Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

« Without a doubt one of the best games available for the GBA and one of the best reasons for owning the system. The characters, locales, and enemies from the original are all here, creating a compelling game and story on par in many ways with the original. »

« The story is deep and intriguing, with very enjoyable and addictive gameplay. »

« A very solid, fun package that should please both hardcore card-game players and casual RPGers alike. [Spring 2005, p.71] »

« For story, gameplay and graphical tasty goodness this is one of the best titles for the GBA this year. »

« Chain of Memories does a great job of getting gamers who are unfamiliar with the series up to par with the story in preparation for "KH2"...A stellar addition to the Game Boy Advance line up. [JPN Import] »

« Though certainly not without its flaws, the most problematic of which being the somewhat mismanaged combat system, this is nonetheless a terrific game that delivers a fun quest, stellar presentation, and an added incentive to revisit the game after it has been completed. »

« The presentation is unmatched by any handheld game ever, and overtly competent in audio and visuals. »

« And though the stories are changed to better fit the memory theme of the new game, it is often times a little too familiar, a sort of 'been there, done that' feel. »

« The story alone grants this game an 8/10 it does a great job at building up the organization and helps with key plots points later on the series, i didn't play it but from cutscenes alone it has my praise. »

« Even though it was an interesting take on how to play the game, the grind it took to get the plat on the ps5 port soured the game a little for me »

« GBA version is far better than the remake, battles flow much faster and the gameplay is perfect for handheld format. Also the game is much more newcomer friendly than the remake. »

« This was my first Kingdom Hearts game, and uh... I don't really even know what to say. I liked the game for sure, but I felt like it's way too repetitive, and it doesn't really "pick up." The game just didn't really leave a big impression on me. I faintly remembered the worlds I explored, but I just feel like the level layouts and story ties weren't really all that memorable. That is kind of a shame because the game honestly feels great, and for a GBA game, it is certainly impressive. The card combo mechanics were actually really solid, and learning them certainly helped you get through battles a lot faster. The game is also absolutely beautiful; the character portraits especially are so detailed! I just can't really put my finger on it, but the game just lacks a certain something to it. »

« don’t listen to the critics that didn’t give the game any time, once you get into this game and become one with the cards it is one of the best games in the entire franchise. »

« Great game, I think it's very very impressive for a GBA game. For me it's one of the best masterpieces for GBA of all time. Cloud card is generally pretty strong, but there're other card combinations that're situationally even better/faster. The final boss Marluxia can only take damage during certain phases like when you're on his back. »

« Besides needing some slice of life changes when it comes to crafting decks, and user interface. This is a awesome little portable game. That combines tcg and action rpg, that only Kingdom Hearts and Square Enix could pull off. »

« Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is an odd little handheld spin-off. Taking place between the first and second mainline games it acts more as a set-up for Kingdom Hearts II, though it really only made things confusing for players who skipped out on this entry entirely. Chain of Memories forgoes the action-based combat in favor of a card system that works well enough, though isn't quite as engaging as other battle systems in the series. It also has a very bland and repetitive structure that's even more compounded by the fact that most of the game recycles the first game's story. »