Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory is a much-needed recap of the whole series up until this point. Building on the Theatrythm principle, Square Enix decided to revisit the story through the music. Instead of just slapping the Theatrythm treatment on the Kingdom Hearts material, they re-imagined the rhythm game aspect from the ground up to better suit the series.
The story so far
The Kingdom Hearts story after 18 years of awesome releases, is a complicated one. Many attempts have been made to make the story a bit more coherent through additions and re-working the originals. After playing most of these Remixes and even getting through the handheld versions of the game, I’m still a bit confused. Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory tries to tie everything together in a great musical way. I relived all these great moments while playing Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory and linked some parts together I mostly forgot. I can finally say I get the full story after completing Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory. All this in a convenient time span of about 10+ hours instead of having to grind for hours replaying the original games.
World tour
You’ll start out in your “gummi ship” to (re)visit immersive worlds. Most worlds aren’t available from the start. Completing the challenges set at the start of each song in a world will grant you colored stars. These stars open up doors currently blocking your path to the next set of worlds. This ensures the story is being enjoyed in a chronological way. At some points, branching paths and side routes will appear. These represent parts of the story that occurred at the same time or even parts that aren’t necessary for the full story. This way the world map visualizes the story helps out a lot in comprehending the story. Completing worlds eventually earns you cutscenes to piece together the full story.
Field Battle, Memory Dive, Boss battle
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory will give you a mix of different rhythm games throughout the world tour. Most of them will be Field Battles. You complete songs by pressing the right button(s) in time with the music and an onscreen prompt while running on a music staff. Each “note” you need to hit is represented by an enemy tied to the world you’re currently playing. Looking at the formation of the enemies in front of you helps you figuring the sequence of “notes” you”ll need to hit. Some require combinations of jumps and hits while others combine buttons to make things yet another bit harder. With memory dives, you replay music video-like stages while floating through the air. These don’t feature enemies but add a few different buttons to mix things up. Boss battles are essentially that same as memory dives but feature an ongoing battle on screen.
Unlock songs to compete against others.
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory does a great job of easing you into the game. The tutorials are short but to the point. After finishing the tutorial you need to start the story campaign through world tour in order to unlock songs. Only after completing 10 songs, you get the option of playing these in “track selection” mode. In Track selection mode you can practice these songs to really nail them down. If you want to see how good you really are, you can start the VS battles mode. Here you’re battling against an opponent. Performing well fills up a trick meter to unleash all sorts of nasty effects on the screen of your opponent. First, you can test out this mode against the AI but eventually, you’ll want to battle other players. Through this mode, you can collect cards and artwork to further add to the memories.
Suit your own ability
Something I needed to mention before reaching an undoubtedly positive conclusion, are the options to make this game enjoyable for any type of gamer. Each song can be played on 3 difficulties with no penalty when you decide to take an easy route. People with less rhythmical skills can still get through this game with enjoyment instead of potential frustration. The “one button” option is the ultimate failsafe if you’re still struggling to get past a certain world. Those who seek a challenge also have the option to take the “proud” difficulty and to even beef it up with the “performer” option. Even with my 25+ years of bass playing experience, I struggled with these harder settings. With that said, I’m certainly attempting a few more of these after writing this review.
Conclusion
The Kingdom Hearts series has great music and visuals. Combining these two into a very original made rhythm game is a no brainer for success. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute I spent with the game. Even without the unfolding of the story, I would’ve loved it. If you need a great way to relive 18 years of Kingdom Hearts games, Kindom Hearts Melody of Memory is a great and fun way to do it.
