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The next Kingdom Hearts entry is a rhythm game with big lore implications

By Tim Augustin - on 17 Jun 2020, 3:26pm

The next Kingdom Hearts entry is a rhythm game with big lore implications

Image: Square Enix

Oh, Kingdom Hearts. Never change. 

Square Enix surprised everyone by revealing a new Kingdom Hearts game yesterday: Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory. It will be the first Kingdom Hearts game to launch on the Nintendo Switch, also releasing for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One later in 2020. 

The trailer is currently only available in Japanese. Watch it below:

As far as titles in the franchise go, Melody of Memory is no 358/2 Days or Re: coded, but it’ll do. This entry is a rhythm game that features 140 fan favourite songs from the franchise, as well as a couple familiar Disney characters from previous games. The trailer showed off Hercules, Aladdin, Donald and Goofy - but more will probably be included. 

So it’s a rhythm game. No big deal, right? Hardly the weirdest entry in this weird franchise. Halfway through the trailer however, the video glitches out and we start seeing Kingdom Hearts 3-like cutscenes. The story focuses on Kairi, who fights off Heartless and later watches the Master of Masters unveil themselves. The Master of Masters was hinted to be the next major antagonist in the series in Kingdom Hearts 3. 

Out-of-nowhere rhythm-based gameplay with heavy story implications? Yep, this is a Kingdom Hearts game, alright. Franchise director Tetsuya Nomura (who also helmed the Final Fantasy 7 Remake) has confirmed that Kingdom Hearts 3 was the end of the franchise’s first phase of stories. Might we see the next one kick off in Melody of Memory?

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