Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory uses one of the franchise's most defining features to expertly craft a love letter to the series. Whether you're a longtime fan or a newcomer to the franchise, the wealth of content included in this package is incredibly worthwhile.

Considering I wasn’t a fan of KINGDOM HEARTS before I tackled Melody of Memory, I’m shocked by how much fun I had playing it. Not only did it bring back fond memories of Theatrhythm, but it made me more than a bit eager to dive into some other KINGDOM HEARTS games. This mixture of Square Enix and Disney is a novel idea in a world full of pale imitations, if nothing else. While the game isn’t quite perfect, it came pretty darn close. If you’re a fan of music games or just love KINGDOM HEARTS, you really can’t go wrong here.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is a celebration of the Kingdom Hearts that has come before, and a tease at what it next has to offer, albeit not in gameplay form. Addictive, nostalgia-inducing rhythm gameplay is at its fullest in this cohesive and chunky package.

If you like Kingdom Hearts, and you like the music of Yoko Shimomura, I would personally call Melody of Memory a must buy. Just don’t expect to find a blowout story reveal buried in this title, and you should find yourself bopping along to the rhythm and having fun in no time.

For as messy as Kingdom Hearts is, for all of its flaws, the series has a lot of heart and emotion that’s been beautifully conveyed through the music over the years. With Melody of Memory, I got the chance to re-experience many of the tumultuous emotions that I’d felt since the beginning and reconcile them. This was a series I once adored and recently began to feel disenchanted with, but this game reminded me of joy I’d felt hearing each song for the first time over the years. And while the package could be better, and I wish I enjoyed playing it more, this feels like the only way to cap off the Dark Seeker Saga. Whether I’ll be back for the next Saga, I’m not sure, but Melody of Memory captures my journey with the series perfectly: we’ve had our ups and downs, but ultimately, Kingdom Hearts has been influential in my life, and I don’t regret seeing the series through.

What most winds up dragging down Melody of Memory, ironically, is that it tries too hard to be a Kingdom Hearts adventure rather than a cohesive rhythm game. [Issue #50 – January/February 2021, p. 69]

The rhythm game developed mainly for the Kingdom Hearts fans recycles old material (the story consists of cutscenes from previous games of the series), but makes an interesting use of it, offers plenty of content and is overall well-designed. [01/2021, p.66]