CoM Vibe Appreciation and Discussion
Chain of Memories' gameplay is very controversial and a lot of people bounce off of it. But that's not what I want to focus on here!
Can we recognize how incredible CoM and Re:CoM's vibe is? The all-white Castle Oblivion ambiance, the omnipresent church organ, and the very mysterious (at this point) Organization XIII really sell this game's atmosphere. I am often gobsmacked by how well Squeenix (especially composer Yoko Shimomura) created such a bright but dark atmosphere. I don't think I have ever seen another game pull this off. And all of this is before touching on the story, which has a great one-two punch of "Hunting down and killing shady Organization members" and "Sora's mental state getting completely messed with."
For me, everything is best summarized by Castle Oblivion's white aesthetic and either the song "Face It" or "Castle Oblivion" (the song of the final world).
I could go on and on but this isn't a post about my opinion, more so just a rarely seen discussion of what this game accomplished with other like-minded people. Some questions:
- Do you agree that CoM pulled off a unique and uniquely dark atmosphere, or do you disagree?
- Has Castle Oblivion and the way that it works ever inspired you in your own creative efforts or worldbuilding?
- How do you feel about Yoko Shimomura's heavy emphasis on pipe organs in Re:CoM? Does it enhance the game for you, or does it feel too homogeneous compared to her other works?
- Do you miss this era of Kingdom Hearts, before things got sillier?
- KH1 is also pretty dark in terms of atmosphere; what do you think changed after CoM, and when did KH lose its dark edge? (if at all)
- Do you think we will ever get a Kingdom Hearts game with CoM's atmosphere ever again?
- Anything else you would add about what makes CoM's atmosphere so great?
(sorry for the weird spaces, my keyboard's space key is broken)