I bought Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory from iTech Philippines back in November 2020, and I have played it on and off since then. I gotta say, for a seemingly simple Nintendo Switch rhythm game, this has been such a fun pastime. Here’s the OMGluie game review!
I know it has been forever since I’ve put my thoughts out there on a video game and I thought I’d ease myself back into it by talking about something not that complicated. Ironically, this game is far from “not complicated”, HAHAHA.
KH: Melody of Memory – Story
To lay it out there, yes, Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is still part of the Dark Seeker Saga and can somewhat be called a sequel to Kingdom Hearts 3.
The short story campaign is narrated through Kairi – an exciting new concept due to the fact that most Kingdom Hearts games are told through the eyes of the main characters such as Sora, Riku, Roxas, or one of the three in Birth by Sleep. This is the first time you have Kairi as the main voice over in a KH game.
As someone who has completed the main campaign of the rhythm game, I can confirm that the end scenes tie together with Sora’s fate after KH3. You even get a glimpse of what Kingdom Hearts 4 may be about. And I say this apprehensively because this is Nomura we’re talking about, and that man has a weird blackhole of a brain for story plots, LOL.
If you’re looking for a Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory secret ending, interestingly enough, you won’t find one in this game!
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory Gameplay
If you’re familiar with Final Fantasy’s Theatrhythm series, KH: MoM plays very similarly. Both are rhythm games! You basically follow on-screen button prompts to the rhythm of the music track. Simple, right?
Yes, but what I like that most is that they’ve added a lot of really cool new features that make it much more complicated than the FF: Theatrhythm ones.
When starting the game, you are first introduced to “World Tour” mode where you unlock worlds by completing missions as you go through the whole Kingdom Hearts story. You can even fly between worlds in your good old Gummi Ship, LOL.
The game also has Track Selection, and Co-Op or Versus Modes. These are self-explanatory but what I like the most is that it offers a variety of ways to play so the game doesn’t become too repetitive. Co-Op mode is really fun, especially if you’re playing with another Kingdom Hearts fan.
Like in Theatrhythm, there are different types of music stages. The stage layout and button prompts change, depending on whether you’re in a boss fight or a music video stage. I was actually dumbfounded the first time I had to go through a boss fight because the layout was completely different from the normal music stages found in the game.
They also found a great way to incorporate the series’ old practice of Synthesizing. You can synthesize using rewards you earn or treasure you find at the end of each stage. You can synthesize recovery items for healing HP or materials to create a special music stage that features a full-length song from a specific Disney film!
Kingdom Hearts: MoM – Visual Graphics & Audio
The music stages are still done in 3D as with most of the KH games. The stage layout is done differently from Theatrhythm’s horizontal one and can get quite confusing. The path twists and swerves, sometimes blocking incoming notes so it’s hard to see when to hit them.
The enemies you encounter are your button prompts, basically. And these enemies all come from the KH universe. They also change depending on which world you’re in, and which KH game you’ve already progressed into!
Uh, the Kingdom Hearts: Memory of Melody songs are nothing to laugh about. The series has 10 games under its belt and each World in KH: MoM has at least 1-2 songs. So that’s, uh, over 140 tracks in the game. … SO MANY SONGS TO CHOOSE FROM. But I mean, the Kingdom Hearts fan in you will thoroughly enjoy the variety of choices and of course, the musical journey.
KH: MoM – Experience & Impressions
Okay so, I know that this isn’t a big game that came out in 2020. But it is for me. I’ve loved the two Final Fantasy: Theatrhythm games and have been itching for another since Curtain Call for the 3DS. I. HAVE. BEEN. LITERALLY. DYING. FOR. A. RHYTHM. GAME.
And you know what, Kingdom Hearts: Memory of Melody really delivers! It’s a super casual game that you can boot up when you just want to chill. You can even play the songs you’ve unlocked in a Jukebox feature within the game for a sound trip. It is such a great palate cleanser. Huhu. It makes me so happy.
There are collectibles in the game, too, but I haven’t been bothered with them, really. You’ll be able to unlock Keyblades, artworks, and more, as long as you keep playing through tracks!
Overall, I’m just very impressed by KH: MoM. I know I sound like a broken record to all of my friends, saying that I hate KH, WHICH I DO, but this game, ooooh, this game, I really love. If you’re a KH fan like me, and you have extra bucks to spare, you wouldn’t regret purchasing a copy. 🙂
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