04. Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory || PlayStation 4 || 02.20.22
After having not played any Kingdom Hearts entries in nearly three years, I finally felt ready to delve back into the series by playing the spin-off title Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory. Unlike every game prior to it, Melody of Memory departs from the accustomed action-RPG genre and instead adopts the rhythm genre.
In many ways, Melody of Memory is a celebration of what all the series has accomplished so far and is by every means a game that has fans in mind. With that said, the story campaign takes you from the very first entry up to the Re:Mind DLC for Kingdom Hearts III and even onward. As players steadily progress through 150 stand-out songs from across the entire franchise, story narration paired with spliced cutscenes are featured. I found this added aspect successful, as it allows for the entire narrative to be presented succinctly so that even those foreign to the series have some understanding of the overall plot. Even as a series veteran myself, these elements were greatly appreciated as additions to the overall product as, for some of the later titles in particular, the plot details for each become less familiar as I've generally played these only once before.
As a rhythm game, Melody of Memory is nothing impressive and certainly doesn't elevate the genre into some greater. However, it is a solid and fun game. Through the game, there are three types of music stages: Field Battle, Boss Battle, and Memory Dive. While all three stage types vary in terms of presentation, player input is largely the same in that successfully timed button and analog stick presses are needed. At the same time, three different play styles are also available for players to choose (Basic, One Button, Performer) while three difficulty settings (Beginner, Standard, Proud) can be toggled on a whim. Lastly, a versus mode is also available for either a second player to join in playing against or by battling a COM opponent. In regards to available content, I was genuinely pleased.
Accompanying each song through the campaign, various objectives are set to be completed. Overwhelmingly, I personally found the majority of these to be simple enough for all player of any skill level to clear. To continue advancing through the campaign, successfully accomplishing these goals are necessary, although perhaps only 50% are required. On that note, I found that at least 80% of objectives were simple enough for most players to be able to accomplish, with the number rising if a fair amount of practicing was completed for those being challenged. Alongside the campaign, both an in-game achievement system and in-game gallery are also included. These aspects are entirely optional for players to explore, while completitionists will certainly be required to spend an extensive amount of time for collecting everything.
While far from perfect, Melody of Memory does have its faults. As far as the gameplay itself, my only notable concern is how the Memory Dive music stages function. While the required player input is no different from other music stage types, video cutscenes play full-screen in the background. It is a nice thought to feature and certainly something that could have been great, but I experienced slight lag as required button press markers advanced for me to follow which did affect my completion score. I admittedly was a little surprised to be experiencing this problem with the PlayStation 4 version, as I would have expected this sort of issue to only be with the Switch port. On the other hand—and outside of the gameplay—my biggest problem is in regards to the game's collectibles. With over 500 unique gallery items to collect, two types exist for each, with the second type more uncommon. This means that there are over 1,000 items to collect. However, this is not an issue in itself. The issue is that acquiring duplicates is possible and is a common occurrence. I've ready accounts elsewhere of completitionists attempting to truly 100% the game—they've mastered every song in of all three difficulties and accomplished every other feat, but they are still desperately trying to complete the gallery which is disheartening.
Overall, Melody of Memory is an entry that veteran fans should not ignore. As I played through each song and the campaign, being able to revisit timeless music tracks from the series was refreshing while offering a fair challenge for me to best. Of the 354 campaign objectives, I've completed 353. I'm not personally concerned with the in-game accomplishments, but the in-game gallery is something that is enticing as a thought, but the reality in how it operates is certainly off-putting. I won't be putting in that much more time into the 20 hours or so I've already given it as I do wish to earn a Platinum trophy (which is much more simple than in-game achievements), so it is something I've dropped yet.
