News ► Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory Patch 1.04 Out Now

[bambii (aka foreteller)]

My point in comparing the two is that Nomura's fixation with consistency is itself inconsistent. Nomura will regularly allow for multiple narrative and lore-based inconsistencies throughout the series to exist and violate established canon, but every now and then he will focus time and effort on making sure that specific less significant details are treated with noteworthy faithfulness. Nomura's style of storytelling has conditioned fans to look for clues in every minuscule little detail, but those same fans neglect the copious instances of blatant and overt inconsistency that completely contradict this idea that Nomura is always obsessive over details and that we should always pay extraordinary attention to every little thing he puts in these games.
In other words, not everything has to connect to something bigger, and even Nomura himself doesn't care half the time about how tight the story and world-building are. Maybe someone told Nomura they were confused about the ending, and he decided to just shove in this little extra bit of dialogue. Who knows?
Of course, I could be completely wrong. Nomura is, after all, crazy. But conceptually, I don't see any possible way in which this little extra clarifying tidbit connects at all to the UX story or to anything else. The resounding assumption by fans here that it does, however, is what I find peculiar, though not entirely unexpected given how Nomura has conditioned us.

I pretty much concur with most/all of your observations here, but I will say I think the reason this update is raising so many eyebrows is because of the timing - "why now?" You must admit, it is a little bizarre, and its alignment with a ground-breaking Ux update a bit on this side of uncanny. Had this small tidbit been in the game from the beginning, I'm not sure it would see much attention and analysis at all. The strangeness is compounded by the fact that the added content is not actually clarifying; it's the opposite, it adds an added layer of confusion to what was otherwise a pretty obvious stream of events in which Kairi was exploring her memories while under the watch of AtW/Ienzo/Even. Between Nomura intentionally adding this now to provide context for something to come later, and the team shoehorning this in 4 months after release just for the heck of it, I find the latter situation slightly less conceivable, though it really is anyone's guess.

 

[palizinhas]

In all fairness the update could be just because the pc version is almost out. Maybe the scene was always meant to be there but there was a problem, so they fixed it in time for the pc release.

But the timing does feel weird, and there's precedence for characters from the main series being important to khux.

 

[SuperSaiyanSora]

I think your Mickey statement only further supports the fact that Nomura tries to tie everything together and everything is important in some manner in his mind lol

The timing is suspicious considering it's been months since MOM released but we are only a few days past the second to last UX update. This wasn't a plot detail people were obsessing over and demanding explanation over. Compared to the dozens of other requested additions to this game, this really had no reason to exist unless Nomura felt it had importance.

Clarifying that it wasn't AtW, Ienzo, and Evan's intention for Kairi to dive into her memories of the Final World which then lead to her remembering when Xehanort stuffed her into an ark seems like a pretty clear through line to UX (as much as I wish it wasn't)

And this is why if Sora ever gets into Smash, you better believe there's a good chance Nomura would tie it into the lore.

In all fairness the update could be just because the pc version is almost out. Maybe the scene was always meant to be there but there was a problem, so they fixed it in time for the pc release.

But the timing does feel weird, and there's precedence for characters from the main series being important to khux.

Yeah, it's possible that it was always supposed to be there, and that's what I personally think is the case. It doesn't make sense that they'd get the VAs for a 15 second cutscene for something that could've easily been recorded during the actual sessions (although I can't imagine the recording process took that long, considering the nature of Melody of Memory). So it's most likely something that was supposed to be there all this time and for whatever reason, wasn't added until now.

...Unless that means another game announcement is coming really soon, but I doubt that lmao. That is, if Nomura still maintains that 2021 will be a "break" in terms of KH news and whatnot, but things can always end up changing. I think it's most likely an inconsequential update since KH's PC arrival tomorrow.

 

[Vulpes XIII]

If the timing of this update is just a coincidence then fair enough, but considering it came out after the Union X update and giving how Nomura likes to even the smallest details link into the plot somehow, it feels like Nomura is planning something.

After all there is several things that this DLC could fix or add for example more songs, more bosses or fixing multiplayer so it has some type of invite feature that lets you play with friends. However instead they decided to make a whole update based around a few new lines that they had to record to explain something that could easily be explained by a small comment by Nomura in a interview or in the next Kingdom Hearts games. Why would Nomura go back to add such a small detail into a game that most people were probably not expecting to receive an update as what’s the point in that? Also why now when the game been out for ages?

Nomura said their taking a break from Kingdom Hearts in 2021 so we shouldn’t expect anything apart from the Union X updates but since he said that we got the release of Kingdom Hearts on the PC and now an story update to an already completed game, so it makes me wonder if Nomura has anything else planned?

 

[FudgemintGuardian]

I'm surprised they even bothered. Either Nomura thought it necessary to add for future shenanigans or they just forgot to include it in the first place. lol

 

[AR829038]

I pretty much concur with most/all of your observations here, but I will say I think the reason this update is raising so many eyebrows is because of the timing - "why now?" You must admit, it is a little bizarre, and its alignment with a ground-breaking Ux update a bit on this side of uncanny. Had this small tidbit been in the game from the beginning, I'm not sure it would see much attention and analysis at all. The strangeness is compounded by the fact that the added content is not actually clarifying; it's the opposite, it adds an added layer of confusion to what was otherwise a pretty obvious stream of events in which Kairi was exploring her memories while under the watch of AtW/Ienzo/Even. Between Nomura intentionally adding this now to provide context for something to come later, and the team shoehorning this in 4 months after release just for the heck of it, I find the latter situation slightly less conceivable, though it really is anyone's guess.

It would be bizarre, except we get updates on UX literally every single month. While this month's update is certainly more substantive than the rest have been, there have been plenty of updates over the past few months at which same time this patch could have been released, and it probably would have raised the same eyebrows then because people in the KH community like to read a book's worth into the smallest details and coincidences. I would be more inclined to agree with these people's suspicions were it not for the fact that the dialogue this patch provides has absolutely nothing to do with anything related to UX or the broader lore whatsoever. Not only is there no proof of connection, but I cannot even fathom a way in which this connects to anything else. It's just such a small little throwaway piece of dialogue whose only conceivable purpose is to clarify what's going on at the end of MoM, because I distinctly remember many players being confused whether Kairi was in the actual Final World throughout that segment, so I'm sure Nomura just added this in to allay that confusion. If anybody can think of a reasonable connection between this added scene and anything at all in UX, I would be interested to hear it.

 

[palizinhas]

It's just such a small little throwaway piece of dialogue whose only conceivable purpose is to clarify what's going on at the end of MoM, because I distinctly remember many players being confused whether Kairi was in the actual Final World throughout that segment, so I'm sure Nomura just added this in to allay that confusion. If anybody can think of a reasonable connection between this added scene and anything at all in UX, I would be interested to hear it.

I wouldn't say it really clarified much, though. It confirmed that Kairi's little seance with Xehanort wasn't something the Apprentices saw coming, and it meant things went "wrong", but didn't go into why it went wrong. It feels like such a random thing to add that I have no idea why they bothered unless "something went wrong" somehow ties into the future of the series. Even if it has nothing to do with KHUX.

 

[Xagzan]

By the way, that quick little musical cue when the Final World logo pops up, the remix of the theme from KH3, that's brand new to MoM right?

 

[Keybladeguy989]

In all fairness the update could be just because the pc version is almost out. Maybe the scene was always meant to be there but there was a problem, so they fixed it in time for the pc release.

But the timing does feel weird, and there's precedence for characters from the main series being important to khux.

I wonder if the added context has to do with subject x rather than kairi

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

By the way, that quick little musical cue when the Final World logo pops up, the remix of the theme from KH3, that's brand new to MoM right?

Yes, nearly all of Kairi’s scenes contain new music just for MOM.

 

[AR829038]

I wouldn't say it really clarified much, though. It confirmed that Kairi's little seance with Xehanort wasn't something the Apprentices saw coming, and it meant things went "wrong", but didn't go into why it went wrong. It feels like such a random thing to add that I have no idea why they bothered unless "something went wrong" somehow ties into the future of the series. Even if it has nothing to do with KHUX.

Right. Well, as I understand it, the purpose of the extra scene wasn't to explain that "something was going wrong," but rather to alert the players to the fact that what they were about to see was being viewed by Ansem, Even, and Ienzo, and therefore must be a virtual recreation inside Kairi's mind rather than the real Final World. When I was watching people play through this part in the game, a LOT of people were confused and thought Kairi was somehow in the real Final World, that Xehanort was somehow really back, and confused on when this stuff was happening. To me, it's abundantly clear that this is purely meant for clarification—the whole "something going wrong" thing is likely nothing more than something for the scientists to say so that we the players can know that all of this is happening in Kairi's mind under their observation—they could just as well have said pretty much anything else.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

I was all excited when I heard there was a Melody of Memory patch, and when I found out what it was I was like "That's it?!" I was expecting maybe some new songs, or KH3 battle field tracks in the old style, or I don't know, a Kairi team. I did like how it was similar to the KH2 restoration. Surprised Ansem didn't mention it, since he oversaw both lol.

But on the topic of Kairi possibly being connected to Union X? Please no. They can't possibly make every single character connected to that, can they? Please don't make her Luxu's kid, or the Master's spawn, or whatever I'm fearful they are gonna do. Let Kairi be Kairi.

 

[Clue.Less]

It's probably just a little story patch for clarity's sake, but I love how it echoes a line from the UX update:

Spoiler Show

when darkness says they can travel through data signals and hearts too (can't remember exactly); my head canon is that the "something wrong" is darkness travelling the system in that moment, or the static is a sign that Sora's heart is reaching out to Kairi's, sending the system into overdrive

 

[AdrianXXII]

Considering this update happened in the same week as the PC port releases I'll just assume they continued to tweek things a bit.

I'm under the impression this cutscene was always meant to be there, but was excluded in the original release for some reason. It be weird, if they got the VAs for just those few lines unless they are already recording for the next game.

Still it's hard not to think there might be a connection to the UX update seeing it's wraping up and the arc is preasant in both games.

 

[Xagzan]

Yes, nearly all of Kairi’s scenes contain new music just for MOM.

I thought so, all the more reason we REALLY need a KH3 OST Plus with the extra MoM material.

 

[Sign]

I thought so, all the more reason we REALLY need a KH3 OST Plus with the extra MoM material.

Cross your fingers that someone remembers. Still can't believe the reason we had to wait so long for a KH3 OST was because no one thought to do it and Nomura was completely oblivious.

 

[Xagzan]

Cross your fingers that someone remembers. Still can't believe the reason we had to wait so long for a KH3 OST was because no one thought to do it and Nomura was completely oblivious.

You mean there was an actual story behind it? I never heard any sort of explanation given.

 

[Sign]

You mean there was an actual story behind it? I never heard any sort of explanation given.

More like a throwaway comment. When they finally announced the KH3 OST, Nomura commented that he didn't even realize it hadn't been released yet. I have no idea how SE handles this sort of thing, if it's handled by some other department or they just dump the responsibility on the director or whoever to request that one be produced for their game... It was just mindboggling that they were leaving money on the table for so long.

 

[Alpha Baymax]

I really don't know what to make of this.

 

[Xagzan]

More like a throwaway comment. When they finally announced the KH3 OST, Nomura commented that he didn't even realize it hadn't been released yet. I have no idea how SE handles this sort of thing, if it's handled by some other department or they just dump the responsibility on the director or whoever to request that one be produced for their game... It was just mindboggling that they were leaving money on the table for so long.

Well now they're leaving more money on the table lol. Keeping any of Yoko's finished work from being publicly available is a crime against music. Everyone should let their wishes be heard if they want this too.