Chain VS Re:Chain of Memories | Which is the BEST version? | Kingdom Hearts Retrospective

Everyone hates on the Card system but as a lover of card games I found it so fascinating to make decks to take on new threats and Riku was a nice reward for finishing Sora's story.

I vastly prefer Sora's gameplay on GBA. It's not super balanced, but I find it much harder to break than Re:CoM, and it still poses a challenge on boss fights. Re:CoM's arenas are way too big. Basic attacks and early game sleights whiff constantly. Battles feel longer cuz of how often enemies jerk slightly out of range. Riku feels better in Re:CoM with the added sleight variety, and the slanted and corkscrewed movements of his attacks make more sense in 3D. However, the Duel mechanic overwhelms. Riku's side should focus on combat fundamentals. So I'm kinda split. I think the GBA is more tightly designed, but Re:CoM is more immediately fun. I think Re:CoM does an admirable job adapting the cutscenes, but I prefer them on GBA. Always people talking in rooms standing awkwardly far apart. And very wordy, too. They work better with sprites and at reading speed. "I'm me, he says!" sounds better when you read it to yourself, you know? Lol.

One thing I appreciate about this game is that we get to play as Riku for an entire story! I also enjoyed playing as him in DDD but omg his final boss battles were tough lol.

I prefer Riku's story because I feel it is better written than sora's and it also has given us a better look at Riku's personality.

Quick Save is there for when you told your mom "5 more minutes" but it's been 10 and your last save was 3 floors back. It simply acts as a temporary stopping point so you can turn off your Gameboy; once you turn it back on you'll go back to that save state, but you will lose your progress unless you Quick Save again or drop a permanent save in a Moment's Reprieve room or out in the hallway. Also, I like both games, but absolutely prefer the GBA version to Re:CoM.

I’m glad youtube has been recommending me small channels again. It’s like being back in 2006. Fantastic review. I always waited for Re:Com to come out and put off playing the gba version

This video BLEEDS passion! We already knew you possess it but this video acts as a portfolio to display it to the world! Keep up the great work!!!

I’m super impressed by this video! I know how hard you worked in it and I can’t believe how polished it is! You script your videos and present them in such a way that anyone who is trying to understand the series can actually understand it! I never knew this about Riku after watching some let’s plays on my first watch and this video taught me a lot of things I didn’t know and clarified some of things that were foggy in my memory! I can’t wait to see the next video and I hope to make time soon to beat the games so I can thoroughly appreciate everything! Congratulations and well done key!

Ok first off...I'm hella jealous you have the KH1 Final Mix Cover Art 😭😭😭 I been wanting one so bad ~ and also hella glad you brought this up because KH chain doesn't get enough love and both of these versions of the game are just amazing 💪 video came out hella clean. Scripts man you got it ! Keep it up brotha

You have a very creative and unique channel my friend. Keep up the great work 🔥

Okay, I was there for the original release of CoM, KH2, AND KH2FM+. I loved CoM and KH2, so I was shocked when KH2FM+ was announced with a remake of CoM. I moded my PS2 and played KHFM in anticipation for the release of KH2FM+. I felt like reCoM was truly a huge DLC type prologue to KH2FM, the save files interacted with each other. It feels like a cheap remake because it was basically a free remake that was the new prologue to KH2FM. I was severely disappointed when reCoM was released in America as a solo game and honestly even more disappointed with it was still pushed as a separate game in the hd collections. ReCoM belongs as the start of KH2FM IMO and I'm sad the majority of the public will never see it that way. ReCoM being is own solo release outside of Japan feels like if Nintendo tried to sell Bowser's Fury as a solo game. ReCoM will always be massive DLC expansion for KH2FM in my mind. You can still see reCoM Sora and Riku in the KH2FM box art. I never see anyone bring this up in retrospectives and I think it's an important part of kh history.

Marluxia has 3 stages in Re:COM not two. Fantastic video. I’m loving every minute of it.

I feel the GBA version lacking voice acting did add to the feeling of isolation the game was going for. The GBA version's music is very ominous and I think helps with the game's atmosphere of thinhs just feeling "off" and not right. I also feel it works better as a bridge to 2 for emphasing Sora's physical growth in the year since KH1. The GBA game just reused voice clips from KH1 so he still sounded and looked young, making the jump to 2 where we see he has physically gotten taller and sounds older more impactful. It can be a bit jarring to see the baby-faced Sora from KH1 so shortly after that story wrapped up but sounding much older. Obviously this couldn't be helped as Sora's English VA recorded this some time after KH2 when he went through puberty but it is something I feel is sadly less impactful if you play Re:COM instead before KH2. I do love the story of COM and seeing Sora actually act a bit selfishly at times trying to find Naminé over listening to his friends he had been travelling with. It's cool seeing someone talk about it a bit more at length.

Can I just say that the tone you set and shots you use for the intro of this vid are absolutely immaculate, not to mention the music choice. You set this really cool reflective tone early through the visual storytelling that I haven't seen on a lot of other gaming vids frankly. I'd love to see more of your work like this if you decide to do more videos with this tone or style, you do it well! That isn't to mention the actual review which is quite enjoyable too, just the intro goes so hard I had to praise it.

I need to check the rating for this game because I love the fact that they don’t shy away from death 😈 even though I’ll probably never complete RECOM😅

I loved the gba sprites of the original. It makes me nostalgic whenever I see it.

Now I guess I really should play it...amazing job on this video key! Your storytelling and descriptive skills really sell the value of these games. I guess that's why you really are the kingdom hearts guy!

Key, this was hands DOWN your best video yet! Everything felt so polished and your narrative was amazing! Please make more of these on the other games as this was such bliss to watch! Absolutely INCREDIBLE homage to Chain of Memories and Re:Chain of Memories! Keep up the amazing work Key!

What a fantastic review key!!! I didnt fully understand what Rechain of memories was in the timeline and this really helped me compartmentalize it in order. I never realized how kind of depressing this story was in comparison to the first I didnt expect that shift and it actually makes me want to play it even more now that I'm aware! Great review key and good job listing the differences in versions because I'm now certain I'm gonna play the console one!

Lord of the Castle is the name for the third and final phase of Marluxia's fights in ReCoM. The field theme for Floor 13 of Castle Oblivion is simply titled as its own name, Castle Oblivion.