Sora being introduced to friend cards.
Friend cards are part of the set of cards used to call party members during combat in Chain of Memories and Re:Chain of Memories. They are identified by their green border, which they share with item cards, whereas they share their gameplay with summon cards. Chain of Memories features a total of seven friend cards available to Sora, all of which are based on party members from Kingdom Hearts (Tarzan is not included). Riku only has access to The King card, which summons Mickey Mouse.
The remake also added an additional Pluto card for both of them, which only appears if your playable cards fall under a certain limit. Lastly, the Gimmick Card is a green-bordered card that appears in the same manner as a friend card, but has its own distinct effects.
Gameplay[]
Friend cards are unique in that they cannot be added to your deck manually, as they cannot be found outside of combat, nor purchased. The only way to acquire a friend card is to pick it up mid-combat, as they randomly appear after hitting an enemy. The Meeting Ground map card also ensures a guaranteed friend card drop at the start of each fight. Friend cards will bounce around the area for a few seconds, after which they vanish. The pause menu will show which friend cards are available at that point on time, as the possible friends that can appear are dependent on current story progress.
It is also possible to only hold a maximum of five friend cards at once, Pluto excepted. Once picked up they are placed on top of your deck, although after a reload they are skipped in favor of whichever non-friend card is next, which lets you avoid needlessly playing one by accident. The odds of the value for any given friend card is equal to 10% for any specific number, making acquiring 0s and 9s somewhat easier compared to other battle cards. Friend cards function identically to summon cards in that they take a moment to call forth the intended ally, who then needs another moment to perform their personal skill or ability. Due to this they are somewhat prone to suffering a card break.
Probability[]
The odds of a friend card appearing depends on the world in the original GBA version, although the remake streamlined this to 15% for any card. The King is the sole exception, as it only has a 12.5% chance of appearing. If a friend card is going to drop the game will then roll the odds between the available friends, which also varies from world to world. If a selected card is not available the card will be rerolled into the other options, provided those are actually available.
The remake's new Pluto card has 20% odds of appearing in any world, provided you have two or less cards in hand, and nine or less cards total that can actually be reloaded.
| World | Odds | Friend card | Odds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COM | RECOM | |||
| Traverse Town | 15% | 15% | Donald Duck | 50% |
| Goofy | 50% | |||
| Agrabah | 15% | 15% | Donald Duck | 30% |
| Goofy | 20% | |||
| Aladdin | 50% | |||
| Olympus Coliseum | 10% | 15% | Donald Duck | 60% |
| Goofy | 40% | |||
| Wonderland | 10% | 15% | Donald Duck | 40% |
| Goofy | 60% | |||
| Monstro | 10% | 15% | Donald Duck | 50% |
| Goofy | 50% | |||
| Halloween Town | 15% | 15% | Donald Duck | 20% |
| Goofy | 30% | |||
| Jack | 50% | |||
| Atlantica | 15% | 15% | Donald Duck | 20% |
| Goofy | 20% | |||
| Ariel | 60% | |||
| Neverland | 15% | 15% | Donald Duck | 20% |
| Goofy | 30% | |||
| Peter Pan | 50% | |||
| Hollow Bastion | 15% | 15% | Donald Duck | 30% |
| Goofy | 30% | |||
| Beast | 40% | |||
| Twilight Town | 15% | 15% | Donald Duck | 50% |
| Goofy | 50% | |||
| Destiny Islands | 15% | 15% | Donald Duck | 50% |
| Goofy | 50% | |||
| Castle Oblivion[a] | 12.5% | 15% | Donald Duck | 50% |
| Goofy | 50% | |||
Friend cards[]
| Card | Chain of Memories description | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Re:Chain of Memories description | ||
  Donald Duck |
Donald randomly casts Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, or Cure. Stock more than one to power up Donald's magic. | All floors except Destiny Islands (on first visit). |
| Donald randomly casts two spells from Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, or Cure. Stock more than one to power up Donald's magic. | ||
  Goofy |
Goofy swings his shield at the enemy. Stock more than one to power up Goofy's attack. | All floors except Destiny Islands (on first visit). |
| Goofy attacks the enemy as he spins around Sora. Stock more than one for more power and duration. | ||
 Aladdin |
Aladdin swings his sword at the enemy repeatedly. Stock more than one to power up Aladdin's attack. | Agrabah |
| Aladdin runs around while swinging his sword, producing Moogle Point orbs. Stock more than one to stun enemies and produce more Moogle Point orbs. | ||
 Jack |
Jack casts Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, or Gravity. Stock more than one to power up Jack's magic. | Halloween Town |
| Jack casts Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, or Gravity. Stock more than one and Jack will cast multiple, more powerful spells. | ||
 Ariel |
Ariel whirls across the field, striking many enemies. Stock more then one to power up Ariel's attack. | Atlantica; after the Room of Guidance. |
| Ariel whirls across the field, striking many enemies. Stock more than one for multiple strikes. | ||
 Peter Pan |
Peter Pan attacks with his dagger. Stock more than one to power up Peter's attack. | Neverland; after the Room of Beginnings.[b] |
Peter Pan attacks with his dagger. Quick taps on  speed up attacks and produce Moogle Point orbs. Stock more than one for more power and duration.
| ||
 Beast |
The Beast mows down anyone in Sora's path. Stock more than one to power up the Beast's attack. | Hollow Bastion; after the Room of Guidance. |
| The Beast knocks enemies towards Sora. Sora can then knock the enemies back to the Beast. Stock more than one for multiple strikes. | ||
 Pluto |
Pluto digs up cards and orbs from the ground. Stock more than one for better items. | All floors |
  The King |
The king restores HP, stuns and deals damage to all enemies, and reloads cards. | All floors except Hollow Bastion.[c] |
Donald Duck[]
Donald is one of the most common friend cards, available at almost any world. The card's effect is Magic, which lets Donald cast two random spells out of four (Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, and Cure). The spells are identical to Sora's, and thus suffer from the same limitations, such as Blizzard's range in the original GBA version. The remake's improved spells subsequently thus majorly benefit Donald's own spells. However, the remake does not change that he will not consider the effect of a spell on an enemy, which can lead to him inadvertently healing an enemy or boss by using their absorbing element on them.
Because the -Ra and -Ga spells are not better damage-wise there is little benefit to using Donald's Magic Lv2 and Lv3 sleights, other than the improved range (for Blizzard and Thunder) and Cure's improved health gain. Blazing Donald, an original version-only sleight is a fairly useless sleight except for very crowded rooms due to Donald's random path. Stardust Blitz is a new sleight in the remake that can deal very high damage (equal to three Firas, if not more), and only requires one Donald and one Fire card.
Goofy[]
Goofy is the other most common friend card, available at almost any world. The effect the card uses depends on the game's version. In the original it is Goofy Charge, which has a medium range with relatively low damage (×4). The double sleight will stun enemies when hit, and in a triple sleight the effect becomes Goofy Tornado, which deals less damage (×3), but can hit multiple enemies multiple times much more easily.
In the remake Goofy Tornado is the default effect when used, with Goofy Tornado Lv2 and Lv3 being the sleights. Goofy Tornado is quite strong, both against large groups and bosses. The Goofy Smash sleight, new in the remake, is a cheap sleight that can deal a respectable amount of damage (up to (×8) at the cost of only a Goofy and an attack card.
Aladdin[]
Aladdin is a friend card only available in Agrabah. Its effect is Sandstorm, although the actual in-game effect differs between versions. In the original when used Aladdin will appear alongside Sora while slashing his scimitar from side to side for three seconds. Sora must run around, thus taking Aladdin along, to let him hit enemies. In the remake Aladdin will go after a targeted enemy by himself, while also making them drop Moogle Point orbs and experience as an added bonus. The damage is always the same (×2), no matter the game. Using Aladdin cards is a viable way to farm Moogle Points, especially when facing large groups of enemies.
The Sandstorm Lv2 and Lv3 sleights only increase the duration; five to ten seconds, respectively. In the remake Aladdin will also stun enemies. Because of the way the card works it is better to just use it singularly rather than trying to get three of them.
Jack[]
Jack is a friend card only available in Halloween Town. Its effect is Surprise!, which is similar to Donald's Magic. When used, Jack will appear and cast a single random spell (Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, or Gravity) at an enemy and then disappear again. Like Donald, Jack's magic suffers somewhat from the same limitations in the original version, although these are largely mitigated in the remake as well. Jack's spell damage is actually slightly larger than Sora's as well, dealing damage equivalent to ×6, ×5, ×4, and 10% HP respectively for each spell. Gravity is the only especially weaker version here.
Jack's Surprise! Lv2 and Lv3 sleights will double and triple the damage, except for Gravity, which gets tripled to a mere 30%, followed by an enormous 90%. Jack's sleights are also special because with each additional card he will also cast an additional spell. This means that the difference between using Jack three times separately, and all at once in a sleight, is at minimum 200% between the total damage outputs, and likely more due to the vastly increased hitboxes.
Ariel[]
Ariel is a friend card only available in Atlantica, specifically after entering the Room of Guidance. Its effect is Spiral Wave, although the actual card effect differs between versions. In the original she will simply whirl from the side to the other side on the screen, striking any enemies on the way. Its damage is average (×4.5) and the strike zone is small enough that it only works well against larger groups of Heartless.
The remake changes the attack to a target-based charge attack, coupled with timed 'interact' button presses to deal additional damage. Upon using the card Ariel will first rush a targeted enemy, followed by hitting it (or another) with a tail whip if the interact button is pressed on time. The rush deals the same damage as in the original (×4.5), and the tail hit slightly more (×5). Spiral Wave Lv2 and Spiral Wave Lv3 add one and two additional rush attacks (both need timed button presses) and double the tail whip damage (×9).
Because the remake's combat area is much larger Ariel's Spiral Wave attack only works well against large groups of Heartless, especially when they are all bunched up. Spiral Wave Lv1 is also the most efficient in terms of damage compared to using the Lv2 and Lv3 sleights, except for the Ursula bossfight.
Peter Pan[]
Peter Pan is a friend card only available in Neverland, specifically after entering the Room of Beginnings, up until the Room of Guidance, and then again in the Room of Truth and afterwards. Its effect is Hummingbird, although the card effect differs between versions. In the original Peter will rapidly dash from left to right and back, until three seconds has passed, dealing damage (×2) upon hitting an enemy. Unlike Ariel's Spiral Wave, Peter will actually aim towards enemies, although he remains most effective against larger groups due to his lower base damage. 3/4/8, 7/9/11
In the remake Peter will target a single enemy with a swipe, followed by a few stabs (all ×2 damage). During the stabbing time the player can rapidly press the interact button to charge up an additional series of stabs after the limited time runs out, which will also generate small Moogle Point orbs with each hit. The total time from start to finish is seven seconds.
The sleights Hummingbird Lv2 and Lv3 will increase the amount of time spent, up to four and eight seconds in the original version, and nine and eleven seconds in the remake. Because of the limited time increase the use of Lv2 and Lv3 is not recommended in the original. As the remake also increases the damage (respectively ×2.5 and ×3) it can be used to deal a massive amount of damage.
Beast[]
Beast is a friend card only available in Hollow Bastion, after entering the Room of Guidance. Both of Beast card's effect and gameplay changed across versions. In the original it is called Ferocious Lunge, wherein he simple appears from behind Sora to rush across the screen, slamming into anything in his path. Beast is quite large, but because he does not spend a lot of time on the field and the damage is low (×2) he is best used against groups.
The Ferocious Lunge Lv2 sleight does absolutely nothing, and the Lv3 sleight only makes it so Beast will first leap and land on a targeted enemy, dealing heavy damage (×4), before continuing towards the side he was facing. Because the Lv3 sleight can actually only hit a single enemy and then immediately run off it is possible to deal more damage by using single Beast cards.
| Hit | Lv1 | Lv2 | Lv3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | ×3 | ×3.5 | ×4 |
| Middle (multiple) |
×1 (x1) | ×2.5 (x3) | ×2.5 (x3) ×3 (x2) |
| Final | ×5 | ×10 | ×15 |
| Total | ×9 | ×21 | ×32.5 |
In the remake Beast's effect is called Furious Volley; Beast will leap onto an enemy and hit it, slamming it towards Sora, who then can hit it back if the interact button is pressed on time, after which Beast damages the enemy for a final time. Failing to hit the button at any time cancels the entire card. The Furious Volley Lv2 and Lv3 each add an additional back and forth between Sora and Beast, as well as increasing the damage for all attacks, which adds up drastically.
The King[]
The King, representing Mickey Mouse, is the only friend card available to Riku. Its effect is MM Miracle, which deals minor damage and stuns every enemy, reloads all of Riku's reloadable cards, and also heals for him 20%. Because Riku has almost no other ways to heal The King is one of his most valuable cards, as it can only be randomly acquired. MM Miracle Lv2 and Lv3 heal 50% and 100%, respectively.
The remake included the Holy Burst and Inverse Burst sleights, which are an effective way to damage large groups of enemies when there is no need to heal during combat.
Pluto[]
Pluto is a friend card only available in the remake. Its effect is Lucky Bounty, while its sleights are Lucky Bounty Lv2 and Lv3. Pluto can appear anywhere, for both Riku and Sora, but only under specific conditions. By default he has 20% odds of appearing, provided you have two or less cards in hand, and nine or less cards total that can actually be reloaded.
When used, Pluto will appear on the field and start to dig, potentially digging up either large HP and MP orbs (three each at Lv1, up to seven and ten for Lv2 and 3), a bone (forces you to drop 10% of your MP when you step on it), unreloadable cards (Three, six, and nine at respectively Lv1, Lv2, and Lv3)< or nothing at all entirely.