Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is the latest entry in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, and it simultaneously takes the series to places it has never gone before and everywhere it already has. Rather than following the events of the story through the eyes of Sora, hacking and slashing their way through countless heartless in their path, players will instead see things through Kairi's eyes. Acting as a direct sequel, the majority of Melody of Memory takes players through the events of the previous games as Kairi's memories, giving the oft-underused character a more important role that fans have been dying to see her in for some time now.
Aside from this narrative difference, the biggest distinction between Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory and other games in the franchise is the gameplay. Melody of Memory is first and foremost a rhythm game, meaning it not only has to stack up against other Kingdom Hearts games, but also notable entries from the rhythm game genre as a whole. Surprisingly, it does this remarkably well, managing to encapsulate everything that makes Kingdom Hearts what it is and wrapping it all up in what ends up being a really enjoyable rhythm game experience.
One of the major benefits of Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is its low barrier to entry. Since the game doesn't advance the story of the franchise very much and instead focuses on retelling the events of previous games, it's perfect for newcomers. At the same time, those long time Kingdom Hearts veterans are given something to hold onto at the end of the story, where Kairi takes a more frontline role for once and drops hints about what the future of the franchise holds. For a series known for being overly complicated and confusing at times, it will do wonders for players to have one place to get the whole picture laid out for them.
Of course, if all players are looking for is a recap of the story of Kingdom Hearts, there are probably better ways to do that. Thankfully, Melody of Memory pulls its weight as a really enjoyable and original take on the rhythm game genre as well.
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is a compilation of over 140 songs from every game in the franchise, and players will hack and slash their way through enemies to the beat of the music. There are three separate buttons for attack, and pressing more than one at a time will cause two or three characters to attack at once rather than just one. There are also ability crystals that allow the party leader to cast spells or activate abilities, and players can also jump in order to hit aerial enemies or dodge ranged attacks. The controls are very simple, but the game's numerous difficulty settings allow it to be challenging regardless of the player's skill level.
Like nearly every Kingdom Hearts game before it, players can choose whether they want to play on Beginner, Standard, or Proud difficulty. Rather than choosing this at the beginning of the game, though, each song has these difficulty levels as an option, and players can change difficulty between songs. This makes for an experience that will never be so hard that it stops player progression, but that can always become harder for those wanting more of a challenge.
The difficulty is further expanded by Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory's three different styles. The standard style plays as described above, with players keeping track of five buttons (at most) throughout each song, but to make things simpler for those players that may be struggling with this, there's also a single button mode. This makes any of the buttons work for any action, allowing players to focus on just the rhythm. On the flip side, there's also a performer style, adding in all the other buttons to the mix as well but allowing for players to get even higher scores on tracks as a result. Finally, the boss battles take things to a whole new level, providing gameplay changes that can really throw players off.
The controls aren't necessarily anything groundbreaking, but where Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory truly shines is, unsurprisingly, its music. These songs may not be as widely recognized as songs from Guitar Hero or as futuristic-sounding as Beat Saber's catalog, but they are musical masterpieces in their own right. Furthermore, there are few other rhythm games that draw the player into the song as much as this game does, and by the end of each track players will find themselves feeling the music more than they ever did while playing through the games they originated in.
As if all this wasn't enough, Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory also includes multiplayer modes as well. Players can traverse these songs with a friend in couch co-op as well, and there's even competitive online play where they'll find themselves sabotaging their opponents and dealing with unexpected obstacles. This sort of above and beyond inclusion is what fans have come to expect from the Kingdom Hearts franchise and Square Enix in general, and should help to provide tons more replayability after completing the main story of the game.
Of course, this isn't to say that Melody of Memory is without its flaws, as there are plenty of things that the game could improve on. For one, though it tries its best, it simply doesn't seem possible to make the convoluted story of Kingdom Hearts make complete sense to a newcomer through a handful of cutscenes. Kairi's recap of the story so far is accurate in every sense, but there are some gaps that could be filled in to give players a better picture of what's going on. To be fair, this is less a fault of the game itself and rather points to some issues with where the franchise is at the moment.
There's also an issue with the way the game represents its four main playable trios. Each set has its own levels and stats much like the other games, but in reality, these are purely an aesthetic choice and don't affect anything in-game. While this isn't really an issue, it would have been nice if it was more clearly laid out. Some players would likely be unsure about switching to a lower-level team thanks to the stat differences, but in reality, those stats don't affect the gameplay at all. Finally, despite taking a central role in this story, some players may feel as though Kairi is still simply used to further the plot for Sora and Riku.
Overall, Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is an astounding take on the rhythm game genre, bringing the expertly crafted music of the Kingdom Hearts series to the forefront. Longtime fans of the series will find themselves drenched in nostalgia as they play through levels like Roxas' theme song or Simple and Clean. Meanwhile, newcomers will be able to discover the story and characters through the lens of great music and gameplay.
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is available now on PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Game Rant was provided a PS4 code for this review.