Accepting a New Character Isn’t Always Easy

Since the debut of Chain of Memories, and most certainly Kingdom Hearts II, fans have been intrigued, delighted, even obsessed with the Organization XIII member, Axel. What exactly is his appeal to gamers? His curious appearance, the bad boy attitude, the deadly weapons, or maybe his mysterious background? I’ve thought about this and came to the conclusion within just a few short minutes that it must be all of the above. This assortment of attributes Axel came parading in with are ideal traits for a new role-playing character to be accepted into an already begun story.

A Humanized Antagonist

It’s no question to anyone who has completed their playing of Kingdom Hearts II and 358/2 Days that Axel is not only an important icon in the birth and progress of the plot, but he is also key in the emotional stability of the main protagonists, that being both Sora and Roxas. Axel’s layers create a well thought-out and complex man, someone who isn’t in the Organization just because. Before the release of 358, it was quite obvious throughout Sora’s meetings with the redhead that the member hid frustration and fear for the safety of his friend, Roxas. This makes him appeal to the gaming audience because a character who is essentially supposed to be our antagonist now shows hints of humanity and suffering that we can relate to and understand. Now that we have attached to him emotionally, we become intrigued by his mysterious life and how he came to be.

Drawn to the Flame

In regards to his appearance, Axel embodies all aspects of fire, an element that is both beautiful and powerful. He has weapons that radiate fire on top of their already deadly appearance. His red and spiky hair causes him to stand out from every other member of the Organization and its inability to be kept under control appears to be much like his attitude. Axel does what he pleases, despite the ramifications from his superiors, although for as much as his bad boy personality is used to get him out of sticky situations and jobs he wants to take on, it’s also used as a guard to hide behind. There has always been an appeal to viewers, or in this case gamers, of the lone wolf’s hard, outer shell being slowly dismantled to show off a more gentle person. In these regards, that would be the meeting of Axel and Roxas.

A Great Addition to Kingdom Hearts

Axel is a very well balanced character with enough of that unique twist and mysteriousness that grabs at RPG players. With his dangerous appearance and brash personality coupled with a kind nature hidden deep inside, it’s no surprise that he should be one of the more popular characters introduced after Kingdom Hearts I.

Handheld Vs Console

I was wary that this game was on a handheld device and not the Playstation but despite this I was so excited about the possibilities of unravelling the mysteries of Organization XIII and figuring out what happened to Riku. In short I ignored my own internal warning bells and dove straight in. (A very easy thing to do for any Kingdom Hearts fan).

Repetitive Gaming

I’ve been playing video games since before kindergarten, so after many years of gaming on at least a dozen different consoles, I like to think I can tell a good game from a bad one. In regards to Chain of Memories, I believe I was in the midst of reliving the experience on Monstro when I came to realize that this game was aggravating, tedious, time-consuming and the most repetitive thing I had played in years.

New Characters & Stories

New characters and stories were being introduced and it was all within my grasp but the absurdity of fighting with cards had gotten me so frustrated that by the time I was locked out of the last room (because I did not have a blue number 1) I was in danger of losing all my hair from the stress and fustration this game was bringing out.

More Story Telling Please

The sole desire that burned so strong within me to complete Chain of Memories was still with me, but the short moments in between the floors of the castle where Sora would finish fighting yet another Organization member always left me praying for some real juicy story bits.

I’m a Kingdom Hearts fan through and through so I’m not going to give up on my favourite franchise that easily but like most fans I’m used to the glorious story telling of the series which quite frankly just wasn’t there for me. I mean how about slipping in some bits on Riku or King Mickey!

In fact I craved so badly for something to happen after opening up each and every door to a world I had already been to, that the floors with the save spheres actually became a little entertaining.

Playing As Riku

The excitement I had after playing the first Kingdom Hearts game set me up expecting more of the same quality story telling from its sequel. Unfortunately things remained slow and didn’t really pick up until I had beaten Sora’s story and moved onto playing as Riku.

Now thankfully Riku’s story wasn’t a recycled version of the first game, but actually came with some good story telling and juicy bits. As well as a better story line his card system was also much easier to wield and I had a great if not short time before I hit the end of the game.

Why The High Scores

I look to the scores Chain of Memories received from official game review magazines and I can see how the game’s unique fighting system deserved to be put into the spotlight, but in terms of story and playability, I couldn’t and still cannot understand why it has been given marks higher than a 7/10.

Now I’m not saying the game was completely rubbish but I do believe it needs to be given separate scores for each of the two story lines in the game. Sora’s story most unfortunately I feel is nothing but a 5/10, whilst Rikus story (and this is not because he’s my favorite character of anything) deserves a 7 or 8/10.

Playstation Version

Square Enix produced a re-mastered version of the game for the Playstation which I also bought as soon as it was released (again letting my love of Kingdom Hearts cloud my better judgment). While they did add many new features and the fighting was much more enjoyable on a 3-D plane verses the flat screen of a Game Boy, Re: Chain of Memories still suffered from the same dismal plot which is something the beautiful graphics couldn’t save me from and I ran out of steam halfway through the game, feeling, “I beat the game once, why am I bothering a second time?”

Just Play Kingdom Hearts 2

For those who haven’t beaten the game or have no desire to play it, fear not, the entire story of Chain of Memories is basically told in the opening to Kingdom Hearts 2.

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