Maybe Gloria Estefan was right, and the rhythm is, in fact, gonna get you. Melatonin certainly thinks so.
This debut from indie studio Half Asleep is named for the brain hormone that helps you sleep (starting to see a pattern here). It’s a pretty pastel rhythm game where you enter an insomniac’s puzzling dreams to press or hold buttons in time with a beat. But the dreams are not really a story so much as a loose structure for a series of minigames. Because, for a game about relaxation and sleep, Melatonin really requires you to be wide awake.
Of course, this game echoes Nintendo's joyous Rhythm Heaven / Rhythm Paradise (the creators are even thanked in the credits). But while the gameplay is similar, Melatonin dances to the beat of its own drum. It boasts a consistent and sweet pastel aesthetic, and more complex trials.
In the Melatonin universe, one night = one level, with each offering up a range of dream challenges to pass, and a miniboss battle that’s a mash-up of the dreams. Every dream starts with a tutorial describing your task and allowing you to play without scoring. The practice comes with a ticker which tells you what to press and when, and a metronome that keeps beat on top of the synth-y track. Even so, it can take a little while to get into the swing of things; we felt an easier starter round would have helped us grasp things earlier. When you hit the button, the game gives immediate feedback in the form of EARLY, PERFECT, or LATE supers, or a sweat droplet emoji if you miss it altogether. There is a steep learning curve, but that means the PERFECTs feel well-deserved. This game would come naturally to those with music training – or who aced Rhythm Heaven. For everyone else, it can be quite tricky.
The game makes things easier with a wide range of audio, visual, and accessibility settings that you can access even when you’re mid-dream. Most usefully, you can toggle the visual ticker and metronome, which help you focus on your objective over the many visual and audio stimuli. Turning these on often made the game easier but no less enjoyable, which is nice for anyone with imperfect hand-eye coordination or who just wants to play for fun.
As with other rhythm games, the bite-sized rhythmic rounds are perfect to play in between daily tasks (or other games!) The music is relaxing yet catchy – it even got stuck in our heads when we were away from console – though it really needed more zings and pops to help cue players’ movements in the game.
Despite its lack of musical cues and somewhat varying difficulty levels, Melatonin’s suite of challenges is a delight for rhythm game fans and it’s so satisfying to nail that PERFECT. It doesn’t fill the Rhythm Heaven-shaped hole in the Switch’s portfolio, but instead it creates a dreamy new space filled with cotton candy colour, energy, and, most importantly, fun.
Comments 17
Insomnia? No, thank you, already got one
Jokes aside, this looks like a game you need to play for at least 5 minutes to decide if it's for you
This is one of many of those pre-christmas shadow drops that I bought before any information was out on them. Good to see it reviewed well.
Despite owning nearly every rhythm game on the system, I'm still awful at them, but that won't stop me.
I was thinking of something to play in-between Harvestella (which was a much more meaty game than I thought it would be) and the way you to described it, sounds like it would be a perfect fit for that, so thanks for jogging my memory that this one exists!
@Nanami_Ataraxi So glad to see that there are other people who collect rhythm games without gitting gud at them
This review pretty much sums up how I feel about the game too. A solid game to scratch that Rhythm Heaven itch if you don't own any of the past entries anymore.
I try not to be a rhythm game collector, after getting Soundfall, but this one looks like I need to get it!
@ComfyAko
I did try at the start, but it took all the fun out of them and made them a chore, but once I let that go they are one of my fave genres.
When you learn to just try and clear charts, instead of trying to full combo them it's like a weight has been lifted, also playing lots of songs instead of trying to perfect the same one and restarting over and over, just makes them so much more enjoyable.
And you never know, we might get gud eventually just having fun, but if not sometimes we suck at games we love, and that's ok. XD
Music is forgettable (yes, I get it, it's lofi... not an excuse), remixes are dull, the "dream" setting has so much wasted potential both gameplay and story wise, it's very short on content (2 hours to beat all the minigames in normal), audio cues need to be more powerful and readable...
Even with all of that... the game is still fun and very fresh. If you like Rhythm Heaven, you'll like this. Just make sure to grab it at a much lower price. 13-15 dolars is way to much for what it offers.
"Maybe Gloria Estefan was right, and the rhythm is, in fact, gonna get you."
Nice.
@ComfyAko @Nanami_Ataraxi Any personal favourites on the system? I do love me some rhythm games, but I try to be picky as there are a ton. I've currently been playing a lot of musynx, and trying to find the best way to play it. I find easy too easy, but hard too hard. I've also got Taiko (1) and Thumper.
@Jeff2sayshi
My personal favourites so far (there are some I haven't gotten to yet)
are Muse Dash, Groovecoaster wai wai party, arcaea, Lyrica, Voez and the taiko games.
Edit: How could I forget Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix!? that was the game that started it all for me, I wouldn't have found the genre if not for that, I am both ashamed and proud to say my morbid curiosity of that game when it was on sale escalated into a full blown love of the vocaloid music scene, and by extension the rhythm game genre.
....and now I have more Miku merch than any normal functioning adult should...
I have musynx but I'm especially bad at that one for some reason, and thumper just plain stresses me out XD
@Nanami_Ataraxi Ah yes, I've got Lyrica too. Much less stressful than most other rhythm games. My biggest issue when playing it is I can't see through my hands!
I tried the demo for Mega Mix.... I want to get it one day. Project Morai (the 3ds one) is my favourite 3DS game.
Muse Dash and (especially) Groove Coaster I want to get but they're so expensive!
@Jeff2sayshi
Yeah Lyrica is really relaxing, but meat hands are an issue XD
I actually haven't played Mirai, since I began in Switch era and sadly I don't have my 3DS anymore.
They usually go on sale quite a bit, so pop them in your wishlist and they will come down eventually, all rhythm games tend to do that, I always see deemo and Cytus on sale too.
But muse dash has the added benefit of no paid dlc and they constantly update it, whereas groove coaster and megamix you have to buy sets of songs much like taiko, so they can get expensive if you want new content whereas MD is complete out of the box, but they are all worth it imo.
@Nanami_Ataraxi That's a really heartwarming message. Yeah, it's not about the score, it's about having fun. And getting to know new songs. At least 30% of my music taste was influenced by Guitar Hero: World Tour.
@Jeff2sayshi On Switch? I only have Taiko, and it's great fun. Also played Muse Dash (ok but the soundtrack didn't sweep me off my feet), Hatsune Miku (great but I have it on PSN) and Voez (mostly touch styled, so not really my style)
I do love to get me some RH vibes. I get this one on a sale or whenever the price is low.
Need to check this out
Another great review from @pokemish
@Robokku Thank you! I just played Unpacking and read your review - great writing
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