In addition to different difficulties, there are also Styles. Pair Style lets two players co-op on the same screen, while Simple Style maps all inputs to one button. Along with experiencing each song standalone, there are also Series Quests, which feature a range of stages for each title. Playing through allows for recruiting different characters.

For those curious about the game, a free demo is currently available, which includes 30 songs. Additional songs are coming in Season Pass 1, with the SaGa Series Pack currently available. The LIVE A LIVE Pack arrives on March 1st, followed by The World Ends with You Series Pack on March 15th, and NieR Series Pack on March 29th.

Progress carries forwards into the full game. Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line will have 385 songs at launch, with 27 tracks available in the DX Version. Each has three difficulty levels – Basic, Expert and Ultimate. An even higher difficulty, Supreme, is playable for about one-third of the tracks.

In addition to separate stages, players can embark on Series Quests, playing through each Final Fantasy title to recruit characters (which then become available in other modes). About 104 characters are available, from Cloud, Tifa and Aerith in Final Fantasy 7 to Lightning in Final Fantasy 13.

Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line is out on February 16th for PS4 and Nintendo Switch. There are 90 additional tracks available as DLC, starting with the SaGa Series Pack launching alongside the base game.

According to the announcement, the demo for Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line will give players access to 30 out of the full game’s 385 songs. These songs will range across three different types: Battle Music Stage (BMS), Field Music Stage (FMS), and Event Music Stage (EMS).

Check out the full list of songs that will be available in the demo below.

Final Fantasy 2:

• The Rebel Army (BMS)
• Battle 1 (BMS)
• Town (FMS)
• Main Theme (FMS)

Final Fantasy 5:

• Main Theme of Final Fantasy V (BMS)
• Four Hearts (FMS)
• Battle 1 (BMS)
• Battle 2 (BMS)
• Mambo de Chocobo (FMS)
• Harvest (FMS)

Final Fantasy 7:

• Opening – Bombing Mission (BMS)
• Let the Battles Begin! (BMS)
• Fight On! (BMS)
• The Chase (FMS)
• Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII (FMS)

Final Fantasy 13:

• Defiers of Fate (BMS)
• Saber’s Edge (BMS)
• Blinded by Light (BMS)
• March of the Dreadnoughts (FMS)
• Desperate Struggle (BMS)

Final Fantasy 14:

• Hard to Miss (BMS)
• On Westerly Winds (FMS)
• The Land Breathes (BMS)
• Serenity (FMS)
• Torn from the Heavens (BMS)
• To the Sun (FMS)
• Nemesis (BMS)

Final Fantasy 15:

• Stand Your Ground (BMS)
• The Fight Is On! (BMS)
• APOCALYPSIS NOCTIS (Uncovered Trailer) (BMS)

Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line is slated to have quite a few songs. With the base game launching with 385 songs, and an additional 27 songs in the DX Version, the Season 1 DLC is also set to add another 90 songs to the game. The first DLC, the SaGa Series Pack, will be released alongside the game.

Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line is coming to PS4 and Nintendo Switch on February 16.

It includes seven songs, including “Ardent Rhythm” from Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song. The LIVE A LIVE Pack is second, launching on March 1st and features four songs, like “Megalomania.” The World Ends with You Series Pack arrives on March 15th with six songs, such as “Your Ocean” from NEO: The World Ends with You.

NieR fans can look forward to the NieR Series Pack on March 29th with five songs (including NieR: Automata’s “A Beautiful Song”). The SaGa Series Pack Vol. 2 launches on April 12th with eight songs, like “The Celestial Protectors” from SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions.

If that weren’t enough, even more characters have been confirmed, unlockable through Series Quests. Check them out below:

Final Fantasy 11

• Shantotto
• Prishe
• Aphmau
• Lilisette

Final Fantasy 13

• Lightning
• Snow
• Hope
• Vanille
• Cid Raines

Final Fantasy 15

• Noctis
• Gladiolus
• Ignis
• Prompto
• Aranea

Final Fantasy 13-2

• Serah
• Noel

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13

• Lightning #2

Final Fantasy Type-0

• Ace
• Machina
• Rem
• Kurasame

Final Fantasy: Record Keeper

• Tyro

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon

• Chocobo

Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line launches on February 16th for PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Head here for more details on the gameplay styles, Music Stages, and more.

Songs from the spin-offs include “Battle 2” (Final Fantasy Mystic Quest), “Today Comes to be Tomorrow” (Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition), and “Battle 1 – Arrange – from Final Fantasy 9” (Dissidia Final Fantasy). Among the various modes is the Museum, where you can listen to music, check CollectaCards and Collector’s Bonuses, watch movies and other videos, and even create playlists. One nice touch with the Switch version is being able to turn the screen off and listen to music.

You can also view records for each mode and Feats (or accomplishments) in the Museum. There’s also Live Info, which shows the high score for a song, along with information on your party and real-time controller input. It can be switched off if you so choose.

Finally, some more characters have been revealed:

Final Fantasy 2

• Firion
• Minwu
• Leon
• Maria
• Guy
• The Emperor

Final Fantasy 4

• Cecil
• Kain
• Rydia
• Rosa
• Edge
• Golbez

Final Fantasy 6

• Terra
• Locke
• Celes
• Edgar
• Mog
• Kefka

Final Fantasy 8

• Squall
• Rinoa
• Seifer
• Laguna
• Edea
• Ultimecia

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

• Benjamin

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

• Ciaran

Dissidia Final Fantasy

• Cosmos
• Chaos

Dissidia Final Fantasy Arcade

• Materia
• Spiritus

Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line is out on February 16th, 2023.

The Music Stages allow for freely playing any unlocked track. Tracks can be sorted by name, series and other filters. Styles will be familiar to fans of the series (or even Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory). There’s Standard Style which is the default control set-up.

Pair Style allows two players to play together on the same screen. During a Field Music Stage, one player traverses the upper lanes while another takes the lower lanes. In an Event Music Stage, one player takes the left lane while the other is on the right.

Simple Style, as the name denotes, simplifies inputs to a single button. There’s no word yet on whether there’s a Performer Style for maximum challenge. ProfiCards are available for checking gameplay records and can be customized with different icons and designs. ProfiCards can be swapped with other players after Multi Battles and even contain a summonstone.

Finally, some new characters are confirmed for the roster. They include:

Final Fantasy 10

• Tidus
• Yuna
• Auron
• Jecht
• Seymour

Final Fantasy 10-2

• Yuna #2
• Rikku
• Paine

Final Fantasy 12

• Vaan
• Ashe
• Baltheir
• Fran
• Gabranth

Final Fantasy 14

• Y’shtola
• Thancred
• Yda
• Alphinaud
• Y’shtola #2

Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line is out on February 16th, 2023, for PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Stay tuned for more details en route to release.

Some of the new inclusions are “Through the Maelstrom” and “Heroes” (Final Fantasy 14), “APOCALYPSIS NOCTIS (Uncovered Trailer)” and “Valse di Fantastica” (Final Fantasy 15), “One-Winged Angel – Rebirth” and “Tifa’s Theme – Seventh Heaven” (Final Fantasy 7 Remake). There are three difficulty levels – Basic, Expert and Ultimate – for all songs. However, one-third of the tracks also have Supreme difficulty, which is the toughest.

Players can look forward to Battle Music Stages where they must defeat enemies to the rhythm of battle music; Field Music Stages with exploration set to field music; and Event Music Stages that feature various memorable scenes from all titles. Series Quests is the new mode with players experiencing each title and unlocking their songs, recruiting new characters and completing quests.

There are 104 characters in total, and unlocking them in Series Quests makes them available in all other modes. These include:

Final Fantasy

• Warrior of Light
• Princess Sarah
• Garland

Final Fantasy 3

• Onion Knight
• Cid
• Cloud of Darkness

Final Fantasy 5

• Bartz
• Lenna
• Galuf
• Faris
• Krile
• Gilgamesh
• Exdeath

Final Fantasy 7

• Cloud
• Tifa
• Aerith
• Barret
• Red XIII
• Yuffie
• Vincent
• Sephiroth

Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children

• Zack

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7

• Cloud #2
• Tifa #2

Final Fantasy 9

• Zidane
• Vivi
• Garnet
• Eiko
• Kuja

Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line releases on February 16th, 2023, for PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

Yes, Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory isn’t just a rhythmic action game. It recollects key moments in the Dark Seeker Saga, like a trip down memory lane with the music softening some of the more inane plot twists (and I mean that in the best possible way).

"Kairi’s story serves as an epilogue and ultimately a transition to whatever the next game has to offer. Nothing more, nothing less."

However, it’s also a sequel to Kingdom Hearts 3: ReMind with Kairi searching through her memories to ultimately lead her to Sora. The overall coalescing of these two themes isn’t as jumbled as you might think but this isn’t a climactic finale on the level of the mainline games. Kairi’s story serves as an epilogue and ultimately a transition to whatever the next game has to offer. Nothing more, nothing less.

And that’s perfectly fine because it keeps the focus on the rhythmic gameplay. Melody of Memory sees you choosing a team and venturing to different locations in World Tour mode, each having their own stages and objectives. The majority of them consist of Field Battles where your team runs down a track, battling various Heartless, Nobodies and so on to the beat. You can equip different items to restore health at key moments, increase item drop rate and XP gain, and even summon King Mickey to act as a fourth party member. Teams can be leveled up for increased stats while leveling the item merchant will unlock new recipes.

"The design of each beat map is also incredibly pinpoint, matching the song’s rhythm while providing some unique challenges."

Attacking a singular enemy is easy enough – simply press X on the PS4 controller, for example – but there are moments where two or three enemies must be attacked simultaneously. At this point, you default to pressing L1 and R1 or L1, R1 and X together. Jumping over enemy projectiles with Circle, which is also used to eliminate mid-air threats, or hitting Triangle to unleash magic against larger foes are also a thing. Some Disney-based stages also throw in a guest character like Hercules, Beast or Mulan, and while they don’t really add much in terms of unique abilities, they do provide bonuses when hitting certain beats in the tracks.

World Tour kicks off in very modest fashion but as you progress, it starts throwing tougher beat maps at you. This is where the game shines though – from Destiny Islands to Olympus Coliseum or the upbeat tones of The Promised Beginning to the somber End of the World, Kingdom Hearts still offers some of the absolute best music in gaming. The selection here is top-notch, deftly evoking the emotion and nostalgia of key story arcs.

Utada Hikaru’s tracks, namely Simple and Clean, Sanctuary and Don’t Think Twice, are also included along with classic Disney riffs like Under the Sea and Let It Go. The design of each beat map is also incredibly pinpoint, matching the song’s rhythm while providing some unique challenges. Perhaps the only real criticism of the stages is their backgrounds – they can be fairly repetitive. Some, like the Steamboat Willie stage, are the exception rather than the rule.

"The graphics quality throughout can also be uneven. While the general art direction for the series’ various titles is good, several environmental aspects and cutscene characters look a bit rough."

Boss Battles are also here, though they work in slightly different fashion. You’re essentially dealing damage and guarding against enemy attacks, both determined by the precision of your inputs. There’s more variety to be had though, with long presses and directional presses with the joysticks on top of the usual controls. Overall, they’re fine but don’t really capture some of the more climactic moments from certain fights. Remember when Sora and Riku deflected the dome of lasers created by Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts 2? Or the flying shoot ’em up section? Neither are here. While Square Enix and indieszero didn’t have to bring these kinds of set pieces into all of the stages, a few mix-ups in the boss fights – which are few enough as is – would have been great.

The graphics quality throughout can also be uneven. While the general art direction for the series’ various titles is good, several environmental aspects and cutscene characters look a bit rough. Also, oddly enough, certain cutscenes (like from 358/2 Days) look slightly worse than expected, either due to compression or some other issue. Some may also take issue with many finer plot points of the saga – – like the interactions between the main cast and Disney characters – but the various cutscenes do their job well enough. But it goes without saying that this is a mere substitute for experiencing the series first-hand and the complete omission of any Final Fantasy characters feels wrong, especially given how significantly they contributed to earlier titles.

Each stage offers different objectives to complete, which can range from defeating a certain number of enemies to hitting every barrel and box available. Some require completing different conditions in Proud Mode (which ups the number of inputs and damage received) or defeating a cumulative number of foes. Completing objectives contributes to unlocking stars to progress forward but you don’t need to do everything to finish the main story. They do add to the replay value though, especially when dropping materials for crafting different items like Concept Art, Profile Icons and additional Memory Dives.

"It might be niche in many aspects but serves as a stellar recap of the saga’s most iconic moments."

Speaking of Memory Dives, they’ll pop up at certain stages in World Tour, capturing key moments from worlds like Monsters Inc. or Big Hero 6 (and looking incredibly sharp in the process). But it’s the crafted Memory Dives for specific characters which are especially nice as they take you on a tour of their memories. Brief as these various snippets may be, it’s peak nostalgia.

But that’s not all. There’s also Performer Style, which adds L2, R2 and Square as additional “bonus” beats. These beats aren’t mandatory to press but can increase one’s score further, and also add a nice challenging layer to songs along with Proud Mode. While online play couldn’t really be tested, I had a blast competing in offline ranked battles with AI opponents. It’s a lot more fun than you’d think especially with Tricks coming into play.

These are debuffs, like invisible indicators or fake targets, that can be cast on your opponent when successfully chaining together beats, though the same can also be applied on you. Far from being a nuisance, I loved the additional challenge and gameplay variety they provided. Hopefully, a future update adds them to World Tour mode as well, if only as an optional modifier.

With over 140 songs, excellently designed beat maps, a variety of different modes and difficulties, solid gameplay mechanics and the raw appeal of reliving the entire Dark Seeker Saga, Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is a fun experience. Despite its imperfections, there’s a lot to sink one’s teeth into, whether they love rhythm games or the franchise. It might be niche in many aspects but serves as a stellar recap of the saga’s most iconic moments.

This game was reviewed on PS4.

The Dark Seeker Saga, Retold

The short version of Melody of Memory’s story is that it retells the Dark Seeker Saga, starting from Kingdom Hearts 1 all the way up to Kingdom Hearts 3. Players will relive key moments from each title through Kairi, following the epic conclusion of Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMind. This is more than just an homage though.

Continues Kairi’s Story

According to series creator Tetsuya Nomura, Melody of Memory is a continuation of Kairi’s story and following her memories of events thus far, a “timeline that will connect to the future” will begin to form. Though Melody of Memory isn’t a huge step forward for the overall story, it does go into more detail on Kairi’s childhood with characters like Riku making appearances. For all intents and purposes, however, this is a greatest hits version of the series, both in terms of story moments and music so don’t expect too much plot.

Rhythmic Action

QTE sequences in various games aside, the concept of a rhythm action game for Kingdom Hearts isn’t necessarily new. It was actually Masanobu Suzui, who created the Theatrythm Final Fantasy series, that approached Nomura for a Kingdom Hearts take on the formula. This was several years ago and it took Disney’s intervention to ultimately approve the idea. The gameplay should be familiar to any rhythm game fan though – you press the corresponding button as it appears on the track in line with the beat to take down enemies. Aerial attacks and skills from the series also come into play.

Missing inputs will cause one’s HP to deplete and there are three different input schemes to choose from – Normal Style with the standard inputs; One-Button Style where one single input is used for every action; and Performer Style that features much more complicated inputs.

Difficulty Options

Along with different schemes that change the complexity of inputs, each song has three difficulties to play at – Beginner, Standard and Proud. If this is similar to other rhythm games, then the difficulty influences the number of inputs and how badly a miss affects your HP. It should also be interesting to see how, say, a Proud difficulty song functions in Performer Style versus Normal Style.

Parties

Each stage is played with a party of three. There’s Sora, Mickey and Donald, the mainline series’ staple team; Terra, Aqua and Ventus from Birth by Sleep; Roxas, Axel and Xion from 358/2 Days; and Riku with two Dream Eaters (for some reason). You’ll start out with Sora and friends but once the other teams are unlocked, they can be used in any song at your leisure.

Over 20 Playable Characters

There are more than 20 playable characters in the game but you’ll also team up with various Disney characters who act as guests in your party. Thus far, Simba, Beast and Mulan have been seen participating in battle but Aladdin and Hercules are also included. What other Disney characters could pop in for cameos? We’ll have to wait and see, though it’s probably safe to discount characters like Elsa who weren’t playable in the games they appeared in.

World Tour

World Tour is the main story campaign. It sees players venturing to several different worlds in the Kingdom Hearts universe, and playing their songs while fighting enemies. Different story movies are also featured in each world. Though the Gummi Ship is used to travel between worlds, it doesn’t have its own dedicated shoot ’em up game.

47 Worlds

In total, there are 47 worlds to explore with 31 based on famous Disney locations. You’ll explore worlds through Field Battles, playing different songs while rhythmically dispatching foes and completing different “missions” such as clearing a stage with 50 percent HP or more without using items. Along with these worlds, there are also 33 locations categorized as dark holes, which we’ll get to in a bit.

Memory Dives

Memory Dives see your party essentially diving into cinematic scenes from the series set to music while playing to the rhythm. These Memory Dives aren’t just confined to vocal tracks like Utada Hikaru’s Simple and Clean either – some may be as simple as navigating Kairi’s memories while an instrumental track plays.

Boss Battles

Of all the sequences in Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, boss battles may be set in the most traditional perspective. They see your party battling against foes like Maleficent in the aforementioned dark hole locations and pressing inputs in line with the music to execute attacks and avoid special attacks. We haven’t seen too many boss battles thus far but we expect foes like Ursula from Little Mermaid and Pete from the Mickey Mouse series to also be featured.

COM Versus

Once you’re done with the World Tour mode, there’s COM Versus to tackle. This sees the player facing off against the AI, competing against “five parties” (as Square Enix describes it). It’s an offline mode with the ultimate objective being to hit Platinum Rank 1. As a pseudo-ranked mode of sorts, it’s pretty interesting and could keep players busy for a decent amount of time.

Over 140 Songs

This all probably wouldn’t work without a huge selection of songs and fortunately, Memory of Melody has fans covered. It features over 140 songs, from Simple and Clean in Kingdom Hearts 1 to “Let It Go” from Frozen featured in Kingdom Hearts 3. Tracks from Birth by Sleep, Dream Drop Distance, 358/2 Days and even the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra -World Tour- Album are also here, and you can unlock and play them via Music Select or the Museum Mode.

Double Play and Online Versus

If you feel like playing alongside a friend, then there’s Double Play which sees two players controlling Sora and Riku and racking up the highest score together. The more competitive-minded players have Online Versus which involves competing against a friend while also using “Tricks” – like switching HP bars or hiding the timing indicators on inputs – to trip them up. Switch players can partake in Friend Versus which is described as a local mode to play against friends, though it features the same content as Online Versus.

Friend Battle Royale

But that’s not all. The Switch version also has its own free-for-all local mode called Friend Battle Royale. It sees eight players on a single Field Battle, competing to earn the highest score. Players who miss a certain number of inputs are eliminated. It’s an interesting mix of battle royale and rhythm game mechanics that should prove fun, though getting eight friends together for maximum hijinks could be tough.

No Secret Movie

Unfortunately for Kingdom Hearts fans, there is no “Secret Movie” to be had. Nomura confirmed this to Famitsu so don’t go expecting a hidden ending or cutscene that teases the next title. It’s a shame but perhaps for the best, lest Nomura sneak in more Final Fantasy Versus XIII references.

Ahead of its release next month, Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory has a free demo available across all platforms. It contains six tracks out of more than 140, providing a strong sampler of the gameplay. The tracks in question, as outlined by PlayStation Blog, are:

• Welcome to Wonderland
• Hand in Hand
• The Rustling Forest
• Wave of Darkness I
• Sinister Shadows
• All for One

Sora, Donald and Goofy are playable in the first four tracks as players progress through Field Battle stages and defeat enemies. There’s even a short tutorial outlining how to play the game. For those interested in the co-op aspect, the last two tracks support local co-op play. It’s also possible to experiment with different play styles, either going with the easier One Button set-up for every single input or Performer for more complex inputs.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is coming to Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch on November 13th worldwide. Along with going through events from the entire Dark Seeker Saga, it also continues Kairi’s story from Kingdom Hearts 3: ReMind. Stay tuned for more details en route to its release next month.