Melody of Memory should have been a Namine game

[Zackarix]

This was brought up in the shipping thread, but I've decided that it needs a topic of its own.

Namine would have made more sense as the narrator of MoM than Kairi or Chirithy. The memories of Sora and the people connected to him are her thing! At the very least have been involved in the plot, but instead she's nowhere to be seen. It's very easy to imagine an alternate plot for MoM that involves Namine going through the memories of the main characters to find clues about what happened to Sora.

Ironically, this would provide a better excuse for why Kairi isn't a fully playable character: she's been stuck as a supporting character so there's less of her memories to explore. Kairi needs all the spotlight and character development she can get, which is my one point of contention for this idea. But Kairi and Namine's connection means that it should still be possible to include flashbacks to Kairi's past.

Also, getting multiple notes in a row is called a chain. They had the perfect opportunity to connect it to they pre-existing concept of memory chains and they missed it!

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

 

[MATGSY]

Kairi seems to have been a last minute decision as I've heard it was originally Chirithy as the narrator.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Agreed. It would have made more sense…but yeah Kairi being the “lead” was a last minute decision because they intended for Chirithy to be the narrator.

It’s why Chirithy is the voice of the versus challenges/co-op play.

 

[The_Echo]

I think Chirithy would've been fine because
1) The game originally wouldn't have any ties to canon
2) Chirithy is effectively the KH mascot character

As much as I love Naminé, there isn't a compelling reason for her to narrate other than "she's the memory girl"

 

[Squood!]

Kairi seems to have been a last minute decision as I've heard it was originally Chirithy as the narrator.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1419305742406979587

Speaking of the Kairi thing, wonder what Nomura meant with this...

 

[Clue.Less]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1419305742406979587

Speaking of the Kairi thing, wonder what Nomura meant with this...

About that, I found it jarring that it's supposedly Kairi's perspective on the story and she (the script) doesn't mention her role in KH3 at all. It's even more "all about Sora" than the actual game. I was at least hoping for a comment on her being benched all the time, or how she helped save Sora when Sora saved everyone.

As much as I love Naminé, there isn't a compelling reason for her to narrate other than "she's the memory girl"

I personally don't need a compelling reason for a side game. It would just have been nice to see her memory powers in action from her point of view.

 

[Face My Fears]

I was hoping that Namine would have been in the room while Kairi was sleeping/being experimented on. It could have easily been Namine using Kairi's connection to Sora to find out where he went. It would also explain "canonically" how Kairi would have memories of Castle Oblivion and other stuff that she was definitely not there for. Also, it would have been nice to see Kairi/Namine talk to each other in actual bodies and not one being a ghost girl.

 

[Elysium]

It always made sense for Namine to be involved with finding Sora, but, well.... The fanbase wanted Kairi to get something even if it didn't suit her.

 

[Face My Fears]

It always made sense for Namine to be involved with finding Sora, but, well.... The fanbase wanted Kairi to get something even if it didn't suit her.

Searching for Sora did suit Kairi and it was good that she was active in the search for Sora... it's just the execution. If anything, it could have been someone else discovering Quadratum and then Kairi/Riku go in together.

 

[Elysium]

Well, aside from Kairi being a part of that trio, I can't really agree. Leaving aside the scope of MoM, which was searching through memories (naturally Namine's thing--and she was closely acquainted with Sora's memories from past experience to boot), I don't think Kairi fits with the search for Sora altogether really. With Sora having vanished due to the power of waking, it makes sense that the PoW may be needed in part to revive him. She's nowhere near that level. It'd make more sense for actual Keyblade Masters like Riku, Mickey, and Aqua to search for him. *shrug* And that was before we found out he was in another reality altogether, which may be beyond even their level.

 

[kirabook]

To be honest, it definitely would've been awesome if it was Namine in there with Kairi for a year sifting through the memories together. It is Namine's power and it's kinda implied in CoM that Kairi boosts Sora's memories in some way or something.

Why are the three scientist drop outs doing it when Namine has had much more success in the memory business, whether it's tearing memories apart or putting them back together again.

Even KH3 was smart to try and use Namine a bit to call forth Lingering Will using all the connections she could.

Even in that final fight where Sora magically takes over to do an imaginary fight he didn't need to be there for. Maybe would've been more forgivable if Namine somehow summoned him forth to help Kairi in the thick of things???

The more I think about it, a duo Kairi and Namine game would have been super interesting. MoM's gameplay also being a manifestation of how Namine sees memories would've been pretty fun since we have no idea how it works for her other than "chains".

 

[Zackarix]

2) Chirithy is effectively the KH mascot character

No. Chirithy is the mascot of KHX/KHUX, and maybe they'll be the mascot of the upcoming saga. But certainly not of the franchise as a whole. It's very hard to be the mascot of a franchise when you're introduced over a decade into it and all appearances outside of the browser/phone game are minor. You say Namine being the memory girl isn't a good enough reason for her to be the central character of a game involving memory, but there isn't a compelling reason to Chirithy to be the narrator aside from pushing them as a mascot. Kairi was not the ideal narrator for this game but at least we didn't get a game recapping the Dark Seeker Saga with a character almost completely uninvolved as the narrator. And apologies to Lara Jill Miller, but her Chirithy voice does not suit narration.

It always made sense for Namine to be involved with finding Sora, but, well.... The fanbase wanted Kairi to get something even if it didn't suit her.

It really shouldn't be one or the other, both girls have plenty of reason to want to find Sora. But it's pretty obvious that Kairi only got this role because they had to give her something after the backlash to her role in KH3, but are unwilling to change plans for the upcoming games so she got a tacked-on story that ended with her getting benched.

 

[Sign]

To be honest, it definitely would've been awesome if it was Namine in there with Kairi for a year sifting through the memories together. It is Namine's power and it's kinda implied in CoM that Kairi boosts Sora's memories in some way or something.

Why are the three scientist drop outs doing it when Namine has had much more success in the memory business, whether it's tearing memories apart or putting them back together again.

Riku said Roxas and Xion were searching through their memories (presumably with Namine's help) while Kairi is searching her heart, which I find to be a pretty lame excuse considering we sat through every day of their lives and know Namine won't find shit so it just sidelines her with the rest of them.

 

[Squood!]

About that, I found it jarring that it's supposedly Kairi's perspective on the story and she (the script) doesn't mention her role in KH3 at all. It's even more "all about Sora" than the actual game. I was at least hoping for a comment on her being benched all the time, or how she helped save Sora when Sora saved everyone.

I think that comment was actually talking about the new story bits and not the narration bits.

 

[Face My Fears]

Well, aside from Kairi being a part of that trio, I can't really agree. Leaving aside the scope of MoM, which was searching through memories (naturally Namine's thing--and she was closely acquainted with Sora's memories from past experience to boot), I don't think Kairi fits with the search for Sora altogether really. With Sora having vanished due to the power of waking, it makes sense that the PoW may be needed in part to revive him. She's nowhere near that level. It'd make more sense for actual Keyblade Masters like Riku, Mickey, and Aqua to search for him. *shrug* And that was before we found out he was in another reality altogether, which may be beyond even their level.

I think that Kairi would want to be part of finding Sora, especially after he literally tells her on the tree at Destiny Islands that he's about to die because of what happened (which was changing time to save her). Even if she's not able to do anything with the power of waking, that doesn't mean she should stand on the sidelines and wait around. It sounds like everyone is trying to help Sora, I'm guessing that they only showed Kairi's part because hers resulted in a clue to saving him. Mickey, Donald and Goofy going to Disney worlds probably wouldn't help much, but they at least tried. So I think it's good that they showed that Kairi at least tried to help Sora, instead of being on the sidelines or stuck on Destiny Islands waiting at the shore (as per usual).

 

[Zackarix]

The more I think about it, a duo Kairi and Namine game would have been super interesting. MoM's gameplay also being a manifestation of how Namine sees memories would've been pretty fun since we have no idea how it works for her other than "chains".

This sort of remind me of the other take on an alternate plot for Melody of Memory I came up with. It involves Namine's powers going wonky and she and Kairi getting pulled into the memory melodies (don't think too hard about it.) From there it's a mix of recapping the games and revealing new information about past events. Stuff like Riku in KH1, DiZ's great offscreen redemption in KH2, etc. The grand finale would be showing the fall of Radiant Garden. Because Namine and Kairi are the only non-flashback characters they get a lot of development and form a solid relationship.

Even without going into specifics MoM's plot is kind of disappointing. The franchise has a history of trying to integrate the story and the gameplay but they didn't even try with this game.

 

[Sign]

Even without going into specifics MoM's plot is kind of disappointing. The franchise has a history of trying to integrate the story and the gameplay but they didn't even try with this game.

It really makes clear the disconnect between Nomura and the audience. He added that little bit of story because he thinks "KH fans expect it from every game" even though we were all hoping for no story at all from this one.

I wonder if he came to that conclusion on his own or it it's based on something he was relayed from community managers or whatever, as that opens another can of worms lol

 

[kirabook]

When KHChi was originally introduced, wasn't it marketed as its own thing and kind of unconnected to the current events of the story but that changed at some point?

Maybe Nomura feels like KH fans won't buy the game or be interested unless it has main story?

It feels like we're in a messy web sometimes that didn't have to be there. I just wonder if Nomura feels like he has to weave in all this extra stuff out of necessity or if he just really wants to do it on his own whims.

I think MoM would've been even more enjoyable if it didn't include main story AND they let you choose who you wanted to play with because the randomized opponent stuff is meh,

 

[Squood!]

The KH fandom is full of people all with different wants.

Pretty hard to please everyone with that in mind.

 

[kirabook]

I do get that, but I think most people can at least agree somewhat that not every mobile game, concert, and portable device needs a KH game with vital lore bits. Not ALL of them need it, ya know?