FOR THAT. Instead of the kanji.

Key of Beginnings

The Key of Beginnings leads you to Monstro's mouth, where you meet Gepetto, and he tells you of how his home world got destroyed, and how he's been living in that whale for quite a while already, and that he hopes to see Pinoc turn into a real boy... wait a minute, did we not hear that story in the first Kingdom Hearts ? I know I went pretty slowly while reading the characters I could identify - and I could identify 50% of what Gepetto was saying. Immediately after that, you get the Key of Guidance.

Uh oh, Key of Guidance

This is not something I expected - I was pretty much expecting this part of the story to continue without any events, just as it happens in all other worlds. But like I said, this world is somewhat special.

Anyway, prior to activating the Key of Guidance, I get the High Jump ability, and it's depicted in an image which I SO WANNA GET FOR THE WIKI, BUT NO ONE IS HELPING ! It's the path of Sora's High Jump, with a black BG, and the image can be accessed from the Status section.

So I have a request now : Can anyone PLEASE get that image and upload it to the wiki ?

Alright, back to the Key of Guidance. You find Pinoc in Monstro's stomach (as it appears in the first Kingdom Hearts), and... wait, can't Pinoc ever stop lying ? He lied in the intro, he lies again here... So I didn't get what they were saying here. I'll rely on the gist of the story later to provide you with more information... but for now, this is all you get :

Sora and company find that the stomach wall is shaking, and they urge Pinoc to rush to safety. So he runs to the other end of the stomach, but ironically, he's running head-first into danger : the Parasite Cage gets him from right above, and poor Pinoc is trapped !

Note that this is the boss fight for Monstro. I was initially thinking, after this battle was over, that there wouldn't be a third part to the story, but read on anyway.

Parasite Cage

In case you're wondering, I used virtually the same deck as the one for the Trickmaster battle, albeit with two extra Keyblade cards.

Boss : Parasitocage *cough cough* Parasite Cage

HP : 715 AP : 9 EXP : 512 Difficulty : If you refer to the Parasite Cage page, you'll see a number of attacks listed under the Kingdom Hearts strategy. In this battle, however, the attacks it used were Left Tentacle, Right Tentacle, Swing and Double Swing. And as usual, I couldn't dodge them on time. The battle takes place on four revolving platforms. The Parasite Cage either uses Left or Right Tentacle to push you onto the stomach acid, and just as in Kingdom Hearts, the acid makes you lose HP. But be warned : you lose more HP than you do in Kingdom Hearts - in Kingdom Hearts, you periodically lose 1 HP after four or five running steps on the acid ; in Re:Chain, if you have 200-odd HP, you lose one third of your HP after just three seconds on the stomach acid. The Parasite Cage can cause a platform to disappear, or it can cause all platforms to disappear and new ones to arise. Get the Gimmick Card and instead of a large platform appearing at the centre (as per Reverse/Rebirth), the entire ground is a purple platform, and the stomach acid just disappears. So in short, it's one big circle, and the Parasite Cage is just running distance ahead - not staggering distance ahead. The same trick as in the Trickmaster battle works wonders here : if you have a Keyblade card with thrust stat A ( Olympia or Wishing Star), then you can stun it after three hits. And that's exactly what I did. When stunned, every hit you inflict upon it releases HP orbs. If you are playing Reverse/Rebirth, see what I did for the Parasite Cage below and you'll understand why I managed to obtain HP orbs with every hit. Winning this battle gives you the Parasite Cage card - again, another card which I wouldn't consider using.

Aftermath of the Parasite Cage battle

Pinoc regains consciousness, jumps a few times in his cage to force it open, and those are the final blows which kill the Parasite Cage. Yes, not even Sora's Keyblade of badassity could defeat it.

And with this, you get the Key to Truth. I began to wonder why I'd get the Key to Truth after the boss battle, but there's a reason for it - which I realised immediately after I got the Key to Truth. Read on.

Key to Truth : Monstro's Belly Brawl

Yes, the Key to Truth was for a minigame. Now, this actually takes place in Monstro's throat and not the belly if we refer to Kingdom Hearts canon. Sora somehow can sense the presence of Heartless, and decides that the only way to get out of Monstro is to kill the Heartless and make Monstro give a great big sneeze...

The mini-game can only be played once, and serves as a progression to the story.

Now, all the Heartless you face here are Shadows. Regardless of whether you fill the gauge up or not, as long as you get it above half, you're good to go. Oh, and you MUST defeat ALL the Heartless within two minutes. That was a cinch, but my Monstro gauge was barely above half.

Regardless, Sora and company were thrown out and land in Monstro's mouth again... where another cutscene ensues, but this time I hurried through it all.

So on to Conqueror's Respite (this Conqueror's Respite has NOTHING in it at all !), and on to the fifth floor.

Fifth Floor : Agrabah

Considering Olympia is a strong weapon which can be used all the way to the 11th floor (no, seriously, I'm not kidding), I wouldn't prepare much, but I'll do basic leveling up.

So anyway, Sora and co. leave the fourth floor and the trouble sets in : Sora looks at Kairi's Lucky Charm and remembers Kairi's face, but Naminé appears behind him, and Sora doesn't have a clue as to who she is. Then immediately after that we see Naminé drawing a picture of Sora, Riku, Kairi and herself in the room where she is, and Sora starts "remembering" that there were four friends back in his home Destiny Islands, and not three.

So I save, and open the gates to Agrabah...

And a new member joins the party...

Friend Card : Aladdin

Aladdin, the street rat turned prince by his love for Jasmine, is practically the best ally ever, especially for those who hanker after Moogle Points. One slash of his scimitar can give you 12 Moogle Points. So if you're at a loss on where to gather Moogle Points, seriously, GO TO AGRABAH. HE IS WAITING FOR YOU. List of Attacks Ability Description Obtained Requirements Sandstorm Lv2 (ストームリーバーLv2, Sutōmu Rīpā Lv2, lit. "Storm Reaper Lv2") Aladdin runs around while swinging his sword, stunning enemies and producing Moogle Point orbs. Obtain Aladdin. + Sandstorm Lv3 (ストームリーバーLv3, Sutōmu Rīpā Lv3, lit. "Storm Reaper Lv3") Aladdin runs around for an extended time while swinging his sword, stunning enemies and producing Moogle Point orbs. Obtain Aladdin. + +

Agrabah Map

[End]-[T]
 |     |
 []---[] [R]
 |     |  |
 []---[]--[]-[B]
 |    |
 [St]-[]
       |
      [G]

[St]=Start of floor

[B]=Key of Beginnings

[G]=Key of Guidance

[T]=Key to Truth

[R]=Key to Rewards

-|=pathways

[]=Rooms

[End]=Conqueror’s Respite

• Note: This map works on any world, on the fifth floor

Introduction

Sora and company enter into the Main Street (I'm not sure which part of the Main Street it is, though I know that's the place which has two pillars which you can climb to reach Aladdin's house in Kingdom Hearts). And then we go through something which we're sick and tired of already.

This introduction is WAY TOO FAMILIAR - seriously, it's appeared in the first Kingdom Hearts if I remember correctly, then something similar appears in Kingdom Hearts II - but here's the pitch : in every introduction to Agrabah you just have to defeat several waves of Heartless before you realise that there are just too many for you to handle. Another cliché (which appears immediately after that) is Aladdin summoning the Genie. In Kingdom Hearts, Aladdin asked the Genie to defeat all the Heartless ; in Kingdom Hearts II, Aladdin asked the Genie to wipe out the sandstorm in the Desert Ruins.

Now, which cliché do you think would be used here? The one from Kingdom Hearts, of course! Poof! The Genie appears, says something along the lines of "Give me a challenge the next time, Al!" and wipes out the five Shadows around Aladdin and company. So one wish gone; that leaves two. What a waste, Al!

Immediately after that clichéd episode, you obtain the Key of Beginnings.

Exploration

If you see my "More tips and tricks" section below, you'll realise that Agrabah is THE place to go for Moogle Points. Seriously. It's the one place where you can not only gain an abundance of Moogle Points by defeating heaps of junk, pots and unmanned stalls ; every successful hit Aladdin lands with the Sandstorm attack gives you 12 Moogle Points. The maximum number of hits Aladdin can land is five, which makes that a whopping 60 Moogle Points. And, if you're lucky enough to use the Aladdin card thrice during a battle, you'd be having heavy pockets by the time the battle ends.

The cards I obtained from the Calm Bounties were Three Wishes (which has the same stats as a Hidden Dragon card, ironically) and the Gravity card. Now I hardly use Gravity, but I know I'll be needing it for my magic-based deck Boutonnat later, when it's time for me to set it up.

And then, I went to the Moogle Room, where I managed to gain some good attack cards and some redundant Potion cards, and since my play time has ended for the day, I saved.

I'm now in Level 25 (or 26, I'm not sure), my HP is still at 200 because I've been beefing up my CP. I've been getting a lot of my favourite card - Strong Initiative. And believe it or not, I have that in #9 and #0 ! ^_^ So I'm hoping to use that and attempt to gain some instant experience. Oh, I think I know my catchphrase for the day : Instant EXP : Just add Strong Initiative.

More levelling up

So the cards I used for this session were Strong Initiative (as usual), Premium Room (I had the need to start premiumising my cards - if that is even a word :P) and Meeting Ground, just to get Aladdin's card to carry out Sandstorm and get more Moogle Points. And on a side note, I've finally learnt how to pronounce the Japanese names for Meeting Ground and Sleeping Darkness (I learned the latter first - nemuri no yami, and that came after I suddenly remembered the intro to the TGS trailer - the one where Ansem speaks at the beginning).

Alright, so I went into Level 27 during this period and I learned Sonic Rave Sonic Blade. Sonic Blade. I really mean Sonic Blade - + + (20-23). This is the Sleight I'd be using quite often, given that the values of my cards vary from 5 up to 0. Then I went on to 28 - again, I decided to beef up my CP instead of my HP (wrong move to do at that point in time ; read on). So that makes HP, 200; CP, 600.

With that, I used the Key of Beginnings.

Key of Beginnings

Using the Key of Beginnings takes you to the Plaza (the place near the Desert in Kingdom Hearts). So Aladdin and company talk about Jafar and how he's after the lamp. Genie makes mention of Jasmine and they rush into the desert. With this, you obtain the Key of Guidance.

Key of Guidance

Considering that I thrashed the Parasite Cage and the Trickmaster with only 200 HP, I thought I could do the same with relative ease for any fight, since I seemed to pull through quite well for normal battles. So I didn't level up - I used the Key of Guidance straightaway.

Now for some reason, Aladdin and company end up in the Bazaar and are shocked to see Jasmine lying on the floor unconscious, surrounded by Shadows. Again, the Genie wipes them out... I think that's his second wish, because I know that in this scene, Sora tells Aladdin that he only has one more wish left. Anyway, immediately after Genie wipes them out, be prepared : you're about to fight several waves of Heartless, and they're ALL THE HEARTLESS YOU CAN EVER FIND IN AGRABAH.

And this is no easy task if you're just like me - that is to say, if you haven't taken the prudence to level up. My usual battles would take one reload with the Hi-Potion ; this one made me reload twice.

Winning this battle gives you the Ether card.

After the battle, Aladdin soon discovers that the lamp is missing ! The poor boy searches his pants but can't find a thing ! Jafar and Iago appear on the upper level of the Bazaar to taunt them, now that Jafar has the lamp. The poor big blue lump is now Jafar's slave and ends up taking Jasmine away, albeit with great reluctance.

With this, you get the Key to Truth.

MOAR levelling up

With one Strong Initiative card in hand, I went to Level 29 and decided to beef up my HP a little bit. So now my HP is 215, my CP is 600. Also, I've discovered that you start getting Random Jokers here.

I had two, so I decided to use one, and that took me to...

Looming Darkness.

The description says "A room where Heartless attack relentlessly". The French description suits it MUCH better : Salle aux Sans-cœur déchaînés ! Now when I say déchaîné, it literally means "unchained" - try to imagine Heartless having broken free of their shackles. They don't just attack relentlessly ; they move like, SUPER FAST. It's like they have this certain excitement to just move !

Key to Truth : Attempt #1

The Key to Truth takes you to the Kingdom Hearts version of the Palace Gates, where Sora and his friends face Jafar and Iago. Now, you know the pitch : Jafar asks the Genie to turn him into an all-powerful Genie, and the blue Genie does that rather reluctantly. So the Jafar we know is Jafar (Genie) as we know him in the first Kingdom Hearts, and you're expected to hit the lamp to deplete his HP ; though a well-aimed Blizzard spell can be aimed towards Jafar.

So his stats are as follows :

HP : 700
AP : 13
EXP : 651

But anyway, as I have bad aiming AND bad timing, I was KO'ed. So it's official : if you're not a -masher like me, you can't go to battle against Jafar at Level 29.

Key to Truth : Attempt #2

So prior to retrying the battle with Jafar, I levelled up a bit more with the usual favourite - Strong Initiative. I'm now in Level 31, with my HP at 230 and my CP at 625. Quite a few of my cards have been Premium-ised to make room for more cards. I replaced all my Blizzard cards with Fire cards because they have homing properties, and I doubt I'd ever be able to make a Blizzard spell aim properly on Jafar, let alone on the lamp !

I didn't change my deck ; I used the Troisnyx deck as always.

So, a little bit more on the Jafar battle, for those of you who don't remember how it went : it takes place in the area below the Lamp Chamber of Kingdom Hearts. It's the same place where you fought Jafar (Genie) in the first game. But there's one difference : in the first game, the pedestals were many in number, and they were sort of a puzzle where they moved left and right, up and down, and if one pedestal moved into its hollow, you could still grasp onto it. In Re:Chain, there are pedestals in groups of three - I saw six up at first - and then they only move up and down. If one goes way down and the other goes way up, it'd be too high for you to grasp, even with High Jump.

So my first move was, as you might guess : aim for the lamp with Fire. I successfully hit twice ! ^_^

After that, the rest depends on good aim. It's difficult to move the camera around especially when Iago is at one end of the arena and Jafar is at the other side throwing a fireball at you... Thus, for the most part, the camera is hovering at one side above you, and it's also quite difficult to manually turn the camera AND evade when Jafar attacks.

Jafar has two main attacks :

1. He throws a fireball at you. This can be easily evaded if you're at the lower levels, or if you successfully break his card. The card he generally uses for this is numbered 6, though this can vary.
2. He fires a laser-like thing onto the ground, and it follows Sora wherever he goes.

Truth be told, this is the attack which KO'ed me in the first attempt. I couldn't evade because I was in the lower level. So there are two ways to get past this attack - if you have the Gimmick Card, USE IT. And break his card.

This was what happened in my battle : I had the Gimmick Card, and I used it, and all the six top platforms went up, and then Jafar fired his laser thing. It's much easier to evade if Jafar aims at you when all the platforms are up.

As for how to get to the lamp, you have to see if Iago is hovering above you or close to the ground. You're bound to miss it if you aim wrongly. I had several wasted cards, and I reloaded once with the Hi-Potion and once with the Reload Card.

Winning this battle will give you the Jafar card. Another card which I wouldn't consider using.

Aftermath

So the story of Agrabah ends at the Palace Gates, and Aladdin uses his last wish to give freedom to the Genie. And after that, Aladdin rushes out of the Palace Gates - I'm not sure if it's to find Jasmine, because I rushed through the story, but I do know that the Genie gives him his card.

Sixth Floor : Halloween Town

Entering the Sixth Floor

Sora starts to remember things that he didn't remember before : he recounts a story of how Sora and Riku fought on the Destiny Islands, and Naminé would draw. But one day, she disappeared. That spells trouble...

Once that scene is over, I walk to the huge white door and I realise that I only have one World Card left : Halloween Town. So in I go...

Halloween Town Map

       []-[]
       |   |    
  [B]-[]  [G]  [End]
       |         |
  [St]-[]-[]-[]-[]
             |   |
            [R] [T]

[St]=Start of floor

[B]=Key of Beginnings

[G]=Key of Guidance

[T]=Key to Truth

[R]=Key to Rewards

-|=pathways

[]=Rooms

[End]=Conqueror’s Respite

[X]= No Boss Battle

• Note: This map works on any world, on the sixth floor

Introduction

You enter into the Guillotine Plaza as it looks in Kingdom Hearts, and Sora, Donald and Goofy approach the well and poof ! Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King appears and gives Donald a fright — and welcomes Sora and company to Halloween Town. But, before we go any further....... several Heartless appear around Sora and company, and you and I know just what to do : FIGHT.

So the mix is as follows : Shadows, Wight Knights, Gargoyles and Creeper Plants.

Once that's over, you get the Key of Beginnings.

Also, I attained Level 32 during that battle, which gives me the sleight Lethal Frame - my favourite sleight EVER ! + +

Also, I got another sleight, which has exactly the same Kana as Terra : Terror ! + +
Simba + Mushu + Any item card

Key of Beginnings

The Key of Beginnings takes you to Dr. Finkelstein's lab, where Jack, Sora and friends gather. Dr. Finkelstein says he's working on a memory potion, which he would perhaps use to help Jack and co. regain their lost memories. He summons Sally but doesn't get a response - so Sora and company leave for the Graveyard, where they are to meet her. End of Key of Beginnings - you get the Key of Guidance.

Levelling up

I noticed that you get A LOT of Bottomless Darkness cards from the Heartless in this level.

That aside - I used one or more of the following cards - Premium Room, Strong Initiative (as usual :D), Random Joker (which led to a False Bounty), one and one Moment's Reprieve.

I did enough levelling up to hit Level 36, and in all occasions, I beefed up my CP. My HP still remained at 230.

So now, we use the Key of Guidance, and...

Key of Guidance

Since stories have to be divided in three parts, you can imagine the ennui that comes along with them. They've become oh-so-predictable (repeat slowly after me : oh-so predictable).

So here's what happens in the Key of Guidance : Sora and company rush in to meet Sally, who gives them the memory potion, but a huge talk bubble with spikes and an EXTRA LARGE FONT appears. Everyone is startled.

OH NOES ! D: It's Oogie Boogie ! He's out to take the memory potion for himself ! Now, this is SO NOT fair play. He has an extremely big stature, and he pushes the more svelte Sally aside, onto the ground and grabs the memory potion for himself. I mean, come on ! What a brute ! And you can imagine what happens after that : a confrontation ensues between the protagonists and Oogie, and Oogie runs off with the potion. Sora and company give chase, and you get the Key to Truth.

Now, I'm not gonna go at length to describe how I went to that room, because immediately after the Key of Guidance, I felt ready to take on Oogie, so let's go straight to the last part of this episode.

Key to Truth

Sora and friends enter into the Torture Chamber as it looks like in Kingdom Hearts, only that it's been slightly altered. Jack orders Oogie to give back the memory potion, but Oogie does the exact opposite - he consumes the potion. And he starts losing his memory........

Regardless, we enter into battle, and these are Oogie's stats. Since this is the 6th floor, and the last card in the first set, expect his stats to be really beefed up.

HP : 750
AP : 15
EXP : 791

It's a rather repetitive battle, and Oogie Boogie's battle is defined by a few simple points :

1. The battle takes place in just one isolated section of the Torture Chamber, instead of the whole thing. Oogie is on the upper level, and you're separated from him by an iron fence. The key to taking the fence down is to break all of Oogie's cards.
2. Oogie's main attack is to throw flaming dice at you, or brick-red dice which can be attacked. For this, the card which he uses is often numbered 7, so be sure to break it with a 7, 8, 9 or 0. Or a sleight, if you don't have any of the above, though this move is risky. As you break the cards, the fence comes slowly down, and once it comes down altogether, you're ready to get up there.
3. The brick-red dice can be attacked to release the Gimmick Card, which brings the fence down entirely if used.
4. Once you're up there, use attacks and/or sleights which are HP-consuming. Recommended attacks included + + (0 or 27) Zantetsuken, + + Lethal Frame and + at least Fira. I used all of the above, and I used Lethal Frame twice.
5. The entire sequence of attacks repeats itself, so repeat all the above steps and you're on your way to victory.

Note : I used my Troisnyx deck for this battle.

So I leave this place at Level 37, and I obtain the + +
Gravity + Simba + Any magic card Tornado sleight. Which I doubt I'm ever gonna use.

Aftermath

So the potion can't be retrieved. Sora and friends gather in Dr. Finkelstein's lab, and Sora voices his concerns over losing his memories - something which Axel apparently told him about on the second floor. I didn't really pay attention because we have another battle to prepare for, soon after the end...

So off I go to the Conqueror's Respite ; I save and reform my deck, and stay tuned for the next section to find out who I'm battling this time.

Meeting Larxene

Lar-Lar's got a way with words and expressions, and she's too bitchy to be a Nobody. Yes, it's in this place that the Lucky Charm changes its shape - it's now a yellow star akin to the shape of a Paopu Fruit, and it's also in this scene that Sora mentions Naminé's name for the first time - after a great deal of extortion on Larxene's part. Now, we know that she'd do anything to hurt Sora's morals - even destroy the Lucky Charm. But Sora isn't going to give up without a fight......

With the same stats as in the Oogie Boogie battle - 200 HP and some 700 CP - I run headlong into this battle with the Troisnyx deck.

Larxene : First Encounter

Her stats are as follows :

HP : 1120
AP : 5 (significantly less than Oogie himself, and I wonder why...)
EXP : 2325

Now, here's my deck setup :

• Several Olympia, Wishing Star, Three Wishes and Pumpkinhead cards numbered from 5 to 0. Half of them are Premium Cards. Of all the attack cards I have, three of them are numbered 0.
• One Hi-Potion card numbered 9.
• Two Cure cards numbered 7 and 9 respectively. The 9 is a Premium Card.
• Two Fire cards numbered 7 and 9 respectively. I'm keeping it for its homing properties. The 9 is a Premium Card.
• Two Stop cards for the Lethal Frame sleight, numbered 4 and 1 respectively.
• One Bouncywild card.

I'm going against the strategy stated in Game:Larxene for obvious reasons : I never believe in stocking up any other enemy card except Bouncywild. That one card, if I have to remind you over again, draws experience orbs and Friend Cards together, so that at least you'd always have something to fall back on.

Now, Larxene's attacks are pretty simple in this battle, but take note that in this battle, whenever she casts Thunder, she does so with a 9 card. I didn't get to see her sleights because I broke them with relative ease with the 0 cards. I admit it was difficult to break the Thunder spell, considering that most of my cards are numbered less than 9... but Lethal Frame ( + + ) worked wonders in this battle.

I didn't receive any Donald cards, but if you do, DO NOT USE THEM. Donald runs the risk of casting Thunder and healing Larxene. I got Goofy instead, but it was broken.

Nevertheless, I took her down with relative ease. And to top it all up, I only reloaded once (with the Hi-Potion, of course).

Also note that this is my opening move : cast Fire, then cast Fire again.

Alright, I've had enough of Larxene's pitiful "Ikazuchiyo" ! On to the aftermath. Speaking about "relative ease", I totally neglected the Cure cards, and after the battle and the scenes were over, I discovered that Larxene managed to cut away one half of my HP bar. O____O

Post-defeat

So I reckon you'd know what Larxene would do after losing : she stays behind to taunt Sora, and she hands him a few World Cards as "presents". Those of you playing the English version would recognise this scene as the one where Larxene calls Sora a baby. Nevertheless, Sora gets four new World Cards - Atlantica, 100 Acre Wood, Hollow Bastion and Neverland.

I'm aware that I'll be in for a fight one floor from now, but I'm picking my card, and it's...

Seventh Floor : 100 Acre Wood

Deep in the 100 Acre Wood, where Christopher Roooooobin plaaaaaaaayyyys, you'll find the enchanted neiiiiighboooouuuurhoooood, of Christopher's chiiiildhood daaaaaayyyys..... ^_^

Yes, I actually sing to that BGM. :D

This is the only world where you don't have the Keycards, and the only world which retains all of the places as seen in the first Kingdom Hearts. Time to take a breather from fighting - here's some family-friendly fun.

Pooh's House

Gist of the story : Sora meets Pooh and together, they seek out to find Pooh's friends.

Now, the layout is pretty much the same as in Kingdom Hearts, except that you can't climb on the rooftop like in the first game. Also, you can now smash things - and the clock in Pooh's house is a Stop spell generator. Who'd need one of those in the 100 Acre Wood anyway ?

Note also that Pooh will be following you... wherever you may go. There isn't an ocean too deeeeeeeep, a mountain so high that can keeeeeep, keep me awaaaaaaayyyyyyy ! :D

Rabbit's House

I always had a fascination for Rabbit's House in the first Kingdom Hearts. Well, you could pull up cabbages and pumpkins and find items hidden inside. You can't do that now, though, but the misspelt signs - CABEGE, KERITS, PUNKINS ? - add to the charm of this place. There are lots of pots and vases in front of Rabbit's House that can be smashed for HP orbs and/or Moogle Points (you're most likely to find the latter ^_^), but you can't enter into Rabbit's House.

Lead Pooh towards the end of Rabbit's House, the path behind it, and a scene will be played - poor Pooh just got flung onto the ground by a pumpkin hurtling down the path !

Rabbit meets Pooh and Sora, and tells them what he's up to. Speak to him and you'll begin a new mini-game : Veggie Panic.

Veggie Panic

Goal : Get 30 points.
Rules : Separate cabbages and pumpkins. Cabbages go to the left, so you have to use to hit them. Pumpkins go to the right, so for those, you use .
Reward : Cross-slash+ + + .

My personal score was some 100+ points ; I forget what my exact score is. On to the next stop !

Balloon Glider

Sora and Pooh end up in front of the Hunny Tree, where they see three balloons tied to a log. And if you take the balloons, the mini-game begins.

Goal : Scale the Hunny Tree unscathed - meaning that you have to have at least one balloon when you reach the top.
Rules : You start with two balloons. You can only have a maximum of three and a minimum of one. Collect Hunny orbs as you scale the tree, but beware of the bees. Lose all balloons and the mini-game ends.
Reward : Firaga Burst + + . I don't know why, but it's shown in my save file as + + . Regardless...

I was aiming for a perfect score but I was already on the verge of losing - I made it to the top with only one balloon left.

When you reach the top, you'll get to meet Owl, who speaks to Sora for a while - but I didn't get the least bit of what they were saying.

Pass this stop and you'll meet Tigger, whom you should speak to for the next mini-game :

Tigger's Jump-A-Thon

Goal : Score 25 points.
Rules : There are four tree stumps, marked with , , and respectively, just as the buttons on the controller. Hit the controller buttons according to the direction in which Tigger is jumping to score more points. The mini-game ends if you miss.
Reward : Paradise Stamp Idyll Romp + + .

I scored 30 points, but deliberately missed the next steps because I just wanted to get this level over with. Now I remember my previous save file had some 100+ points, but I don't remember my exact score. Regardless, just score 25 points if you're pressed for time.

This is exactly the same area where the Giant Pot used to be, and also the same area where you could go searching for Rare Nuts in Kingdom Hearts. However, in Re:Chain of Memories, you can't access the upper levels, except for the treasure chest in one corner of this place - which houses the Spellbinder card. You'll need at least Glide to get there - High Jump just isn't enough.

Pooh's Muddy Path

Moving on... This is the place I hated the most in Kingdom Hearts because I took too long to find everybody.

You can access two mini-games here, which I will explain as we go along. This place has lower and upper levels. In the lower level, you'd be able to find Roo, whilst in the upper level, you'll be able to find Eeyore - who has lost his tail again. >_>

Whirlwind Plunge

You activate this mini-game by jumping on the well and riding on the air currents. That cutscene plays every time you jump over the well.

Goal : Clear the damn course. :D
Rules : Collect as many Hunny orbs as possible. Hitting an obstacle will separate you from Pooh, and you'll need to come near him and hit to get him back. Whilst you're away from Pooh, you can't collect Hunny orbs.
Reward : Mega-Ether card.

Bumble-Rumble

The whole idea for the mini-game is to find Eeyore's tail, and Pooh believes it's hidden in a tree hole... but he's shocked to find more bees coming and attacking him !

Goal : Destroy all the bees.
Rules : You have three cards : Keyblade, Wind and Honey. The Keyblade card is for attack purposes ; Wind functions like the Aero spell in that it blows both the bees AND Pooh away. The Honey card functions similarly to the Cure spell, in that it heals Pooh. There are some 21 swarms of bees, if I remember correctly, and you have to defeat every last one of them.
Reward : Elixir card.

Note : Sleights are NOT recommended for this mini-game.

Once this mini-game is over, Pooh will run headlong into a tree... ouch ! And lo and behold, we see Eeyore's tail falling from high up a tree.

Note that if you return to play this mini-game, there will be at least 70 swarms of them. You will also have to finish this mini-game in under 1 minute and 40 seconds

Aftermath

Completing the level will grant you the Bambi card.

Meeting Riku

What a brainwreck. Sora and Riku ? Fighting over a girl called Naminé ? This is SO NOT the Riku that Sora knows. In the meantime, we know that Axel, Larxene and Vexen are plotting at the upper levels...... Hint hint.

So you're practically forced into battle. Since there are no fights in the 100 Acre Wood, I have the same cards and same stats as in my Larxene battle.

Riku Replica : First Encounter

His stats are as follows:

HP : 1250
AP : 8
EXP : 2175

Nevertheless, note that he has some 4+ bars of HP at his disposition. Like Larxene, this guy managed to cut off one half of my HP bar - now at this point it's seriously ringing alarm bells - I should go and train when I have the opportunity.

Copied and pasted from the Game:Riku Replica strategy page - this is a part I wrote :

Stock up cards numbered 7-9, an Elixir and a Hi-Potion at least, two or three Stop cards (for the Lethal Frame sleight), two or three Cure cards and some 0 cards at the end of the deck (to break the Replica's attacks). You might want to insert some Premium Cards in to save CP.

Use sleights when possible; sleights are an effective way to cause great damage to the Replica (depending on which sleights are used). Keep bashing the Replica with Sleights, reload (using an Item Card) and heal when necessary.

Another tactic is to have a Bouncywild card in hand: it only costs 10 CP, and it draws your Goofy and Donald cards together (while you keep yourself occupied with the Replica), giving you the chance to use Trinity Limit.

Scrap the part on Trinity Limit, now - that's too far-fetched. You need the Bouncywild card nonetheless, so keep it in. And yes, I did use sleights - I opened with two Fires, used Lethal Frame ( + + ) twice and Sonic Blade a few times.

Post-defeat

Riku runs away, leaving behind a distraught Sora. In the prelude to the next floor we see Sora, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy feeling a little more optimistic - hey, it's Castle Oblivion, isn't it ? People are bound to lose their memories, so perhaps Riku has lost his memories too.

Sora, Donald and Goofy end up in one of the chambers with no way out, and they suddenly come across Tinker Bell, who leads them out. You get the Key of Beginnings... and the story begins.

Levelling up

I'm gonna summarise my entire experience of levelling up in this section, because I did some reasonable levelling up until I reached Level 42 and got Ars Arcanum ( + + (6)). And that took a long time. I remember when I first entered into that place I could hardly survive without two reloads ; now I only need one like in all my previous battles.

So, still using the Troisnyx deck, these are the cards I used (in no particular order) :

• Sleeping Darkness.
• Strong Initiative. I must repeat myself here : this is my favourite Map Card. Ever.
• Premium Room.
• White Room. Since I finally have Fire, Blizzard and Thunder, I can survive pretty well in a White Room, since in Re:Chain of Memories, the only spells required by White Mushrooms are Fire, Blizzard and Thunder. The rest... I don't know why they didn't make the cut, but still... Oh, and I had to do deck-switching. Earlier in the walkthrough I indicated that I have a magic-based deck, which I nicknamed Boutonnat (the last T is not pronounced), so every time I enter into a White Room, I make sure I switch to that deck, because all the magic cards required for the White Room are there. The Boutonnat deck has a decent amount of attack cards, so if I have to Premium-ise any attack cards, I'd do it on the spot. Oh, and sometimes I forget to switch back to my normal deck...... the consequences of this are adverse, believe me.
• Black Room. I don't know why I used it ; the Black Fungi don't give much experience. Oh, and speaking about Black Fungi... I must write a separate section for the card numbers used by regular Heartless. I'll do that towards the end.
• Roulette Room. Simply because I was searching for Strong Initiative. Instead, they had my most hated card, Lasting Daze. -__-
• Martial Waking. Simply because I didn't want to waste my Strong Initiative cards. I'd need them for the upper levels.
• Meeting Ground.
• Stagnant Space.
• Guarded Trove.
• Calm Bounty.
• Moment's Reprieve (definitely).
• Moogle Room. Note that starting from the 7th floor, you gain access to better card packs. In the previous levels, attack card packs were all priced at 100 Moogle Points ; here we have packs costing 200 and 300 Moogle Points. And I'm not gonna go at length to describe the Item Cards and/or Magic Cards, because... I recommend you to check it out for yourselves. One thing's for sure : Earlier, I used to have enough Moogle Points to obtain all the card packs in the Moogle Shop ; now, even 2,000+ points aren't enough.
• Key to Rewards. I managed to get two of these cards during my levelling up, and so I used one in Neverland. Since I have a clear Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix save file (note : my Reverse/Rebirth save file is only at 40-something %), both treasures appear in the Room of Rewards. *opens* I got Follow the Wind and Thunder Raid ( + + ) !

Key of Beginnings

The story is pretty much predictable : you meet Peter Pan for the first time (Tink leads you to him), and it's just outside the Hold of the ship as in the first Kingdom Hearts. So he explains about the treacherous Captain Hook, and how he's trying to get at Peter Pan's friend Wendy... He is just as brash as he is in the first Kingdom Hearts, only willing to be part of Sora's team until he finds Wendy.

With that, you get the Key of Guidance.

Key of Guidance

The Key of Guidance features a refreshing change of story from the first episode : Wendy expresses her sadness over not being able to stay in Neverland for long. She tells Peter Pan that she has to return to London. Peter gets all pissed off and leaves the room in a huff after a dispute between them. Sora and company speak to a distraught Wendy and wonder what's up with this dastardly Peter Pan (hint : change a consonant).

And with that, you get the Key to Truth.

Key to Truth

Sora and friends meet Captain Hook for the first and last time in the whole story, and they wonder what kind of person he is... until they see... *gasp* OH NOES ! D: Wendy at the far edge of the plank ! And worse, our knight in shining armour hero in green rags isn't there to save her... or is he ?

Peter Pan steals the show and takes Wendy off the plank and to a safe place. Hook is furious, and attempts to chase after Wendy, but almost loses his balance. (He'd better be thankful for not losing his balance, because the Tick Tock Croc is waiting in the sea right below the plank!) From the edge of that plank, he pulls out his épée (sword) and I can already imagine him saying "Come, sir, your passado... no, wait, he is a pirate.

Which brings me back to this favourite line echoed by several KHWiki members over the IRC, which was pilfered from LazyTown :

Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free ! You are a pirate !
Or, in the original language of pirates, Fais c'qui te plaît, vivre en pirate c’est ça ! Tu es un pirate !

Yes, for this battle with Captain Hook, I AM A PIRATE. :D

Fukku senchou's stats are as follows :

HP : 680
AP : 11
EXP : 1990

Now, he is one of the few Disney bosses to use sleights. The other one I know who uses sleights is Hades. If he stacks three cards into a sleight, be warned : he can do one of these two attacks —

1. Send barrels of gunpowder flying into the air, either from the poop-deck (behind) or from the hold (front). I could only evade this attack in Reverse/Rebirth, because I dared not use sleights for that battle, and I obviously didn't have enough 0 cards.
2. Perform a combo attack with his épée. That, too, can be broken or evaded.

His other attack includes throwing explosive gift boxes at you.

So here's my deck setup for Troisnyx :

• Attack cards Olympia, Fairy Harp and Wishing Star numbered 6 to 0. Half of these cards are Premium cards.
• One Hi-Potion card #9 and one Elixir card #6.
• Two Fire cards numbered 7 and 9 respectively.
• Two Cure cards numbered 7 and 9 respectively. The 9 is a Premium Card.
• Two Stop cards numbered 1 and 4 respectively, for the Lethal Frame sleight.
• One Bouncywild card, to gather Friend Cards together.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Aftermath

All's well that ends well - Wendy is taken back to London in Peter Pan's arms, and Tink returns to Sora and company and gives them a gift - her summon card.

Now, I've saved in the Conqueror's Respite, but I'm only in Level 42 and most of my cards are Premiums - not a stable position indeed. I'll have to spoil one of the hints for you - Riku Replica is waiting at the other side of the door, and if I get to him now, I'll die. Surely.

Since I have one more Key to Rewards card in hand, I'll be revisiting the previous worlds. So let's begin with... Traverse Town !

Revisit : Traverse Town

Okay, now all the enemies in Traverse Town can be defeated with a maximum of three hits. The Red Nocturnes and Blue Rhapsodies there can be defeated with one hit. That, my friends, explains the benefits of levelling up.

So for navigation, I used these cards :

• Calm Bounty.
• Sleeping Darkness.
• White Room.
• Martial Waking.
• Moment's Reprieve, just outside the Room of Rewards.

And in the Room of Rewards... *checks* both chests are there, again, because I have a clear Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix save file. So let's see what we get :

Lionheart and Saïx !

Now, the Lionheart is Fire-powered, so I have to be careful not to use it against Red Nocturnes and Wizards. Nevertheless, in my previous save file, I took the Lionheart card all the way to the 13th floor with me. It shows just how powerful it is.

I also revisited the Coliseum on the second floor, but that was mainly to get Olympia cards more than anything else.

Revisit : Agrabah

I revisited Agrabah simply because I was fresh out of Moogle Points, and I was lucky enough blessed indeed ! I got the Aladdin card four times during a battle, and at all times it was numbered 7 and above.

But the main reason why I visited Agrabah was because I had a Key to Rewards, which I thought I could put to good use by revisiting one of the worlds. I had no idea which world to visit, so whilst levelling up, I revisited Agrabah...... for teh lulz.

So, in no particular order, these are the Map Cards I used.

• Sleeping Darkness.
• Meeting Ground.
• Martial Waking.
• Roulette Room.
• Moment's Reprieve, just outside the Room of Rewards.

And now, *opens the two chests in front of her* I have...

+ + Warp and Luxord. Now, I won't be using the Luxord card that much, but I'm trying to score 100% for this walkthrough.

So I'm now in Level 43 (I think), and I'm trying to beef up my CP and make sure there are enough cards stocked up before my battle with Neo Riku Riku Replica.

EDIT 02:17, July 11, 2010 (UTC) : I'm not in Level 46, if I remember correctly, and I'm beefing up my CP. I've decided to use one more Map Card to get more experience : Bottomless Darkness.

Here, Shadows come in two or three waves, the latter waves having more Heartless than the first. Given the density of the Heartless population for such a small room, you can easily gain half the experience required for a level - if you're struggling in my position.

I'm also redoing my Troisnyx* deck - this time it contains all 9s, 8s and 7s. Except for the random 0s that I put at the end. I need more CP. End of story.

Revisit : Neverland

I just felt compelled to visit Neverland. After all, now I have to, because Riku's waiting at the other side of the hall for me.

So I used practically the same cards as before, taking the shortest route possible, but I added a Premium Room onto the list... to shorten the number of CP required, and to add more cards. I have enough reloads in my deck... for now, at least.

The last room I used before confronting Riku was a Moment's Reprieve.

Also, whilst levelling up in Neverland I got the Sleight Holy at level 47 ( + + ), though I won't be using it much.

Second encounter with Riku : A tried and tested strategy

So alright. After getting a sufficient amount of levels and experience, I finally decided to get into that 8th Floor Exit Hall and take Riku out. There is a serious change of cards in my deck, and I am aware that I'll have to humour the Riku Replica for a very, very, VERY long time.

The whole change was proposed by Gael42 of Kingdom Hearts Francophone Wiki - he has the GBA version of Chain (he obviously doesn't have the remake), and for ideas on how Re:Chain would go, he's been constantly watching video footage. Since Chain is the only Kingdom Hearts installment he finished at 100%, I thought, okay, why not give that strategy of his a try in this level ?

So now, I'm using my Troisnyx deck, and these are the cards you'd find :

• Olympia, Lionheart, Wishing Star and Fairy Harp attack cards. Most of them are numbered 6 to 0, except for the Lionheart which is numbered 2.
• Two Stop cards numbered 1 and 4 7 and 9 for Lethal Frame.
• Gael42 of KHFrancophone Wiki suggested that the Bouncywild card be replaced with the Gargoyle card, which has the trait of Invisibility. And it lasts through only one reload. Which means, if I use even an Item Card, it's all over. Now, I was given orders to perform my sleights and/or special attacks while Riku is reloading - which means for the most part of this battle, I'll have to do a lot of Dodge Rolling/Gliding. This is the only part of the strategy which I did not follow.

I entered this battle at Level 47, and this is what I did to finish Riku off within one or two minutes :

• My first few cards were, in this order : . So you can easily deduce what sleights I did, all in that order. My first three cards after the Bouncywild were all 9s, so that's one sleight which Repliku can't break except if he finds a 0... which he didn't.
• I got the Goofy card twice, which allowed me to use Goofy Bash.
• The rest of it involved simple evading/attacking.

I had prepared two Elixir cards numbered 7 and 0 respectively, and my usual Hi-Potion #9, but I didn't even use them during this battle ! Praise the Lord !

Aftermath

You guessed it : Spat between Sora and Riku --> Riku leaves --> Sora is bewildered.

Well, the spat actually stemmed from the fact that Riku told Sora about him saying "Take care of her" behind the door to Darkness, but Sora ended up in Castle Oblivion (though he cared as much for Riku). I'm not going to get into any murderous tendencies here like what most people would, because even revenge is going against Commandment #5 : Thou shalt not kill.

Without further ado, I return to Neverland's Conqueror's Respite and save in case there are encounters on the next floor. I'm following the order of my first save file, so the next floor is... Hollow Bastion !

Eighth Floor : Neverland

Entering the Ninth Floor

Sora's, Donald's and Goofy's memories are already showing signs of being muddled up. Donald remembers full well that Sora has three friends... He mentions Sora's name, and Riku's, but he is stuck at Kairi's... He only remembers the first syllable. Something is amiss and I believe we all know what's going on up at the 13th Floor...

As I said, the ninth floor is Hollow Bastion. So here we are... (opens door)

Prologue

Sora, Donald and Goofy arrive at the entrance of Hollow Bastion, just outside the door, when they come across Belle and the Beast... Belle seems to reject the Beast's love for some reason... but the Beast resolves to get to her no matter what. Sora and company rush through the entrance...

And with this, you get the Key of Beginnings.

Key of Beginnings

I shall not speak of the cards I used ; this will come after this section. Right now, let me talk about the Key of Beginnings.

Sora and company find themselves in the upper level of the Library (yes, you know the place where you had to pick up tomes and put them in respective shelves ? It's also the place where we first see Kairi as a toddler), and they meet up with Belle. Belle speaks to them about Maleficent... and she worries about the Beast. Suddenly, they hear a loud banging noise from not far off, and Sora, Donald and Goofy run to safety. The shelves open just as though the last tome from Kingdom Hearts has been placed, and... who could it be ?

Maleficent herself !

Malef' asks about the Beast, but Belle refuses to say more. Malef' then vanishes in her usual jet of green flames, transporting Belle with her, hoping to lure the Beast to wherever she is. Once they have disappeared, Sora and company rush back into the scene, and realise that they are headed for the entrance hall, so they rush after Malef' and Belle.

And with this, you get the Key of Guidance.

Levelling up

These are the cards I used, in no particular order... but if I remember the order, I'll try do it accordingly. Regardless, after the Unknown Room, here are the map cards :

• Moogle Room, because I needed more good cards numbered 7 to 9. I used up practically all my 2000+ Moogle Points there.
• Guarded Trove. It was in this room that I found Reflect Raid ( + + ). Not like it's something that I'm gonna use regularly, but that's another feather in my cap.
• Moment's Reprieve, twice.
• Black Room.
• White Room.
• Strong Initiative, my favourite card ever. But then again, regardless of whether I'm using SI or not, it's pretty thrilling when you get to take out an entire row of Shadows or Tornado Steps with just one Thunder Raid !
• Roulette Room.

I also opened the Room of Rewards, which gave me two cards : Mushu and Xigbar. The condition to open the Room of Rewards (which I actually took down) is a 2B (Blue card numbered 2).

I levelled up to about Level 51, and my CP is at 950. My HP is at 200-something.

Key of Guidance

Opening the Key of Guidance, Sora and company are taken to the Entrance Hall. Malef' has Belle cornered near that waterfall-thing. Sora calls for her to stop. Malef' says that the Beast probably wouldn't come in a long while. But the Beast rushes in from the third floor of the entrance hall. Jiminy watches as Belle and the Beast have a heart-to-heart. Malef' steps in and she summons something... which is supposed to target the Beast's heart. Before it hits the Beast, Belle gets in the way... and her body is destroyed. Her heart disappears into thin air.

The Beast vows to get Belle back, and he accompanies Sora and party into the Chapel, where Malef' waits.

With this, you get the Key to Truth.

Key to Truth

The Key to Truth is oh-so-predictable. It's the orchestrated battle against Maleficent (Dragon) !

Fight with Malef'

Malef's stats are as follows :

HP : 1080
AP : 21
EXP : 2249

The thing about Malef' is that she is resistant towards most physical sleights (these include the normal Strike Raid and Stun Impact). However, Thunder Raid works very well, if you've got it already. Considering that Neverland's Room of Rewards is the first I've opened, I have it.

So, I used practically the same cards as my previous battle with Riku Replica, using Lethal Frame and Thunder Raid in the beginning, but unlike the battle with Repliku, I had to use my Hi-Potion. Well, I wasn't too worried because I still had two more Elixirs in the pack.

During this battle, the Beast was my only ally. I only used his cards once... when I was on the ground. He only does a charge and that's it.

The Gimmick Card, when used, summons a hovering platform which moves along with Sora's direction. I tried using Lethal Frame ( + + ) on the platform and I discovered that the platform even moves at fast speeds. The cards which I've seen Maleficent use are numbered 8, 6, 7, 3 and 0 respectively, but I'm of the assumption that she has access to all card numbers, only that she does not use sleights.

Winning this battle will give you the Malef' card.

Aftermath

Belle's heart rematerialises and she gains back her form. Whilst la Belle and her copain come together, Sora et ses amis decide not to disturb their friends' rendez-vous, and so they prennent la fuite. And you understand that I'm speaking in franglais for a very obvious raison.

Leaving the Ninth Floor

Donald and Goofy look around angrily to see if Repliku is there, but there's no sign of him.

So I return to the Conqueror's Respite, save and go on to the next floor. I only have one World Card left : Atlantica.

Ninth Floor : Hollow Bastion

Entering the Tenth Floor

Upon entering the 10th Floor, we see Vexen, Axel and Larxene scheming on the 13th Floor. Vexen is mocked by Larxene and just then, Marluxia comes in. It is in this very scene that his face is unveiled. Marlulu questions Vexen about his creation. Vexen rebels, saying that he is the Number 4 (and because of the similarity in the kana, the voice actor pronounced it as "hoar" rather than "four"........ I understand the difference). Marluxia warns him at scythe-point that he is teh l0rd of teh castle.

Marluxia goes to Naminé and orders her to do something about Sora's memories. And it does indeed seem that she's doing something...

...because when Sora and friends arrive at the tenth floor, we see his memories of Kairi being replaced with Naminé's.

Now, since I only have one World Card left, I'm gonna have to use it. And it's the World Card I like the least : Atlantica.

Entering Atlantica

You enter in the main area of Atlantica (I forget what it's called...) And Sora and company wonder why they remember the sea. They're under the sea... in their normal clothes. o.O

Ariel comes swimming in with the Trident... and she doesn't indicate what it's for.

With this, you get the Key of Beginnings.

Levelling Up

So these are the cards I used, in no particular order :

• Calm Bounty. In this place I got Shock Impact, though I don't remember the cards for it. Regardless, I'm not using that sleight. Full stop.
• Room of Rewards. In this place I got Demyx and the Quake sleight. Again, I don't remember the cards for it.
• Moogle Room.
• As you guessed, Strong Initiative.
• Meeting Ground. If I remember correctly, I did this before Ariel joined our party.
• Moment's Reprieve, twice.
• White Room. I actually managed to get at least three White Room cards throughout my time in Atlantica.

Also, note that I didn't open some of the rooms. Whilst I'm at it, let me state that if after opening a Special Room, you get directed to a room which hasn't been opened before, that room is an Unknown Room. I know this for certain because I didn't open the room towards the north from the entrance - and I ended up having two Unknown Rooms on my map. Here's the stranger part : the first Unknown Room reminds me of a Tranquil Darkness, whilst the second reminds me of a Lasting Daze, given the heights of the walls. Nevertheless, the subtitle is still "Unknown Room".

So throughout my levelling up in Atlantica I gained two levels. I learned Ragnarok at level 52, and I gained HP at level 53. Which makes my current stats as follows : HP 305, CP 925.

Key of Beginnings

In the Key of Beginnings, Sora and company arrive at Triton's Throne, and they see Sebastian getting all flustered over the trident. He tells them that Ariel's got it, but he wonders what'll happen when King Triton finds out...

Sora and company decide to look out for Ariel, and with this, you get the Key of Guidance.

Key of Guidance

In the Key of Guidance, Sora and company meet Ariel in her grotto. She holds her trident, all worried about her friend Flounder... when all of a sudden, Ursula appears in the grotto and asks her if she'd like to strike a deal. Turns out that Ursula has held Flounder hostage, and she wants the trident in exchange. Ariel yells at Ursula to stop, but Ursula won't stop at nothing..... she wants that trident.

With this, you get the Key to Truth.

Key to Truth

It's the battle with Ursula herself ! But prior to the battle...

Sora and company, now with Ariel in their midst, arrive at Ursula's lair and Ariel reluctantly hands over the trident. Ursula lets Flounder go, but she momentarily rules the seas. So the onus is on us to stop Ursula's Reign of Terror.

Battle with Ursula

Her stats are as follows :

HP : 760
AP : 23
EXP : 2509

Now, the strange thing about Ursula is that she resists most sleights. Except Lethal Frame ( + + ) and Thunder Raid ( + + ). So as you can guess... I used both of them.

The Gimmick Card, when used, makes Ursula's tentacles fall, and she loses consciousness. You can land nine normal hits during that period... So to make it effective, be sure to use Lethal Frame at this point !

I mistakenly reloaded with an Elixir card, but it proved to be a blessing in disguise when I finished Ursula off with Lethal Frame.

ALRIGHT ! HALLELUJAH ! :DDDDDD I TOOK HER DOWN !

I gained a level during this battle. I'm now at level 54, with 950 CP.

Aftermath

Ariel and Flounder get together again, but it seems that Sebastian is calling out for Ariel offscreen. Ariel thanks Sora and friends for the good work.

And we enter into the Conqueror's Respite, and then a surprise... waits at the exit hall.

Tenth Floor : Atlantica

Actually, this didn't come as a surprise to me seeing that Twilight Town is on the 11th Floor. Regardless, Vexen makes his grand entrance. And he talks about his Riku... stirring suspicion in Sora's mind. Sora and company engage in battle with the Chilly Academic...

Battle with Vexen

His stats are as follows :

HP : 891
AP : Unknown, or apparently, they didn't put it on the Game:Vexen page.
EXP : Also unknown. It's irksome, yes, but it's marked with ??? here.

Here too, I reloaded mistakenly with an Elixir card. I'm pretty sure. Anyway, note that physical sleights make Vexen lose consciousness. So you can, by all means, use Strike Raid.

My deck was the same as in the previous battles - no new changes as of now, except for a few extra attack cards where I could stuff them in.

Aftermath

So after this relatively easy battle (unlike what I once went through with Repliku), Vexen throws the Twilight Town world card to Sora and indicates that the world is in the other side of Sora's heart.

Up we go to the 11th floor ! :D

Tenth Floor Exit Hall

Entering the 11th Floor

So upon entering the 11th floor we are taken to the room with Marlulu, Axel and Lar-Lar. Marluxia tells Axel that Vexen has been betraying Organisation XIII, and tells Axel to dispose of him. I bet you and I are ready for what's coming next...

Prologue

Sora and company end up at the Tram Common of Twilight Town. Note that here, since this is a facsimile, its appearance is similar to that of Simulated Twilight Town. Yes, there's a candy shop in the middle, it's not a Moogle shop.

Sora seems to know this place... or at least, he begins to wonder. He starts thinking of Naminé, and even holds out the Lucky Charm telling himself that he'll pull through. Little does he know that up on the 13th floor, Naminé is feeling remorse and guilt, even though it's not her fault - this is what we call duress.

With this, we get the Key of Beginnings.

Note that other than the Key to Rewards, the Key of Beginnings is the only Keycard you'll be getting for Twilight Town. This is further evidenced by the fact that the map for Twilight Town is so super small... So here's my advice : start training ! NOW !

Full details of levelling up (including my first blunder)

I thought I could do it this time because in the previous battle, the only sleight Vexen ever used was Freeze. I think. It was that thing where he summoned icicles. Regardless...

• Prior to continuing this save file, I opened my first ever Moment's Reprieve. And I wasted two more Moment's Reprieves, opening them by mistake at the south of the map, when it should've been towards the north, and I used one more just outside the Key of Beginnings.
• Calm Bounty. From this place I got Warpinator ( + + ), but I'm not gonna use it, really.
• Room of Rewards. This one required a blue card with a value of 8, a red card with a value of 1 and green cards with a total value of 20. From this Room of Rewards I obtained the Roxas card (thus confirming Sora's suspicions that Twilight Town is in the other side of his heart, even though he doesn't know it) and Stardust Blitz ( + ).
• False Bounty. I didn't get much, just got a Bambi card. It's in here that I went up to Level 55, and my current stats are : HP 305, CP 975.
• Premium Room, for obvious reasons.
• Roulette Room. Here I went on to Level 56, and my CP is now at 1000. I opened another one during the second session, it was the first I ever opened. Read on for more.
• White Room. For more premiums, obviously.

Then I opened the Room of Beginnings... I was happily sailing through it or so I thought until I realised that I did not have enough HP ! D:

So I was KO'ed in this room, and decided to get out and open some more cards.

• FINALLY ! THE MOOGLE ROOM ! I got it during my second tour round a Roulette Room. Starting from Twilight Town, the Moogle-wrapped pack appears here. For packs with attack cards, a Moogle wrap can easily cost some 500 points. But I need that pack nonetheless. Also, it's in this floor and the next floor that we automatically get card packs. You'll soon find out why.
• Black Room. Here we start getting Calm Bounties once again. We also get Calm Bounties from the Black Fungi in lower levels, but from Neverland onwards, it's either a Guarded Trove or a False Bounty.
• Strong Initiative ! Yay ! It's in this room that I went up to Level 57, and since a sleight options has appeared, I can't really refuse it...

It's also starting from this room that I started using my Donald Duck and Goofy cards more often. Just a side note : I'm not sure if it's a rendering error, but every time the Goofy card lands in Sora's possession, in the arena, it appears as a Pluto card. It's only when it gets into Sora's deck that it switches to either Goofy or Pluto. The Pluto card usually appears during boss battles, so I am usually able to distinguish when a Goofy card comes and when it doesn't.

Key of Beginnings

Again, let me reiterate that it's the only Keycard that you get in Twilight Town, apart from the Key to Rewards. The requirements for this are 5 and above, 5 and below, blue card and the Key of Beginnings.

Sora, Donald and Goofy arrive in front of the Mansion, and Goofy asks Sora if something is the matter. Sora seems to be able to sense Naminé's presence, and he just doesn't get this whole fight between him and Riku. Just when he is about to continue his conversation, Vexen shows up right in front of the gate, and he is about to reveal more on Naminé. This time, he really reiterates my Riku (watashi no Riku). Sora is truly bewildered now and he yells out that his heart would remain strong enough to protect his friends. Instead of Vexen confronting him, Sora lunges at Vexen this time, triggering the battle.

Battle with Vexen

His stats are as follows :

HP : 1088
AP : Unknown, or apparently, they didn't put it on the Game:Vexen page.
EXP : Apparently, that's unknown too.

Now a restructuring of the Troisnyx deck was in place, given that I could make room for a few changes, and this was the newly-formed deck, in this order.

• Bouncywild. Because since I'm the kind to spend too much time on an enemy, I use to draw Friend Cards.
• The next few cards are in this order, for the Lethal Frame sleights. The second Stop card is numbered 7 ; the rest are numbered 9.
• The next few cards are in this order for Fire Raid. The second Fire card is numbered 8, the rest are numbered 9. Note that this is a replacement for Thunder Raid, which I used prior to this Vexen battle.
• Fairy Harp, Lionheart, Olympia, Crabclaw, Spellbinder and Wishing Star cards numbered 9, 8, 7 and 0. They are arranged in no particular order after the two Fire Raid sleights, allowing me to make room for more sleights - Sonic Blade, Strike Raid, Ragnarok, Final Break. Oh, and Stun Impact and Zantetsuken.
• Two Elixir cards numbered 7 and 0 respectively.
• One Hi-Potion card #9.

Note that I have this many reload cards because all my cards, save for Bouncywild and the Item Cards are Premiums. So I began with some 46 cards in the deck altogether.

With this strategy, practically all your sleights are unbreakable, except if he uses a 0. Even the Freeze Sleight that he uses does not come to a minimum value of 21.

So here is the quick fix strategy I used :

1. Start with two Lethal Frames ( + + ).
2. When the Goofy card comes out, carry out Goofy Bash with the remaining Fairy Harp card from the first seven. This allows for Vexen to lose HP while being smashed to the ground.
3. Aim for Vexen because at this point, he still uses single cards - and once you know you won't lose sight of him, use two Fire Raids ( + + ).
4. Whack him with your #9 cards. Do not use them for Zantetsuken unless he really is posing a threat to you. No other single card can break this. Take note, however, that once he starts sleighting, you must begin sleighting as well.
5. Physical sleights like Stun Impact and Strike Raid can make him momentarily lose consciousness, unlike Fire Raid. So with your #8 cards (or two 9s and an 8, or one 9 and two 8s), USE STRIKE RAID. ITS POWER COMPELS YOU. And if you get the Goofy card in the process, use it for Goofy Bash.
6. Considering that most of my cards were mixed and numbered 7, I could carry out Sonic Blade a maximum of five times. The good thing about Sonic Blade is that you practically don't lose time while dealing damage to Vexen. Hitting too late will cancel the sleight, so hit it at the right time - and you can easily deal thirty-five blows without even being interrupted.
7. When his HP is low, he'll start sleighting again. Since one of my Elixirs is #0, I used just that and I repeated all the steps above until he went down.

Note that I never used the Donald cards ever, because he risks using Blizzard, which restores Vexen's health. A similar effect will be made if you use Blizzard Raid ( + + ), because these sleights only focus on the elemental effect of the Raid, not the physical one. Alternatively, since I already have Stardust Blitz ( + ), I could have put it to good use, but I just didn't find the need to do so.

And I finally took down Vexen ! Hallelujah !

My end level is 60 (I entered at level 59).

Aftermath

Vexen : You have such strength, even at the mercy of your memory — !
Sora : None of that matters ! Just put him back !
Vexen : (insert Kefka-esque laugh here) Just put him back !? The Riku that you speak of... has but one fate, to sink into the darkness — and you will share that fate, Sora ! If you continue to seek the girl Naminé, the shackles will tighten, you'll lose your heart — and end up becoming Marluxia's pawn !!
Sora : Marluxia ? What does Naminé have to do with ——

Vexen is suddenly hit by one of Axel's chakrams, and it seems to have implanted in him...

Axel : Yo, Sora. Did I come at a bad time ?
Vexen : Axel, why....

And then I forget what follows this, but I know that after this is :

Axel : Now you can become nothing instead of just being nobody. You're off the hook !
Vexen : No ! Please don't ! I don't want to——
Axel : Goodbye. *Axel snaps his fingers and immolates Vexen.*

Sora is just completely disturbed by all the events that have just happened...

Sora : What are you... What are you people ?
Axel : Don't know.

And truth be told, this is the ONLY conversation from Re:Chain that I remember in English ! Beat that ! :D *laughs*

Exiting the 11th Floor

I almost forgot to mention that Sora confronts Repliku one more time here. So I might as well mention the story that leads to this...

So upon exiting, we see Axel returning to meet Marlulu and Lar-Lar. They all discuss their plans to overthrow the Organisation. Lar-Lar persuades Naminé to toy with Sora's memories a little further. But Axel remains only to see Naminé saddened over Sora.

Back at the Exit Hall... Repliku waits to attack Sora again, but Sora states that his promise to Naminé was strengthened with a lucky charm. He shows the Paopu/star-shaped lucky charm... Repliku is taken aback. Sora shows Riku his lucky charm, and Riku shows his and calls Sora's a fake...... leading to another fight.

Battle with Repliku, partie trois, I think ?

HP : 1350
AP : 10
EXP : ?

I used the EXACT SAME STRATEGY as I did for Vexen above. My deck was virtually unchanged. And it worked ! Praise the Lord !

Winning this battle gives you the Mega-Potion card.

Now after this battle, Repliku drops his lucky charm, which turns out to be a World Card leading to a facsimile of Destiny Islands. But it's when we reach the end of the Exit Hall that trouble starts brewing.

Digression

Uh oh, trouble starts brewing. Sora gets into a tiff with Donald and Goofy over the girl who isn't Kairi, and in a fit of anger, he runs off to the twelfth floor all by himself. Which means, that throughout the 12th floor, you are all on your own.

Meanwhile, Naminé is approached by Axel, who speaks things which make her run out of the room in bewilderment. He sorta expresses regret over Sora's memories... but I have the feeling that he's beginning to express how he and Sora have a lot in common... simply because those of us who have followed the story of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days know for a fact that he's been with Roxas——

But I digress.

When Sora arrives at the twelfth floor (and I might as well put it in here ; it's a very short scene), not even Jiminy Cricket can calm Sora down !

Eleventh Floor : Twilight Town

Entry into Destiny Islands

Sora is at the beach, reminiscing... and then he soon realises that he has to go see Naminé and find out of she's okay. Soon after, Tidus, Selphie and Wakka come in and speak to Sora for a few moments. I don't know what's this aitsu they're mentioning, because everyone in DI seems to mention it.

With this, you get the Key of Beginnings.

On a side note, I honestly believe that the fact that Destiny Island is an anagram of It's Disneyland is mere coincidence. Then again, they would've done the same for Disney Castle had it been true, n'est-ce pas ?

Key of Beginnings

The requirement for this Room of Beginnings is : a card numbered 2, a card numbered 8 and the Key itself.

Sora meets Riku - the real Riku of his memories, thus confirming Sora's suspicions that the Riku he fought off several times is not the Riku he even knows. Again, he mentions aitsu (and it's written in katakana, so I can easily grasp it) — now, if there's a common subject that T-S-W and Riku are talking about, please give it mention here...

All of a sudden, a loud crash is heard. Riku and Sora run off to investigate the source of the crash.

With this, you get the Key of Guidance. Note, however, that this is the last Keycard for Destiny Islands.

Levelling up

These are the rooms I opened in no particular order :

• Calm Bounty. From this I got the sleight Judgement ( + + ).
• Mingling Worlds, which turned into a Sorcerous Waking.
• Moogle Room.
• Room of Rewards. The requirements were RGB33 (seriously, all of them). From here I got the Megalixir Card and Photon Debugger #1.
• Sleeping Darkness.
• Martial Waking.
• Premium Room, in a last-ditch effort to make all my Attack and Magic cards Premiums.

So right now my current level is 62, and I have 1075 CP. On to the next stop !

Key of Guidance

The requirements are cards totalling up to 50, as well as the Keycard proper.

Sora comes in only to see his island in ruins. Right behind him, a very familiar enemy, in fact the first in the entire Kingdom Hearts, appears...

Battle with Darkside

Its stats are as follows :

HP : 1920
AP : 26
EXP : 5558

Now, note that unlike its Kingdom Hearts incarnations, the Darkside in Re:Chain of Memories is INSANELY FAST. In fact, the Darkside is really fast given its massive size. If you've had enough experience fighting Darksides in the first Kingdom Hearts or Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, as I have, then your jaws would probably drop to see the Darkside's speed. This could be due to the fact that the Darkside is using cards, but still, just picture that all his attacks from the first Kingdom Hearts are done in arbitrary order, and made to look like Chipmunk Version, twice or three times faster than the original.

And I used to keep referring to it as a he simply because the French version refers to it as a he (well, it can be construed to mean it but regardless)...

My deck was exactly the same as the one for the Vexen and Repliku battles, except that I added one or two more cards into it. This time, I'm also avoiding from using Spellbinder, because I know that after the 12th Floor, another enemy awaits.

The Gimmick Card, when used, creates a series of pillars for you to climb and hit the Darkside's head. The mobility of the Darkside is temporarily decreased, meaning he will not attack during that period. But to be honest, since I have a terrible aim (and that's also why I scored 0 marks in target practice during last year's National Service), I keep falling from those pillars, and I only use the Gimmick Card to immobilise the Darkside.

Now, his attacks (looks like I've reverted to translation...) are exactly the same ones as in the first KH, with a few slight differences.

• When he plunges his hand into a ground creating a pool of darkness, you can easily land Sonic Blade or physically attack his hand. Note that unlike the first Kingdom Hearts, defeating the Shadows in this episode will not give you experience. This attack can be broken, though I advise you not to break this attack because this means EASY ACCESS TO HAND.
• When he begins to fire energy shots from the heart-shaped hole in his (oh there I go again !) abdomen, consider breaking the card. Since my deck is made up of 9s, 8s, 7s and 0s, it's easy to break it. OKAY FINE ! I'M GOING TO CALL THE DARKSIDE A HE !
• When he summons an orb from the ground, he lifts it up in the air, but it only momentarily rains smaller orbs. It doesn't rain permanently like in the first Kingdom Hearts. This too, can be broken.
• If you have a terrible aim like I do, aim for his hand and do not use sleights unless he plunges his hand into the ground.

And you should be able to take him down in no time.

Winning this battle will give you the Darkside card. It has the Mimic ability, if I remember correctly, but then again, I doubt I'll use it...

Aftermath

Sora looks around to see if Naminé is okay, and there she is - right behind him. Sora goes to meet her and take her hand, and he's genuinely happy that she's okay. Naminé is happy that Sora cares for her, and she thanks him... and then, gomenasai...

Now the whole drama unfurls here. We learn that Naminé is only a shadow of the person Sora really cares for. Sora doesn't understand, and he takes out Naminé's lucky charm. At this point in time we see two Naminés, one a shadow, one the real deal. The shadow seems to be Naminé's conscience, in that she tells Sora what the truth really is. She asks for Sora to look for his light... Sora initially believes it's Naminé, and he's about to mouth her name, but before he can even finish, the Lucky Charm changes shape, and reverts to Kairi's. By this point Sora has forgotten about Kairi, so he wonders whose charm it is. Naminé disappears, and Kairi appears right in front of him, smiling.

This charm, like in the previous games, turns into the Oathkeeper card. Now, its stats are pretty good, so I won't consider getting out of Destiny Islands just yet, until I've amassed at least a few Oathkeeper 7s, 8s or 9s. Even 0s would be handy. And for this, I need to level up even further.

Twelfth Floor : Destiny Islands

Surprise, surprise !

I was actually preparing for the battle with Larxene because I knew it was going to be here. But before I could even get to Larxene...... Riku Replica awaits. First, Naminé tells Sora that she is not the one in Sora's heart. Sora expresses that he can't remember that person's name... And then Riku Replica arrives and tells Sora at knifepoint to leave Naminé alone.

HP : 1600 (a little more than seven bars.)
AP : 13
EXP : 6225

I used the Troisnyx deck, with exactly the same cards as the ones I used for the Darkside battle above. With one or two extras. Which means my deck is comprised of :

• This is the layout of cards from the start. The first few sleights I can do are valued between 24 and 27 each, so they're virtually unbreakable. Also, since Riku Replica only has one 0 card in his pile, it helps. The Bouncywild card helps me draw Goofy cards together for Goofy Bash. Since I wouldn't have time to reshuffle my deck in between the Riku Replica and Larxene battles, and since I get my party members back for the Larxene battle, I thought I'd might as well keep it anyway.
• Fairy Harp, Lionheart, Olympia and Crabclaw cards numbered 7 to 0, one Oathkeeper #0 and Spellbinder cards numbered 7. Note that Spellbinder, being of the Lightning element, will not work against Larxene later, and that's why I took out most of my Spellbinder cards. Yet, I'm keeping the 7s for Sonic Blade.
• Two Cure cards numbered 7 and 9 respectively.
• Two Elixir cards numbered 7 and 0 respectively.
• One Hi-Potion card #9.

Now the first Lethal Frame was broken by Riku Replica's #0 card, but the other sleights just worked well. I did it all in this order : Lethal Frame ( + + ) --> two Fire Raids ( + + --> Strike Raid --> Zantetsuken (by mistake) --> Strike Raid --> Sonic Blade.

Riku Replica, like most other bosses, is stunned by physical sleights, including Stun Impact and Strike Raid, but Fire-infused Strike Raids have no effect. The other sleights did not take much of his HP away (perhaps just one or two bars), but with the amount of 7s I had, I was able to carry out Sonic Blade a maximum of five or six times. Time each interval when you press correctly and you carry out seven hits per execution of Sonic Blade. Six times = a whopping forty-two hits. And during the entire time you use Sonic Blade, you are automatically locked on to him — you don't need to press when you use Sonic Blade. The icing on the cake is this : throughout those 42 hits, Riku is practically powerless !

Winning this battle gives you the Riku Replica card. Only that it's known as "Riku" in Sora's story.

I entered battle at level 62, and I finished at level 63. My current stats are as follows : HP 350, CP 1075.

After this battle, Riku Replica and Naminé stand in wait. You can speak to Naminé in the meantime, but GO AND SAVE THE GAME. SERIOUSLY. Because when you speak to Riku Replica, this triggers the cutscene which immediately leads to le combat contre la sadique Larxene.

The long-awaited scene with Lar-Lar

Sora approaches Repliku, who, with his last burst of energy, blasts Sora backwards. Repliku is about to give Sora the coup de grâce (note : coup de grâce actually means "fatal blow", and it comes from the whole idea that the person inflicting it is apparently "merciful", or "gracious", and wishes to put the victim out of his misery, hence the word grâce) when Naminé yells at Repliku to stop. Repliku lifts his Soul Eater and is just split seconds away from finishing Sora off when Naminé yells a desperate Yamete ! (EN : I SAID STOP !), breaking Repliku's heart and rendering him lifeless. And then the all-famous lines appear :

Sora : What did you do to him ?!
Larxene : *appears in the scene* Broke his heart. I'd say more like she smashed it, really.

What else would you expect from a beastly woman, who does not act humane at all, reads about the Marquis de Sade and tends to emulate him in her mannerisms ? If she was supposed to be reminiscent of French influence in the Kingdom Hearts series, I think that's a total disgrace. Regardless, she still remains my favourite antagonist because of the way she executes her role. Still on the subject of Larxene's sadism, you know how Larxene's weapons are called knives right ? The French word is poignards (for combat knives, of course). The word is more reminiscent of darts but still, that's pretty much how she uses them. Now, one user on KHFR mistakenly called them couteaux (couteau is the French word for knife as in... the knife with a grip, the one we generally use in the kitchen) ! That gave me a rather twisted idea of a sado-masochist chef with eight kitchen knives in her fingers... and yellow hair.

Now Larxene tells Sora that Naminé has the power to manipulate memories, and that she rewrote Sora's memories throughout his time in Castle Oblivion. She also reveals that Riku is nothing but a replica - including his heart and memories. They're all fake. With one hand, Larxene grips Riku's head and throws him aside with little effort. She is about to attack Sora but Naminé steps in the way. Larxene violently pushes Naminé aside... Whoever believes that this is pretty much reminiscent of today's deadly feminism campaigns, please shout AY !

Larxene had already kicked Sora backwards, and now she has her knives out... just so she can hurt him a lot. At that point in time... Donald and Goofy arrive at the scene and find out that Sora's in trouble. Goofy knocks Larxene's head with his shield, and Donald casts Curaga on Sora, who could barely get up earlier. They resolve to fight alongside him... triggering the last battle you'd ever have with Lar-Lar.

Fight with Larxene, partie deux

Her stats are as follows :

HP : 1680
AP : 15
EXP : 6263

I used exactly the same deck as for Repliku, and just as in the previous battle, I tried to make it such that she wouldn't have a chance to attack. She broke my sleight only once with a #0 card, but beyond that, all the sleights worked. Seriously, try putting Sonic Blade six times in your deck. It's bound to work for the most part.

Winning this battle gives you the Larxene card.

And after this, I'm pretty sure you remember these wonderful lines :

Larxene : No... no ! I refuse to lose... to a bunch of losers ! I--- I think I'm fading ? This isn't the way... I won't... allow...

A fitting end for a personnage sadique.

Aftermath

Sora and friends meet Naminé, who admits that she was never in Sora's mind ever. Donald and Goofy introduce themselves as Sora's friends. Jiminy asks if she can put Sora back the way he was. Naminé says she can, but before anything, Marluxia must be defeated. Naminé apologises but Sora stops her and forgives her. Donald and Goofy sense attraction....... !

Sora tells her to piece back Riku's memories and says he'll be alright.

With this, I get an Oblivion card #6. And that's quite good for a start...

Twelfth Floor Exit Hall

Entering THE 13th Floor

Note that in the Entrance Hall, nothing happens. This is also the only level where you do not need a World Card, as the entrance leads automatically to the hallways of Castle Oblivion.

Now come to think about it, I have gone a long way since I first began this walkthrough... Sora's story is almost done, and I'm indeed glad, I thank the Lord. ^_^ I'm FINALLY on the 13th floor !

Sora, Donald and Goofy enter. Sora holds Kairi's lucky charm whilst Donald and Goofy trail off. He tries remembering whose charm it is, but he fails. Donald and Goofy come towards him. Goofy encourages them to make a promise to the end, even at the expense of their memory. The three lock right hands as they did in the first Kingdom Hearts.

With this, you get the sleight Trinity Limit ( + + ).

Several other combinations are possible, but I go with the Donald card first because cards first used in sleights are generally unreloadable. And it's also possible to get the Donald card several times during battle ; the number depends on how fast you get the card. Getting it immediately turns it into a 0 card ; waiting 2 seconds after it has come out turns it into a 9 and so forth. I'm not sure of the other frequencies though.

Regardless, with Trinity Limit, it's...

instant wipeout.

Save, of course, if there are Neoshadows or Shadows becoming one with the floor of the arena.

After that cutscene you get the Key of Beginnings. Like Twilight Town, the Key of Beginnings is the only story keycard in Castle Oblivion.

Levelling up

Now it's crucial that I mention this part first, because opening the Key of Beginnings is not going to be a walk in the park. You've been warned.

The layout of CO takes the form of a ring, where you are advised to go anti-clockwise. Regardless, I didn't follow that order. Also, be sure to restructure your deck and use Trinity Limit often, since the Heartless here are powerful when you take them out at Level 60-something like I do.

I reached level 64 in the Unknown Room, and because I was desperate to restore my HP, I increased it. My HP is now 365.

So these are the cards I used, regardless of the order :

• White Room. You know the White Room has three levels, right ? The second level has Claymores, and these serve as the attacking alternative to the Barrel Spiders found in many levels.
• Moogle Room, twice. I might as well add this note here, since we're on the 13th floor : once your save file becomes a clear save file, the Moogle in Castle Oblivion WILL prompt you to hand over a certain quantity of cards before giving you a gratuitous card pack.
• Strong Initiative. My favourite Map Card ever ! I actually stored a few Strong Initiatives for this level just to speed level-up. I think it's here that I reached level 65, and my CP is now at 1100.

Note that when you enter the third room in Castle Oblivion, a scene plays on the 12th Floor Exit Hall : Marluxia appears and kidnaps Naminé, leaving Repliku motionless on the floor.

• Calm Bounty. From this I obtained Raging Storm ( + + ). I have used it before in my first save file, and it is quite effective, provided it cannot be broken. But because I'm going more on the physical-premium-reloadingeverycardispossible side, I won't be using Raging Storm for this save file.
• Sleeping Darkness. For lack of a better card.
• Meeting Ground. Now that you have Trinity Limit, now's the time to use Meeting Ground! Gather Donald's and Goofy's friend cards for a quick-and-easy wipeout of all enemies.
• Moment's Reprieve, thrice.
• Room of Rewards. The requirements are B30 R40 G20. The requirements for this room are much less stringent compared to the Room of Beginnings, you'll soon see why. Regardless, it's from this room that my Glide was upgraded to Superglide (yay!), and I also obtained Star Seeker #2.
• Premium Room, twice, in a last-ditch effort to stuff more cards into my deck.
• Roulette Room. Take note that the bottom level of the Roulette Room has Claymores.
• Looming Darkness.

Some time during these rooms we see Marluxia and Axel confronting each other... Marluxia asks how Axel can ever dare show his traitorous face in front of him (he considers Axel traitorous for letting Naminé go). Axel asks, "Traitorous ?" and considers Marluxia to be the traitor, after all, for plotting to overthrow the Organisation. A heated argument ensues between both of them...

My end level after levelling up is Level 69, and my CP is now 1150. Now on to the Key of Beginnings !

Key of Beginnings

The requirements for the Key of Beginnings are extremely stringent, and if you have a Random Joker, use it. Random Jokers haven't been coming to be frequently (in fact, the last it ever came was when I went through Agrabah for the first time), and I only had one measly Random Joker, which I used up for another Calm Bounty. If you don't have the required cards, USE THE RANDOM JOKER. ITS POWER COMPELS YOU.

The requirements are :
B1 R3 and cards totalling up to a value of 99.

Sounds more whopping than Burger King's Whopper ? You bet ! At this point in time I was all too happy to give up all my Teeming Darkness, Almighty Darkness, Sorcerous Waking, Alchemic Waking and Mingling Worlds cards ! You can imagine the joy on my face when I finally reached the 99 mark !

Now, what happens in the Room of Beginnings is pretty much a continuation from the previous scene.

Axel : Larxene paid the price for disloyalty when she disappeared. YOU MUST DO THE SAME !

The two engage in a fierce combat, but they somehow match each other. Then, Marluxia takes hold of Naminé, and Axel asks, "Is that your shield ?", saying he's willing to go through her to get to him. At this point, Sora, Donald and Goofy open the door to the Room of Beginnings. Marluxia tells them that Axel is willing to go through Naminé to get to him. Axel rolls his eyes, wondering if Sora has really become Marluxia's puppet. But Sora sums it up really nicely when he says, "After I finish you, he's next !"

For those of you who have followed the series right up to Re:Chain of Memories, this is your last battle with Axel whilst you're playing as Sora. Except, of course, if you have Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix.

Fight with Axel, partie deux

His stats are as follows :

HP : 1680
AP : 15
EXP : The Game:Axel page says 0 ?! Can't be. Because I'm pretty sure I did receive some experience.

Now, this fight is difficult mainly because I had difficulty restructuring my deck. Here's the worst part : I forgot a few cards.

Now I could only stuff in some 46 cards, and these included :

• 

This first series of cards is subject to change. My current deck has these cards at the very beginning. I switched Fire with Blizzard for obvious reasons.

• I took out my Lionheart cards numbered 8, 9 and 0. I kept the 7s because of Sonic Blade.
• The rest are Oathkeeper, Oblivion, Fairy Harp, Spellbinder and Crabclaw cards numbered 7 to 0.
• Two Elixirs numbered 7 and 0 respectively.
• One Mega-Potion #9.

Believe it or not, I actually forgot to put in my Cure cards. -____-

So as expected, Axel has one 0 card in the pile. He is bound to break one of my first few sleights. The deck is loaded with six attempts of Sonic Blade. However, the execution of my sleights was slow this time. One of his most powerful sleights can break Strike Raid even at 8-8-9. So try putting this all together : I rendered him unconscious with Strike Raid once, tried hitting him physically like I did for Larxene, but he broke that... and here I was, frantically searching for cards. He even broke Trinity Limit... Which actually shows how much he's improved. Finally found : Zantetsuken. Broke that. Then on I went to the Sonic Blade spree. Yes, inflicting 42 hits nonstop at Axel is....... something.

Then I realised that my HP had gone to less than half. I was looking for my Cure cards but I soon realised that I had forgotten to put them in ! >_< In the meantime he was attacking me, and he successfully did it. At this point, I was at critical HP. In a last-ditch attempt to reload my cards, I gathered both my Elixirs (#7 and #0) and sleighted them together, hoping he wouldn't break that. And thank the Lord, he didn't. ^_^

So my remaining strategy was such : Lethal Frame ( + + ) --> Strike Raid --> Blizzard Raid ( + + ) --> Sonic Blade.

Axel was defeated by a Sonic Blade. At critical HP. God is great. ^_^

Winning this battle gives you the Axel card.

Axel states that he and Sora have a lot in common, upon his defeat... Sora wonders what it really is, but Axel does not want to "kill the suspense", and fakes his own death.

Final Unknown Room

Now that thing's called an Unknown Room, and it has the last Save Point of the game, and it's the last room before the end of the game. It's also where the end of the game takes place. But when you're here, you're in for one of the most classic battles in the entire history of Chain of Memories : a battle with a largely mobile Marluxia.

Now Naminé is being held hostage by Marluxia, and Sora demands that Naminé be let go. Marluxia wants the power of the Keyblade in his own hands, and is willing to manipulate Sora at his own will to make him suit his purposes. He proceeds to command Naminé to erase Sora's memory. Everyone is taken aback.

Naminé : But if I do that ——
Marluxia : Sora's heart will be destroyed.

Naminé refuses, but before Marluxia can finish threatening her, Sora yells at Naminé to do it - for otherwise, if she were gone, who would he protect ? He willingly asks her to erase his memory, to break his heart, even at the expense of being an empty shell. Donald and Goofy resolve to remember everything for Sora. When Marluxia comments about the "empty shell" thing and about how "Vexen's pathetic imitation of your Riku" was a shell, Repliku's voice appears much to the surprise of many.... and he pushes Marluxia back.

Sora : Riku !
Riku : No. Just an imitation.

Repliku's promise, mind, body and heart may have been fake, but he resolves to protect Naminé at all costs. This triggers the first battle with Marluxia.

Oh and let me remind you that the music playing here is Graceful Assassin, which is one of my all-time favourite battle themes. From any game.

Thirteenth Floor : Castle Oblivion

Fight with Marluxia

Technically, this is the beginning of the end because it's one of the core events which leads to the end. It starts with Marluxia's first battle, and then you have a moment's reprieve (you can extend the length of time to your liking, of course) and when you're ready, you rush into the final room.

We only know his HP from the Game:Marluxia page, and he has 1740 HP.

Now I remember seeing more HP for the previous bosses, so if it's true, then Marluxia really is an easy boss to beat. I used exactly the same deck as for the fight with Axel above, and the best part is this : I managed to retain about 2/3 of my HP ! :D

Winning this battle gives you the Marluxia card.

I entered this battle at level 70 ; I ended at level 71. My CP is now 1175.

Deception

Yes, Sora and company are all deceived. That Marluxia we just fought was nothing but a copy ! Another copy comes forward to tell us this, and Repliku lunges at him, only to see him disappear... They all believe he's behind the huge white door, the last chamber of Castle Oblivion, and Sora can sense a power which is out to shatter his heart. Sora, Donald and Goofy decide to stick together through it all. Sora turns to Repliku and asks him to protect Naminé.

Repliku : You... you don't mind ?
Sora : Should I ?
Repliku : Alright.

This is pretty much equivalent to the Final Rest of Kingdom Hearts, or even the Altar of Naught in Kingdom Hearts II - SAVE ! NOW ! You wouldn't want to lose all that valuable data in the event you reopen your save file solely to get to the end.

Things you can do once you have clear save data

Since I have Final Mix system data, a few cards are accessible to me, supposing this is clear data :

• One-Winged Angel.
• Diamond Dust.

The articles say that they can be found in Bounties, but I found them in Moogle Rooms when buying the Moogle-wrapped pack (the one which costs 500 Moogle Points).

However, if you wish to get Ultima Weapon, you MUST finish Reverse/Rebirth.

Note that I'm going right to the end without completing my Journal at 100% because some cards are just difficult to get. Also, I have to play Reverse/Rebirth to access them.

Affrontation finale

Okay, I'm going to go back to my first save file for this. For the second save file, let's suppose that I've already reached level 80 (that's my level on the first save file, and it's clear data). WE'RE GOING IN !

All the cards in the Ricordel deck

I just discovered that cards can be suppressed. Anyway, these are all the cards in the Ricordel deck, which I decided to use for the Marluxia battles :

Notes :

• The Elixir and Hi-Potion were replaced with Megalixir #0 and Mega-Potion #9. Which also meant that two cards, including Hidden Dragon, had to be taken out from the list.
• The numbers of all the cards you see above are as follows : 9, 7, 9, 8, 7, 9, 7, 7, 7, 8, 0, 9, 8, 8, 7, 9, 9, 8, 7, 9, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 7, 8, 9, 7, 6, 6, 9, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 9, 6, 9, (no number), 6, 6.
• Almost all the cards are Premiums except for the first Oblivion and first Diamond Dust cards.

And with this, I enter into the last room.

Spectre Marluxia

His stats are as follows :

HP : 1440
AP : 28
EXP : 0

Now if anyone notices a feminine face on the Spectre, it references the fact that Marluxia was originally planned to be female.

Regardless. Now that you've seen the Ricordel deck above, keep in mind that this battle requires a lot of breaking and normal attacks.

I'm assuming 1440 HP to be in five HP bars (or around that), considering that I saw 5 HP bars when I first began this battle. The arms have one HP bar each. The projectile-like thingies that follow Sora around have very little HP.

So the key to this is to break Marluxia's cards. He only uses single attacks here, never sleights. You can break most of his cards with 9s, 8s, 7s or even 0s. Where he uses cards ranging from 1-5, might as well break them with 6es. Start with the arms, then proceed to the main body.

Marlulu has a tendency to glide away from you, so sometimes he can be out of reach. Nevertheless, when he proceeds to attack you from a distance, wait until he approaches, then break his card. You risk losing a few HP, but it won't be so bad. At the end of it all, you're still going to have a sufficient amount of HP anyway.

You may use Lethal Frame ( + + ) on the main body (I do not recommend it being used on the arms), but do not use any other sleights. Sonic Blade will not reach Marluxia, and neither will Strike Raid because it's on a horizontal radius, and not a diagonal one. Marluxia is immune to Stun Impact, so.... yeah.

I reloaded once with my Mega-Potion, considering his cards were easy to break in this battle.

Now, when you finish him off, don't turn your head away from the screen too soon - you still have Angelic Marluxia to finish off.

Marluxia's Final Form

You begin this battle at full HP. His stats are as follows :

HP : 1937
AP : 29
EXP : 0

Now Marluxia is a lot more powerful here, considering that he can use his cards at will, he is able to use sleights and most of all, he is not the one holding the scythe. The Reaper-like Nobody behind him gets to hold it. Give it blond hair and it'll be Ankoù !

Regardless, these are the attacks Marluxia uses (taken from Marluxia (Third Form) ; I've seen all these attacks in effect during this battle). Italics denote what's on the page ; otherwise they're all my notes :

• Gale of Severance : Pushes Sora back in a flurry of flower petals. No damage. It can be countered by the use of Superglide. Made of three 8 cards. Like Whirlwind to the Void you can use this attack to your advantage as it allows for uninterrupted reloading. Now in the battle he used this attack twice. It can be broken, but as the text suggests, I recommend you don't break this attack. It's especially useful for reloads, healing and sleighting (in the event your cards are just plain difficult to find).
• Doom : Casts a spell on Sora. If you don't break the 6 cards in 6 seconds, Sora will die. Made of three 6 cards. The irony is that it's made of three #6 cards, yet there are six cards to break. But then again, you're talking about the Master of the Cards himself, so I bet it won't be surprising. That attack can also wipe out quite a bit of your HP (that, I believe I remember correctly), so break them quickly.
• Omni Laser : A wheel of lasers similar to the Grand Cross appears and chases Sora. It is made of three "4" cards, so Zantestuken or a Zero Value card are your best bets to counteract this attack. This attack is very difficult to avoid since you are practically caught in it once it hits you, after three hits however, it is possible to escape, though the odds of that happening are low. I could not break this attack on time, so about half my HP was chomped away. This was due to the fact that I was reloading. See the next attack for the full story.
• Whirlwind to the Void : Shoots a target at Sora scattering all of his cards, even his reload card. Some people have a glitch with this, and they get no reload card. However this attack can be used to your advantage : if one has no cards, and Marluxia uses the Whirlwind to the Void, it can be easily used as a free reload. Also, Enemy Cards are unaffected by this other than the fact that, unless you are in the enemy cards when he uses this attack, you can't enter the Enemy Card Deck and once an Enemy Card is used it will revert to the Normal Card Deck. Made of three 7 cards. In some of the games, it is misspelt as "Whirldwind to the Void" which is a minor glitch. Now, take note : Whirlwind to the Void not only scatters cards... if you get back the Reload Card, it adds 1 to the reload counter. It also does away with your item cards. Consider that the first time Marluxia used this attack, I still had most of my cards, including my Item Cards, and I had Bouncywild equipped. It was barely at the beginning of the battle. However, after Whirlwind, the reload counter was set at 2 instead of 1. Also, my Megalixir and Mega-Potion were missing. However, after troublesome reloading (during Omni Laser), I got back all my cards, including my Item Cards.
• Circle Reject : The reaper drops and makes a massive shock wave. Similar to Marluxia's Drop Shot. If one times a jump or glide right this attack will be turned to your advantage as you can get close to Marluxia's Main Form. Made of three 5 cards. This attack, however holds a nasty surprise for Sora as if you land on the ground before the shockwave fully crosses the field you will still take damage. If Circle Reject is used after Whirlwind to the Void, it will destroy any cards that Sora hasn't retrieved yet. He almost always uses this three times in a row. This attack can be easily broken, and it can even be evaded. I managed to have all my cards in the deck when he used Circle Reject, so that wasn't much of an issue.
• Marluxia also has three regular attacks, the first of which are the shot buds from the second battle which have higher accuracy and card value than last time, the second attack is Marluxia's mega blossom shower which has not changed from the last battle, and the third attack is a blast of energy similar to Deathscythe. Those attacks, again, don't affect Sora very much. The shot buds didn't do a thing to me (probably because I broke them) - my attention was pretty much focused on Marluxia.

And here are more notes regarding Marluxia's final form :

• Marluxia is immune to most mêlée sleights, including Strike Raid and Stun Impact. Sonic Blade, however, can deal some damage to him. Note though, that Sonic Blade, unlike for most bosses, is breakable in this battle.

Win this battle and you'll see Marluxia writhing in his own element... it's his end.

The Beginning of the End

On 13F

Donald and Goofy proceed to close the door to the final room, whilst Sora seals the Keyhole.

Immediately after this, Riku Replica walks away, lamenting his fake existence, but Sora tells him that his memories and his heart make him special. Repliku senses that Sora is a nice person, and that's enough for him. Much to Sora's disappointment, he walks away. In the credits, it's revealed that Axel had a sort of "pact" with Repliku... And it turns out that Repliku still has the real Riku to take care of.

This leaves Sora, Donald, Goofy and Naminé. Naminé tells them she can piece together their memories, and that she will take care of them. Jiminy, however, asks if they'd lose their memories of CO. Naminé looks down and says yes. They have to choose between their old memories and their memories of CO. In a decisive period of a few seconds Sora says "Put me back the way I was." Naminé understands, but she's obviously sad from the fact that Sora and company will have to forget her...

In the Pod Room

Sora, Donald, Goofy and Naminé enter the Pod Room, which at that point is still in CO. So at the beginning they're like "Do we have to sleep in these things ?" But they accept it anyway, and Donald and Goofy bid Naminé goodnight.

Then, a heart-to-heart conversation (if I can ever say that) between Sora and Naminé takes place, where Naminé and Sora feel that their friendship was no lie. Naminé bids Sora goodbye, but Sora says No ! Not goodbye !. Sora asks Naminé to make a promise with him - that they'd see each other again. Naminé reminds Sora that he'd forget making that promise, but Sora counter-reminds her that it'd be forgotten, but not lost. So the two lock pinkies and Sora jumps into the pod.

In the pod, Sora looks at the Lucky Charm. He sees silhouettes of his friends... then Riku, then Kairi. Once he sees Kairi, the light returns and memories of his friends start flowing back. Naminé, however, fades away. Naminé tells Sora that he'd forget her, but they have their promise, so she can come back to him. Sora says it as plain as day : "forgotten, but not lost."

Credits

If you played the GBA version of Chain of Memories, or if you hunted for cutscenes, you'd notice that Simple & Clean has been rendered in MP3, and not in MIDI, during the end credits. How the GBA managed to take in such a high quality sound still puzzles me.

But the end credits of Re:Chain are just entertaining to watch, n'est-ce pas ? You have characters doing what they should be doing towards the end of the story.

And then you get a glimpse of Roxas in Twilight Town for the first time, in one of the screens (if I remember correctly), then later, during the post-credits scene.

Once the credits have scrolled, SAVE THE GAME ! Clear data can give you extra bonuses, particularly Diamond Dust, One-Winged Angel and Ultima (upon completing both Sora's Story and Reverse/Rebirth). Make sure the gold card sign appears on your save file - it's a sign you have clear data.

Beyond this section, I will perhaps create one more section : the things you must do once you've obtained a clear save file for Sora's Story.

Things you should do AFTER getting clear save data

• Break all the Highscores. Get as many Moogle Points as possible.
• Get as many Calm Bounties or Moogle Rooms as possible. Note that the Diamond Dust and One-Winged Angel cards appear in either one of these rooms.
  • In the NA release, it's a Bounty ; however, in my first save file, it was a Moogle Room, under the 500 point pack.
• If you haven't already finished Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, FINISH EET. Because the second treasure chests in each Room of Rewards only appear when you have finished Final Mix.
  • In the NA release, you're expected to finish Reverse/Rebirth.
• FINISH REVERSE/REBIRTH MODE. This gives you access to the Ultima Weapon card and several other cards which are made available in Riku's story, like Zexion's card for instance.
• Once you've done all this, BE BETTER THAN ME ! Try aiming for the Gold Card and/or Platinum Card. The latter grants you invincibility for 20 attacks and lasts five reloads, and for me, it's a card to die for — but I won't have the time nor the space nor the function to even replay REC (note : in Europe, gamers get PAL versions of the games, not NTSC. To get a Magic Swap is tiresome, and on top of that, REC has never seen an EU release >_<), so yeah.

The End

Differences between the Final Mix attachment and the English version (or, oddities that I've noticed)

• If you have a Final Mix+ save file you get all treasures in the Room of Rewards at once.
• Wild Crush, which is usually activated with + + , can also be activated with + + . I use the latter more often.
• There is a possibility of obtaining One-Winged Angel and Diamond Dust in Moogle Rooms. Not Calm Bounties, don't get me wrong. It's either because you have Final Mix save data or Reverse/Rebirth save data. But for me, I'm only halfway through R/R so I'm basing it on the fact that I have already completed KHIIFM up to 95%.
• Not sure if this happens in the English version as well, but once I managed to collect all the Keyblade cards (with the exception of Ultima Weapon - for that I need a clear R/R save file), no cards came out of Bounty rooms. At all. There was always an error message (I'm yet to figure it out). And also, for struck items, the only cards that ever came out were Kingdom Key cards.
• On F13 - Castle Oblivion, in any Moogle Room, the Moogle always prompts you to surrender some cards for synthesis. If you fail to surrender any, there'll be no synthesis done. I thought it was influenced by some kind of threshold (like 1800 MP or less) but there's no threshold whatsoever.

I need more Moogle Points !

• Go to Agrabah. Seriously. Using Aladdin's Sandstorm attack will enable you to get 12MP per hit. Better still if you're using more than one card. A successful run through Agrabah (which means that you use Sandstorm everytime you get the chance) means that you can land up to 4000 Moogle Points. Or more, if you're a hardcore gamer.
• Enter every level from the back (the Conqueror's Respite rooms). There's always a chance of you striking items for lots of Moogle Points.
• Strike everything you see in your way.
• Go to Neverland ; there's a possibility that using the Peter Pan friend card might help you gain some more Moogle Points.
• Visit the 100 Acre Wood. Regularly. There's always a high possibility of landing lots and lots of Moogle Points by just smashing the pots and vases in Pooh's and Rabbit's houses. Since that's the only world without a Conqueror's Respite, you have to enter from the front.
• Do not slip on the bananas left by Bouncywild Heartless. They make you lose your MP. Unless you have a Bouncywild card equipped ; it won't make any difference whether you fall or not because you're bound to get your MP back.
• Get a Roulette Room map card. Try and time each spin so that you get another Roulette Room and a bunch of Moogle Room cards. Go to a 1 door and use a Moogle Room card, each time you use a Moogle Room card, the moogle will give you a free pack. Get your pack and keep what you want and sell the rest, rinse and repeat until you are out of Moogle Rooms. Then, use your Roulette Room and repeat the process.

Deck setup

There are three decks which you can use. My deck setup is such that :

• the main deck is always for offence. This is the normal deck that I use when I enter into almost every room, since I’m into mêlée fighting a lot. I mean A LOT. Almost all of the cards in the deck are attack cards. You can occasionally insert the Stop card for the Lethal Frame sleight, if you wish.
• the second deck is always magic-based. Exclusively for White Rooms, Sorcerous Waking and areas where I know I'm going to use magic a lot. Of course, I insert at least 12 attack cards at the end just for emergencies but the bulk of it comprises Fire, Blizzard and Thunder cards.
• and the last deck is a balance of both, only for use during boss battles.

This strategy is best used if you have managed to get a substantial amount of attack cards, Stop, Thunder, Fire, Blizzard and Cure.

And for me, no deck is complete without a Bouncywild card. As I said earlier, it's only 10 CP, I can get it early in the game, it draws EXP and Friend Cards together, and once I've leveled up enough to obtain Trinity Limit, I can practically finish off an entire horde of Heartless within five seconds by simply drawing Donald's and Goofy's cards together.

More tips and tricks

Reverse/Rebirth

Again, you instantly get the Key to Beginnings, which, if used, will immediately take you to the boss battle.

This level's love. I don't know, but for some reason, I just love this level in Re:Chain. Even if it's Riku's story we're talking about.

Fighting Jafar

Fighting Jafar is... EASY. Well, not quite, because you still have those moving walls and those walls can actually give you a lot of trouble. But if you happen to shield yourself with these walls, that's a good thing !

If not, dodge Jafar's fireballs, and break all of Jafar's cards. It's highly possible for you to enter into Dark Mode with the cards you have at present, and you can use Dark Firaga to your advantage, especially if you're near the lamp. Getting the Gimmick Card is a plus, because that card will raise all the walls to their highest point, getting the lamp within reach. No, I won't call it a plus - do not miss the Gimmick Card, otherwise this battle's gonna take longer than you wish it to be.

Win this battle and you get the Jafar Genie card. Which I hardly use, but well, it's what you call "bragging rights".

Basement Eight : Agrabah

Again, you instantly get the Key to Beginnings, which, if used, will immediately take you to the boss battle.

I cleared this level in just ten minutes, beat that. Maybe it had something to do with my extra leveling-up just to confront Vexen, I don't know... So, I hardly got around much. Just two or three random Map cards, one Moment's Reprieve, and off to fight the Parasite Cage.

Monstro

File:Parasite Cage.png

Pretty easy boss, especially when it comes to breaking cards. Successfully breaking his cards over and over again will fill your DP gauge up to 30, which triggers Dark Mode. Attack with all you've got - single attacks, sleights, Holy Burst, Inverse Burst... Also note that whilst you're in Dark Mode, it's easier to stun the Parasite Cage, and every hit of yours will make him drop HP orbs.

It'd be better to have the Gimmick Card in hand : if in the arena there are four platforms on digestive acid, using the Gimmick Card will make the four platforms disappear and a large one appear in the centre. And it's very close to the Parasite Cage, so I obviously wouldn't get it if with all that preparation, you lose.

Winning this battle will give you the Parasite Cage card.

Basement Seven : Monstro

Again, you instantly get the Key to Beginnings, which, if used, will immediately take you to the boss battle.

Room Creation and Leveling Up

Coming soon...

Basement Six : Halloween Town

I pretty much thought that this'd be a cinch. That's because Heartless bosses don't use sleights ; they only use single cards. But I was wrong.

Instead of the 30-something cards that I once had, I was now reduced to seventeen freaking cards - all the enemy cards and cards numbered 1-5 ! Like most other floors you instantly get the Key of Beginnings, which, if used, will immediately take you to the boss battle.

Getting Around

The best way to get around this level will be to duel. Card Duel, yes. If you haven't been using it all this while, dust those cards and get cracking ! The enemies in Wonderland generally duel with 3 cards, numbered 3, 4 and 5 (in any sequence). Successfully breaking these cards will allow you to use Impulse, which has the potential of actually killing ALL enemies in the field, even if they appear after your first strike. That's the power of the shockwave, and you might have to use that Duel sleight throughout the level.

Trickmaster

As I suggested on the Trickmaster strategy page, this boss is a really pesky one. The Trickmaster has the added advantage of having his batons lighted automatically when the battle begins, and because you don't have Blizzard, they're gonna remain lighted throughout the battle. And you have the added disadvantage of only having cards numbered 1-5... screw you ! If you're lucky to get an occasional card numbered 6 - 0, it'll be in the form of a King Mickey friend card.

For this you need to be in LV50 or above. The best way to get around this is by several Card Duels. Note that most Duel Sleights involve breaking cards numbered 3, 4 and 5 (particularly Impulse). If you successfully transform into Dark Mode, this is a plus. Dodge the Trickmaster as much as you can, and if you do not have enough cards to parry the Trickmaster's attacks, do not stand on the table. If you have finished the Halloween Town episode before Wonderland, save the Oogie Boogie card for emergencies only.

Winning this battle will give you the Trickmaster card.

Basement Five : Wonderland

List of Heartless attack card numbers

As I said in Sora's story, I'm setting up this section primarily because Heartless have a certain pattern of attack cards, or even a certain range. So with this section, I trust you can prepare your cards well. I will be updating this section from time to time, but first I'll have to watch the moveset of every Heartless closely.

Note that this is for all other rooms except Feeble Darkness and Almighty Darkness. If you are using these two room cards, prepare at your own risk.

• Shadow : #1
• Darkball : : #2, #4 (Neverland, charging chomp attack), #5 and #6 (CO, charging chomp attack)
• Neoshadow : #2, #6 and #8
• Defender : #8
• Barrel Spider : #4 (to self-destruct, of course). Fire does not set it off, unlike in Kingdom Hearts.
• Black Fungus : #7
• White Mushroom : No card played. Note also that unlike the first Kingdom Hearts, the only spells it asks for are Fire, Blizzard and Thunder, making it much less of a challenge.
• Red Nocturne : #1, #2 and #4.
• Blue Rhapsody : #1, #2 and #4.
• Yellow Opera : #1, #2 and #4.
• Green Requiem : #1, #2
• Wyvern : #4, #5
• Wizard : #2, #6
• Powerwild : #1, #2 and #4.
• Bouncywild : #1, #2 and #4.
• Wight Knight :
• Gargoyle : #4
• Crescendo : #4, #5
• Tornado Step :
• Creeper Plant : #2, #5 and #6.
• Aquatank : #1, #2 and #7.
• Sea Neon :
• Screwdiver : #2, #3.
• Soldier : #1, #2
• Air Soldier : #3, #4
• Large Body :
• Bandit : #1, #3
• Fat Bandit : #1, #3, #6