Square Enixisn’t the only foreign game studio to file patents with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, but a newly discovered patent could have been used for one of their recent games. “Rhythm Game Program and Game System,” the patent filed bySquare Enix, could be the basis of the gameplay players experience inKingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory.
Many fans of theKingdom Heartsseries were surprised when a new game was announced earlier this year, and even more were surprised when it was revealed to be a rhythm game. WhileKingdom Hearts: Melody of Memorymay be the firstKingdom Heartsrhythm action game, it isn’t the first rhythm game from Square Enix.Melody of Memoryfollows Kairi right after the events ofKingdom Hearts 3.In an effort to find Sora, Kairi enters a dream state to search her memories for clues to where Sora might be. In essence, the game retells the Dark Seeker Saga through the music of the series.
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The directors of the game, Tetsuya Nomura and Masanobu Suzui, drew inspiration from other rhythm game titles that Square Enix had worked on before.Theatrhythm Final FantasyandTheatrhythm Dragon Questoriginally inspired the gameplay, but the directors wanted theKingdom Heartsversion to be in 3D, as opposed to the 2D style of theTheatrhythmgames. In order to makeKingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory,the developers had to build the game from the ground up. There is no guarantee that this patent, “Rhythm Game Program and Game System,” is what Square Enix used to make the game. However, it is possible that while creating a system forMelody of Memories, they wanted to patent the system for future use, like theSquare Enix patent for multiplayer features.
While the text of Square Enix’s patent goes into specific details about different functions of the system, the overall takeaway is that this program was created for 3D rhythm games. The system supposedly makes up for constraints noticed in other 2D rhythm game systems, allowing for flexibility with a “non-limited viewpoint.” When deciding on a gameplay system for Square Enix’sfirstKingdom Heartsrhythm game, the developers surely wanted to make it an engaging experience. There are even multiple similarities between what is described in the patent and what happens inKingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory.The main image presented in the patent has some useful information to pull from it.
In the image, the party characters (PC1, PC2, PC3) are on a directional movement path (T1, T2, T3), where they will soon encounter enemy characters (EC1, EC2). In the top-left corner, there is what seems to be a scorecard. In the bottom-right corner, there is a health bar, which also indicates that there will be a name above it. In the top-center of the image, is an attack chain counter. Many of these are similar, if not identical, to the UI inKingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory. Even the “Name” above the health bar is typically where special attacks will be shown in the game. For the100+ songs inKingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, this is the primary setup for gameplay, aside from certain scenes and boss fights.
Since this patent was filed in Japan and the U.S. (March 2019 and March 2020, respectively), beforeKingdom Hearts: Melody of Memorywas even announced, it is possible that this is the system used for the game. The rhythm game system in the patent could even become the new go-to for Square Enix rhythm games. In what is looking to be abig 2021 for Square Enix, it will be interesting to see if they reveal another 3D rhythm game based on a different IP of theirs.
In the meantime, Square Enix fans will have their hands full with the multipleFinal Fantasygames in development, and the 35th anniversary ofDragon Quest. Fans ofKingdom Heartswill be waiting with bated breath for theannouncement of a new mainKingdom Heartstitle. Until then, players can keep an eye out for any future Square Enix rhythm games.
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memoryis available now on PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
