There are some good points in this review. It struck me as more than a little lazy that Riku didn\'t see anyone at all in the worlds he visited apart from the bosses, but overall, he has a good amount of Character Development that nicely puts him on the road from \"ex-villain\" to \"hero\".
Out of curiosity, though, why would you need to grind to 99?
Ehh, there was a trophy for it. I wouldn't have done it otherwise. Besides, that kind of borderline masochistic OCD completionist approach to gaming for its own sake became an impossibility when I "got a life" (such as it is). I'm just glad they didn't include a trophy like that in the Birth by Sleep remaster. It's enough of a chore breaking LV 50 in that game! Count your blessings and that.
Ah. I mainly played it on the GBA, which has no such system, and thus no reason to grind that much, which seems to be a good thing.
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Fun Is in the Cards
The first of the perpetual snark target that is the Kingdom Hearts series' penchant for multi-platform spin-offs (even with the HD ReMIXes), Chain of Memories bridges the gap between the first and second games in the series. But it shares little in common with either, or indeed, the rest of the series, as far as gameplay is concerned, taking a serious risk with a battle system ruled entirely by cards with associated numbers. Not only that, how you progress through the game's worlds is based on cards! And let's not forget Larxene, who's a bit of a card herself...! Cards, cards, everywhere... but don't look so discouraged there, Woody, you contrived memetic reference you!
The risk pays off and then some. Though not traditionally mastered before some 4-5 hours of playtime has passed, for me personally Chain of Memories has possibly the most addictive gameplay of the KH-quels. There are enough effective and interesting ways to build your command decks to stave off Complacent Gaming Syndrome (until the time comes for the wholly tedious grind to LV 99, of course) and utilize your cards to maximum effect. If you, ahem, play your cards right (okay, I'll slow down with the card puns already, oy vey!), you can get yourself a Game Breaker or two well before playtime hits double digits. You can tailor your playstyle exactly how you like it... and even if you feel a bit limited in your choices at times, you never know when a shiny new card variety, brimming with Heartless-burninating possibilities, will come your way.
The plot convolutions aren't too bad yet; in fact, the story features some emotional beats and situations that rank among the best and most focused in the mythos. I much prefer this game's group of black-cloaked bad guys to the ones features in II. They're better at balancing out menacing threat with enjoyable hamminess and, you know, actual freakin' personalities. A little more true to established, familiar Disney characterizations. It's a shame they couldn't keep them around...
Chain has a huge glass jaw, however; repetition, even by series standards. Not only does it shamelessly reuse worlds and characters from the original game to often underwhelming effect, but the game's Second Quest (kind of) is a monotonous afterthought that reeks of Fake Longevity. They do manage to get some good development and characters in there (and a change of player character is certainly refreshing) but I'd already grown a bit tired of the repetition in the normal quest. It doesn't help that your decks aren't customizable in this mode, either.
Oh, and when it comes down to it, the remake (although a more KH-feeling game) doesn't necessarily cancel out the GBA original. They both play basically the same, but the GBA version features sprite portraits chock full of character that makes the game much more engaging than the bland facial animation of the remake, voice acting bedamned.