HarmoKnight

HarmoKnight
From the creators behind Pokémon, jump, hit, and groove your way to save Melodia!
Protagonist(s): Tempo Lyra Tyko & Cymbi Genre(s): Rhythm Platform Platform(s): Nintendo 3DS Release Date: JP: September 5, 2012 WW: March 28, 2013 Discontinuation: March 27, 2023 Developer(s): Game Freak Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan

HarmoKnight is a rhythm platformer game developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. The game was released on the Nintendo eShop in Japan on September 5, 2012, then worldwide on March 28, 2013.

Good Qualities

1. The land of Melodia, the game's setting, has multiple areas that are not only varied in setting, but also follow a musical genre (such as the Rock Range, Calypso Beach, Metal Mountains, and Baroque Volcano).
2. The story, while pretty basic, is still decent: you must rescue Princess Ariana from Gargan, who plans to conquer Melodia using her voice.
   • Compared to most other first-party eShop games at the time, the game is longer due to the story and cutscenes.
3. Good graphics for early 3DS eShop game standards, with the worlds incorporating the aforementioned musical themes in each one, and James Turner's creative character designs give each one personality.
4. Each of the three playable characters has a unique playing style:
   • Tempo, who you play as for most of the game, can jump over gaps and hit enemies with his Musical Staff.
   • Lyra can shoot arrows at enemies using her lyre and dodge their attacks.
   • Tyko and his monkey partner Cymbi have a high and low attack to attack enemies from those heights.
5. The controls for each character are easy to master once you get the timing correct: B and X are used for special actions such as jumping and dodging, while A and Y are used to attack foes and percussion plants.
6. Great soundtrack that is incorporated into gameplay via the player collecting Notes or defeating enemies. As before stated, there are also many genres of music, consisting of a marching beat (Marching Hills), rock and roll (Rock Range), calypso (Calypso Beach), jazz (Showtime Island), Christmas music (Sleighbell Slopes), heavy metal (Metal Mountains), and classical music (Baroque Volcano).
   • After completing each area (besides Showtime Island and Metal Mountains), you also unlock five levels based on songs from the Pokémon franchise!
7. A major sidequest involves finding five birds known as Pinklefs, who are then used to open the door to the Sky Roost (the final world).
8. In some levels, you get to control a Cymbi-shaped mine cart that can extend itself and continuously clap foes, while in two Calypso Beach levels you participate in a dancing minigame with Octarina as you copy her movements.
9. Once you get a silver or gold flower after collecting a set of notes, you obtain Royal Notes used to unlock new areas and paths on the map. This pays off after defeating Gargan when you open the way to the final level before Sky Roost ("Looking For Birds").
   • Additionally, when you get a gold flower, you can replay the level in Fast Mode, which is the same level played at a faster pace.
   • Once you get a gold flower on both Normal and Fast modes in each level, you will unlock concept art.

Bad Qualities

1. It can take a while to get the timing of your actions just right, especially during bosses (the final move must be executed perfectly or you will instantly die).
2. There are no checkpoints in any of the stages, so if you die or choose to restart, you have to start from the beginning of the stage.
3. Lyra and Tyko are underused, only being playable in about a third of the levels in the game.
4. Sadly, due to the 3DS eShop's closure, you can no longer purchase the game at all.

Reception

HarmoKnight received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics and users (scoring 73/100 and 7.4/10, respectively, on Metacritic), with its soundtrack, creativity, and gameplay being praised, while its difficulty and picky rhythm timing were criticized.

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