They’re fun! I’ve seen many popular RPG series approach the idea of a rhythm game spin-off title, but few of them tend to break conventions. Songs are meant to be played numerous times to encourage players to get the best possible score. At their core, rhythm games involve the player hitting a button in time to the beat of a song. Over-explaining them will do the genre no justice, but I will quickly assume you just shifted into our reality from a parallel dimension. Explaining the “mechanics” of a rhythm game seems rather strange since the genre is pretty self-explanatory. Having said that, wow is this a fun rhythm game. The story recaps feel designed for people who have already played the games, and there were numerous times where I laughed at how lost people would be if they just picked this up based on it looking like a fun rhythm game. I’ll say it upfront though, while this seems to be a good way for newcomers to catch up with the story without putting in the time investment, I would recommend against it. It’s a fun way to wrap up the Dark Seeker Saga in a nice bow, and the new content matches up to what fans are used to with Nomura’s Wild Ride. I won’t touch on this too much (because like with the game, this review will be focused on the gameplay) but I found this to work very well. What story is given consists of narrated recaps of the entire series and around nearly thirty-minute epilogue of entirely new content. Usually, this would be seen as a negative, and I’m sure some of my fellow game critics might have listed it as such, but this ended up being a positive for me. Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is a departure from tradition in this aspect, with the gameplay being the main focus and the story taking the backseat. Usually, the “side games” of the Kingdom Hearts series are equally story and gameplay heavy and might as well all be mainline games. Framed as Kairi looking back through Sora’s memories after the events of Kingdom Hearts III, this game revisits the series with a musical twist. Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is a 3D rhythm game developed by the team that worked on the popular Theatrhythm Final Fantasy spin-off series. The idea of a Kingdom Hearts rhythm game was something I never even knew I wanted, but when it was revealed I was instantly sold. Yoko Shinomura’s talent as a composer needs no further praise, she’s been one of the most well-renowned musicians at Square Enix for ages. Because even though Kingdom Hearts has been sealed away and the main antagonist defeated, we know that there is still much to come of the franchise.In the 18 years that the Kingdom Hearts series has been going, the quality of the music has not only been constant, but has been consistently improving. Melody of Memory could also hint at what's coming for the series in terms of story.

In addition, the release date announcement trailer hinted at a twist involving a young Kairi which will most likely be explored as well. These memories within Kairi could be the key to finding Sora and could provide hints for his whereabouts. Similar to how our own memories work, we'll be following different memories concerning moments, characters, and even locations. Related: Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory – Is It Important To The Story & 9 Other Questions Answered With little to go on, our characters dive into Kairi's memory to search for clues, just as the title suggests. With Kairi back safely, the search is on for Sora as he is still missing after going to save her. And while Re:Mind addressed many questions left unanswered during the third mainline title, it presented plenty of its own. Kingdom Heart's chronology is all over the place but it has been confirmed that Melody of Memory takes place after Kingdom Hearts 3 and its subsequent DLC, Re:Mind.

Kingdom hearts melody of memory review