Re:coded is set after the events of Kingdom Hearts II but before the final ending scene. Jiminy is trying to figure out the “Thank Naminé” message that is in his first journal. When a mysterious message suddenly appears in it, Mickey decides to turn the journal into data to figure out what’s going on. That sounds ridiculous, but it isn’t farfetched considering Ansem’s work in Kingdom Hearts II. But weird glitches appear, and the King decides to awaken the Sora in the journal to get rid of the bugs so that the truth behind the message is revealed.
So, yeah, a whole game — now book — about a fake Sora trying to figure out how someone can write random poetry in another person’s cricket’s notebook.
While I criticized Kanemaki’s world-by-world approach in the Birth By Sleep light novel, in Re:coded‘s case, there’s no other way considering the episodic nature of the game. In fact, this makes Re:coded one of the most natural games in the series to make the leap to a light novel. Sora visits a world, defeats the strange blocks and Heartless in order to find the Keyhole, Mickey and the gang try to figure out what’s going on while reminiscing, and it repeats. The shortness of each world works perfectly in a novelization like this, and it isn’t as dark or complicated as many of its brethren. Re:coded is a great relaxing read to just pick up whenever you’re free. If it’s been a while, you can dive right in without feeling lost.
However, it’s so episodic that all you need to read is the final chapter. Re:coded is a junior version of the original game and Chain of Memories, complete with muddled memories and a guide in an Organization coat. Its very few new tidbits continues to warp the story as it adds more “truths” — aka retcons — and shoehorned appearances of certain characters.
Still, there are parts of Re:coded I like. Chip and Dale take an active role in the story, and Mickey and Sora have a relationship more like the king does with Riku. Unlike some of the other Kingdom Hearts novels, gameplay aspects like the System Sectors and collecting pieces of a puzzle work because, of course, this is a data realm. There is also a benefit to reading Re:coded over watching the cinematics on the Remix disc: since it’s not voiced, the identity of the hooded figure remains a mystery.
However, the light novel isn’t subtle about who is behind the mysterious messages. Kanemaki’s adaptation adds narrations, although they still don’t explain why the real Sora wouldn’t be the one to undertake this trial. These thoughts do add some much needed emotional impact to Re:coded. Data-Sora is very much the easygoing, nice guy that the original Sora is, but a lot of his thoughts are more juvenile since he’s newly awakened. I think I would have rather had all of the message deliverer’s thoughts in a single chapter, as it would be something to hold up and solidly say, “Look! This is all new!”
The art also feels lacking. Right at the beginning of the novel, after the color insert of Cloud (why?) and the front cover, there’s a boring image of Jiminy in the Disney Castle hallway. Really, that’s what need an illustration? Not Mickey and friends in the castle or when he meets Sora? Then it’s over 130 pages before another piece of artwork and only one more after that.
So while Re:coded is a generally good adaptation of the game and even improves the story in some aspects, I am reminded of the saying, “You can put lipstick on a pig, and it’s still a pig.” Visiting the datascape worlds doesn’t have the epic journey feel of other Kingdom Hearts games, and it’s a lot of unnecessary embellishment for revelations that could have been delivered in a straightforward manner.