History VideoGame / KingdomHeartsMelodyOfMemory

The thirteenth (excluding remakes) game in Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/SquareEnix's ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, ''Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory'' is a RhythmGame SpinOff that continues the story from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' and its DLC ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIIIReMind Re Mind]]'', and is the first major release in the second MythArc of the series, the Lost Master Arc, following ''Re Mind'' and the standalone expansion ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsX Dark Road]]''. It is co-developed by Creator/IndiesZero, the team responsible for ''VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy''.

The thirteenth (excluding remakes) game in Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/SquareEnix's ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, ''Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory'' is a RhythmGame SpinOff that continues the story from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII [[DownloadableContent Re Mind]]'', and is the first major release in the untitled second phase of the series after the Dark Seeker Saga, following ''Re Mind'' and ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsX Dark Road]]''. It is co-developed by Creator/IndiesZero, the team responsible for ''VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy''.

The game was released for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, and UsefulNotes/XboxOne in Japan on November 11, 2020 and November 13, 2020 for North America and Europe. A Windows PC version was released via the [[Creator/EpicGames Epic Games Store]] on March 30, 2021, alongside Windows PC versions of the previous ''Kingdom Hearts'' installments.

* BelatedBackstory: The game's story sheds some light on what happened to Kairi during the fall of Radiant Garden and how she ended up at the Destiny Islands.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Despite wanting to go further, Kairi's lack of skills with a Keyblade hampers her a few times throughout the search for Sora. She doesn't suddenly get better with a Keyblade just because she wants to. [[spoiler:During the final confrontation with Xehanort in the dream world, she ultimately loses to Xehanort, who is a Keyblade Master with decades of experience. It's for this reason that as much as she wants to join Riku's journey to Quadratum to help Sora, she decides it's wisest that she stay behind to continue her training. This follows through with the endgame events of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'', where Kairi and Lea's status as WellTrainedButInexperienced left them in trouble (per Jiminy's Journal) against Xemnas and Xion, and the ''Re Mind'' battle with Xehanort had Kairi showcasing a WeakButSkilled fighting style next to Sora.]]

* DoubleStandard: [[spoiler: Kairi decides against joining Riku in going to find Sora in Quadratum due to her lack of experience as a Keyblade wielder. This conveniently ignores the fact that Sora and Riku had little experience back when they traveled through unknown worlds back in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'', and seems like just another way for the writers to continue keeping Kairi OutOfFocus. That said, it should be noted that Sora and Riku's involvement in ''KHI'' was largely by lack of choice; Kairi, having the actual ''option'' to train and gaining experience before being thrust into an unknown world, chooses to err on the side of caution.]]

* MusicalNod: The conversation with [[spoiler:the Nameless Star, in which she discusses Quadratum, has the piano part of Yozora’s boss battle theme “Nachtflügel”.]]

* OutOfFocus: ''Union χ'' is mostly ignored in terms of content. Scenes from the game as well as ''Back Cover'' appear as collectible cards and concepts from it are briefly alluded to during Kairi's recap, but the game doesn't appear as a playable segment in World Tour and no original songs from it are featured. This makes sense story-wise as, [[spoiler:as far as the main cast knows,]] there's no one left alive who could have explained the events of ''Union χ'' or ''Back Cover''.
** As said before under ADayInTheLimelight, [[spoiler: Kairi only receives focus in the final 20 minutes of the game despite supposedly being the game's central character. For most of the game, she is merely the disembodied narrator of the series recap.]]

One year has passed since the FinalBattle with Master Xehanort, with the χ-blade relinquished and Kingdom Hearts locked away once more. But while peace in the Realm of Light has been secured, it came at a terrible cost: the disappearance of Sora, who sacrificed himself to revive Kairi after Xehanort seemingly destroyed her. Now, while Sora's allies scour TheMultiverse for any leads to his whereabouts they can find, Kairi has entered a deep slumber to search for answers within her own heart, reflecting on journeys of times past. Will this trip down memory lane yield clues to reuniting with Sora - or could it lead to something even more?

* DoubleStandard: [[spoiler: Kairi is not permitted to join Riku in going to find Sora in Quadratum due to her lack of experience as a Keyblade wielder. This conveniently ignores the fact that Sora and Riku had little experience back when they traveled through unknown worlds back in the first few games of the series, and seems like just another way for the writers to continue keeping Kairi OutOfFocus.]]

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Despite wanting to go further, Kairi's lack of skills with a Keyblade hampers her a few times throughout the search for Sora. She doesn't suddenly get better with a Keyblade just because she wants to. [[spoiler:During the final confrontation with Xehanort in the dream world, she ultimately loses to Xehanort, who is a Keyblade Master with decades of experience. It's for this reason that as much as she wants to join Riku's journey to Quadratum to help Sora, she decides it's wisest that she stay behind to continue her training. Strangely, this is a case of a trope being put back into effect ''after'' it was quite blatantly walked back upon in ''Re Mind'', where Kairi was shown as skilled enough to effectively fight the likes of Xion, Xemnas and (with Sora's help) Xehanort himself, which naturally means that it's a source of division among fans.]]

One year has passed since the FinalBattle with Master Xehanort, with the χ-blade relinquished and Kingdom Hearts locked away once more. But while peace in the Realm of Light has been secured, it came at a terrible cost: the disappearance of Sora, who sacrificed himself to revive Kairi after Xehanort seemingly destroyed her. Now, while Sora's allies scour TheMultiverse for any leads to his whereabouts they can find, Kairi has entered a deep slumber to search for answers within her own heart, reflecting on journeys of times past. But this trip down memory lane won't just yield clues to reuniting with Sora--it will pave the road to a new realm beyond everyone's imagination...

The game was released for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, and UsefulNotes/XboxOne in Japan on November 11, 2020 and November 13, 2020 for North America and Europe. A Windows PC version is set to release via the [[Creator/EpicGames Epic Games Store]] on March 30, 2021, alongside Windows PC versions of the previous ''Kingdom Hearts'' installments.

* RealityEnsues: Despite wanting to go further, Kairi's lack of skills with a Keyblade hampers her a few times throughout the search for Sora. She doesn't suddenly get better with a Keyblade just because she wants to. [[spoiler:During the final confrontation with Xehanort in the dream world, she ultimately loses to Xehanort, who is a Keyblade Master with decades of experience. It's for this reason that as much as she wants to join Riku's journey to Quadratum to help Sora, she decides it's wisest that she stay behind to continue her training. Strangely, this is a case of a trope being put back into effect ''after'' it was quite blatantly walked back upon in ''Re Mind'', where Kairi was shown as skilled enough to effectively fightthe likes of Xion, Xemnas and (with Sora's help) Xehanort himself, which naturally means that it's a source of division among fans.]]

One year has passed since the FinalBattle with Master Xehanort, with the χ-blade relinquished and Kingdom Hearts locked away once more. But while peace in the realm of light has been secured, it came at a terrible cost: the disappearance of Sora, who sacrificed himself to revive Kairi after Xehanort seemingly destroyed her. Now, while Sora's allies scour TheMultiverse for any leads to his whereabouts they can find, Kairi has entered a deep slumber to search for answers within her own heart, reflecting on journeys of times past. But this trip down memory lane won't just yield clues to reuniting with Sora--she will discover secrets that will pave the road to a new realm beyond everyone's imagination...

* RealityEnsues: Despite wanting to go further, Kairi's lack of skills with a Keyblade hampers her a few times throughout the search for Sora. She doesn't suddenly get better with a Keyblade just because she wants to. [[spoiler:During the final confrontation with Xehanort in the dream world, she ultimately loses to Xehanort, who is a Keyblade Master with decades of experience. It's for this reason that as much as she wants to join Riku's journey to Quadratum to help Sora, she decides it's wisest that she stay behind to continue her training. Strangely, this is a case of a trope being put back into effect ''after'' it was quite blatantly walked back upon in ''Re Mind'', where Kairi was shown as skilled enough to hold her own agaist the likes of Xion, Xemnas and (with Sora's help) Xehanort himsef, which naturally means that it's a source of division among fans.]]

* RealityEnsues: Despite wanting to go further, Kairi's lack of skills with a Keyblade hampers her a few times throughout the search for Sora. She doesn't suddenly get better with a Keyblade just because she wants to. [[spoiler:During the final confrontation with Xehanort in the dream world, she ultimately loses to Xehanort, who is a Keyblade Master with decades of experience. It's for this reason that as much as she wants to join Riku's journey to Quadratum to help Sora, she decides it's wisest that she stay behind to continue her training.]]

The game was released for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, and UsefulNotes/XboxOne in Japan on November 11, 2020 and November 13, 2020 for North America and Europe.

* AscendedExtra: The Fairy Godmother, of all characters, [[spoiler: tells Riku and Kairi about the "third key" that will help them find Sora, and brings them to the Final World where they meet said "third key."]] This is quite the step up from her past appearances - before, she was mainly relegated to her homeworld (until it was [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts1 destroyed]]) and had little role in the grand plot.

* AscendedExtra: The Fairy Godmother, of all characters, [[spoiler: tells Riku and Kairi about the "third key" that will help them find Sora, and brings them to the Final World where they meet said "third key."]] This is quite the step up from her past appearances - before, she was mainly relegated to her homeworld(until it was [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts1 destroyed]]) and had little role in the grand plot.

* VillainRespect: [[spoiler:The apparition of Master Xehanort compliments Kairi on how far she's come as a Keyblade wielder, even if she never truly poised a threat to him.]]

The thirteenth (excluding remakes) game in Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/SquareEnix's ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, ''Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory'' is a RhythmGame SpinOff that continues the story from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII [[DownloadableContent Re Mind]]'', and is the first major release in the untitled second phase of the series after the Dark Seeker Saga, following ''Re Mind'' and ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsX Dark Road]]''.

* EldritchLocation: It is revealed that Quadratum -- the SkyscraperCity from the teaser in ''III'' -- is a world from "unreality", a [[TheWorldAsMyth fictional world]] unlike any other world established in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' canon (including the Realms of Light, {{Dark|World}}, In-between, Memories, [[DreamLand Dreams]] and [[{{Cyberspace}} Data]]). The only way anyone can access it is through [[SpiritWorld The Final World]] ([[spoiler:The Nameless Star having come from Quadratum]]) and Yen Sid implies that this was where the original Keyblade Masters where hiding out all this time and that Master Xehanort eventually figured this out, implying that it is a PlaceBeyondTime.

* OutOfFocus: ''Union χ'' is mostly ignored in terms of content. Scenes from the game as well as ''Back Cover'' appear as collectable cards and concepts from it are briefly alluded to during Kairi's recap, but the game doesn't appear as a playable segment in World Tour and no original songs from it are featured.

One year has passed since the FinalBattle with Master Xehanort ended in favor of the Guardians of Light, with the χ-blade relinquished and Kingdom Hearts locked away once more. But while peace in the realm of light has been secured, it came at a terrible cost: the disappearance of Sora, who sacrificed himself to revive Kairi after she was destroyed by Xehanort. Now, while Sora's allies scour TheMultiverse for any leads to his whereabouts they can find, Kairi has entered a deep slumber to search for answers within her own heart, reflecting on journeys of times past. But this trip down memory lane won't just yield clues to reuniting with Sora--she will discover secrets that will pave the road to a new realm beyond everyone's imagination...

* NoAntagonist: In a series first, the game has no real antagonist to speak of, due to the game's nature as a RecapEpisode and coda to the Dark Seeker Saga. Master Xehanort's shadow continues to loom after death, but the main conflict remains Kairi's search for Sora. [[spoiler:While Xehanort does show up as the FinalBoss, his presence is not too large in a game already barebones on new plotlines, and as it turns out he's only an apparation created by Kairi's heart, thus firmly placing the real Xehanort as a GreaterScopeVillain instead of a direct BigBad.]]

* PurpleProse: [[spoiler:Terra-Xehanort engages in a ridiculously wordy monologue after sealing Kairi in The Ark explaining his intent to locate a Keyblade wielder using a Princess of Heart and the consequences in the event that said Keyblade wielder is at a world of neither light nor dark. Especially hilarious considering Kairi is literally a child and likely has no idea what he's on about.]]