For me, no other rhythm series can top Rhythm Heaven, and I can't get enough of its sweet, sweet rhythmic goodness. Melatonin is a clear spiritual successor to RH, but with its own unique visuals, music, and gameplay particulars. While I prefer the greater variety of music in RH, the lo-fi theme of Melatonin's is consistent and effective. It fits the dreamy atmosphere, and most importantly, supports the games they connect to. Sound effects and percussion overall are punchy and very satisfying to land. Any mistake made feels like my fault, not that of the tight, rhythm-accurate gameplay. The games feature very clever ideas related to dreams, scenarios based on something real going through a filter of silliness. The artwork is wonderfully charming, and though it can feel a bit samey, the pastel pallette is distinct and contributes to its dreamy theme. Even given the natural absurdity of the dream-based rhythm games, the look and feel makes it surprisingly relaxing.

As an aside, though I appreciate them wanting to keep things light, I strangely found myself wishing for more thematic depth. Having later stages (or "deeper dreams") called "Stress" or "The Future" could be very poignant, addressing those subconscious worries we all share. For example, in "The Past", you play by burning select photos or "memories", presumably unpleasant ones. It's a great idea for a rhythm game and it's one of the most satisfying to play, but the photos being blank feels like a missed opportunity. What if we had to determine which ones to burn partly based on whether the picture is of a good or bad memory? Lacking visual depth isn't a fault of the game per se, I just see more potential there.

All in all, I definitely recommend this, particularly if you're a Rhythm Heaven fan. Despite that inspiration, it does a great job being it's own, dreamy thing.

O verdadeiro jogo de ritmo, aqui tu real tem q ter o tempo das batidas. Acompanhada de uma arte mt agradável aos olhos (meio minimalista) combina mt com os ritmos lo-fi do jogo que não é muito longo, porém mesmo assim compensa essa breve experiência pra quem curte o gênero.
Achei a construção de ritmo muito criativo tanto a arte quanto música mesmo que os controles não sejam tão complexo em cada fase tu tem uma aprendizagem diferente com o ritmo e a jogabilidade ( tu tem q realmente a aprender a escutar até pq nem sempre tem um auxilio visual para acertar o ritmo) e essa sensação de progressão/aprendizagem foi que mais curti no jogo.
Recomendo muito pra quem curte o gênero, acredito que este jogo esteja no top 5 para mim nesse estilo, realmente gostei.
E uma dica: recomendo ao começar a jogar um capítulo tentar terminar logo ou em pequeno periodo de tempo, pq sempre no final há uma junção de todos os ritmos do capitulo e se tu acabar esquecendo de um meio q complica kkk.

Muchos de nosotros disfrutamos de la música y de títulos de Nintendo, pero como es bien sabido, esta compañía no siempre trata de la mejor manera a todas sus obras. El caso de Rhythm (Heaven, Paradise, Fever.) no es ajeno; se trata de una franquicia dejada en el olvido por Nintendo, que, después de 3 maravillosos títulos publicados, abandona el mundo del ritmo por más de 7 años.
Afortunadamente, la fanbase de esta franquicia no ha perdido el tiempo, y, más allá de los edits, perfect runs, y otros trabajos de jugadores, nos encontramos con títulos como Melatonin, que son fieles homenajes a la franquicia abandonada por Nintendo.

Nos encontramos de esta manera con un juego del género musical y/o rítmico, en donde no solamente priman nuestros sentidos artísticos, sino también la interacción con el entorno jugable y la repercusión, en cada canción, en el escenario. En términos de jugabilidad, Melatonin es un juego pulcro; utiliza tiempos y contratiempos de una manera sólida, así también como creaciones rítmicas interesantes e intuitivas, pero no por lo mismo menos desafiantes. A la hora de jugar, es esencial tener en cuenta que no contamos con solamente un botón para interactuar a nivel rítmico, pues, a través de los diversos capítulos que nos entrega el título, nos encontramos con escenarios que solicitarán incluso 3 botones diferentes para lograr superar la canción, situación que en muchas partidas se le criticaba a la franquicia Rhythm por centrarse únicamente en un solo botón.

La estética de este videojuego indie no se queda atrás; su mensaje, dirección artística y sonoridad apela al mundo Cozy, a situaciones cotidianas y sonoridades acogedoras, que, a diferencia de la franquicia a la que rinde homenaje, se aleja de lo bizarro y lo ridículo/cómico, para dar lugar a un espacio más relajante, familiar, e incluso popular, teniendo en cuenta sus referencias a la cultura actual del internet, manejando en sus canciones situaciones tales como una App de citas, jugar videojuegos, e incluso algo tan básico como comer.

Si bien Melatonin es un Indie mas que competente y destacable en su rubro, hay ciertos apartados en los que se mantiene en esa comodidad que el mismo juego plantea, sin atreverse a indagar en nuevos horizontes y posibilidades jugables; muchos de los juegos rítmicos son calcados de la franquicia homenajeada, así también como muchos entre si son similares, dando poco lugar a la variedad y a la originalidad (al menos jugable). De la misma manera, teniendo en cuenta que es un videojuego que incluso tiene un apartado editable para las canciones, y estando publicado en una plataforma como Steam, no aprovecha en absoluto sus capacidades creativas otorgadas al jugador; si bien esta función de editar está bien integrada, no es del todo completa y resulta arcaica, además de ser solo contenido Singleplayer, por lo que me pregunto:
¿Por qué no utilizar las herramientas que otorga una plataforma tan funcional como lo es Steam Workshop?

Si los creadores de este gran juego tienen intenciones de actualizar su contenido, me parece que un apartado trascendental de trabajar es la opción de integrar canciones propias, expandir el entorno creativo, y adherirse a Workshop para que diferentes creadores puedan compartir sus versiones del gran elenco de canciones que conforma este videojuego.

Si bien Melatonin tiene cosas que podrían trabajarse de manera más integra, es innegable que es un juego que funciona perfectamente por si solo, que entrega un mensaje acogedor y extremadamente familiar, haciéndonos sentir cómodos mediante sus modos de juego, sus tutoriales, y sus amigables canciones. De la misma forma, este título utiliza mix de canciones por capítulos que ponen a prueba tu memoria, tu retención, y obviamente, tu capacidad y sentido rítmico, dando una experiencia maravillosa sobre todo con la integración de un Megamix, elección que sigue estando a la sombra de la franquicia Rhythm, pero que no deja de darle un respiro de aire fresco a los juegos de este género rítmico interactivo (como personalmente me gusta llamarlo) tan peculiar y disfrutable.

When it comes to stylish music-based games, I believe Rhythm Heaven is the best in its class. Not just because of its charming 2D animation work and art direction, but because of its uniqueness in sound design and its simplicity in gameplay. Sound cues play a brilliant role in the franchise, mostly blending so well with the track that it's easy to remember them. Rhythm Heaven is one of those rare games that, if you learn every cue, it's easy to play with your ears alone.

Melatonin fails at this, unfortunately.
Don't get me wrong, as an obvious inspiration of the Rhythm Heaven series, I personally think this game nails the art direction that made its source so notable. The lo-fi music may not be desired by some, but I thought it worked well with the overall tone.
As mentioned though, Melatonin falls flat in its sound design, specifically with cues. It can be frustrating to play this at times, because most of these noises are either indistinguishable from each other, or they are so faint that they almost don't seem there at all. Having this game rely more solely on visual cues is fine, but again it can throw the player off with split-second reactions.

This is a fine indie-developed music games especially for those who love lo-fi tracks. However, if you're looking for a match to Rhythm Heaven, and one that runs you a handful of hours, you'll likely want to turn elsewhere.

Você sabe que tem algo de errado quando um jogo rítmico depende muito de "visual cue". É muito difícil jogar Melatonin só pelo ritmo, pois algumas notas que deveriam diferenciar certar ações são muito parecidas. Além disso, a trilha sonora é composta por diversas músicas lo-fi genéricas. Já a dificuldade se baseia em mudar o tempo das notas e sumir com as "visual cues" citadas anteriormente.
As duas estrelas que dei foram mais pelo conceito do game e pelos visuais, que são bem bonitos. De resto, foi uma decepção.

- Mom, mom! Can I have RHYTHM HEAVEN™?
- We have RHYTHM HEAVEN™ at home, dear.

Set in the surreal landscapes of the dreams of a young man who, even in his sleep, cannot escape the trappings of modern life, Melatonin is a rhythm game that takes mundane, momentaneous actions of our day-to-day, like the swiping of a credit card, or swinging of a pendulum, sets them to a beat and turns them into a rhythm game.

The game is rendered in a cartoon style with soft pastel colors, which match its low-fi, low energy audio design. As enticing as this presentation is at first, it's at the core of the issues with Melatonin that ultimately turn it into a deeply disappointing experience. The game does not let go of this chill aesthetic to its detriment, resulting into multiple issues with the gameplay. Lack of effective cues within the minigames is the most important one: the sounds that are meant to guide the player are low-energy and hard to make out, like the almost hum-like whirring of a printer, echoes of thunder in the distance, a ding sound that's easily drowned out... all of them far too timid, too reserved.

The contrast is evident when the game is placed side by side with its (obvious) inspiration Rhythm Heaven, as in that game, cues lean on the side of loud and energetic: animal noises, clapping, verbal commands.. even the more artificial prompts are loud clanks, screeches and the like, all of them unmistakable for anything else. The sound design is so intense, in fact, that some cues are committed to memory forever. Anyone who played Rhythm Heaven can probably hear these:

And buh buh buh TAP TAP TAP!
JAB, JAB, JAB, GOGOGO!
Wubbadubbadubbadub, is that true?! EH!
Two flipper rolls!

Sure, not all Rhythm Heaven minigames are perfect, but most Melatonin ones veer on the side of bad due to a widespread unintuitiveness and lack of clarity. The game has to rely on a visual indicator during practice to explain each minigame, and sometimes, the cues are so obtuse, even that doesn't help much. Time is an example where not even the game can explain how the minigame is supposed to work; Money and Stress reuse sound cues for different inputs, forcing reliance on visuals only; Work and Dating take it a step further and change the sounds midway to throw the player off...

Melatonin even commits a cardinal sin for a rhythm game in that, in some levels, such as Shopping and Exercise, the stage track itself doesn't match the intended inputs at all, meaning it's far easier to play with the BGM volume set to 0 -- a depressing way to play a rhythm game, where vibing to the music ought to be a pillar of the experience. On that note, the remixes between nights are another way in which the game performs disfavorably: the basic gist is taken straight from RH, with multiple minigames interspersed with each other as a unique song plays, but Melatonin does not visually change anything to make the remix feel new, and while the tracks featured are unique, they're neither memorable nor exciting, resulting in remixes that lack the cathartic release one yearns for after practicing multiple minigames in a row.

Among those hardcore rhythm gamers desperate for a fix, I suppose some might see value in Melatonin. I, however, and I'm left confused at the glowing reviews it received: despite playing the game to the end, I can't remember a single song, a single motif nor a single sound cue from Melatonin's many underwhelming levels. The experience was about as exciting as its main character's life, and all I could think of as the credits rolled was that we all could really use a new Rhythm Heaven.