Kingdom Hearts on the PS2 was built in the action-adventure mold with combat taking place in real-time in the game world. This could have been done on the GBA but the designers opted to take a different route. Battles no longer take place on the field and instead, are initiated when you run into an enemy on the map. Afterwards you will be transported to a contained field in which the battle takes place. Combat still takes place in real time and you will have two primary functions available to you; jump and action. Every action you perform will require the use of a card; cards are found all across the landscape and are often dropped by foes defeated in battle. Every card contains an action of some sort, a melee attack, a spell, a defense or even the ability to summon Goofy or Donald into the fracas. As the tutorial soon tells you each card is precious and is in no way expendable. You will have a limited amount of cards available for each battle and when that stack is used up, you will have to perform a charge maneuver in order to recoup lost cards. This comes at a huge disadvantage; however, as the charge move will require you to stand still in the midst of the battle, leaving you vulnerable to attack.
There’s more than just random slashing and hacking in the game, using your cards wisely is the key to victory. In addition to containing an action, each card contains a numeric value that resides on the corner. That number determines how strong that maneuver is and will determine how much damage it does and the probability that it may be blocked by a foe. If an enemy uses the same maneuver, the person with the higher numeric value will win the battle. Playing the higher card will result in a “card break” and result in a loss of card for your opponent and leave them open for attack. As a nice twist, 0 is actually the highest number in the game but only when utilized properly. Cards with the number 0 on them cannot be defeated when used as a counter. You can also “stock” up to three cards at a time and play them as one hand instead of using them individually. This makes your attack stronger and more difficult to break. Realizing the proper time to use the “stock” feature is crucial to battle; especially since you’ll only have a limited amount of cards available to you at one time.
What’s most important to know about the battles is that they’re fun. They’re often hectic affairs filled with many enemies to whack and smash. And while the system mentioned above sounds complex, the designers lay it out to you in the very beginning in a manner that’s easy to comprehend. I haven’t had this much fun in an RPG battle system in a long while, it keeps you engaged, entertained, challenged and informed. It even tells you how many experience points you need until your next level, while you’re in combat. I know it’s not really necessary but it’s neat to get a visual representation of my progress
while I’m doing combat with enemies
Cards don’t just govern battles; they govern the dungeon-crawling properties of the game as well. In order to unlock doors you will need to hold the proper cards required to move on. Each locked door requires a card numbering in level from 1-to-9, you must use contain a card numbered equal to or higher than the one that is being asked for. The only way to gain these cards is through battle or by happenstance. Furthermore, the card that you use will determine what lies ahead for you in the next room.
Chain of Memories allows you to perform a quick save as long as you’re on the world map. This allows you to save your gave at any point and quickly resume playing without having to start up from a previous save point. In essence, it functions similarly to the sleep function of the GBA but there’s one notable difference, it actually saves the game to memory. This means that you can do a quick save, pull out the cartridge to play another game and still come back to your previous save point. With the sleep function you’re unable to play other games and must keep the cartridge in the system. Also, the quick save is especially functional in the off chance that you find yourself running low on battery. Even if the battery on the system dies you’ll be able to continue your game from the last quick save point.
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