I played Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memories (MoM) so you don’t have to. MoM is essentially a Kingdom Hearts-themed version of Guitar Hero, featuring most, if not all, of the series’ songs. There are only 5-9 buttons for players to hit. When I was younger, I thought Guitar Hero was fun, but I’ve moved on. However, I wanted to play MoM because, like every Kingdom Hearts (KH) game, there's always some important storyline detail that you’ll miss if you don’t play it—and sure enough, there are hints of what’s to come for the franchise. I’m glad my local library had this game available to borrow because, in my opinion, it’s not worth the purchase price unless you really enjoy Guitar Hero. As usual, I’m going to review the game mechanics and go over the story so you don’t have to play it.
Game Mechanics
As mentioned, there are really only 5 essential buttons, plus directional controls, adding 4 more buttons. Three of these buttons perform the same action, but sometimes you’ll need to press 2 or all 3 simultaneously when multiple enemies appear. Fortunately, these three buttons aren’t tied to enemy positions on-screen unless you enable a setting that requires you to hit the correct button to match the enemy's location on the left, center, or right side of the screen.
What’s strange is that for most of the game, you’re playing in one format, but when you reach the Kingdom Hearts III storyline, the format changes dramatically. You still use the same buttons, but now all the characters are flying while clips of the world play in the background. I thought it was odd to have such a change near the end of the game—it would have been better to use that format throughout.
Throughout the game, you’ll have a team of three characters, and I appreciated the option to unlock and switch between different teams:
1. Sora, Donald, and Goofy
2. Roxas, Axel, and Xion (from 358/2 Days)
3. Riku, Komory Bat, and Kooma Panda (from Dream Drop Distance)
4. Aqua, Terra, and Ventus (from Birth by Sleep)
I enjoyed being able to change party members, and each team levels up based on your performance. Leveling up supposedly increases health points, attack power, and defense, but I didn’t notice a significant difference. You also receive items throughout the game, which are said to unlock new songs and other features, but I never figured out how to use them.
One thing I wished for was the ability to change the characters’ appearances. Sora and Riku have used different Keyblades and outfits in other games, so it would have been nice to customize their look. I also wished I could mix up the party, like having a team with Sora, Riku, and Ventus. Additionally, I felt King Mickey should have been in Riku’s party since he’s been a companion of Riku for a while, despite not appearing in Dream Drop Distance. Finally, although this game is about Kairi, we barely see her or play as her until the very end, even though she’s the narrator.
Plot Summary
One of the more surprising aspects of this game is its summary of the KH series, delivered as you play through the melodies. This was somewhat embarrassing for me because, after years of playing these games to understand the story, all I really needed was this one game. I’ve included a video of the all the cutscenes if you’d like to watch it.
For most of the game, you’re re-experiencing the events of past KH games, but during the final melody, “Melody of Memory’s End,” the story actually progresses. After playing for over six hours, we finally learn something new that sets up Kingdom Hearts IV—which, I’ll admit, was a bit frustrating.
At the end of the game, we learn that after Sora vanished while rescuing Kairi, she falls into a deep sleep under Ansem’s supervision, creating a dream world from her memories of Sora to search for clues about his whereabouts (hence the title Melody of Memories). In “Melody of Memory’s End,” Kairi confronts Xehanort, who overpowers her until Sora remotely takes control of her body to defeat him. After Xehanort’s defeat, he cryptically mentions worlds on the “other side.” Ansem describes this “other side” or “fictional world” as a previously unknown realm. When Kairi awakens and reports back to Ansem, the Fairy Godmother arrives, explaining that three keys are needed to find Sora: Riku’s dreams, Kairi’s memories, and the knowledge from a heart of a girl from another reality. As they approach the heart of the girl in Final World, Riku then recalls a dream of a modern metropolis, which the girl identifies as a city in her world called Quadratum. Together, they create a portal to the other reality, and Riku begins his search for Sora while Kairi stays behind to continue her Keyblade training under Aqua.
Conclusion
I’ve included a video of this long cutscene for you to check out. Overall, I didn’t enjoy the game, and I thought the new information revealed in MoM was underwhelming given the time I invested. The girl from the fictional realm knows Sora, yet we don’t know her name or much else about her—just another mystery to add to the list. While I like KH, it often raises more questions than it answers.
In the future, I’ll create a post on unanswered questions and who I think this girl might be. Until then, “Let your heart be your guiding key.”
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