Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories Walkthrough (PS2)

Even for longtime RPG fans and those with experience playing through previous Kingdom Hearts titles, Re: Chain of Memories can be a difficult game to master. Unlike in the previous Playstation 2 entries in this series, Sora does not have other allies to fight by his side. He has to go it alone through Castle Oblivion. Also, because everything is controlled via a deck of cards, healing in the thick of battle can be trick, since there are no potions or other healing items to stock up on or use. Furthermore, you can no longer upgrade your equipment, nor are you always able to have every weapon or spell in your arsenal at any given time, since the size of your deck is limited based on the amount available CP points as well as the 99 card maximum limit. Thus, strategy is essential to overcoming the many challenges you will face in this game. Fortunately, you're reading this handy little guide, which is designed to help you through some of the early event battles.

Following all the opening cinemas and dialogue, you will have the opportunity to enter your first world, Traverse Town. As in the original Kingdom Hearts, this is the current residence of Final Fantasy mainstays Leon, Yuffie, Aerith and Cid, and in Chain of Memories it serves as a kind of tutorial to illustrate exactly how the card-based combat system works. As such, it really isn't too difficult on the whole. Near the end of the level, after you unlock the door with the Key to Truth card, you'll square off against a familiar boss, the Guard Armor that also terrorized Traverse Town in the original Kingdom Hearts. This isn't too hard of a fight on the whole, so long as you make good use of the 0-strength Mickey Silhouette cards that appear during the battle. Use them to counter one of the Guard Armor's attacks and it'll leave him paralyzed for a short time, allowing you to move in and pound away with your attack cards. The Slide Dash Sleight can help early on as you work to take out his legs, but don't overuse them since they can eat away at your deck. I took him out rather easily at Level 6. Beating the Guard Armor will net you his card for use in future battles.

Once you finish him off, make sure you save before exiting Traverse Town, because there's another boss fight waiting right around the corner. Go back and change up some of the rooms if you feel the need to battle more Heartless and gain a few additional levels. Once you're ready, exit through the door back into Castle Oblivion and prepare to face Axel in the first of what will be several fights against Organization XIII. This is a tougher fight than the Guard Armor one was, but it still isn't all that hard. Beware his Firewall slight when he uses it, because it can cause some massive damage if you're not careful. The Pluto cards you get here can be a big help, as Mickey's canine pal can dig up some immensely helpful healing spheres. Slide Dash works well here, especially if you can use it to Card Break Axel's Sleights, but again make sure you don't overuse it. Afterwards, you are rewarded with five additional world cards -- Agrabah, Olympus Coliseum, Wonderland, Monstro and Halloween Town. Agrabah is the one that appears right next to Traverse Town on the World Cards screen and is also the first one that appears when you hit the triangle button in front of the door, we'll choose that as our next destination.

Aladdin's home world is pretty straightforward, so explore all of the rooms, follow along with the plot and make sure you gain a few levels while you're here. Also, you should be able to access a Moogle Card Shop by now, if you haven't already, so snag a few booster packs and strengthen your deck. The Heartless here are pretty standard, except for the Large Bodies, which must be attacked from behind or with magic. The boss at the end of Agrabah is, of course, Jafar, the treacherous vizier. If you're played through the original Kingdom Hearts then you know what to expect in this fight. The object here is to focus your attacks on Iago as he flies around the room with the lamp. This is harder than it sounds, because the battleground is constantly shifting heights and Jafar himself has some powerful, high-numbered attack cards that will constantly cause Card Breaks. Sleights aren't much help here, but stacking cards can help you break Jafar's attacks. Use as many magic cards as you can so you can hit Iago from a distance, and hope you manage to get plenty of the Mickey Silhouette cards, as they will cause the battleground to universally raise to the highest level. Keep at it and you'll eventually pull it out, earning both the Jafar and the Genie cards for your efforts.