Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories Review for Steam

Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories is a pixelated story game, by developers Froach Club, Poppy Works and publishers XSEED Games/Poppy Works, about secrets and a mysterious company called Eglantine Industries. You play as a worker at the company, and it sells melon soda and other melon-based products. One day, your best friend Cantaloupe goes missing and you travel to the next town in search of him and some answers to all the mysterious questions piling up. The town you travel to, however, has strict laws against anything melon related. Will you uncover the secrets and find your friend, or will you be caught up in some illegal business?

You wake up one day in your room at Eglantine Industries to find your friend Cantaloupe has left you a note and seems to have gone missing. The note tells you to leave work and meet him and some other friends in Hog Town. You leave your room and as you explore it feels like something is off. Some strange things are mentioned by some of your coworkers as you interact with them. Strange things such as melons and melon related products being illegal in Hog Town, as well as anything non melon related not being allowed within the company building. After exploring and talking for a bit you are about to leave the building to try and find your friend but you are stopped and told by someone that the boss wants to see you. As such you follow the guy up to the CEO office to talk with Ramby Rabbit Eglantine. He wants to talk with you about a meeting but sees you have taken the day off and lets you go. When you leave the building you find police outside and a lieutenant that questions you about someone named Karl Melon who apparently died on company property. You have no idea who this is and apparently no one else in the company does either. The prologue of the game ends when you get on the train to make your way to Hog Town. Right off the bat the game sets up mystery and a sense of confusion giving you incentive to get to the bottom of what is going on. The controls are WASD or arrow keys to move, Z for interacting, X to open and close the menu. Another thing I’d like to mention is that you can interact with almost everything in this game, some things give useful information while others can just be fun and whimsical. It gives the game more character and can give a better understanding of the world to those playing. Overall, this is a cutesy pixelated 2D RPG game that reminds me of Undertale and other similar pixelated games.

The game is very cute and has a lot of charm but there are some issues I had that I will address. For one, there isn’t a way to turn down the music or really adjust any of the settings that I could find. The game opens in a small, bordered window that you can full screen if you want but is still bordered. Overall, that isn’t a big deal and is more a matter of personal preference to have borderless windows and adjustable settings. You can also just turn the game down in your volume mixer because the music starts off rather loud. Another thing I noticed is that some of the visuals can glitch from time to time causing characters or just the screen in general to warp or move momentarily. It’s a little annoying and I’m unsure if it’s intentional or not as some games can use glitches to create a creepy atmosphere. The controls are a little janky sometimes and they can be delayed when you press them causing precise movement to be rather difficult at times.

Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories is a cutesy exploration game where you experience a story that seems silly and fun on its service but has secrets lying underneath. There is a lot to interact with and find within this cute world of mystery as you look for your friend. While this game has its charm there is a little something missing to draw me deeper into the story. There are also some issues with graphical glitches and movement controls that can be frustrating. I am giving this game a 7 out of 10 because there are some issues that could be refined but is still a cutesy game that I had fun playing.

Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories is available for PC via Steam.

Related: Reviews by Brianna Keller