The new battle system in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is uniquely fresh and a major departure from other Kingdom Hearts titles. While this may seem shocking to the core fans of the first installation, try it out before crying foul. While engaged in battle, instead of mashing the attack button and blindly swinging away with the legendary Keyblade, Sora, as well as Riku, now use Battle Cards to attack and defend themselves in battle. The Keyblade master can fully customize up to three separate Battle Card decks, whereas Riku has one deck that changes in power as time goes on. As the main character reaches the end of his deck during a battle, he must then recharge the deck, which leaves him defenseless until fully recharged.
Card Values
Every Battle Card has a Card Value—the numerical value attached to the card. The number represents the strength of the Battle Card, ranging from 0 to 9, with 1 being the weakest in strength up to 9, which is considerably stronger. A Card Value of 0 is a wild card. By itself, it is devastating and causes severe damage, although if one is placed as the first card in a three-hit combo, the once godlike 0 card now has the hitting power of a balloon animal.
Combining Cards
Both Sora and Riku have basic three-hit combos that increase in strength by using high-numbered cards. These can be set up automatically by pressing i, which brings the selected card to the top of the screen. Once the three Battle Cards are collected, the character can then perform powerful three-hit combos. By performing Card Combinations, you will raise the Card Value substantially, while making the cards far more difficult to break. More importantly, this is essential to performing Sleights.
Sleights
Sleights are special attacks that can be performed by combining Battle Cards with a certain Card Value to reach the value range that is needed to activate the attack. Put simply, Sleights are stunning to behold and can be learned after winning certain boss battles, retrieving them from chests, and, for Sora, leveling up and choosing the Sleight bonus when available. Riku, however, has Sleights that are even more extravagant and punishing when they are performed while in D Mode. Sleights become stronger when Summon and Magic Cards are added instead of just Attack Cards, however the strongest most often are Magic Sleights, which deal damage worth a double take.
Card Breaks
One drawback from using Battle Cards with a low Card Value is that Sora or Riku is left open for a Card Break. An example of a Card Break is when Sora uses an Attack Card with a Card Value of 4, whereas the opponent counters with an Attack Card of a value of 6. Sora’s attack “breaks”, leaving Sora vulnerable for the enemy to counterattack further. This act of Card Breaking is a great tactic to master, but can be tricky, especially when you have no choice but to fill your deck with cards of a low Card Value.
Battle Card Types
Attack Cards
These red cards are the basic type of Battle Cards that Sora and Riku start out with. In the beginning these may not pose much of a threat, especially from Sora, but they will begin to pack a punch as new Attack Cards are earned. Also, depending on whether you are playing through as Sora or Riku, level up boosts will encourage stronger attacks, such as Sleights as Sora or growing attack strength as Riku.
Magic Cards
These cards perform magic spells such as Fire, Blizzard, and Cure. These Battle Cards are colored blue and also range in Card Value from 0 to 9. They come in offensive magic as well as curative spells. While Attack Cards are great fallback cards, especially when the enemy is strong against magic, using a high-valued Magic Card, such as Fire, will teach you just how punishing these cards can be.
Item Cards
These cards provide support when engaging in a particularly tough battle—a highly underrated benefit. Item Cards are colored green and restore Attack and Magic Cards by use of Elixirs and Potions during the heat of battle. It is especially a good idea to enter a tough boss battle with a few of these.
Summon Cards
Summon Cards, depending on what they are, either have magical or physical attack powers that can do serious damage, cast curatives, or boost stats during battle. These cards are somewhat powerful by themselves, but can be made even greater by adding them with Sleights.
Special Battle Card Types
These Battle Cards cannot be set in your custom-made deck, but appear in battle randomly.
Friend Cards
These cards are different from your standard Battle Card types, because they appear in battle as a collectible and must be chased down and grabbed to add them to your deck. Sora’s constant Friend Cards that remain throughout the game are Donald and Goofy. In addition to his constant friends, Sora also gains other Friend Cards of Disney characters that he is currently helping at the time. Friends he helps along the way are characters such as Aladdin, Peter Pan, and Ariel to name a few.
Enemy Cards
Black in color, these Enemy Cards are won by Sora and Riku after boss battles and act very similar to Summon Cards. They use beefed up attacks from your previous fight with the boss, magical attacks, and/or curatives to help Sora and Riku in many different ways. The main differences from Summon Cards is that they cannot be used in Sleights, and Sora cannot use his hard-earned Enemy Cards until the game has been completed as Riku as well. Riku, however, does not suffer from this and can use his earned Enemy Cards right away. Sometimes it pays to be dark.
Gimmick Cards
These cards have a Mickey symbol on the front of the card and can only be used during boss battles. These cards always have a Card Value of 0, which means they cannot be broken by an enemy. These cards can be extremely helpful during a tough boss battle, and will range in effect from stunning the boss for you to lay a savage beatdown while it is on the ground, or cause a terrain change, making access to an enemy’s weak spots much easier. Each boss battle has a different way of collecting them, and it may take some trial and error to make it appear.
Premium Cards
Premium Cards are basically regular Battle Cards that have been enhanced by a little something called a Premium Bonus. These bonuses are sometimes dropped by felled Heartless and are applied by way of a roulette wheel that begins spinning immediately after the battle. The cards in your deck spin around the wheel at a moderate speed, so stopping on the card you want to enhance can sometimes be tricky. Once a Battle Card becomes a Premium Card, the Card Value changes to a gold color, which then lowers the Card Points (CP) needed to stock that card in your deck, allowing for the addition of extra powerful Battle Cards. The drawback is that these cards do not recharge without the use of an Item Card.