Melatonin

Cozy Rhythm Paradise for sleepy people. A very pretty game I’m love.

As said above, Melatonin is kinda like a cozy Rhythm Tengoku.

I have not actually played Rhythm Heaven.

But I do have a good sense of rhythm and also mild depression, so this game was perfectly down my alley!

Unlike Rhythm Paradise, this game only has 16 minigames and 5 remixes, but it does a lot with the little it has, and also has a very good custom level editor and workshop support, and each minigame has two charts for the one song it comes with, a normal and a hard, so it’s not like there is nothing to go with.

The game has a wonderful aesthetic with lots of pastel pinks and blues, and a theme around sleep and dreams, with each minigame representing a topic that the character can dream about, such as food, money, nature, or the past. Each night consists of a theme, 4 dreams, and a remix bringing them all together, as well as a short cutscene before and after, all culminating at the end with “Morning”, the 5th remix, that uses all 16 minigames at once. The soundtrack is full of lo-fi beats to fall asleep playing cozy Rhythm Heaven to, which is super appreciated and fits the vibe perfectly.

Each minigame is controlled by either tapping A, holding A, tapping L and/or R, or a combination of those inputs. Each night introduces more complicated input schemes, but without being overwhelming. Night 1 only uses A taps, night 2 only uses L+R, night 3 focuses on holds, and night 4 combines inputs.

The game has a couple of assist options, as well as the best input sync dialogue I’ve ever seen in a rhythm game. It shows you a timeline and marks where your inputs are on the timeline, as well as where the perfect window is, and changing the offset moves the perfect window relative to the timeline so that you can see the exact effect it’s having. No more guessing which way to move the timeline when you realise you’re hitting early all the time!

The assist options (names “Accessibility Settings” which I really like) come in four flavours. Visual and audio assists enable seeing the preview circle (A judgement line where A, L and R inputs move towards the circle to help time when to press the buttons) and metronome during normal gameplay. Wiggle room increases the size of the perfect timing window, and easy scoring makes early and lates less punishing. Each minigame also has a practice mode at the start where the preview circle and metronome are displayed and the various patterns are described to help you learn the visual and audio cues used by each minigame.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1585220 £12.99
Humble Bundle: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/melatonin £12.99
Switch: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Melatonin-2320955.html £12.99