Game Review #4
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory is a rhythm game spin-off with a wide array of songs from every Kingdom Hearts game up to Kingdom Hearts 3. Being my first game in the series, I had no prior connection with the music and characters, but the sheer quality of the songs got me interested in trying out some of the mainline games. I’ve only played Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Final Mix so far, but I’ve enjoyed the music composed by Yoko Shimamura enough to really have fun with this rhythm game.
My experience with rhythm games is mostly with Rock Band and some Idol based games based on anime, but the combat element of hitting enemies instead of just tapping notes made the game feel much more unique. Heartless from each respective Kingdom hearts game appear as enemies that you attack on the beats of the music, giving flashy animations that are a pleasure to look at. This can get a bit distracting when trying to visualize when to hit them since the sound effect of missing a note and being attacked conflicts with the music. I’m easily distracted by other noises so turning down sound effects in the options menu was a must for me.
The controls feel comfortable on the Switch with at least 3 ways to hit regular enemies, it’s especially helpful for alternating sixteenth notes in faster songs by alternating between the shoulder buttons. There’s also an option called Performance Mode where you can use the left and right triggers as extra buttons during songs for more points. They make the game extra difficult with so many button combinations to come at you in what already feels quite difficult in the highest difficulty Proud Mode.
New story elements were added at the tail end of the game, so anyone looking for new content will have to sit through roughly 25 to 30 hours of recap to beat the challenges on each story mode song and unlock more worlds with the rest of the soundtracks and the endgame. Going through levels collecting cards of characters, keyblades, and screencaps truly makes the game feel like a celebration of the series.
