Kingdom
Hearts for the PS2 was one of the neatest ideas I had seen in a
while (for those of you who havent given Kingdom Hearts a try, an
inexpensive, Greatest Hits version just became available). By
combining classic Final Fantasy characters with the near entirety of
Disney characters, they managed to create a game that was equally
unique and familiar. With the game being geared more towards a
younger audience, it makes sense that the next step is to introduce
the Kingdom Hearts franchise to the Gameboy Advance. So that is
exactly what they are going to do with 2004s Kingdom Hearts:
Chain of Memories.
So far details are
a bit on the light side and they mostly come from what can be
gathered by looking at the screenshots. A picture says a thousand
words but these ones are all saying Cool. It looks like Chain
of Memories will ditch the 3D look for more Gameboy friendly
graphics. Dont be disappointed; the screenshots still look really
nice. The Graphics on GBA cant be expected to perform like the
PS2, but what we have looks as good, or better, than what we have
seen so far from the GBA. The screenshoots look as if the camera
system will have the ability to pan-out during fights, for a better
view of the battle. Another cool trick that Chain of Memories has up
its sleeve is the inclusion of movie footage compressed to fit onto
the GBA cartridge. Maybe I am just a fanboy (after all, isnt this
the ultimate fanboy game?) but I love those movies. They are like a
little bonus and they are something new and exciting for the GBA.
Once
again we follow the story of Sora (wielder of the magical Keyblade)
and his cohorts, Donald and Goofy, as they collect green orbs and
battle the evil shadow creatures, the Heartless. Kingdom Hearts: Chain
of Memories is set to take place directly after the end of the first
game, and before Kingdom Hearts II (to be released later on the PS2).
It should begin to answer any questions left after the first game.
Very little else is known of the story but I imagine it will remain in
the spirit of the first one. One rumor is that Bambi (woohoo Bambi!
Yes that is sarcasm.) will make an appearance and that a certain
mouse, dressed in ninja garb, will be hanging around. Also it appears
that the crew will end up in Atlantis for the first time. On the Final
Fantasy side, one screenshot reveals that Cloud from FFVII will be
accompanying Sora for at least a portion of his journey. This game
sounds to be bursting with even more cool characters and exotic
locales than the first installment.
The game should
remain true to its Action/RPG roots. The characters will level-up with
experience, learn new tricks, and need to collect plenty of those
health supplying green orbs. The fighting system looks to be much the
same as the first game. The lock-on targeting feature is still
present, and Donald and Goofy appear to still fight by your side. A
new addition is the card system for special attacks and summoning
spells (calling other characters to assist you in battle). I,
personally, am beyond tired of the card game as a videogame as a
television show as a card game trend that is swarming the globe.
Dont people just fight each other anymore? But in this instance it
may prove easier for gamers than scrolling through sub-menus in the
middle of an intense battle. That is if it is done well. Oh well, just
as long as there are no Blue-Eyes White Dragons, I wont complain
too much.
Final Fantasy
Tactics has proven to be a solid RPG for Square on the GBA, and I hope
they can keep it up with Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. This time
they have enlisted the aid of Jupiter (the developers not the planet)
which could be a good or bad thing. Really we will have to see more of
the game before we can tell. There is no solid release date yet, other
than 2004, so it could be some time before we can get our hands on it.
It should be out before Kingdom Hearts II though, so if you are just
dying for more Kingdomy Heart goodness, this ought to be more than
ample till its release.
Matt
James |