Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory Screenshots detail gameplay modes, music styles, online modes, and more
Square Enix has posted new screenshots and information for Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, the upcoming rhythm game entry into the series.
Various outlets have gone live with interviews regarding Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory as well. In an interview with Dengeki, co-director Masanobu Suzui states that no DLC is planned for the game. In an interview with Famitsu, Tetsuya Nomura states there is no usual 'Secret Movie' in the game. In a discussion with Nintendo Enthusiast, Nomura stated there are currently no plans for more Kingdom Hearts games on Switch, citing technological challenges. Other interviews can be found at GameInformer, Twinfinite, NintendoLife, and more.
Our translation of the gameplay details can be found below. Screenshots and character renders can be found in the gallery.
Basic Operations and Modes
- Party system: A lot of characters from KH series will appear as playable characters. For teams other than the Classic party (Sora, Donald, Goofy), once they have unlocked, you can switch to them again anytime. One example of another party is the Days team (Roxas, Xion, Axel).
- Basic gameplay system: Press buttons at the right timing with the tunes and appearing enemies. You will get Excellent, Good, or Miss depending on the timing. You will definitely want to avoid Miss because your HP bar will take a hit, eventually causing a game over.
- World Trip: A mode where you travel around the memory worlds and obtain songs as well as story movies. There are 3 difficulty levels for each song: Beginner, Standard, & Proud. Unlocked songs will be added to Music Select, while story movies will be listed in the Museum.
- Museum: You can view collection features here, such as Collection Cards and Music Player.
Music Select Styles
- Normal style: The basic play style where you play with few buttons.
- One-button style: All actions can be done by just pressing a single button. Recommended for people who want to focus on the rhythm without worrying about input methods.
- Performer style: Uses even more buttons than Normal Style, as well as complex inputs. Recommended for people who like to press buttons in a more technical way.
Stage Variations
- Field Battle: A stage where you run on the music staff lanes, while beating enemies with various actions like aerial attacks and abilities, while following the rhythm. The background is created from memories.
- Memory Dive: A stage where you dive into memory videos. Hit the inputs in accordance with the flowing targets, and you will feel an immersion, like being linked with the video.
- Boss Battle: A stage where you input targets to beat the boss. Succeed in inputting targets shrouded in dark aura to evade the boss' special attacks.
Versus Modes
Online Versus
A mode where you can compete with a faraway player through the internet. There is an obstacle feature called Trick that is exclusively available in Versus Mode. Using these Tricks will make the score battles more exciting.
Local Friend Versus (Nintendo Switch Only)
A mode specifically available through Nintendo Switch's local connection. The content is the same as Online Versus, but you can play locally with a nearby player.
- Trick - Hide Guide: Becomes temporarily unable to view the timing guide to the targets
- Trick - HP Change:Swaps the HP between the player and the rival, allowing comeback opportunities.
COM Versus
A mode where you aim to get a high rank by fighting CPU offline. If you win 3 times out of the matches with 5 parties, your rank will increase. The highest rank here is Platinum Rank 1.
Friend Battle Royale (Nintendo Switch Only)
Another Nintendo Switch-exclusive mode where up to 8 players can play Field Battles together locally. The player with the highest score wins at the 1st place, and a Miss Threshold can be set to determine how many misses are allowed before a player gets disqualified.
Double Play Mode
A Co-Op mode that uses two controllers on a single screen. One controls Sora, while the other controls Riku. Both players can aim for a combined high score.
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is set to release on November 11 in Japan and on November 13 in North America and Europe for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
