Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory Preview – Getting Out of My Rhythm Comfort Zone

I had no doubt that Square Enix knows how to make a rhythm game, especially after falling in love with Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call. However, I still wasn’t sure about Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory, the new rhythm-based Kingdom Hearts game that features music from the series. This was mostly based on my own naivety when it comes to all of the solid music that Kingdom Hearts has to offer.

The current demo of Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory allows you to play through a few tracks from the series. From the looks of it, you are able to choose the game and then pick the song you wish to play from its soundtrack. This is where it hit me, each memorable moment that I had with these games and songs rushed over me and I was completely on board for this adventure.

The rhythm mechanics within the game take a bit to wrap your head around. You run through the song on a path and have three characters on screen. Each character is tied to one out of three possible button presses. It gets confusing when you can press any of these as your action, but there are times you have to press two or all three of them depending on what the song requests.

I just couldn’t seem to find a comfortable pattern to use since it gets more confusing when harder difficulties make you jump and attack while also pressing the two corresponding attack buttons directly after. It’s going to take some getting used to especially when there’s also magic tied to a different button press as well as a glide.

I actually really enjoyed the hectic nature of the songs. The UI is clear and relays exactly what you’re supposed to do. When I was at my best, I could easily jam through the most difficult parts of the song, but one mistake can be taxing as enemies attack your HP.

The best part about this experience though is that I was having a lot of fun. Even when I messed up, the game doesn’t put very much stress on you and the songs aren’t incredibly long to the point where you feel like you’ve wasted time if you die at the bridge of a track.

I’m really looking forward to putting on a pair of headphones and vibing to this new Kingdom Hearts rhythm adventure. I had little hype towards this entry, but after playing and having those memories rush back to me within this new experience was reason enough to interested. On the other hand, I appreciate Square Enix making me question my rhythm skills by creating some unique mechanics that I definitely need more practice with.

---

Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on November 13.