Even if it's a spinoff title, depending on the nature of the game I'll most likely grab it if it has the Kingdom Hearts name on the box art. Melody of Memory is certainly a more nostalgic approach to the overall history of the franchise. Positioned as a rhythm game in the vein of games like Theaterhythm, you play through the history of Kingdom Hearts as detailed through Kairi's memories. Over 100 songs are at your disposal as you play through the story. Each song upon completion can then be played as often as you'd like through Track Selection. The songs themselves are split up into three categories. There's the common Field Battle where your trio of characters (4 teams to choose from!) run along a music stanza and you clear through enemies following the timing of the beat. In addition, there's various modes of play that you can set for each song.
There's the Standard mode which involves four buttons and one of which is designated to abilities. One button mode is pretty self explanatory and then there are the boss stages which are super enjoyable and can be quite tense at times! There's definitely a lot of things done in threes here. The last additional mode is known as Performer mode which really turns the game into a DDR experience. The 3rd other type of track is what's called a Memory Dive where you fly through the air experiencing a montage of cutscenes related to the track name. I found myself humming to many songs that are synonymous with my own life and had a blast playing through the story. It's odd for sure to have the new story content mainly show up at the end of the game but it has me craving its continuation after the madness that was the ReMind DLC from KH3. I was also very impressed at how it looks for the Nintendo Switch though I did notice some massive frame rate drops when it came to flying through the Memory Dive cutscenes.
Outside of the single player efforts, you can either participate in local co-op with a friend or take the fight online with other players. Utilizing tricks to slip up your opponent as you maintain a full chain and while I have yet to try this mode myself, watching it being played on YouTube was very addicting!
As the Dark Seeker saga comes to a close, Melody of Memory really serves as a love letter to all the Kingdom Hearts fans that have been with the series from the beginning while giving a coherent summary of all the titles leading up to now. Even when you clear the short main story, there's still lots more you can do such as increasing your song ranks, trying out songs on other difficulties and collecting the massive set of pictures, movies and cards showcasing the breadth of the franchise.
Should you Play this Game?
Yes! Newcomers to the franchise can experience one of the key aspects to the series with its music and have a solid understanding of the plot through Kairi's summaries. While fans of music games and KH will have an absolute blast jamming through some of their favorite tunes alongside memorable characters.
