and a dream—
initially, chain of memories was a bit of a necessary evil for me to play in order to get to kh2, the seemingly be-all and end-all of the series. i’m someone who autistically enjoys lists, so i wanted to go through the kingdom hearts series in release order without skipping any.
…and honestly, i fully agreed for a hot minute! though, upon finishing com, my opinion has completely shifted. my third eye opened.
com is a game that has a LOT of merit from a gameplay perspective. i'm sure re:com has some quality of life features here and there that build off of it nicely. it's definitely a new and unique experience for me. i’m not the biggest fan of deckbuilders in particular, the only deckbuilder i’ve finished was inscryption - which i heavily recommend - and i’ve played slay the spire here and there to pass a shift or two at work.
it suffers from one absolutely devastating flaw. putting the players at the hands of rng. it’s disgustingly unlucky and can make you grind for either 5 minutes or 2 hours. this is well-known already for fans in the franchise, i’m sure, and isn't worth getting into too deeply when there's so much to love about this game.
barring that, com is a pretty good title in the series and a seemingly integral piece to the overarching plot. i’m very happy i didn’t give in to my initial skepticism towards this game. i don’t regret my time with it at all… well, maybe only a little bit when rng wasn’t being particularly nice to me. ^^’’
it's also absolutely gorgeous. i barely played any, if at all, gba games growing up. i never knew that a gba game could look this good, especially on a larger screen. i’ve heard that re:com is the objectively better game in the context of gameplay, especially by my friends. however, i don’t regret playing the gba version purely for the stunning visuals and expressive soundfont. i gained a new apprecation for the gba in the process.
a dream of you
i can’t articulate this well, so you’ll have to bear with me. i particularly really like themes related to dreams. something about dreams as a setting, plot point, or just a particular moment, produces an airy and illusionary effect. com achieves this not w/ dreams, but amnesia and memories in general. is what i see the truth? is what i feel and/or have felt the truth, and if it isn't, what does that mean for me? things feel hazy and far away, but there still remains a sense of familiarity. where do i go from here?
the cherry on top: namine and castle oblivion. she was the beginning star of the show. castle oblivion itself has that kind of strange, faraway place vibe that perfectly adds to the game. i can't think of any other better setting, really. also, there's nothing better than an interesting character being a cute girl.
going to say org XIII because it sounds cooler
the org XIII scale
dysfunctionally fighting over who wants to bully the 13 year old the hardest
complaining about the organization eating itself from the inside out rather than doing anything about it. zexion going hard
the way org XIII was presented in this game was incredibly charming. they’re the supposed to be the big bads but they’re gossiping and bitching about each other, having dick measuring contests and bullying 13 year old children. BUT - and it’s definitely because i’m a chuuni in my twenties!!! - they’re still cool as hell and i still have that desire to know the why, how, when, etcetera., of org XIII. i also really like how they have their own respective fighting styles, it really keeps it interesting. even if you don't like a certain character, it's still really cool to see unique design choices and such.
♥
it goes without saying, seriously, that marluxia's weapon and general aesthetic is my favorite out of the bunch. i really enjoyed his fights.
funnily enough, i didn't care much for axel and i actually disliked him going into the series (i thought he seemed annoying!), yet he currently stands at no.2 for coolest org XIII member right now.
frankly, he might top marluxia.
i just don't want to admit that yet.
reverse/rebirth
i’m a real big fan of “disc 2” type stuff. i was actually spoiled on the existence of riku’s route unfortunately, but that didn’t remove the impact for me. i had no idea when it would happen or what it could possibly entail, and i wasn’t the slightest disappointed. something about seeing the credits roll and satisfying "the end", watching another sequence play out afterwards and finding yourself back at completely new title screen makes me feel like a starstruck kid again.
THAT BEING SAID! i think reverse/rebirth was the highlight of com for me. a bit of a loaded statement for sure, because there’s so much story-wise to love about com. geniunely.
i’m very, very, very biased towards riku. i know it’s like asking to pick your favorite child, and i know i’ve always loved sora as a character (esp. his design) even before i officially got into kh, but having a cool campaign telling riku’s side of the story was absolutely delightful for me. i feel very drawn to his character for not just extremely obvious reasons, but also because i think he's well-written, charming, and fun.
he was surprisingly written very sweetly, i feel, especially coming from kh1. i boast about how edgy and cool he is (yup, he is still fucking cool), but com shows the new, softer side to him in a few key moments. i’m really excited to see how they’ll explore this throughout the series. i could also just be straight up wrong and reading into nothing. either way, i think redemption arc characters might be a new favorite for me, especially when they’re dealing with a relatable, overarching conflict. so sorry, i’m so predictable.
lots of really good moments from his route. i could go on for a bit, really. it's very difficult to pick my favorites here.
in a world without you
at risk of sounding like i'm spouting hokey tokey garbage (likely to happen when attempting to wax poetic about a childrens game), the themes and lessons presented struck a significant chord for me. memories change and shift as you live, always remembered, and this extends to both the bad and good. the writing was somehow even cheesier than kh1... btw...
nice to have some of my own cheesy sentiments brought to life through the words of a fictional 13 (?) year old anime girl.
i haven’t even seen the intro to kh2. i’ve definitely listened to sanctuary, though. a lot.
somehow, the ending of com makes it even more dreamy and lovely than sanctuary already is. i said this earlier, i believe, but i really enjoyed my time with this game, and i think it's a fantastic segue into 2. thinking about it in retrospect, i hold it to an even greater standard. i'm really glad i didn't skip it.
onto kh2... (clueless)
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
fave track: Revenge of Chaos / The 13th Struggle