Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory is a rhythm style based music game that all but guarantees instant success with any fan in the know about theKingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory is a rhythm style based music game that all but guarantees instant success with any fan in the know about the “x Final Fantasy” series and its deep rooted connections to music. S it’s easy to recommend to anyone with even a minor interest in this franchise. Even if you’re completely unaware of any of this, Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory is designed to get you up to speed and immerse you in the experience at hand. It’s an accessible rhythm game that carefully guides the player through the narrative of every major entry in the series, complete with catch-up clips and singalongs into the past. This will provide fans with memories and newcomers with the essentials of an incredible story that has evolved over decades. Newcomers might not know tear jerking songs like the iconic ‘Simple And Clean’ or ‘Sanctuary’, but it’s near impossible to not enjoy the Disney classics. For the Disney fan who hasn’t yet played Kingdom Hearts series, I can’t imagine the surprise you’ll feel as you open up each door of destiny to find new worlds based on stories and characters from the Disney vault. I wish I could relive the experience on my own terms prior to my obsession deep diving every piece of content I could find around the lore on the internet. As a series fanatic that is aware of all the content, there was still much to enjoy about Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory beyond the slivers of extra end-game content. The gameplay is simple but effective. You get three buttons to tap to the beat of combat, but almost every combination has its quirks. You can glide through the air to catch notes, and leap and tag enemies with high combo health bars. It’s super satisfying and easy to get immersed in. I also never felt out of step with the music, especially with a good pair of headphones to help me keep time and drown out distractions. With three difficulty settings available, it’s easy to find your appropriate skill level. It’s the kind of game that’s great to jump in and out of, or to cool down in the evenings and relax to. There’s pressure if you need it, but it’s mostly about taking having an immersive time with a soundtrack filled with complex emotions. Beyond the already successful base game, there’s also an interesting game where you’re earning crafting materials and using items to help you succeed in your mission. To collect these, you’ll need to achieve completion scores on songs and complete optional missions. You’ll also need to pick up crystals you can trade for keys for new songs and collector’s cards, while your merchant will grow in power as you feed it with shards. You’ll complete levels in teams and level them up over the course of the game, while side characters can be swapped in to accent songs specific to their worlds. For fanatics, getting to see official promotional key art of Kingdom Hearts characters and locations up close via the collectables is truly enjoyable, so it’s easy to grind to complete each of the character sets. The Kingdom Hearts series is renowned for its soundtracks, and there’s no better way to appreciate it than by playing Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory. The musical score spans the entire set of emotions from uplifting themes to devastating piano ballads, returning fans will go through the totality of the content all over again. The release of Kingdom Hearts last year gave me such clarity about the importance of music’s memory shaping power and how Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory is the core to that. Many JRPGs live and die through their brilliant soundtracks. Kingdom Hearts is no different in fashion, which is why fans will consider Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory to be such a success. Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory elevates the music of Kingdom Hearts into something more majestic than you can possibly imagine upon your begining of th game. This is a must have for any Xbox owner who is a fan and worthy of owning to those who aren't hard core fans such as myself.… Expand
