Review Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory: a musical review of the saga

The almost unlimited list of video games in the Kingdom Hearts saga expands its limits towards a totally different and groundbreaking mechanic with an iconic universe that is already the history of video games. Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory adapts the entire universe (and universes) created by the saga to date to bring together all of its characters and melodies in a musical game that will not disappoint fans of the saga.

Unique Mechanics: Easy to Understand, Difficult to Master

This time, the game represents scenarios of constant and automatic progress on a pentagram that extends from the beginning to the end of the song. In this way, the characters we control will only act to activate attacks or actions when we press one button or another. This means that the combat doesn't follow the usual wake, but it will be the rhythm that will make us press the button for Sora and company to attack at the right time. Depending on the precision based on the rhythm, we will be given a score for each action, giving us at the end a letter grade based on our failures and combos.

Enemies will approach in front of us, arranged like notes on the pentagram that serves as the floor. We will have to pay close attention, because although in the premise the game does not offer much button interaction, we will have to coordinate with the characters we control so that we do not get damaged by the continuous enemies. We can make Sora attack only, or Donald or Goofy attack on his side. We will also be able to activate a combined attack of the characters to get rid of a barrier of enemies. At the same time, there will not only be enemies on the ground, but there will also be all kinds of flying enemies that will force us to jump and attack in the air. Throughout each level, a chain of aerial notes will appear, forcing us to glide through the air to join all the notes together. With this we will be able to activate combinations of scores and extend the bonus.

There will also be enemies that will launch magical attacks from a distance, so we will have to jump in time. If we add up each element, very complicated situations can occur if we also take into account that we have to hit at the exact moment to follow the rhythm per beat and get the best score

An almost historical tour of the plot of Kingdom Hearts

Beyond the differentiation in the main mechanics, the rest of the details of the saga are adapted; we will be able to equip the classic objects to be able to heal ourselves during each combat, we will have to pass a minimum qualification and level up to go through all the worlds and we will be able to control specific allies according to the world.

We will not only control Sora; the game makes a fairly extensive tour (140 levels and compositions) through all the worlds accumulated in all deliveries to date. Therefore, the respective iconic characters of each Disney world will appear as companions, as well as Roxas, Axel, Xion, Ventus, Aqua and Terra, without missing King Mickey and even Kairi.

As it is a journey from start to finish of each game released to date, we will go through the most outstanding moments in the story. This implies that, beyond enjoying the composition of each universe, we will visit the sequences that advanced the plot in each release

From Kingdom Hearts 1 to 3, Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory becomes a gallery and library capable of making us enjoy the wonderful orchestral composition that made the saga a differentiating work in the ARPG world. And not only will we face heartless, nescient and disembodied; the final bosses will make an appearance to complicate the mechanics and squeeze the most of our musical ability. As for the duration, it is a game that will not take us more than 9 hours, it will also depend on the skill and personal coordination of each one and the chosen difficulty, being the expert the maximum difficulty

The main adventure, called world tour, will not be the only mode that we will be able to enjoy. As we mentioned, the game also becomes a treasure chest of memories, and we will be able to access a museum where we can reproduce the themes by worlds, recreate the scenes and review scores. In addition, we can compete in local cooperative with another person with a selection of the 140 tracks available in the game, as well as an online mode to face other players.

In short, this is not an essential videogame if you want to extend the plot of the saga or face in a conventional way to the mechanics of the ARPG developed in all its installments. It becomes a unique experience that comes as a reward and enjoyment for fans of the wonderful soundtrack of the saga itself through a different way of playing to squeeze the rhythm, sequences and characters in an atypical and challenging way. You will be able to recall the best scenes and go through this trunk of memories to have, in a single game, one of the best soundtracks in the history of videogames.

The best

• Easy to understand and difficult to master
• Measured learning curve
• 140 different tracks
• Replayability
• Simplified mode to improve game accessibility
• Cooperative and online modes
• Compilation of the best scenes of the saga to date

The Worst

• Character modeling from previous generations
• Co-op mode only has a selection of tracks (about 20)

We have made this analysis thanks to a download code for Nintendo Switch provided by Koch Media.