Follow TV Tropes

Following

Awesome Music / Kingdom Hearts

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mom_proud_mode_battle_report.png
When you walk away...

Of all the positives and negatives about each game, one thing that pretty much every Kingdom Hearts fan tends to agree on - as well as outside listeners - is that the music of Kingdom Hearts is more than deserving of numerous pages of Awesome Music devoted to it.

Games with their own page:


Kingdom Hearts χ [chi]

  • "Dearly Beloved", as always, is lovely. This time taking on an adorable music boxy sound, to go with the adorable look of the game.
  • "Before The Daylight", the field theme for Daybreak Town, is a sweet, optimistic little number that captures the innocence of the setting.
  • "Wake Up, World!", the battle theme for Daybreak Town meanwhile, is a catchy, upbeat track that has a modern Sonic the Hedgehog vibe to it.
  • With the update to Kingdom Hearts Union χ [cross] comes a brand-new Dearly Beloved. It's slower-paced compared to the χ [chi] version, but maintains a brisk and cheery feeling.
  • Hand in Hand, remixed from its original fast battle theme into a calmer menu theme for Union χ [cross].
  • Union χ added the slick Twister -Union Mix- to celebrate the tenth anniversary of The World Ends with You.
  • The final credits of Union χ feature one more Dearly Beloved version, incorporating both of the game's own variations on the piece as well as others from the series to form a breathtaking medley that underscores the emotional impact of the story's ending.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue

  • "Simple and Clean -Ray of Hope MIX-", a totally new remix of "Simple and Clean" that plays over the opening.
  • "Dearly Beloved", rearranged for χ Back Cover. Its somber tone sets the mood for the events of the movie, while a heavenly organ and key shifts offer a glimmer of hope for what lies beyond.
  • "Scala ad Caelum" is a beautifully haunting tune that plays in certain scenes during χ Back Cover and Dark Road.
  • "The Master of Masters", the leitmotif for...well, the Master of Masters. Foreboding? Check? Haunting melody? Check. Chaotic dissonance with Shimomura slamming so hard on the piano keys you can hear the clanks? Double check. Nope, this is totally not the theme song for the next Big Bad. Interestingly enough, you can still hear some beautiful bits of previously heard melodies in there - specifically from "Stranded Beyond" and "Nachtflügel", befitting the Master's unpredictable personality and mysterious motives.
  • "The Secret Whispers" and "The Silent Forest". Recognize the names and themes? You should, because these two tracks play for Dwarf Woodlands and Enchanted Dominion respectively. Mixing the original themes together with "Night of the Dark Dream" certainly gives the feeling of their worlds being subsumed into the Realm of Darkness. If only the Castle of Dreams had its own Realm of Darkness version of "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo"...
  • Aqua's theme gets a nightmarish Dark Reprise consisting of piano arranged much like a Scare Chord with sad violins thrown in for good measure. It is used as the boss theme for Phantom Aqua, who embodies all of Aqua's doubts and represents the Realm of Darkness' attempts to break her.
  • The final boss theme for 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-. "Wave of Darkness" had actually become so popular a song that Square-Enix ended up using it as essentially the "unofficial" theme of Kingdom Hearts III, often using the Orchestral version as the main background music of each of its trailers since 2.8's official release.

Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory

  • "Dearly Beloved" gets a gorgeous jazzy cover that perfectly embodies the celebration of Kingdom Hearts's music that is Melody of Memory - and though the game doesn't introduce many new tracks of its own, the mere fact that Kingdom Hearts got a whole game devoted to its music just shows how incredible it is. And as an added bonus, those that have save data for the game on the Switch version can also have this track play in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as well.
  • The credits feature a new version of "March Caprice for Piano and Orchestra" which also turns up the jazz for its "Dearly Beloved" sections.
  • The cutscene just before the end credits features an excellent subtle remix of Yozora's theme.

Kingdom Hearts IV

  • "Reality in the Dark", the theme used in the first reveal trailer, is appropriately every bit as epic as one would hope for. Like everything else leading up to this specific sequel, it takes far more cues from Final Fantasy XV's soundtrack, and it isn't really until the final stretch that the familiar "Kingdom Hearts vibe" really kicks in.

Drammatica and Memória!

  • "Destati" got worked over, adding much more brass and giving a much more epic feel, making the original, once one of the greatest songs in the series, seem meek in comparison.
  • The theme associated with Roxas, "The Other Promise", also gained its own orchestral version. Most of the song is spent building up, but the final climax brings both chills to the spine and a tear to the eye.
  • There's also "Twinkle Twinkle Holidays", an orchestration of the theme used in Christmas Town. While not epic in the same way as the others listed here, it is still worth mentioning.
  • What takes the cake, though, is the masterpiece known as "The 13th Anthology". Yoko Shimomura took every single track within the games that had used Another Side's central theme (and The Encounter), and worked them together into one goosebump-inducing song.
  • Yoko Shimomura's second compilation album, Memória!, has a new arrangement of "Vector to the Heavens", Xion's theme. The 1:30 preview needs to be heard. The full version is the work of angels, no pun intended.
  • Memória!'s version of "Dearly Beloved" is a simple but stunning rendition of the classic theme.

Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts and Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts Field & Battle


Top