Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory will be taking us through a nostalgic journey from the original 2002 PS2 title to hopefully all the way to Kingdom Hearts 3 and beyond. Yoko Shimomura's soundtracks across the 18 year-long series history leave a huge pool of songs for Square Enix to choose from. However, the following tracks absolutely must be included.

"Dearly Beloved"

Birth By Sleep Main Menu Aqua
via Disney and Square Enix

This is the most important track from the library as it's the main menu theme we all know and love. With each entry, Shimomura has been able to leave a unique twist to the song and she shows how flexible it is. It needs to be a part of the game, but which version should they choose? Kingdom Hearts 3 has an uplifting momentous feel to it with a flourish of strings and brass, but Birth By Sleep has a more emotional core and somber tone that fits the mood of the game's story. The latter is the better track as it involves more depth, and the developers could use the ups and downs of the piece for gameplay moments. Any of them would be fine, but these two would be most suited.

Related - Here's What The Rumored Kingdom Hearts TV Series Needs To Do In Order To Be A Hit

"Terra's Theme"

Terra Xehanort Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
via Square Enix & Disney
Terra fighting Xehanort in Birth By Sleep

While the character isn't as liked as others in the series, you can't deny that "Terra's Theme" is a thrilling song. I can imagine Terra hitting and swerving Xehanort each time the beat kicks in, like Sora fighting Xemnas in the initial Memory of Melody trailer. The level would be the final fight between the armored shell of Terra and Xehanort as he fights for his friends. Or, it could the moment Terra breaks from the darkness to protect Ventus, Aqua, and Sora from Terra-Xehanort. It's a momentous occasion when this song plays as he turns the tides of battle, and the combination of the thunderous drums and the strings of this song is absolutely wonderful.

All the Hikaru Utada Songs

Sora Kingdom Hearts 3 Opening
via Disney and Square Enix

Hikaru Utada and Kingdom Hearts go "Hand In Hand" like Sora and Kairi eating a paopu fruit together. With each mainline entry, she has had a theme song: "Simple and Clean," "Sanctuary," and "Face My Fears." Each of them is iconic to Kingdom Hearts fans and is synonymous with the series. Like with the Olympus Coliseum song in the trailer, I could see the gang take out heartless to the awesome beat on a hallway of memories from each game; it would be similar to Birth By Sleep's intro. The problem that arises is getting both Utada and Skrillex to be on board with having their songs featured in the game.

"Destati - Dive into the Heart"

Kingdom Hearts End of the World Sora
via Disney and Square Enix

This is a classic Kingdom Hearts theme that permeates that intense atmosphere in the original's End of the World. The choir gives the theme an epic feel, and when the drumline comes in, you know it's serious. That world is a big moment in the Kingdom Hearts series as Sora faced much stronger foes and higher stakes, in an effort to save the worlds from darkness and his friend Riku. With this theme, Sora could be flying around this dark world as the choir sets the mood. And then when the percussion comes in, Sora fights the Behemoth heartless. During the song, he would avoid the monster's attacks and then will strike at its horns during the most opportune moments. It would make for an epic song in Melody of Memory.

"L'Oscurità Di Xehanort"

The three Xehanorts Kingdom Hearts
via Disney and Square Enix

This may be controversial, but this fight against Ansem, Young Xehanort, and Xemnas is far better than the end boss we got in Kingdom Hearts 3, and the music really helped with that. It is a brilliant combination of the three boss battle themes we've had with these antagonists from the series. This composition is epic with a heavy drumline, the choir, and the beautiful strings that echo the themes we've known throughout the history of Kingdom Hearts. This track is incredible, and Melody of Memory could replicate it by being able to control Mickey, Riku, and Sora in this incredible battle. Hopefully, songs from Kingdom Hearts 3 will be represented in the game.

"Working Together"

Sora Twilight Town Kingdom Hearts 3

It wouldn't be a Disney game without a rambunctious theme, like "Working Together!" This catchy battle song from Twilight Town is represented in both Kingdom Hearts 2 and Kingdom Hearts 3. It captures the fun adventurous spirit of Sora, Donald, and Goofy fighting nobodies with a rowdy drumline and an energetic brass and string melody. The level would be a flyover of Twilight Town's beautiful vistas like Destiny Islands in the initial trailer for Melody of Memory. It would be a fun song to play that will make you hum it for the rest of the day.

The World Ends With You Kingdom Mixes

Neku Square Enix The World Ends WIth You Switch

In Dream Drop Distance, Neku and the gang joined Sora's adventures and, thanks to The World Ends With You's involvement, we had some songs from its banging soundtrack. These Kingdom mixes of "Twister", "Calling", and "Someday" would offer a completely different electronic/post-rock sound as opposed to Melody of Memory's bevy of orchestral soundtracks. They could offer a different kind of gameplay to the tracks too with more of a focus on the beats.


We've probably missed a lot of tracks that are on your wishlist for Melody of Memory, but that just tells you how much potential this music/rhythm game has for diehard Kingdom Hearts fans. There will be over 140 songs included, so it's likely you'll be able to play your favorites!

Some honorable mentions would be Scala Ad Caelum's world theme, "The 13th Dilemma,"  "The Encounter," " Scherzo Di Notte," and the Toy Box battle theme.

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