Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
| Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories | |
|---|---|
| |
| キングダム ハーツ Re:チェイン オブ メモリーズ Kingudamu Hātsu Re: Chein obu Memorīzu | |
| Developer(s) | Square Enix |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
| Release date(s) |  March 29, 2007
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| Genre | Action role-playing game |
| Game modes | Single player |
| Ratings | CERO:A ESRB: E10+ |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
- "Memory is the key."
- —Tagline
Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories is a full remake of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, released on the PlayStation 2. In Japan, it is part of the Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ compilation and has connectivity features with Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix. As there were no plans to release Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix internationally, these features were modified for the North American release.
The game was remastered in high definition and released as part of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX on March 14, 2013. It was available in Europe and Australia for the very first time as part of the collection. This edition of the game further alters the previous connectivity bonuses by instead allowing additional content from watching the collection's scenes from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.
Major changes
While many changes were made between the two versions, by far the most important was the total redesign of the game to be a three-dimensional computer-rendered game for the PlayStation 2, in the same style as the other released entries in the series, Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. This revamp included changing the battle arenas from two dimensional screens without "height" into full three-dimensional arenas, allowing enemies to rise out of the player's range.
Additionally, these arenas can be aesthetically varied, even within the same world, while in the original game there was only one arena design per world. The "Duel" system was added to Riku's battle mechanics, and the Reaction Command system of Kingdom Hearts II was incorporated into both Sora and Riku's battle mechanics, generally to replace instances where the player would press the "A" button to continue a combo attack.
A smaller but still important change was the conversion of many of the game's scenes into fully voice-acted full motion videos, and the use of voice-acting within gameplay. While the dialogue for the game was recorded using the voice actors used in Kingdom Hearts II, the voicing and sound effects within gameplay relied largely on existing clips. In some cases, such as the Sora's invocation of the Stop spell, these clips were only available using the Kingdom Hearts voice-actors. As the scenes were now fully rendered, rather than being acted out with sprites, the violence within the game was more apparent, and the game's rating was raised from E to E10+, for Fantasy Violence.
The game's card system and overall plot remained the same as the original Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and "Simple and Clean" is the game's theme song. However, there were many small tweaks to the storyline, as well as the addition of new Cards, Sleights, bosses, and a Theater Mode to re-watch the game's full-motion videos.
Other differences
Story changes
- Flashbacks from the first Kingdom Hearts are included in cutscenes.
- Axel finishes off Vexen by immolating him with a snap of his fingers. In the original, he just struck Vexen with his chakrams a second time to eliminate him.
- In the original, Goofy knocks away Larxene when she tries to destroy Sora. In the remake, he just throws his shield at Larxene to temporarily distract her.
- In the original, the Riku Replica is seen lying on the ground on Floor 12, and moving to him will trigger a cutscene (followed by a boss fight). In the remake, he is standing up, and a Reaction Command triggers the cutscene and boss fight.
- When Sora was attacked by Larxene in the original Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Donald used Cure to heal him, but in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, he uses Curaga to heal him.
- In the original climax of Sora's storyline, when Axel attempts to execute Marluxia for his betrayal, Marluxia used Naminé as a shield after hearing Axel's threat. In the remake, they have a brief fight before Marluxia uses Naminé as a shield. Marluxia also never leaves the room until the end of the fight.
- In the remake, Riku is defeated and was about to be destroyed by Lexaeus, using his final strength, only to be possessed by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness and defeat him.
- In the original game, Zexion teleports away when his disguise as Sora is uncovered. In the remake, Zexion directly battles Riku but is defeated and, fearful for his life, teleports away.
- The scene from Kingdom Hearts Final Mix that involves Sora fighting Xemnas as the Unknown is put into the opening cutscene.
- An extended scene of Roxas is shown along with Hayner, Pence, and Olette at the ending of the game.
- At the ending to the game, a scene of the Organization's unseen members is shown.
Mechanical changes
- While battling the Parasite Cage, the stomach acid will not inflict damage if Sora is reloading his deck.
- The final Marluxia battle has been split into two sub-battles — the first is generally the same as the original final battle, while the second is set entirely on top of Marluxia's Specter, and features him as much more aggressive, with several powerful Sleights.
- As in his Absent Silhouette battle in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Lexaeus can enter a temporary state of invulnerability and increased strength.
- Ansem's first battle has been converted into a tutorial of Riku's new abilities (Rapid Break and Duel Sleights).
- As with Roxas and Sora's fight in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, the scene in which Riku confronts Zexion has been converted into a full boss battle. During this battle, Zexion can steal Riku's cards, though Riku remains within Dark Mode for the duration of the fight.
- The final battle in Monstro, while playing the same, is now recorded within the Journal as a mini-game. Also, the Shadows defeated during it drop EXP, unlike in the original GBA version.
- 100 Acre Wood has been modified to be a mini-game world, as in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, as opposed to a single mini-game composed of helping Pooh find the other inhabitants of that world.
- The Journal now keeps track of mini-game scores, as in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II.
- In the Japanese version, having a cleared Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix save file on your memory card will allow Sora to obtain a second set of treasures from the Room of Rewards on each floor. These include attack cards modeled after certain Kingdom Hearts II Keyblades, and enemy cards modeled after the seven of the eight Organization XIII members which were not available in Chain of Memories. In both versions, this feature can also be unlocked by clearing "Reverse/Rebirth" on Re:Chain of Memories. The Zexion card, while added to the game, is available as soon as it is obtained in "Reverse/Rebirth".
- The Gold and Platinum Cards are now available in Sora's Story, and can be obtained from Bounties after obtaining every other card.
- Items can now only be collected once in each room unless if a new room has been created (or the rooms for the entrance and exit of that world have been reset). As such, Barrels and Barrel Spiders no longer reappear if you re-enter a room.
- The Pluto friend card and Lucky Bounty Sleights are now available.
- The Bottomless Darkness, Roulette Room, and Random Joker map cards have been added.
- The Gravity Raid, Stop Raid, Homing Fira, Firaga Break, Blazing Donald, and Goofy Charge Sleights have been removed, and replaced with Magnet Spiral, Lethal Frame, Freeze, Firaga Burst, Raging Storm, Stardust Blitz, Goofy Tornado Lv2, Goofy Smash, and Wild Crush.
- Riku's battle mechanics now include the Duel system and its Sleights, and now have the Holy Burst and Inverse Burst Friend Sleights.
- The High Jump, Glide, and Superglide support abilities are available for Sora.
- Link Mode is no longer present.
- The effect of the Darkball card, which would have been useless without Link Mode, has been modified to work with Riku's Duel system. As such, it is no longer available in Sora's Story.
- The effects of several Sleights were modified such as Cloud's Omnislash, several of Sora's Keyblade Slights (Blitz, Sonic Blade, Ars Arcanum), or several Friend Card slights (Ariel, Peter Pan, Beast) to where the Reaction Command are now used with them in order to function.
- The Ansem, Seeker of Darkness card is now available as a Bounty within Twilight Town, not Castle Oblivion.
- Jack Skellington's friend card is now available from the first battle in Halloween Town, rather than immediately after it.
- Zantetsuken, Sonic Blade, Tornado, Holy, Ars Arcanum, Ragnarok, and Mega Flare are now available to learn at levels 22, 27, 42, 47, 37, 52, and 57, respectively, as opposed to levels 27, 22, 32, 37, 42, 47, and 52.
- Warpinator is now a Twilight Town Bounty, instead of a reward for defeating the Riku Replica.
- Warp is now available in the Agrabah Room of Rewards, rather than the Twilight Town Room of Rewards.
- Bind is now available in the Halloween Town Room of Rewards, rather than as a reward for finding Eeyore.
- Synchro is now available in the Wonderland Room of Rewards, rather than as a reward for finding Rabbit.
- Idyll Romp is now available as a reward for clearing Tigger's Jump-a-Thon, rather than as a reward for finding Tigger.
- Cross-slash+ is now available as a reward for clearing Veggie Panic, rather than as a Hollow Bastion Bounty.
- The effectiveness of Riku's strength is slightly amplified from the original game.
- Many new props feature throughout the field.
- In the original game, Riku is cut off from King Mickey after the battle against Lexaeus. In the remake, he is never cut off from Mickey, and therefore can still use The King card during the main storyline in both Destiny Islands and Twilight Town unlike the original where he couldn't.
- Spellbinder is now found in a chest in Tigger's Playground that is only accessible with Glide or Superglide.
- The Hidden Chamber which is accessed with the Key of Rewards card has been renamed as the Room of Rewards. In addition when viewed on the map, it is now counted as a special room instead of a regular room.
- A Room of Rewards room has been added for the Castle Oblivion, unlike the original, which was the only floor that did not have a Hidden Chamber.
- The special rooms when viewed on the map now glow white to identify which one to open which makes it easier to know which one to go to for Sora and Riku's games in the worlds that use multiple Keycards. Also, when Sora has a Key to Rewards card in his possession, the Room of Rewards location is revealed by a blue glow.
- Unlike the original game, Riku cannot level up his DP at the beginning of the game. Instead, he has to acquire Dark Mode first from Ansem before he can level up DP.
- The Quick Save option has been removed.
- Jiminy's Journal and the D-Report now includes journal entries on world cards. In addition, the D-Report also now includes entries on Map and Item cards.
Visual and audio changes
- The multi-player Link Mode was removed.
- A Theater Mode was added.
- Due to the aging of his voice actor, Sora's voice in this game is that of Kingdom Hearts II, rather than that of the original Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.
- The various color categories of map cards now have a small symbol ("R", "B", "G", or "!") indicating their color.
- The attack and magic cards played by Axel, Larxene, Vexen, Marluxia, Lexaeus, Zexion, "Ansem", and the Riku Replica depict different facial expressions, depending on their effect.
- Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and King Mickey now wear their Halloween costumes while within Halloween Town, though in Atlantica they remain in their normal forms.
- During his final battles with both Sora and Riku, the Riku Replica's left hand is immersed in an orb of darkness.
- When Axel first introduces himself to Sora, he says "Got it memorized?" as opposed to "Commit it to memory."
- Axel no longer says, "...give me a hell of a show!", as he did in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Instead, he says, "Try and make it enjoyable, Sora."
- In Larxene's first encounter with Sora, her "through" is misspelled as "though". This line is later fixed in the remake.
- The piece "The 13th Floor", played outside of Worlds, is melodically different. Instead of handbells playing an ascending interval, chimes now play a descending interval.
- When transforming into Dark Mode, Riku now says "Darkness" instead of "Arrrgh!".
- The health bar the enemies use, most notably the bosses, has been altered to resemble the one from Kingdom Hearts II. In the original game, the one from the first Kingdom Hearts game was used.
Clear Bonuses
- Theater Mode
- Reverse/Rebirth
- Lexaeus enemy card
- Zexion enemy card
- Ansem enemy card
- Demyx enemy card
- Roxas enemy card
- Luxord enemy card
- Xemnas enemy card
- Xigbar enemy card
- Xaldin enemy card
- Ultima Weapon card
- One-Winged Angel card
- Diamond Dust card
- Hidden Dragon card
- Gold Card
- Platinum Card
