What makes a person who they are is an endless ocean of choices, decisions, and mistakes. It’s nearly impossible to sum up the human experience succinctly, no matter how you go about it, but the past always returns as a unifying factor. Going through life, with every fleeting moment influencing, or influenced by, an infinite amount of moments, what gives someone that unique spark among the almost eight-billion could be condensed to the minutiae of human life, the trials and tribulations of living on Earth. Each trauma, each miracle, every fear and passion, coalescing into an approximation of humanity, the individual soul.
Blue Reflection: Second Light initially seems wrapped up in this hypothesis, with memories and recollections of the past at the forefront of determining who we are. Waltzing across each character’s reified backstory, a physical representation of themselves, the keypoint in coming to terms with oneself is found in accepting what came before. Throughout the story, however, there’s this constant rhetorical question being asked, an implication that shines doubt what you are approaching as a goal. As you weave between the collective backgrounds of the game’s cast, the detours through the various Heartscapes becomes secondary until… something happens. Somewhere between spending precious hours beside these characters and learning their experiences one by one, Blue Reflection… opens up. The narrative isn’t about "the before", the uncountable and infinite universe of outcomes that fused into what becomes an individual. The "past" isn’t “you”, so much as it’s context for “you”. What makes someone who they are after that, in the moment, is just as much the bonds they share, the loves that flourish, the passions ignited and fears embraced, as it is an arbitrary “past”.
…It’s sort of inescapable that this game is focused on the meaning of “moving on”. The summer vacation framing, the constant allusion to people not wanting things to end, the oppressing fear of what comes next and the change it brings… The future as we know it is beyond the horizon, endlessly far off but within reach, all the same. What happens to the friendships we made, the stories we’ve told and moments we’ve shared, five years from now? Ten? Fifty? Facing the crossroads at the end of an era, what will you take away, and what will you leave behind? Even looking at Backloggd itself, it eventually vanishing is a sure-fire possibility. Not now, maybe not in the near future, but… what do you do with that? For most, this site, the one-liner reviews, the heartfelt tangents, the caustic arguments, will all vanish without a trace, while others will hold the memories earned here close, all gained by sharing a passion with, to be blunt, total strangers.
Inevitably, this will end, and we’ll all move to new corners, a sort of “moving on” itself. But is that necessarily a bad thing? If the site died tomorrow and the community surrounding it shriveled up, would that change the love and hate that went into the words etched into it? Just as the past gave context to who we are now, does this community become another page of backstory, a background to appreciate as we move onto the next thing?
…These are some thoroughly navel-gazey thoughts brought out by what could be surmised as a “cute-girls-doing-cute-things” game, and I won’t pretend I haven’t gone off on similar tangents for an endless slew of slice-of-life anime. But over the entirety of Second Light, with every new character thrown into the party, I saw a familiar face, a person I recognized personally. Chalk it up to great writing, or chalk it up to me seeing what I want to see. I’ve seen these stories, not in a “trite anime trope” way, but in a “I know someone like this” sense, and even on a niche video game logging site I’ve seen the people who are deftly portrayed in Blue Reflection. I won’t go as far as to say this is an essential introspective reflection on community or something pompous like that. I’d imagine for most crowds, this will come off as a very well done character-focused slow burn, and that itself is by no-means a negative reading. But I suppose I can only say this, the story, what it meant in the grand scheme of things, hit me at the right time.
Blue Reflection: Second Light initially seems wrapped up in this hypothesis, with memories and recollections of the past at the forefront of determining who we are. Waltzing across each character’s reified backstory, a physical representation of themselves, the keypoint in coming to terms with oneself is found in accepting what came before. Throughout the story, however, there’s this constant rhetorical question being asked, an implication that shines doubt what you are approaching as a goal. As you weave between the collective backgrounds of the game’s cast, the detours through the various Heartscapes becomes secondary until… something happens. Somewhere between spending precious hours beside these characters and learning their experiences one by one, Blue Reflection… opens up. The narrative isn’t about "the before", the uncountable and infinite universe of outcomes that fused into what becomes an individual. The "past" isn’t “you”, so much as it’s context for “you”. What makes someone who they are after that, in the moment, is just as much the bonds they share, the loves that flourish, the passions ignited and fears embraced, as it is an arbitrary “past”.
…It’s sort of inescapable that this game is focused on the meaning of “moving on”. The summer vacation framing, the constant allusion to people not wanting things to end, the oppressing fear of what comes next and the change it brings… The future as we know it is beyond the horizon, endlessly far off but within reach, all the same. What happens to the friendships we made, the stories we’ve told and moments we’ve shared, five years from now? Ten? Fifty? Facing the crossroads at the end of an era, what will you take away, and what will you leave behind? Even looking at Backloggd itself, it eventually vanishing is a sure-fire possibility. Not now, maybe not in the near future, but… what do you do with that? For most, this site, the one-liner reviews, the heartfelt tangents, the caustic arguments, will all vanish without a trace, while others will hold the memories earned here close, all gained by sharing a passion with, to be blunt, total strangers.
Inevitably, this will end, and we’ll all move to new corners, a sort of “moving on” itself. But is that necessarily a bad thing? If the site died tomorrow and the community surrounding it shriveled up, would that change the love and hate that went into the words etched into it? Just as the past gave context to who we are now, does this community become another page of backstory, a background to appreciate as we move onto the next thing?
…These are some thoroughly navel-gazey thoughts brought out by what could be surmised as a “cute-girls-doing-cute-things” game, and I won’t pretend I haven’t gone off on similar tangents for an endless slew of slice-of-life anime. But over the entirety of Second Light, with every new character thrown into the party, I saw a familiar face, a person I recognized personally. Chalk it up to great writing, or chalk it up to me seeing what I want to see. I’ve seen these stories, not in a “trite anime trope” way, but in a “I know someone like this” sense, and even on a niche video game logging site I’ve seen the people who are deftly portrayed in Blue Reflection. I won’t go as far as to say this is an essential introspective reflection on community or something pompous like that. I’d imagine for most crowds, this will come off as a very well done character-focused slow burn, and that itself is by no-means a negative reading. But I suppose I can only say this, the story, what it meant in the grand scheme of things, hit me at the right time.
this is gust's best game since atelier shallie/the atelier dusk trilogy in general and that completely took me by surprise. the original blue reflection is what i would call a (perhaps more than) slightly perverted edm album with boss fights - hayato asano, who returns to score second light, provided an absolute rave of a backdrop to the few spectacular battles but everything else about the game had this uncomfortable sense of voyeurism barely holding together an rpg with many pointless systems and no budget to make sense of any of it. based on my experience with another of gust's sequels - nights of azure 2 - and the general trend in the kind of audiences they have been more obviously courting (stares despairingly at atelier ryza which i have not played yet due to oozing reddit aura) since about 2017 or so i had no hopes for this game and had written it off. a day before its release i had an epiphany that if i dont buy a physical copy now i would never be able to. so i did.
not only does it tone down the leery undercurrents of the original game, limiting more """fanservice""" (god i hate this term) elements to the DLC costumes that i'll happily look away from if it keeps the actual game not-cringe, it produces a kind of jrpg that simply doesnt exist anymore - one where characters have relationships with other characters who arent the protagonist! this is partially due to it having its own original cast, the cast of the 2017 game, the BR Ray anime and the BR Sun (as of yet unreleased) mobile game all present but they are all so well integrated into the narrative - a genuinely well written science fantasy mystery underpinned by the usual jrpg themes of friendship, love, self-actualisation - that it never feels like the annoying crossover episode it should feel like.
the most genuine pleasant surprise of all? a lesbian romance that is celebrated and proves central to the narrative, not fetishised even to the extent that it is in the original nights of azure - which i still commend for staying true to itself and acknowledging itself as a gay romance unlike the obnoxiously fetishising and pandering nonsense of nights of azure 2.
the battle system is fantastic, so in love with "ether per second" as a statistic that exists - extremely fun to say. but like most gust games the difficulty just isnt there to warrant engaging with the systems too much on the normal difficulty and you only unlock hard after your first playthrough. there is a bonus ending to achieve on new game plus so there is incentive there so i may return at some point. the auxiliary systems that exist - the social mechanics, the school building aspect all serve their functions but it isnt anything unseen before.
if you have ever been a fan of gust's output you will absolutely love this. its their best work in close to a decade and im glad its free from the worst elements i was saddened to see them approach on the whole. but fuck mel kishida for doing NFTs
not only does it tone down the leery undercurrents of the original game, limiting more """fanservice""" (god i hate this term) elements to the DLC costumes that i'll happily look away from if it keeps the actual game not-cringe, it produces a kind of jrpg that simply doesnt exist anymore - one where characters have relationships with other characters who arent the protagonist! this is partially due to it having its own original cast, the cast of the 2017 game, the BR Ray anime and the BR Sun (as of yet unreleased) mobile game all present but they are all so well integrated into the narrative - a genuinely well written science fantasy mystery underpinned by the usual jrpg themes of friendship, love, self-actualisation - that it never feels like the annoying crossover episode it should feel like.
the most genuine pleasant surprise of all? a lesbian romance that is celebrated and proves central to the narrative, not fetishised even to the extent that it is in the original nights of azure - which i still commend for staying true to itself and acknowledging itself as a gay romance unlike the obnoxiously fetishising and pandering nonsense of nights of azure 2.
the battle system is fantastic, so in love with "ether per second" as a statistic that exists - extremely fun to say. but like most gust games the difficulty just isnt there to warrant engaging with the systems too much on the normal difficulty and you only unlock hard after your first playthrough. there is a bonus ending to achieve on new game plus so there is incentive there so i may return at some point. the auxiliary systems that exist - the social mechanics, the school building aspect all serve their functions but it isnt anything unseen before.
if you have ever been a fan of gust's output you will absolutely love this. its their best work in close to a decade and im glad its free from the worst elements i was saddened to see them approach on the whole. but fuck mel kishida for doing NFTs
Treasure the relations and cherish the memories you made.
Don't look back, move forward but never forget.
Find your own "special".
You're yourself and no one else.
Don't look back, move forward but never forget.
Find your own "special".
You're yourself and no one else.
Probably the most heartwarming game I'll ever play in my lifetime.
Tie feels like it really focuses on a completely different direction from what the first game and even Ray did which makes the whole experience feel entirely unique and makes it definitely worth giving a shot for everyone who enjoyed any of the other entries. The game's journey is definitely the highlight of the entire thing as you go through your adventures with the rest of the cast but this in turn sets up the destination and it's twist to be a crazy ride. Insanely beautiful dungeon designs, really varied and memorable OST, very lovable cast and main character, and just a rollercoaster of a ride all throughout.
Tie feels like it really focuses on a completely different direction from what the first game and even Ray did which makes the whole experience feel entirely unique and makes it definitely worth giving a shot for everyone who enjoyed any of the other entries. The game's journey is definitely the highlight of the entire thing as you go through your adventures with the rest of the cast but this in turn sets up the destination and it's twist to be a crazy ride. Insanely beautiful dungeon designs, really varied and memorable OST, very lovable cast and main character, and just a rollercoaster of a ride all throughout.
This review contains spoilers
I want to leave something here for the beginning. This will be long and personal. I apologize for how long this could get or maybe too personal but I really want to talk about a lot with this game. I would recommend not reading this if you seriously don't want spoilers. I have a lot to say. So much about this game.
I want to start off with a story. You see I got this game last year for Christmas. I can't even fully remember what made me ask for the game to be honest. I do remember thinking the game looked really cool. I should note I have not played the first game or watched the Anime for the series. I only knew that you could play this game without playing the first. I heard mixed things about the first game anyway so it's not a huge lost.
So I got the game, I played for at least 3 hours. I really liked what I played but a moment happened that caused a long time for me to actually sit down and play it. It's embarrassing to admit but it was because, my switch got hot when the game was playing and for some reason it made me paranoid like the switch was going to break. So I just didn't touch it again. There was one other time this year I wanted to play it but I had the same struggle in my mind. Even with the worries, I still thought about the game. Wondering what I'd think of it. I really enjoyed the few hours I had with it but it never went further then that sadly.
We then move into this month where I was thinking of either playing Atelier Sophie or Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. But my mind just kept thinking about Blue Reflection: Tie (that's the japanese name btw). I really wanted to play through it. I told myself that this time I will do it. I had a goal to complete this before the year ended. I started on December 11th. I only knew the game was apparently 39 and a half hours long according to howlongtobeat. I would also check and see the game was also 11 chapters. Otherwise most of the game was me going through it blind. This was the experience I had playing Blue Reflection: Tie.
The story is a thing that I will never admit to be able to critique well in really any game. As much as I want to think I can review well, it's one of the things I've always struggled with. But with all that in mind. I really like the story here. It to me feels like watching an anime at times. Sure it's not really all that high budget as the cutscenes mostly consistent of the same few motion capture animations for characters for animations but there's something about the characters that just do it for me. The premise in some ways is linear but I always loved how I never really knew where the story was heading. It's something that even till the very end, I just wanted to know what would happen. Now this will always be up to the person, I'm sure some would scoff and not get much from it but to me I think the plot really works well because...
The characters are just so great. There's a bunch you'll meet in the game. You only meet with 3 characters in the prologue of the game. You play as a girl named Ao Hoshizaki for the whole game. You'll meet many faces throughout the game and well I really like them with the likes of Kokoro who is this girl who always seems so fun to be around, Rena who made be stubborn at times but is one I latched onto a lot during my playthrough, Yuki, a mysterious girl who actually had an arc that really surprised me, Shiho who was really sweet and just lovable someone you just can't help but smile at, Hinako who may not be the most interesting to me but I love her relationship with Yuzu and Lime, those two girls are what started the whole set of events and why the girls are here. There's also Kirara, a girl who could originally see the Divine and was basically treated poorly by her father, she's rather odd but charming. Hiori and Mio are sisters who only had a single mother who vanished one day and the two together make for an interesting duo and I really like the feelings they had for each other not in a incest way btw cause like no that would suck. But you know what I mean. The last one is Uta who is rather weird, she was originally this evil twisted girl who wanted to change the world in her image but thanks to the memory lost everyone except Ao got, she has a different personality from who she was before and it's all just a mystery for what's going to happen to her.
When you go into these things the girls have called a Heartspace, you get to learn all about their pasts and what it was like before they came to this new world. You don't have to get them if you don't have any interest but they have an aura to them that give me the feels. With the watercolor aesthetic and the pure black forms of the past of characters making them feel mysterious like you can only paint a picture through their conversation. It makes exploring the worlds more interesting as you get to really see how each character was. Their Heartscapes also represent the place and interactions they had and they all do a wonderful job of setting the place for each girl. It somehow feels otherworldly and yet still realistic to what the setting originally could have been.
The game has a nice hub, it's later called the Oasis. This is where you'll do stuff like interacting with the other girls, adding new places to the place to change your stats in battles, crafting new items, and even going on dates with your friends. Though it's nothing really romantic, it's kind of more just having fun with your friends. The Oasis is designed like a school which gives it a feel that I'm sure isn't too unfamiliar to stuff like Persona, I think those took place in schools? I haven't played them yet so I wouldn't know. I like how at first it feels so empty and mysterious, not even every room is able to go into making it even more weird for myself. But once you find everybody it really does feel more lively, just seeing everyone interact with the stuff you build or just hanging around the Oasis. The game also doesn't want you to waste your time as you have very many convient fast travel options but sometimes it's nice to just enjoy the setting especially with the nice cheery music it presents. There's also different songs for conversations depending on the time and while it may get repetitive for some, they are really lovely pieces.
In fact the music is one of the brighter spots of Blue Reflection: Tie. Gust is a company I'm not too aware of, but when I played Atelier Ryza last year, I was impressed with the OST. It's really good stuff, it reminds me of Falcom where they aren't AAA studio status but yet still make some of the biggest bangers to exist in gaming. This game has a lot of lovely pieces. If you asked me what would I first think of when I hear the music, I think of the piano. The atmosphere just fits so well with what happens. While not every track is memorable, it fits the settings so well that I don't personally mind. When I would go back into previous Heartscapes, sometimes I teared up thinking about the journey, hearing the music again and just thinking how long it's been I've been playing this wonderful game. It's nice to see Gust really does do good music for their games. I do wish you could edit what plays where though like in Ryza, it's not really a negative but it could have been neat.
With all the non battle stuff here, it's good to know that when you are battling that it's a joyful time. I'm a little picky when it comes to what I like in battles. I won't say a specific style can hurt a game for me but I think being boring is the worst thing you can do. This game does not bore me because the battles have this order ring where you have to gain ether by waiting for their icon to be at certain checkpoints. Doing attacks will increase how much your max ether is for the battle. I like this because it not only lets some strategy get involved especially when you gain more party members but it means I have to focus everytime which is great because I'm engaged. I never find battles dull and I went out of my way to do them when I could. Though this game is not too challenging, you can't even play the game's hard mode or update that adds Deathwish mode. You need to beat the game once to unlock them which I feel could hurt someone who only wants challenge in their RPG.
That said however, I didn't mention the fact this game has a magical girl theme to it. I love magical girl stuff, some of my favorite Anime like Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Cardcaptor Sakura, Madoka, and Precure are magical girl series. You'll get these forms called Reflector when your Gear level is at 3. They even have a transformation sequence that feels satisfying to earn. You'll gain even more powerful attacks when in this and when in the heat of a battle it feels very exciting. You really do feel like a character out of those anime. I do like however that if you get sick of them, you can choose to have them just change and not interupt the fight, again appealing to all crowds. You can ever later unlock this Ether Tide move where you can do this really powerful attack that feels so satisfying to watch your character do it. Again it really does feel like a Magical girl thing which makes me really happy. I feel like an amazing person pulling this stuff off making me wish I could do the same irl but maybe that makes me sound kind of cringe idk.
There's also 1-1 fights with bosses and I'm kind of mixed on them, if you can defeat them or get a good combo then you can do a stunning finisher on them all of which are pretty cool. The only gripe I have is this was probably me not paying attention but I could never figure out how the counter works. I swear no matter what I did I only got it to work once and I didn't know how. I feel like an idiot honestly but otherwise it's a nice alternative to get more of a combo.
Oh right I didn't even mention one of the cooler aspects of the battles where every hit adds to the combo counter which makes you do more damage and it's satisfying seeing the numbers rack up as you keep fighting. Bosses can seem like damage sponges where you wonder how will this be possible but by the end of the fight I was amazed so much just how powerful I felt. It really gives good feedback to just how strong you can be and also again leads to more strategy.
I also love every party member you can play as. Ao is a character who can provide a shield to stop bosses from ending your combo and she has a lot of powerful attacks using different elements. Kokoro is a powerful girl but with a weak defense though makes up for it with high HP. She's also good for getting statuses on your enemy like Stun or Slow. Rena is a good defense character who can help your team out for small healing or helping with knockback. Her moves aren't the strongest but she isn't useless when she needs to fight. Shiho is really good for stuff like speeding up your characters on the order ring, help with statuses giving you more HP then what Rena can and can provide some great damage. She was a character I relied on if I felt like I could be in danger. Hinako is amazing if you want high combos as she can add 2 to a combo with an attack or even give it to one of her teammates if she isn't the most helpful for attacks in a fight. Hiori is good at using two elements and can make an enemy weak to them more with the attacks she has. She's not one of my favorites personally but she's fun to have at times. You also can have a support for giving special benefits like restoring some health but don't rely on it 100% as it can fail to work but they will still be a nice help. You can even switch them in if a character is down or in danger.
Man I know it's annoying for me to say this but I wish the Switch was better. Sadly this game seems to share the same engine they use for their current Atelier games. This means stuff like shadows look awful at times and the framerate isn't the best in some areas. I won't blame the game as this is more Nintendo's fault but I do wonder what it be like if I had a PS4 or a good PC. Thankfully it's playable and the only bad loading time is when you start up the game. Still it's times like this I really wish that new console is upon us but maybe I just need to lighten up a little.
One thing I did throughout all my sessions is I used the photo mode because I thought it be fun to capture all of my fun times with each session. I made tweets for them if you for some reason want to see them but yeah it really did feel good to look at them. It made me happy seeing the memories I'll have in the future looking back. It makes me cry a little not gonna lie...
Really Blue Reflection: Tie is just so amazing because well there's nothing really that bad about it in my eyes. I thought it was amazing throughout. When I was thinking about this game everyday, I was hoping when I got to this point, I would say this is one of the best games ever made and well it was. For me personally, god I hate having to keep saying that I just don't wanna look stupid. There's no moment that makes me mad or frustrated. This game even has stealth, STEALTH! That stuff is usually a thing I despise but here, yeah it's limited but it's functionable. It really goes to show just how enjoyable the adventure is. I was surprised the game was also very safe on not showing fanservice. Sure there are a couple of things that can be a little weird especially some of the dialogue options but it's nothing really degenerate. I'm happy I won't feel ashamed having played this not that I would care anyway.
I took about 53 hours to see the whole adventure through. I didn't 100% or anything but I did most of the sidequests. I think there was only 2 I didn't do but otherwise I did most of the game and again that says a lot about my enjoyment of the game as I rarely do sidequests in RPGs. I know that sounds dumb but they just don't do much for me in a lot of RPGs, there's exceptions but not many. There's also DLC and I saw some rather dumb costume DLC, I remember Ryza did that too. Sorry I just don't like that stuff. I don't really care for DLC so I'm content with what I did.
I think this is where I'll stop with the review. I probably missed some things I could have mentioned but in the end I love this game. I'm not gonna say everyone will love this game but for me, it made me happy. For a person like me who is frequently depressed, a person who doesn't really have many games that have sentimental memories attatched. I was happy when I finished. I loved the experience, I even cried a little of joy just seeing that I did it. I played a game that I loved from beginning to end. I'll gladly replay it someday. I'm not sure if a sequel will ever come, I know there's a mobile game next year but I don't care for mobile. If a third game arrives to the switch or whatever is next for Nintendo, expect me to get it day 1. This is my third favorite game ever made currently and my number 1 RPG. If you got this far then wow I'm sorry you probably read one of the worst things ever written on this site. This is the last game I'm playing for this year. I will see you all on January 1st. Hope you all have a Happy New Years Eve on Saturday. Thank you Gust for making one of the best games I've ever played. I'll never forget you Blue Reflection: Tie. You'll live in my heart forever with all of the memories. All good things come to an end and I'm happy to say goodbye on this note. I'll miss them anyway but I know I'll see them again someday...
I want to start off with a story. You see I got this game last year for Christmas. I can't even fully remember what made me ask for the game to be honest. I do remember thinking the game looked really cool. I should note I have not played the first game or watched the Anime for the series. I only knew that you could play this game without playing the first. I heard mixed things about the first game anyway so it's not a huge lost.
So I got the game, I played for at least 3 hours. I really liked what I played but a moment happened that caused a long time for me to actually sit down and play it. It's embarrassing to admit but it was because, my switch got hot when the game was playing and for some reason it made me paranoid like the switch was going to break. So I just didn't touch it again. There was one other time this year I wanted to play it but I had the same struggle in my mind. Even with the worries, I still thought about the game. Wondering what I'd think of it. I really enjoyed the few hours I had with it but it never went further then that sadly.
We then move into this month where I was thinking of either playing Atelier Sophie or Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. But my mind just kept thinking about Blue Reflection: Tie (that's the japanese name btw). I really wanted to play through it. I told myself that this time I will do it. I had a goal to complete this before the year ended. I started on December 11th. I only knew the game was apparently 39 and a half hours long according to howlongtobeat. I would also check and see the game was also 11 chapters. Otherwise most of the game was me going through it blind. This was the experience I had playing Blue Reflection: Tie.
The story is a thing that I will never admit to be able to critique well in really any game. As much as I want to think I can review well, it's one of the things I've always struggled with. But with all that in mind. I really like the story here. It to me feels like watching an anime at times. Sure it's not really all that high budget as the cutscenes mostly consistent of the same few motion capture animations for characters for animations but there's something about the characters that just do it for me. The premise in some ways is linear but I always loved how I never really knew where the story was heading. It's something that even till the very end, I just wanted to know what would happen. Now this will always be up to the person, I'm sure some would scoff and not get much from it but to me I think the plot really works well because...
The characters are just so great. There's a bunch you'll meet in the game. You only meet with 3 characters in the prologue of the game. You play as a girl named Ao Hoshizaki for the whole game. You'll meet many faces throughout the game and well I really like them with the likes of Kokoro who is this girl who always seems so fun to be around, Rena who made be stubborn at times but is one I latched onto a lot during my playthrough, Yuki, a mysterious girl who actually had an arc that really surprised me, Shiho who was really sweet and just lovable someone you just can't help but smile at, Hinako who may not be the most interesting to me but I love her relationship with Yuzu and Lime, those two girls are what started the whole set of events and why the girls are here. There's also Kirara, a girl who could originally see the Divine and was basically treated poorly by her father, she's rather odd but charming. Hiori and Mio are sisters who only had a single mother who vanished one day and the two together make for an interesting duo and I really like the feelings they had for each other not in a incest way btw cause like no that would suck. But you know what I mean. The last one is Uta who is rather weird, she was originally this evil twisted girl who wanted to change the world in her image but thanks to the memory lost everyone except Ao got, she has a different personality from who she was before and it's all just a mystery for what's going to happen to her.
When you go into these things the girls have called a Heartspace, you get to learn all about their pasts and what it was like before they came to this new world. You don't have to get them if you don't have any interest but they have an aura to them that give me the feels. With the watercolor aesthetic and the pure black forms of the past of characters making them feel mysterious like you can only paint a picture through their conversation. It makes exploring the worlds more interesting as you get to really see how each character was. Their Heartscapes also represent the place and interactions they had and they all do a wonderful job of setting the place for each girl. It somehow feels otherworldly and yet still realistic to what the setting originally could have been.
The game has a nice hub, it's later called the Oasis. This is where you'll do stuff like interacting with the other girls, adding new places to the place to change your stats in battles, crafting new items, and even going on dates with your friends. Though it's nothing really romantic, it's kind of more just having fun with your friends. The Oasis is designed like a school which gives it a feel that I'm sure isn't too unfamiliar to stuff like Persona, I think those took place in schools? I haven't played them yet so I wouldn't know. I like how at first it feels so empty and mysterious, not even every room is able to go into making it even more weird for myself. But once you find everybody it really does feel more lively, just seeing everyone interact with the stuff you build or just hanging around the Oasis. The game also doesn't want you to waste your time as you have very many convient fast travel options but sometimes it's nice to just enjoy the setting especially with the nice cheery music it presents. There's also different songs for conversations depending on the time and while it may get repetitive for some, they are really lovely pieces.
In fact the music is one of the brighter spots of Blue Reflection: Tie. Gust is a company I'm not too aware of, but when I played Atelier Ryza last year, I was impressed with the OST. It's really good stuff, it reminds me of Falcom where they aren't AAA studio status but yet still make some of the biggest bangers to exist in gaming. This game has a lot of lovely pieces. If you asked me what would I first think of when I hear the music, I think of the piano. The atmosphere just fits so well with what happens. While not every track is memorable, it fits the settings so well that I don't personally mind. When I would go back into previous Heartscapes, sometimes I teared up thinking about the journey, hearing the music again and just thinking how long it's been I've been playing this wonderful game. It's nice to see Gust really does do good music for their games. I do wish you could edit what plays where though like in Ryza, it's not really a negative but it could have been neat.
With all the non battle stuff here, it's good to know that when you are battling that it's a joyful time. I'm a little picky when it comes to what I like in battles. I won't say a specific style can hurt a game for me but I think being boring is the worst thing you can do. This game does not bore me because the battles have this order ring where you have to gain ether by waiting for their icon to be at certain checkpoints. Doing attacks will increase how much your max ether is for the battle. I like this because it not only lets some strategy get involved especially when you gain more party members but it means I have to focus everytime which is great because I'm engaged. I never find battles dull and I went out of my way to do them when I could. Though this game is not too challenging, you can't even play the game's hard mode or update that adds Deathwish mode. You need to beat the game once to unlock them which I feel could hurt someone who only wants challenge in their RPG.
That said however, I didn't mention the fact this game has a magical girl theme to it. I love magical girl stuff, some of my favorite Anime like Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Cardcaptor Sakura, Madoka, and Precure are magical girl series. You'll get these forms called Reflector when your Gear level is at 3. They even have a transformation sequence that feels satisfying to earn. You'll gain even more powerful attacks when in this and when in the heat of a battle it feels very exciting. You really do feel like a character out of those anime. I do like however that if you get sick of them, you can choose to have them just change and not interupt the fight, again appealing to all crowds. You can ever later unlock this Ether Tide move where you can do this really powerful attack that feels so satisfying to watch your character do it. Again it really does feel like a Magical girl thing which makes me really happy. I feel like an amazing person pulling this stuff off making me wish I could do the same irl but maybe that makes me sound kind of cringe idk.
There's also 1-1 fights with bosses and I'm kind of mixed on them, if you can defeat them or get a good combo then you can do a stunning finisher on them all of which are pretty cool. The only gripe I have is this was probably me not paying attention but I could never figure out how the counter works. I swear no matter what I did I only got it to work once and I didn't know how. I feel like an idiot honestly but otherwise it's a nice alternative to get more of a combo.
Oh right I didn't even mention one of the cooler aspects of the battles where every hit adds to the combo counter which makes you do more damage and it's satisfying seeing the numbers rack up as you keep fighting. Bosses can seem like damage sponges where you wonder how will this be possible but by the end of the fight I was amazed so much just how powerful I felt. It really gives good feedback to just how strong you can be and also again leads to more strategy.
I also love every party member you can play as. Ao is a character who can provide a shield to stop bosses from ending your combo and she has a lot of powerful attacks using different elements. Kokoro is a powerful girl but with a weak defense though makes up for it with high HP. She's also good for getting statuses on your enemy like Stun or Slow. Rena is a good defense character who can help your team out for small healing or helping with knockback. Her moves aren't the strongest but she isn't useless when she needs to fight. Shiho is really good for stuff like speeding up your characters on the order ring, help with statuses giving you more HP then what Rena can and can provide some great damage. She was a character I relied on if I felt like I could be in danger. Hinako is amazing if you want high combos as she can add 2 to a combo with an attack or even give it to one of her teammates if she isn't the most helpful for attacks in a fight. Hiori is good at using two elements and can make an enemy weak to them more with the attacks she has. She's not one of my favorites personally but she's fun to have at times. You also can have a support for giving special benefits like restoring some health but don't rely on it 100% as it can fail to work but they will still be a nice help. You can even switch them in if a character is down or in danger.
Man I know it's annoying for me to say this but I wish the Switch was better. Sadly this game seems to share the same engine they use for their current Atelier games. This means stuff like shadows look awful at times and the framerate isn't the best in some areas. I won't blame the game as this is more Nintendo's fault but I do wonder what it be like if I had a PS4 or a good PC. Thankfully it's playable and the only bad loading time is when you start up the game. Still it's times like this I really wish that new console is upon us but maybe I just need to lighten up a little.
One thing I did throughout all my sessions is I used the photo mode because I thought it be fun to capture all of my fun times with each session. I made tweets for them if you for some reason want to see them but yeah it really did feel good to look at them. It made me happy seeing the memories I'll have in the future looking back. It makes me cry a little not gonna lie...
Really Blue Reflection: Tie is just so amazing because well there's nothing really that bad about it in my eyes. I thought it was amazing throughout. When I was thinking about this game everyday, I was hoping when I got to this point, I would say this is one of the best games ever made and well it was. For me personally, god I hate having to keep saying that I just don't wanna look stupid. There's no moment that makes me mad or frustrated. This game even has stealth, STEALTH! That stuff is usually a thing I despise but here, yeah it's limited but it's functionable. It really goes to show just how enjoyable the adventure is. I was surprised the game was also very safe on not showing fanservice. Sure there are a couple of things that can be a little weird especially some of the dialogue options but it's nothing really degenerate. I'm happy I won't feel ashamed having played this not that I would care anyway.
I took about 53 hours to see the whole adventure through. I didn't 100% or anything but I did most of the sidequests. I think there was only 2 I didn't do but otherwise I did most of the game and again that says a lot about my enjoyment of the game as I rarely do sidequests in RPGs. I know that sounds dumb but they just don't do much for me in a lot of RPGs, there's exceptions but not many. There's also DLC and I saw some rather dumb costume DLC, I remember Ryza did that too. Sorry I just don't like that stuff. I don't really care for DLC so I'm content with what I did.
I think this is where I'll stop with the review. I probably missed some things I could have mentioned but in the end I love this game. I'm not gonna say everyone will love this game but for me, it made me happy. For a person like me who is frequently depressed, a person who doesn't really have many games that have sentimental memories attatched. I was happy when I finished. I loved the experience, I even cried a little of joy just seeing that I did it. I played a game that I loved from beginning to end. I'll gladly replay it someday. I'm not sure if a sequel will ever come, I know there's a mobile game next year but I don't care for mobile. If a third game arrives to the switch or whatever is next for Nintendo, expect me to get it day 1. This is my third favorite game ever made currently and my number 1 RPG. If you got this far then wow I'm sorry you probably read one of the worst things ever written on this site. This is the last game I'm playing for this year. I will see you all on January 1st. Hope you all have a Happy New Years Eve on Saturday. Thank you Gust for making one of the best games I've ever played. I'll never forget you Blue Reflection: Tie. You'll live in my heart forever with all of the memories. All good things come to an end and I'm happy to say goodbye on this note. I'll miss them anyway but I know I'll see them again someday...
This review contains spoilers
Blue Reflection TIE/Second Light makes me really happy that I play JRPGs. It's captured why I love and play video games, and all the anxieties and joys that come with it, and it also looks and feels amazing to play in the meanwhile.
The visual coherence of this game cannot be overstated. The Kokorotope dungeon designs, the cutscene directing, the character models and their expressions, even the lighting effects all contribute to the world, the 世界観 that the game wants to establish. The devs at GUST really poured their hearts into making this game look memorable.
It doesn't just look good for its own sake though. The aforementioned Kokorotopes are the characters' hearts manifesting as dungeons. They're great characterization set pieces, but the game does so much more than just that to give nuance to its cast. The characters all get ample screen time with the main character Ao that they all get to express many facets of themselves. it also helps that Ao is a really well-written empathetic character who brings out the best of the rest of the cast. The character writing is top-notch, it is respectful to its characters' nuances, issues and relationships without feeling condescending or simplistic.
The soundtrack is admittedly a little less catchy than the first game's. I have not played BR1, but its soundtrack has drawn me in ever since I first heard it. Even then, I consider this game's soundtrack to be impressive anyway. W-P.NEURONS is less catchy than OVERDOSE, but it's easier to listen to and works perfectly as a regular battle theme. The Kokorotope themes are all memorable as well. What I like the most about the soundtrack though is how it makes the main leitmotif for the franchise feel meaningful to you the player by the time you get to the ending credits.
BR Tie is also an especially rewarding game if you go into it after playing Gust and Tsuchiya Akira's earlier games, Ciel Nosurge and Ar Nosurge. There are ideas and themes and narrative quirks from those earlier games that can be recognized in this game that's made me smile throughout my playthrough. More impressively though, the (Normal) end of this game frames its outlook on video games in a slightly different way than Ar Nosurge's that I cannot help but be impressed. I cannot decide if I like Ar Nosurge or BR Tie more. I think that is the highest praise I can possibly give to this game.
The visual coherence of this game cannot be overstated. The Kokorotope dungeon designs, the cutscene directing, the character models and their expressions, even the lighting effects all contribute to the world, the 世界観 that the game wants to establish. The devs at GUST really poured their hearts into making this game look memorable.
It doesn't just look good for its own sake though. The aforementioned Kokorotopes are the characters' hearts manifesting as dungeons. They're great characterization set pieces, but the game does so much more than just that to give nuance to its cast. The characters all get ample screen time with the main character Ao that they all get to express many facets of themselves. it also helps that Ao is a really well-written empathetic character who brings out the best of the rest of the cast. The character writing is top-notch, it is respectful to its characters' nuances, issues and relationships without feeling condescending or simplistic.
The soundtrack is admittedly a little less catchy than the first game's. I have not played BR1, but its soundtrack has drawn me in ever since I first heard it. Even then, I consider this game's soundtrack to be impressive anyway. W-P.NEURONS is less catchy than OVERDOSE, but it's easier to listen to and works perfectly as a regular battle theme. The Kokorotope themes are all memorable as well. What I like the most about the soundtrack though is how it makes the main leitmotif for the franchise feel meaningful to you the player by the time you get to the ending credits.
BR Tie is also an especially rewarding game if you go into it after playing Gust and Tsuchiya Akira's earlier games, Ciel Nosurge and Ar Nosurge. There are ideas and themes and narrative quirks from those earlier games that can be recognized in this game that's made me smile throughout my playthrough. More impressively though, the (Normal) end of this game frames its outlook on video games in a slightly different way than Ar Nosurge's that I cannot help but be impressed. I cannot decide if I like Ar Nosurge or BR Tie more. I think that is the highest praise I can possibly give to this game.
"This is really the end. The summer vacation was over before I knew it."
This game was... certainly something. It started just as 'oh, this looks cool' to '...this was a blast'. Blue Reflection: Second Light is a story about a summer vacation which, well, has to end sometime.
The game is good. Really good. I started, also, with some fear of the fanservice that people talked about, but besides the DLC content and some... butt shots, it wasn't that big of a deal.
This game is surprisingly beautiful with its graphics. The atmosphere, the soundtrack... everything is tied up with such a intimate storytelling for each one of the girls that you met. The battle system is really, really fun and somehow strategic on how you use your actions: and how the enemies can screw up your Ether management.
If you are suspicious because of the 'cute girls fighting evil', really, there's SO MORE behind that. The first seven chapters (of eleven!) consists on character introductions and, at the beginning, I was really afraid that the story was going just to be around Ao (she's a good character too!), but every girl has its moments and deserved screentimes. There's a trope for each one of them that you probably will like: the 'loving sister', the 'hype machine', the 'calm collected one' and many more: it's really easy to like one of them, but it's really more easier like every single one of them. The girls have their own insecurities, fears and hopes and, even if your favorite doesn't have that many screentime, don't worry, she can be developed with the Date system and, if she's on the battle team, furthermore with the Talent system.
Happily, this game doesn't use, at any moment, a queerbait approach to a school full of girls, which was also one of my main fears. Their interactions are just something pure-ish, things girls of their ages would say to one another. You, as player, cannot have any romance options, but two characters will enter in a relationship (which is NOT in a friendly way, in a romantic way), but no spoilers! See for yourself!
If you feel that the game is slow, well, it really is. DON'T RUSH IT or you'll get super exhausted of its mechanics and the sidequests. Play at a chill pace and enjoy at it fullest: it's a summer vacation, and will end sometime.
If you get lost at any point of the game, use this site: https://barrelwisdom.com/second-light/faq (NOT MINE!) to get some advice from the FAQ or the Items list, it'll be useful sometime.
This game was... certainly something. It started just as 'oh, this looks cool' to '...this was a blast'. Blue Reflection: Second Light is a story about a summer vacation which, well, has to end sometime.
The game is good. Really good. I started, also, with some fear of the fanservice that people talked about, but besides the DLC content and some... butt shots, it wasn't that big of a deal.
This game is surprisingly beautiful with its graphics. The atmosphere, the soundtrack... everything is tied up with such a intimate storytelling for each one of the girls that you met. The battle system is really, really fun and somehow strategic on how you use your actions: and how the enemies can screw up your Ether management.
If you are suspicious because of the 'cute girls fighting evil', really, there's SO MORE behind that. The first seven chapters (of eleven!) consists on character introductions and, at the beginning, I was really afraid that the story was going just to be around Ao (she's a good character too!), but every girl has its moments and deserved screentimes. There's a trope for each one of them that you probably will like: the 'loving sister', the 'hype machine', the 'calm collected one' and many more: it's really easy to like one of them, but it's really more easier like every single one of them. The girls have their own insecurities, fears and hopes and, even if your favorite doesn't have that many screentime, don't worry, she can be developed with the Date system and, if she's on the battle team, furthermore with the Talent system.
Happily, this game doesn't use, at any moment, a queerbait approach to a school full of girls, which was also one of my main fears. Their interactions are just something pure-ish, things girls of their ages would say to one another. You, as player, cannot have any romance options, but two characters will enter in a relationship (which is NOT in a friendly way, in a romantic way), but no spoilers! See for yourself!
If you feel that the game is slow, well, it really is. DON'T RUSH IT or you'll get super exhausted of its mechanics and the sidequests. Play at a chill pace and enjoy at it fullest: it's a summer vacation, and will end sometime.
If you get lost at any point of the game, use this site: https://barrelwisdom.com/second-light/faq (NOT MINE!) to get some advice from the FAQ or the Items list, it'll be useful sometime.
A canon gay couple makes all the tedious battles worthwhile
Also, not only there is a canon couple but the writing is so good...
Loved it so much
Also, not only there is a canon couple but the writing is so good...
Loved it so much
This review contains spoilers
"I am Ao Hoshizaki. I'm no one else.
And that's all I need to be."
And that's all I need to be."
Full video review: https://youtu.be/o7cz8Asam4g
Despite being a sequel to 2017's Blue Reflection, Second Light hardly feels like the same game - but not in a bad way.
Do I need to play the first game?
The short answer is “no, but it’s still recommended if you want the full experience”. Second Light features an entirely new main cast of characters and the story is mostly told without being too reliant on the first. I say mostly because the cast from the first do eventually make their way into this story, but it’s done in a manner that you would be able to understand even without being familiar with them.
This extends to the anime adaptation as well: Blue Reflection Ray. I myself did not actually finish that anime yet I had no trouble getting to know the characters from it in the game – so again, you can just start from Second Light and be completely fine.
Combat
Despite how simple the combat in the first game was, I kinda liked it. It was effective and perfectly matched the game’s laidback, slice of life feel. Second Light, on the other hand, completely throws that combat system out the window for an active-time battle system – similar to what we got in the recent Atelier Ryza games.
Battles are far faster as a result and with the changes to the ether system, they only get faster the longer you’re in a battle. The MP system is removed entirely and now attacks, skills, and items all consume ether, which is regenerated at different rates per character depending on their stats. That said, I am a bit torn on this system. It is a completely different feel from the previous game and, while cool in theory, it does come with some problems.
Mainly, it’s that it takes away a lot of the variety that the first game had with regards to its skills. Whereas in the first game, I was constantly scrolling through my different attacks and figuring out which best to use in a given fight – this game it is 95% of the time just going to be one of my basic attacks. I would enter a fight, spam A throughout the entire thing, and call it a day.
Difficulty
Hard difficulty is not unlocked until you fully clear the game once, so you have to do your first playthrough on normal and I found it to be a bit too easy. Even after I intentionally kept myself underleveled by avoiding a lot of the enemies on the map, I still had no trouble clearing each and every encounter I ran into.
Around halfway into the game, I stopped caring to even figure out the best party composition, which skills to unlock, and even what moves I was using – it hardly mattered with how easy it is and with how the ether mechanic is designed. Just keep spamming those basic attacks and you’ll build up your combo quickly, which in turn allows you to do more damage with your next basic attack and so on.
Finishing up the game, I couldn’t escape this feeling that the battle system was just underutilized. It has all these cool mechanics, but the low difficulty and emphasis on building up combo quickly leave it feeling a bit repetitive.
Level Design
In the first game, the level design was some hot garbage – mostly small groups of pathways and platforms. In Second Light, they went all out. Now there are multiple areas per biome, movement options outside of just… walking, and some actual exploration elements, even if on the lighter side. The new areas are also far more dense, with more detail put into individual buildings and the overall geography being much more varied.
Side Quests
Having to do fetch quest after fetch quest just to get to the next chapter in the first game was some incredibly boring stuff, so I was very happy to see that done away with entirely in Second Light. Now, side quests are just that – optional side quests. That said, they’re also more varied. Aside from the usual “craft this for me” or “kill this enemy for me”, a lot of them now have you build unique school development stuff – stuff that you actually can use outside of that individual side quest.
There are even some side quests that straight up expand on individual characters by having you explore different areas with them to unlock their memories. You sometimes have to do some boring stealth missions, but it’s at least much better off than the filler that the first game had.
Story
It still has the same overall school-magical girl theme told across different character arcs, but there is FAR more focus placed on a larger, more connected story instead of just rushing things right at the end like the last game. Character arcs are almost immediately tied into this bigger story and the game does a great job balancing out character development with this larger mystery.
The game as a whole takes a darker tone than the original and the pacing starts off slow, but ramps up around the halfway point once you start realizing the truth behind this world. It doesn’t go completely overboard either – in fact, it might actually be a bit too slow. Perhaps this is just because the game is longer (this one took me just over 30 hours whereas the first took just 20), but I felt like they could have shaved off a bit towards the end to make it flow better.
Still an interesting story for sure (and definitely better than the first game), but not quite at the level that I would call it anything more than just “good”.
Aesthetic
I am a huge fan of the urban fantasy magical girl aesthetic and Second Light only expands on the first game in this regard with the improved world detail and upgraded visuals that bring it more in line with the recent Atelier games. It’s definitely not a shining example as far as actual graphical quality, but the setting, character designs, and overall theme are solid. The music on the other hand, while still good, I did not find to be quite as good as the first game.
PC Port
The first game somehow used 100% of my RTX 3080 Ti even with the fps capped to my monitor’s refresh rate, but this one ran just fine at 155 fps without turning my computer into a jet engine. There are far more graphical options to change this time too, so there is ample room to finetune settings if you need to.
One recommendation I will make – do disable the game’s depth of field setting, it is WAY more aggressive than it needs to be. Otherwise, the only other problems I had were with the game always launching in windowed (which you can solve by hitting F9) and a game crash about two hours in. I didn’t lose much progress due to the new auto save feature, but any crash is worth mentioning.
And surprisingly, the keyboard and mouse controls are actually NOT garbage this time around. There’s actual mouse support in the menus, on the field, and it doesn’t feel like it’s just emulating a controller. I still used a controller myself, but it’s one of the few Koei Tecmo PC ports where the keyboard and mouse controls would be a viable alternative – I had no problems with them during my testing and they are rebindable too.
Overall
Blue Reflection: Second Light is an overall improvement over the first game in almost every regard. A more fleshed out story, a bunch of useful quality of life features, much better visuals, vastly improved level design, a decent PC port – it’s got a lot going for it. Unfortunately, the combat is a bit of a mess and the game is far too easy, making a lot of the new combat additions redundant. That, and while the story itself is interesting, it doesn’t come without its problems. Still, I had a good time with it in spite of these faults and would recommend it if you like Gust JRPGs.
Despite being a sequel to 2017's Blue Reflection, Second Light hardly feels like the same game - but not in a bad way.
Do I need to play the first game?
The short answer is “no, but it’s still recommended if you want the full experience”. Second Light features an entirely new main cast of characters and the story is mostly told without being too reliant on the first. I say mostly because the cast from the first do eventually make their way into this story, but it’s done in a manner that you would be able to understand even without being familiar with them.
This extends to the anime adaptation as well: Blue Reflection Ray. I myself did not actually finish that anime yet I had no trouble getting to know the characters from it in the game – so again, you can just start from Second Light and be completely fine.
Combat
Despite how simple the combat in the first game was, I kinda liked it. It was effective and perfectly matched the game’s laidback, slice of life feel. Second Light, on the other hand, completely throws that combat system out the window for an active-time battle system – similar to what we got in the recent Atelier Ryza games.
Battles are far faster as a result and with the changes to the ether system, they only get faster the longer you’re in a battle. The MP system is removed entirely and now attacks, skills, and items all consume ether, which is regenerated at different rates per character depending on their stats. That said, I am a bit torn on this system. It is a completely different feel from the previous game and, while cool in theory, it does come with some problems.
Mainly, it’s that it takes away a lot of the variety that the first game had with regards to its skills. Whereas in the first game, I was constantly scrolling through my different attacks and figuring out which best to use in a given fight – this game it is 95% of the time just going to be one of my basic attacks. I would enter a fight, spam A throughout the entire thing, and call it a day.
Difficulty
Hard difficulty is not unlocked until you fully clear the game once, so you have to do your first playthrough on normal and I found it to be a bit too easy. Even after I intentionally kept myself underleveled by avoiding a lot of the enemies on the map, I still had no trouble clearing each and every encounter I ran into.
Around halfway into the game, I stopped caring to even figure out the best party composition, which skills to unlock, and even what moves I was using – it hardly mattered with how easy it is and with how the ether mechanic is designed. Just keep spamming those basic attacks and you’ll build up your combo quickly, which in turn allows you to do more damage with your next basic attack and so on.
Finishing up the game, I couldn’t escape this feeling that the battle system was just underutilized. It has all these cool mechanics, but the low difficulty and emphasis on building up combo quickly leave it feeling a bit repetitive.
Level Design
In the first game, the level design was some hot garbage – mostly small groups of pathways and platforms. In Second Light, they went all out. Now there are multiple areas per biome, movement options outside of just… walking, and some actual exploration elements, even if on the lighter side. The new areas are also far more dense, with more detail put into individual buildings and the overall geography being much more varied.
Side Quests
Having to do fetch quest after fetch quest just to get to the next chapter in the first game was some incredibly boring stuff, so I was very happy to see that done away with entirely in Second Light. Now, side quests are just that – optional side quests. That said, they’re also more varied. Aside from the usual “craft this for me” or “kill this enemy for me”, a lot of them now have you build unique school development stuff – stuff that you actually can use outside of that individual side quest.
There are even some side quests that straight up expand on individual characters by having you explore different areas with them to unlock their memories. You sometimes have to do some boring stealth missions, but it’s at least much better off than the filler that the first game had.
Story
It still has the same overall school-magical girl theme told across different character arcs, but there is FAR more focus placed on a larger, more connected story instead of just rushing things right at the end like the last game. Character arcs are almost immediately tied into this bigger story and the game does a great job balancing out character development with this larger mystery.
The game as a whole takes a darker tone than the original and the pacing starts off slow, but ramps up around the halfway point once you start realizing the truth behind this world. It doesn’t go completely overboard either – in fact, it might actually be a bit too slow. Perhaps this is just because the game is longer (this one took me just over 30 hours whereas the first took just 20), but I felt like they could have shaved off a bit towards the end to make it flow better.
Still an interesting story for sure (and definitely better than the first game), but not quite at the level that I would call it anything more than just “good”.
Aesthetic
I am a huge fan of the urban fantasy magical girl aesthetic and Second Light only expands on the first game in this regard with the improved world detail and upgraded visuals that bring it more in line with the recent Atelier games. It’s definitely not a shining example as far as actual graphical quality, but the setting, character designs, and overall theme are solid. The music on the other hand, while still good, I did not find to be quite as good as the first game.
PC Port
The first game somehow used 100% of my RTX 3080 Ti even with the fps capped to my monitor’s refresh rate, but this one ran just fine at 155 fps without turning my computer into a jet engine. There are far more graphical options to change this time too, so there is ample room to finetune settings if you need to.
One recommendation I will make – do disable the game’s depth of field setting, it is WAY more aggressive than it needs to be. Otherwise, the only other problems I had were with the game always launching in windowed (which you can solve by hitting F9) and a game crash about two hours in. I didn’t lose much progress due to the new auto save feature, but any crash is worth mentioning.
And surprisingly, the keyboard and mouse controls are actually NOT garbage this time around. There’s actual mouse support in the menus, on the field, and it doesn’t feel like it’s just emulating a controller. I still used a controller myself, but it’s one of the few Koei Tecmo PC ports where the keyboard and mouse controls would be a viable alternative – I had no problems with them during my testing and they are rebindable too.
Overall
Blue Reflection: Second Light is an overall improvement over the first game in almost every regard. A more fleshed out story, a bunch of useful quality of life features, much better visuals, vastly improved level design, a decent PC port – it’s got a lot going for it. Unfortunately, the combat is a bit of a mess and the game is far too easy, making a lot of the new combat additions redundant. That, and while the story itself is interesting, it doesn’t come without its problems. Still, I had a good time with it in spite of these faults and would recommend it if you like Gust JRPGs.
This review contains spoilers
After dropping the first game in the first few hours and dropping the anime about 2/3rds of the way through, I didn't expect to be so endeared to second light. This game has more heart in it than just about anything else I've ever played. It perfectly captures the spirit of a summer vacation you never want to end with its carefree days spent interacting with an extremely likable cast of cute characters as well as the inevitable bittersweet ending.
I typically keep a straight face when I'm playing a game no matter how fun it is, but the surprisingly stellar writing in second light left me with a dumb grin after nearly every date and daily life scene. I've always believed that a JRPG lives or dies by its characters and their interactions and second light passes this evaluation with flying colors. The characters' dialogue feels sincere and the way they handle their insecurities and aspirations are surprisingly natural while still keeping the exaggerated energy and cuteness of a CGDCT character. I could really empathize with Ao and her complex over her own ordinary traits, contrasted with her charismatic and gentle interactions, made her a very compelling and likable main character. What really solidified my glowing impression of the writing was one of the one-on-one interactions between Ao and Hiori in which Hiori lamented her straightforward personality and constant taking of people at face value, followed by Ao praising her and telling her that a lot of people act the way they want to be seen so Hiori's shallow perception was actually helpful to them. I found it surprisingly insightful and while it further endeared me to Ao, it also emphasized the down-to-earth style of writing that I can only imagine comes from a lot of life experience. I also enjoy yuri so getting to build Ao's harem was a great joy, especially since I never get to see yuri content in which my favorite ordinary main-character-type girls hook up so going on dates with Hiori and Hinako was a rare pleasure.
Of course the other characters were great too. I loved seeing Rena and Yuki develop an actual straight-up romantic relationship when this kind of content usually just sticks to hinting at yuri and Yuki's somber background really tugged at the heartstrings. Shiho and Kirara were adorable and had some particularly enjoyable date scenes when you hit on them with Ao. Hiori and Mio have plenty of cute interactions while still retaining their surprisingly heavy backstory from the anime and the uncertainty surrounding Uta made for a very interesting development. While I didn't have much experience with the first game, it was cool having Hinako in the party and her more serious personality contrasted well with Ao's. The only character I found kind of weak was Kokoro and her food obsession but I still enjoyed a lot of her scenes and didn't dislike her at all.
While the animations can be kind of stiff and the graphics generally aren't very impressive, the imagery of the areas and cutscenes in second light is great and make it enjoyable to traverse the otherwise simple dungeons. The enemy designs are cool but there's a tad too many recolors even for bosses. Also the girls are cute! CUTE!!! The music is also very good and excels at accentuating the more dramatic scenes and creating a very potent otherworldly atmosphere in the heartscapes when combined with the aforementioned imagery.
The gameplay ends up being a lot more fun than I expected from the initial hour or so. Building a wide variety of facilities and attractions around the school and getting to enjoy the date scenes involving them was a real blast and decking out my party with skills and fragments was pretty fun too. The combat starts to shine later on when you get your characters' ether speed up and they can shift gears faster, especially during boss fights where you get to use all the skills from gears 3 and up. I do think they should've started a bit faster by default though, it's rare to even see the reflector forms at all in the first part of the game. The stealth function doesn't really detract from the game but it doesn't help much either given how little of a bonus you get for sneak attacks. The last couple stealth missions are pretty annoying though.
I typically keep a straight face when I'm playing a game no matter how fun it is, but the surprisingly stellar writing in second light left me with a dumb grin after nearly every date and daily life scene. I've always believed that a JRPG lives or dies by its characters and their interactions and second light passes this evaluation with flying colors. The characters' dialogue feels sincere and the way they handle their insecurities and aspirations are surprisingly natural while still keeping the exaggerated energy and cuteness of a CGDCT character. I could really empathize with Ao and her complex over her own ordinary traits, contrasted with her charismatic and gentle interactions, made her a very compelling and likable main character. What really solidified my glowing impression of the writing was one of the one-on-one interactions between Ao and Hiori in which Hiori lamented her straightforward personality and constant taking of people at face value, followed by Ao praising her and telling her that a lot of people act the way they want to be seen so Hiori's shallow perception was actually helpful to them. I found it surprisingly insightful and while it further endeared me to Ao, it also emphasized the down-to-earth style of writing that I can only imagine comes from a lot of life experience. I also enjoy yuri so getting to build Ao's harem was a great joy, especially since I never get to see yuri content in which my favorite ordinary main-character-type girls hook up so going on dates with Hiori and Hinako was a rare pleasure.
Of course the other characters were great too. I loved seeing Rena and Yuki develop an actual straight-up romantic relationship when this kind of content usually just sticks to hinting at yuri and Yuki's somber background really tugged at the heartstrings. Shiho and Kirara were adorable and had some particularly enjoyable date scenes when you hit on them with Ao. Hiori and Mio have plenty of cute interactions while still retaining their surprisingly heavy backstory from the anime and the uncertainty surrounding Uta made for a very interesting development. While I didn't have much experience with the first game, it was cool having Hinako in the party and her more serious personality contrasted well with Ao's. The only character I found kind of weak was Kokoro and her food obsession but I still enjoyed a lot of her scenes and didn't dislike her at all.
While the animations can be kind of stiff and the graphics generally aren't very impressive, the imagery of the areas and cutscenes in second light is great and make it enjoyable to traverse the otherwise simple dungeons. The enemy designs are cool but there's a tad too many recolors even for bosses. Also the girls are cute! CUTE!!! The music is also very good and excels at accentuating the more dramatic scenes and creating a very potent otherworldly atmosphere in the heartscapes when combined with the aforementioned imagery.
The gameplay ends up being a lot more fun than I expected from the initial hour or so. Building a wide variety of facilities and attractions around the school and getting to enjoy the date scenes involving them was a real blast and decking out my party with skills and fragments was pretty fun too. The combat starts to shine later on when you get your characters' ether speed up and they can shift gears faster, especially during boss fights where you get to use all the skills from gears 3 and up. I do think they should've started a bit faster by default though, it's rare to even see the reflector forms at all in the first part of the game. The stealth function doesn't really detract from the game but it doesn't help much either given how little of a bonus you get for sneak attacks. The last couple stealth missions are pretty annoying though.
Simply put the most heartwarming game I might’ve ever played in my life. As I fall deeper into the Atelier rabbit hole, Gust has been instrumental in giving me some of the freshest & most memorable experiences when it comes to comforting RPGs & Blue Reflection: Second Light is the best of the bunch. It’s been a while since something has made me smile as much as this did whether it was the beautifully crafted heartscapes or the wonderfully written characters. This is a really lovely game which reminded me of why sometimes simplicity is beautiful in itself with this genre.
Also based Gust for giving an ACTUALLY well developed lesbian couple?? Which doesn’t feel tacked on for brownie points?? And serves the narrative?? Unheard of in modern gaming I tell you.
Honestly I really struggle to find any issues I have with this game & any ones I do have are nitpicks & nothing major that detract from my overall enjoyment. This is just a really charming piece of art & well worth playing if you’re into JRPGs & looking for something truly special. I simply adore this game. Play it.
Also based Gust for giving an ACTUALLY well developed lesbian couple?? Which doesn’t feel tacked on for brownie points?? And serves the narrative?? Unheard of in modern gaming I tell you.
Honestly I really struggle to find any issues I have with this game & any ones I do have are nitpicks & nothing major that detract from my overall enjoyment. This is just a really charming piece of art & well worth playing if you’re into JRPGs & looking for something truly special. I simply adore this game. Play it.
It took a very long time for me to finish this game putting around 84 hours from trying to do everything the game has to offer. I really enjoyed my time playing this as I feel close with the characters as if they're my friends, going on dates, fooling around and having meaningful conversation I simply adore this game. Especially when I beat the first game and watched the anime. Now I still have to go through new game plus as that's how I get the true ending. I will make an edit when I finish NG+ and write more of the game. But for now I truly love my time with this game.
Made a leap of faith and it ended up just what I was looking for! Made me love jRPGs again! Also made me explore the Atelier series, which I now appreciate. My gateway into Gust games. The game isn't perfect (the stealth missions in particular can really just go away!), but I rated it high based on personal biases.
Note that since this my first Gust game, I've never played the first Blue Reflection. Many people consider this an improvement over the original many aspects. I didn't feel I missed out on much by not playing the original or watching the anime, but I can see how those who have might get a bit more out of the characters.
Note that since this my first Gust game, I've never played the first Blue Reflection. Many people consider this an improvement over the original many aspects. I didn't feel I missed out on much by not playing the original or watching the anime, but I can see how those who have might get a bit more out of the characters.
Hmm...needs more yuri. ..huh? Oh yeah the game is great, but...needs more yuri.
One of the most endearing and heartwarming games ever, with fantastic storytelling and well done character relationships. 🌻
Second Light sets out to tell a story about growth, change, how everything won't remain the same, and the value of that time before change. The adventure and time in the game is akin to summer vacation (as Ao Hoshizaki had stated), a relaxing and fun time that will eventually end before returning to "reality". Ao and the cast often linger on this thought and the troubled feelings they have of their inevitable fate. They aren't sure what lies ahead of them after the Oasis, whether or not they'll even see each other again or if the memories of their time together will stay with them. The school setting in the Oasis is perfect for capturing what they feel as most players will be able to sympathize with this, comparing the cast's feelings to the unnerving feeling of moving on after school years. Right off the bat, I was interested and felt some sort of connection to this game.
So to make the most of their summer vacation, the reflectors spend it decorating the school, making new devices and pastimes, and most importantly of all, spending time together. The game is very heavy on building relationships with each of the girls. However before being able to build your relationship with them, their Heartscapes must be explored through first along with their history (aside from a few, most of them have their Heartscape as the start of their character arc). Each Heartscape reveals a distinct and personal struggle each one was facing prior to entering the Oasis. Even after confronting their memories and gaining them back, their issues don't go away. Your relationship and time with them helps them to recover from their past and to help them go forward with their lives.
The cast and each of their relationships are well thoughtout. The girls felt like real and understandable people, especially with how their problems are presented and resolved. They felt like people I've met across my life. It's a cast that can emotionally attach you to them easily. They're also a large cast, yet they feel distinct and unique, and their character arcs all feel balanaced and strong. A lot of other casts typically fail and fumble when it comes to their side characters' characterization and relationship with the protagonist/player, however Tie excels at these aspects. None of them really feel like they were wasted (unlike other JRPGs that have a focus on relationships and have a system based off that, not naming any names).
Other aspects of the game I loved ♥:
The concept and visuals of the Heartscapes are great. I always like settings/areas that are based on the psyche of characters. The Heartscapes also looked so pretty and pleasing. Sunflowers look unusually good in this game.
The OST was lovely. Heartscape themes were unique and felt appropriate for each character. There were some simple tracks, but they were nice to listen to and really elevated the calm and comfy experience.
Second Light sets out to tell a story about growth, change, how everything won't remain the same, and the value of that time before change. The adventure and time in the game is akin to summer vacation (as Ao Hoshizaki had stated), a relaxing and fun time that will eventually end before returning to "reality". Ao and the cast often linger on this thought and the troubled feelings they have of their inevitable fate. They aren't sure what lies ahead of them after the Oasis, whether or not they'll even see each other again or if the memories of their time together will stay with them. The school setting in the Oasis is perfect for capturing what they feel as most players will be able to sympathize with this, comparing the cast's feelings to the unnerving feeling of moving on after school years. Right off the bat, I was interested and felt some sort of connection to this game.
So to make the most of their summer vacation, the reflectors spend it decorating the school, making new devices and pastimes, and most importantly of all, spending time together. The game is very heavy on building relationships with each of the girls. However before being able to build your relationship with them, their Heartscapes must be explored through first along with their history (aside from a few, most of them have their Heartscape as the start of their character arc). Each Heartscape reveals a distinct and personal struggle each one was facing prior to entering the Oasis. Even after confronting their memories and gaining them back, their issues don't go away. Your relationship and time with them helps them to recover from their past and to help them go forward with their lives.
The cast and each of their relationships are well thoughtout. The girls felt like real and understandable people, especially with how their problems are presented and resolved. They felt like people I've met across my life. It's a cast that can emotionally attach you to them easily. They're also a large cast, yet they feel distinct and unique, and their character arcs all feel balanaced and strong. A lot of other casts typically fail and fumble when it comes to their side characters' characterization and relationship with the protagonist/player, however Tie excels at these aspects. None of them really feel like they were wasted (unlike other JRPGs that have a focus on relationships and have a system based off that, not naming any names).
Other aspects of the game I loved ♥:
The concept and visuals of the Heartscapes are great. I always like settings/areas that are based on the psyche of characters. The Heartscapes also looked so pretty and pleasing. Sunflowers look unusually good in this game.
The OST was lovely. Heartscape themes were unique and felt appropriate for each character. There were some simple tracks, but they were nice to listen to and really elevated the calm and comfy experience.
This review contains spoilers
Gust's most polished game of all time. Quite possibly the best soundtrack of the HD era of gaming. Genuine humor and pathos with an endearing cast. An explicit lesbian couple whose love is celebrated by the narrative.
I don't think BR Tie is perfect but or even necessarily that novel (outside of Yuuki and Rena's relationship, which is wonderful to see in a JRPG), but I'm giving it a score this high anyway because of what it represents to me. It makes me feel rewarded for supporting Gust for the past 16 years (a little more than half my life), ever since Atelier Iris was localized. I'm really glad they put so much love and care into this. Highly recommended for fans of Tsuchiya's games as well; he was the development producer and came up with the story, so it shares many thematic elements and storytelling devices with the EXA_PICO series.
Strong recommendation to watch the Blue Reflection Ray before playing. Weaker recommendation to play Ar Nosurge beforehand (it's probably the most similar game Gust has made, though maybe not in ways you're expecting). The first BR game is pretty skippable honestly.
I don't think BR Tie is perfect but or even necessarily that novel (outside of Yuuki and Rena's relationship, which is wonderful to see in a JRPG), but I'm giving it a score this high anyway because of what it represents to me. It makes me feel rewarded for supporting Gust for the past 16 years (a little more than half my life), ever since Atelier Iris was localized. I'm really glad they put so much love and care into this. Highly recommended for fans of Tsuchiya's games as well; he was the development producer and came up with the story, so it shares many thematic elements and storytelling devices with the EXA_PICO series.
Strong recommendation to watch the Blue Reflection Ray before playing. Weaker recommendation to play Ar Nosurge beforehand (it's probably the most similar game Gust has made, though maybe not in ways you're expecting). The first BR game is pretty skippable honestly.
Blue Reflection: Second Light is a beautiful, cozy game that gently grabs you by the hand and asks you to stay awhile. It’s a game that encourages you to not only discover new parts of yourself, but embrace the parts of you that have always been there. It’s a game that reassures you that sometimes we have to let go, move on, and let us as people grow apart, but to remember that we are always growing, and growing does not have to mean forgetting.
All you need to be is you, and you will always, always be enough.
All you need to be is you, and you will always, always be enough.
A triumph of what video games are capable of with regards to forming connections with virtual characters. The game puts you into the mindspace of the main character Ao effortlessly, with excellent writing and enough player agency to offset feeling disconnected from her. All of the relationships are so thoughtful and given so much care, no character is a weakpoint, they are all given appropriate time and attention.
The game's structure fully facilitates this kind of storytelling, with a plethora of side content in the "dates", where there is over 100 unique events, all giving either genuinely funny comedy or extremely heartfelt bonding. A lot of the nuanced writing is seen here, too. It's inspiring seeing Ao navigate these relationships with so much sincerity; she wants to empathize with them and is extremely self aware. I am jealous of her ability to be so effortlessly intimate with other people.
The overall plot and the main themes of the game are definitely nothing you haven't seen before, but it's told with so much earnestness that I never felt it was hackneyed or trite. Though it has an amazing canon lesbian relationship, which is certainly unique and it's probably my favorite part of the game.
I should also mention that the music in this game is incredible. Unlike BR 1, the music perfectly fits into the game and is used really well. Sadly it has no massive songs like Sayonara but it more than makes up for it with beautiful ambient and exciting dnb battle tracks. I loved how all the kokorotope music reflects it, like the bittersweet tones of Rena's kokorotope theme.
My favorite game of 2021. 2 days late but I will say it counts. (also i couldn't find a place to put my thoughts on the combat systems but basically they're good but the game's balancing is too easy on normal, i am sure the NG+ difficulties bring out how fun the combat system can be though).
The game's structure fully facilitates this kind of storytelling, with a plethora of side content in the "dates", where there is over 100 unique events, all giving either genuinely funny comedy or extremely heartfelt bonding. A lot of the nuanced writing is seen here, too. It's inspiring seeing Ao navigate these relationships with so much sincerity; she wants to empathize with them and is extremely self aware. I am jealous of her ability to be so effortlessly intimate with other people.
The overall plot and the main themes of the game are definitely nothing you haven't seen before, but it's told with so much earnestness that I never felt it was hackneyed or trite. Though it has an amazing canon lesbian relationship, which is certainly unique and it's probably my favorite part of the game.
I should also mention that the music in this game is incredible. Unlike BR 1, the music perfectly fits into the game and is used really well. Sadly it has no massive songs like Sayonara but it more than makes up for it with beautiful ambient and exciting dnb battle tracks. I loved how all the kokorotope music reflects it, like the bittersweet tones of Rena's kokorotope theme.
My favorite game of 2021. 2 days late but I will say it counts. (also i couldn't find a place to put my thoughts on the combat systems but basically they're good but the game's balancing is too easy on normal, i am sure the NG+ difficulties bring out how fun the combat system can be though).
The thing about putting actual gay characters in your seemingly-yuribait game is that it's a very refreshing surprise, yes, but after that you've blown the whole lid off the premise. There's no more plausible deniability to building a luxurious bed and invited ten other girls to cuddle you in it, we all know that shit is gay now.
What I'm saying is Ao/Uta real. 5/5.
What I'm saying is Ao/Uta real. 5/5.
This review contains spoilers
I have a lot to say, sorry—this one’s been absolutely haunting me.
I think this game is best if you are 100% aware of what you're getting into before you play it. It's easy enough that it's basically a glorified visual novel, and since its story's focus is very much on the characters and very concerned with giving you plenty of time to get to know and love them, as well as the value of our ordinary, boring day-to-day lives, the game's pace is very leisurely, and is enjoyed best played slowly or at your own pace. In other words: if you're going into this expecting an action-packed JRPG, you're likely going to be disappointed. (There's a reason this took me 2 months and nearly 83 hours to finish one playthrough.)
That isn't to say the combat is bad, though. I actually found it really fun—it was just that the game doesn't let you play on a higher difficulty than Normal until NG+, and the Normal difficulty is so easy it becomes pretty much mindless by the second half of the game. However, on the chances I did get to really dive into the combat, I had a lot of fun with it—but I'm also just a sucker for JRPGs and real-time turn-based combat, apparently. I agree that it would've been nice if at least Hard difficulty were available from the start, so that more experienced players would be able to complete the side content and actually experience the game's combat without just melting through every enemy it threw at you. (Seriously, even the final boss was laughably unintimidating due to how effortlessly it went down...)
However, I don't think it's easiness is necessarily a bad thing, considering the fact that it is, again, basically a glorified visual novel. Given the already slow pace, I feel like I might've grown frustrated with it if I'd gotten stuck on a particularly hard boss or something and so couldn't progress the story, or at least not until I'd grinded 5 more levels or something. Having to do so may well have made the game less leisurely fun, and more of a drag far past its welcome, so I honestly think it's probably a good thing that it can be pretty brainlessly easy, so that you can easily move from one story beat to the next if that's all you want to do.
(Also, if you’re playing on PC—for the love of god use a controller. It’s not unbearable with keyboard and mouse, but it’s clunky and you can always feel it. It’s clearly made with a controller in mind, although the keyboard controls are fine, and not nearly as vexing as the original Blue Reflection’s.)
Also, as a brief aside, I think the fanservice is negligible and very easily ignored. It's certainly present, but barely noticeable—and that's only if you're actively looking for it. Although there are a few unavoidable skeevy things, like the absolute Camera Angles on Shiho's Reflector outfit, a couple scenes where they're bathing in swimsuits, and more Absolute Camera Angles in combat, particularly 1on1 battles. The game goes to painstaking lengths to prevent you from upskirting the girls as well, which is a breath of fresh air after the original Blue Reflection, wherein Hinako's skirt went flying if you bumped her a little too hard. Everything else, you basically have to actively seek out, or have a sharp eye on the lookout for the tiniest glimpse of. This is all to say: if you're worried about excessive fanservice ruining your experience, I wouldn't sweat it.
An edited-in additional aside: some people call this game yuribait. I would really have to disagree. You can interpret it as such, sure, and I can see how it'd be an easy conclusion to come to, considering it can be kind of hard to tell whether the "I love you"s exchanged between Ao and your girl of choice on dates are intended to be romantic or not... But considering also the canon and explicitly romantic relationship between two of the girls, I highly doubt this was something intended to be taken solely platonically. Second Light explores and heavily emphasizes the importance of love—of all kinds, platonic, familial, and romantic alike. That being said, this is absolutely a yuri game. The extent to which it'll be for you honestly kind of depends on how far you're willing to go for a particular girl, concerning T. LV and dates.
The soundtrack is obviously gorgeous, and I think combined with the breathtaking visuals, I can only describe this game's experience as captivating. There are certain moments I wish I could experience for the first time again. Namely, when you first enter Kokoro's Heartscape. I adore "peaceful post-apocalypse" visuals and environments, so it felt like this game was made for me. I fell in love the second I first saw that place. (And I feel like mentioning, I had no idea what I was in for. I literally just saw a screenshot of the game, thought it looked pretty, and downloaded it on a whim to see what kind of game it was. I feel like going into this as blind as can be really doubled the effect it had on me in this respect.)
I adored the surreal, beautiful yet eerie feeling of the OST, in combination with the dilapidated surroundings making it feel like somewhere lost to time, somewhere I wasn't supposed to be in—which felt very fitting for what is a manifestation of someone's forgotten, very personal memories. It feels like an intrusion, like we're not supposed to be seeing these private, personal moments, like unearthing something from a long time ago. The atmosphere of every Heartscape is absolutely incredible, and I often found myself slowing down or entirely to a halt just so I could wander them and stare in wonder. I think where the environment and OST 1-2-punch combo hit me hardest like this was in Rena, Uta, and Ao's Heartscapes.
And now I have to get a little personal, because how could I not, with a game like this?
Uta's story hit me like a freight train, personally. As soon as she was introduced properly, behaving completely differently having lost her memories, and hints being dropped that "something in her past" must've made her the way they remembered her, I knew I was in for a sucker punch. And, god, was I right.
I have amnesia, so I can't remember the majority of my life. According to my family, I underwent a complete personality change after the event that gave me it as well. So, naturally, I immediately had a soft spot for Uta. The implication that she turned out the way she did because of a traumatic event also immediately had me hooked onto her. I also just love characters like her, what can I say? I think girls should get to go batshit. You show me a gesugao character, I'm sold instantly.
I'll admit I got a little worried when they started talking about Uta's "old" and "new" self, but I really like where they ended up going with it. I'm glad to see the emphasis on the fact that these aren't two separate people—they're both Uta, and only together can they make up who she is today. It also resonates with me, considering that the person I was before my amnesia feels like an entirely different person, even though I know that's still "me."
Yuki also hit me particularly hard, as I'm also chronically ill, and saw myself in how she felt about hospitals and her condition in general, the spitefulness but insistence upon forced smiles and "good lies." The sterile atmosphere of the hospital along with the maze-like, identical rooms and hallways, and the quiet but never-quite-silence of a hospital in the ost, left such a strong impression. I love her to death, and I'm so, so glad she and Rena got to have an explicit, happy romance together. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see real, genuine, romantic "I love you"s exchanged between girls, and not just endless "will they, won't they"s. (I adore Rena, too, by the way. She's everything to me.)
I guess this brings me to a point, that... I think Second Light does an excellent job of making its characters feel incredibly human. There's obviously an overly idealistic tinge to it—the girls are all best friends no matter what, even if they don't get along at first or occasionally, and the world needs to be saved with the power of friendship, after all—but it doesn't feel unrealistic. For the most part, all of the girls have extremely grounded, real issues, all of which I'd imagine many players can see themselves in.
The game spends a very long time simply establishing its cast and getting you accustomed to them, letting you get to know them and become their friends, grow attached to them along with Ao, without ever really letting you in on much of the plot. And I think this does it many favors—it does so very well, and you come to love every one of the girls, not just a select few you attach to as your favorites. I felt like the love Ao had for her friends, and the love I had for them, were one and the same. I wanted them to be happy so badly by the end, aha. I felt incredibly choked up in the final chapter, watching her fight so hard for a future for her loved ones that she knew she couldn't be a part of. In any other game, this may not fly so well, but I think it works here due to the game's heavy emphasis on the characters and their relationships to and love for each other.
I also think it handles the topic of memories, the loss of them, and the relationships those two things can have to your identity and life, and so on, very well. Which is always something I look out for with media involving amnesia—so often in fiction it's used as a fantastical plot device, to the point where some people don't even seem to realize it's a reality. (I've had people joke with me, "what are you, an anime protagonist now?" when I mention my amnesia, because their very first thought was that I must be joking, since that doesn't actually happen to real people, that only happens in fiction.) So it’s very refreshing to see it handled naturally, with a sincere consideration, even despite the fantastical circumstances.
This game has been haunting me ever since I first picked it up, and in the best way. It’s the kind of thing that stays on my mind for weeks afterwards, that I have dreams about and infects my inspirations for other works. I’m very, very glad I came upon it by complete random happenstance, and I got to experience it. Just, now I know I’m going to forever be seeking something to fill the hole in my heart this’ll leave for similar games… Now’s as good a time as ever to finish the first game, huh?
or, tl;dr: what if sayonara ponytail's discography was a game?
I think this game is best if you are 100% aware of what you're getting into before you play it. It's easy enough that it's basically a glorified visual novel, and since its story's focus is very much on the characters and very concerned with giving you plenty of time to get to know and love them, as well as the value of our ordinary, boring day-to-day lives, the game's pace is very leisurely, and is enjoyed best played slowly or at your own pace. In other words: if you're going into this expecting an action-packed JRPG, you're likely going to be disappointed. (There's a reason this took me 2 months and nearly 83 hours to finish one playthrough.)
That isn't to say the combat is bad, though. I actually found it really fun—it was just that the game doesn't let you play on a higher difficulty than Normal until NG+, and the Normal difficulty is so easy it becomes pretty much mindless by the second half of the game. However, on the chances I did get to really dive into the combat, I had a lot of fun with it—but I'm also just a sucker for JRPGs and real-time turn-based combat, apparently. I agree that it would've been nice if at least Hard difficulty were available from the start, so that more experienced players would be able to complete the side content and actually experience the game's combat without just melting through every enemy it threw at you. (Seriously, even the final boss was laughably unintimidating due to how effortlessly it went down...)
However, I don't think it's easiness is necessarily a bad thing, considering the fact that it is, again, basically a glorified visual novel. Given the already slow pace, I feel like I might've grown frustrated with it if I'd gotten stuck on a particularly hard boss or something and so couldn't progress the story, or at least not until I'd grinded 5 more levels or something. Having to do so may well have made the game less leisurely fun, and more of a drag far past its welcome, so I honestly think it's probably a good thing that it can be pretty brainlessly easy, so that you can easily move from one story beat to the next if that's all you want to do.
(Also, if you’re playing on PC—for the love of god use a controller. It’s not unbearable with keyboard and mouse, but it’s clunky and you can always feel it. It’s clearly made with a controller in mind, although the keyboard controls are fine, and not nearly as vexing as the original Blue Reflection’s.)
Also, as a brief aside, I think the fanservice is negligible and very easily ignored. It's certainly present, but barely noticeable—and that's only if you're actively looking for it. Although there are a few unavoidable skeevy things, like the absolute Camera Angles on Shiho's Reflector outfit, a couple scenes where they're bathing in swimsuits, and more Absolute Camera Angles in combat, particularly 1on1 battles. The game goes to painstaking lengths to prevent you from upskirting the girls as well, which is a breath of fresh air after the original Blue Reflection, wherein Hinako's skirt went flying if you bumped her a little too hard. Everything else, you basically have to actively seek out, or have a sharp eye on the lookout for the tiniest glimpse of. This is all to say: if you're worried about excessive fanservice ruining your experience, I wouldn't sweat it.
An edited-in additional aside: some people call this game yuribait. I would really have to disagree. You can interpret it as such, sure, and I can see how it'd be an easy conclusion to come to, considering it can be kind of hard to tell whether the "I love you"s exchanged between Ao and your girl of choice on dates are intended to be romantic or not... But considering also the canon and explicitly romantic relationship between two of the girls, I highly doubt this was something intended to be taken solely platonically. Second Light explores and heavily emphasizes the importance of love—of all kinds, platonic, familial, and romantic alike. That being said, this is absolutely a yuri game. The extent to which it'll be for you honestly kind of depends on how far you're willing to go for a particular girl, concerning T. LV and dates.
The soundtrack is obviously gorgeous, and I think combined with the breathtaking visuals, I can only describe this game's experience as captivating. There are certain moments I wish I could experience for the first time again. Namely, when you first enter Kokoro's Heartscape. I adore "peaceful post-apocalypse" visuals and environments, so it felt like this game was made for me. I fell in love the second I first saw that place. (And I feel like mentioning, I had no idea what I was in for. I literally just saw a screenshot of the game, thought it looked pretty, and downloaded it on a whim to see what kind of game it was. I feel like going into this as blind as can be really doubled the effect it had on me in this respect.)
I adored the surreal, beautiful yet eerie feeling of the OST, in combination with the dilapidated surroundings making it feel like somewhere lost to time, somewhere I wasn't supposed to be in—which felt very fitting for what is a manifestation of someone's forgotten, very personal memories. It feels like an intrusion, like we're not supposed to be seeing these private, personal moments, like unearthing something from a long time ago. The atmosphere of every Heartscape is absolutely incredible, and I often found myself slowing down or entirely to a halt just so I could wander them and stare in wonder. I think where the environment and OST 1-2-punch combo hit me hardest like this was in Rena, Uta, and Ao's Heartscapes.
And now I have to get a little personal, because how could I not, with a game like this?
Uta's story hit me like a freight train, personally. As soon as she was introduced properly, behaving completely differently having lost her memories, and hints being dropped that "something in her past" must've made her the way they remembered her, I knew I was in for a sucker punch. And, god, was I right.
I have amnesia, so I can't remember the majority of my life. According to my family, I underwent a complete personality change after the event that gave me it as well. So, naturally, I immediately had a soft spot for Uta. The implication that she turned out the way she did because of a traumatic event also immediately had me hooked onto her. I also just love characters like her, what can I say? I think girls should get to go batshit. You show me a gesugao character, I'm sold instantly.
I'll admit I got a little worried when they started talking about Uta's "old" and "new" self, but I really like where they ended up going with it. I'm glad to see the emphasis on the fact that these aren't two separate people—they're both Uta, and only together can they make up who she is today. It also resonates with me, considering that the person I was before my amnesia feels like an entirely different person, even though I know that's still "me."
Yuki also hit me particularly hard, as I'm also chronically ill, and saw myself in how she felt about hospitals and her condition in general, the spitefulness but insistence upon forced smiles and "good lies." The sterile atmosphere of the hospital along with the maze-like, identical rooms and hallways, and the quiet but never-quite-silence of a hospital in the ost, left such a strong impression. I love her to death, and I'm so, so glad she and Rena got to have an explicit, happy romance together. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see real, genuine, romantic "I love you"s exchanged between girls, and not just endless "will they, won't they"s. (I adore Rena, too, by the way. She's everything to me.)
I guess this brings me to a point, that... I think Second Light does an excellent job of making its characters feel incredibly human. There's obviously an overly idealistic tinge to it—the girls are all best friends no matter what, even if they don't get along at first or occasionally, and the world needs to be saved with the power of friendship, after all—but it doesn't feel unrealistic. For the most part, all of the girls have extremely grounded, real issues, all of which I'd imagine many players can see themselves in.
The game spends a very long time simply establishing its cast and getting you accustomed to them, letting you get to know them and become their friends, grow attached to them along with Ao, without ever really letting you in on much of the plot. And I think this does it many favors—it does so very well, and you come to love every one of the girls, not just a select few you attach to as your favorites. I felt like the love Ao had for her friends, and the love I had for them, were one and the same. I wanted them to be happy so badly by the end, aha. I felt incredibly choked up in the final chapter, watching her fight so hard for a future for her loved ones that she knew she couldn't be a part of. In any other game, this may not fly so well, but I think it works here due to the game's heavy emphasis on the characters and their relationships to and love for each other.
I also think it handles the topic of memories, the loss of them, and the relationships those two things can have to your identity and life, and so on, very well. Which is always something I look out for with media involving amnesia—so often in fiction it's used as a fantastical plot device, to the point where some people don't even seem to realize it's a reality. (I've had people joke with me, "what are you, an anime protagonist now?" when I mention my amnesia, because their very first thought was that I must be joking, since that doesn't actually happen to real people, that only happens in fiction.) So it’s very refreshing to see it handled naturally, with a sincere consideration, even despite the fantastical circumstances.
This game has been haunting me ever since I first picked it up, and in the best way. It’s the kind of thing that stays on my mind for weeks afterwards, that I have dreams about and infects my inspirations for other works. I’m very, very glad I came upon it by complete random happenstance, and I got to experience it. Just, now I know I’m going to forever be seeking something to fill the hole in my heart this’ll leave for similar games… Now’s as good a time as ever to finish the first game, huh?
or, tl;dr: what if sayonara ponytail's discography was a game?
For the most part, this game is junk food. It's not the most fulfilling, but it's fairly low-effort way to experience an appealing if trashy flavour. The combat is never particularly challenging, but it still demands just enough input from the player - and shoves enough flashy nonsense into your eyeballs - that it remains engaging without being stressful, so you can pass the time well enough while you sit back and enjoy girls being gay.
It's worth noting that I skipped straight to this game, not playing the first - it seemed to be reviewed quite a bit more poorly, with reports of fanservice that might've bordered on outright uncomfortable. I was already taking a gamble, with very little idea if this would actually be any good, so it made sense to shoot for the best chances.
One really standout aspect of this game is the way Rena and Yuki's relationship is handled - undeniably explicit, a core part of their arcs, and a consistent factor the game still pays mind to once it's established. It had me grinning from ear to ear. That said, it does make all of the other casual intimacy in the game kind of weird - like, in almost any other context, I'd be saying "yeah these girls are gay as hell", but since the game has proven it's willing to actually come out and say it... what does it mean when it doesn't? I dunno. Nonetheless, seeing the girls walk around holding hands and go on "dates" where they lie in bed together is good for the soul.
The game does have a number of rough edges that add up to a janky experience, like, I could seriously nitpick all day. So I will.
- The camera in fights is all over the place.
- Enemy designs are just kind of weirdly abstract without any connection to what's going on in the game.
- The skill names all being in different languages for ~aesthetic~ makes them very difficult to memorise and assign meaning to.
- The crafting system demands a tedious excess of material grinding if you care about upgrading everything.
- The fragment system has a lot of niche or redundant effects, rather than encouraging interesting builds.
- The stealth segments are godawful and contribute little.
- There's a lot of asset reuse and padding - even if that one time it was totally justified and really cool.
- Having to wait for skill animations to play out makes timing awkward when blocking big attacks or in the whole one-on-one mode.
- Asking a whole second playthrough for the true ending in a game that is neither short nor deep is very questionable.
I definitely wouldn't go so far as to call this an outright bad game, it's just, I dunno - making good art is really hard, actually, and when you focus on the standout masterpieces that's easy to lose track of. Sometimes you need a little mid in your life.
That's a lot of complaining, but the game's pleasures are comparatively simple, as already described - flashy spectacle, hella yuri, and a relaxed pace. Ultimately, I did enjoy my time, and the game was exactly what I needed right now.
It's worth noting that I skipped straight to this game, not playing the first - it seemed to be reviewed quite a bit more poorly, with reports of fanservice that might've bordered on outright uncomfortable. I was already taking a gamble, with very little idea if this would actually be any good, so it made sense to shoot for the best chances.
One really standout aspect of this game is the way Rena and Yuki's relationship is handled - undeniably explicit, a core part of their arcs, and a consistent factor the game still pays mind to once it's established. It had me grinning from ear to ear. That said, it does make all of the other casual intimacy in the game kind of weird - like, in almost any other context, I'd be saying "yeah these girls are gay as hell", but since the game has proven it's willing to actually come out and say it... what does it mean when it doesn't? I dunno. Nonetheless, seeing the girls walk around holding hands and go on "dates" where they lie in bed together is good for the soul.
The game does have a number of rough edges that add up to a janky experience, like, I could seriously nitpick all day. So I will.
- The camera in fights is all over the place.
- Enemy designs are just kind of weirdly abstract without any connection to what's going on in the game.
- The skill names all being in different languages for ~aesthetic~ makes them very difficult to memorise and assign meaning to.
- The crafting system demands a tedious excess of material grinding if you care about upgrading everything.
- The fragment system has a lot of niche or redundant effects, rather than encouraging interesting builds.
- The stealth segments are godawful and contribute little.
- There's a lot of asset reuse and padding - even if that one time it was totally justified and really cool.
- Having to wait for skill animations to play out makes timing awkward when blocking big attacks or in the whole one-on-one mode.
- Asking a whole second playthrough for the true ending in a game that is neither short nor deep is very questionable.
I definitely wouldn't go so far as to call this an outright bad game, it's just, I dunno - making good art is really hard, actually, and when you focus on the standout masterpieces that's easy to lose track of. Sometimes you need a little mid in your life.
That's a lot of complaining, but the game's pleasures are comparatively simple, as already described - flashy spectacle, hella yuri, and a relaxed pace. Ultimately, I did enjoy my time, and the game was exactly what I needed right now.
Gust has been great at queer representation in games, especially with the likes of Nights of Azure and Atelier. Blue Reflection Second Light continues that thread by having a factual lesbian couple in it that addresses them as such. Sure, a lot of Gust's queer rep could be considered more so pandering, but the way they handle this relationship is absolutely one of the best representations in gaming history. As well, the game never strays too far from giving your main character some romantic action, and cute character growths between them and the rest of the cast.
Second Light isn't all just cute shappics doing cute lesbian things tho; the game is a continuation of the Blue Reflection series and helps world build on the previous game and anime that came before it. I say this not to deter folks that haven't played the previous game or seen the anime, but merely to encourage further looks into the respect property as this game can absolutely be played as a standalone title. While I'm not exactly happy with collective amnesia as a main plot point (see Glory of Heracles); the way Second Light uses emotions and certain lore reveals helps impact the story far better than a simple "I forgot I was this". Second Light does an upstanding job of helping you relate and learn about their characters through dating activities and cutscenes, and the only real shame this game has is that you simply can't experience it all in one playthrough.
Blue Reflection Second Light also uses, and expands the battle system it had previously, but also cuts out some more challenging parts. While I wouldn't call regular battles themselves particularly challenging, the boss battles in the previous game were absolutely a wonderful mix of challenge and preparation management that sadly is lacking in the sequel. Instead what we get is an odd mix of focusing on a combo system, active timeline based combat, and occasionally 1 on 1 matches. The problem here, however, is that there is too much weight on holding your combo over knocking the enemy off your timeline to attack you. While it doesn't seem like a big problem at first, the further you go into the game, the more apparent it gets that having faster characters and reactions leads to bigger combos and therefore damage. This makes faster characters, and maximum button presses to be the overall focus over something more nuanced like causing super effective damage or knockback. This means that the majority of the time you're just using the same attacks over and over again without going into further tactics; this sucks because there are new mechanics that get underutilized because of it. One on One battles are largely absent from any challenge as further in the game you are just too stacked against enemies that you either beat them before a one on one fight can happen or bosses are already on the brink of death. As well, the super attacks that you acquire later on require a hefty 15 turn combo to be acquired, and sadly combat just doesn't last that long in regular battles or boss fights. There is clearly a lot of thought going into the combat system, but the game allows you to be busted to quickly to sadly make any real use of it, and due to the lack of the hefty boss battles we had in the previous game, there simply isn't any challenge to this game.
I'd be remissed if I didn't talk about more of the games good points, and I assure you that Second Light has a lot going on visually. From the way they present overworlds, to the imagery in each dungeon, and the way they present some of the games cutscenes. It really works well with it's dreams and memory elements that really help sell how this can be a person's mind, feelings, or desires. Add on the fact that this game has literally the best version of in game camera I have seen. The fact you can add certain characters or enemies, pose them in certain ways, move the camera in any way you want, and the many filters they have for you. Honestly, you can spend hours just making a bunch of fun scenarios with the camera that I just don't see in other games especially being as easy or having as many options as Second Light has. Plus the soundtrack for both Blue Reflection games has been absolutely stellar with it's way to present emotion and calm moments mixed together to form a soundtrack that just feels like something you listen to while trying to study for that big test tomorrow. Absolutely nothing in that soundtrack is a miss, and the way this game kinda just blends into the background for Second Light really help the overall atmosphere for the game.
Unique, I think is the best way I can describe the Blue Reflection series. The way it handles it's elements, characters, and lore are all fascinating and really make me wish more would come from this series. Second Light is certainly a step back when it comes to combat, but it absolutely nails everything else it has going for it. The story is wonderful, the soundtrack is relaxing, and the visuals have only gotten better. If you haven't played Second Light yet; please do, it's apart of a wonderful series that deserves more praise.
Second Light isn't all just cute shappics doing cute lesbian things tho; the game is a continuation of the Blue Reflection series and helps world build on the previous game and anime that came before it. I say this not to deter folks that haven't played the previous game or seen the anime, but merely to encourage further looks into the respect property as this game can absolutely be played as a standalone title. While I'm not exactly happy with collective amnesia as a main plot point (see Glory of Heracles); the way Second Light uses emotions and certain lore reveals helps impact the story far better than a simple "I forgot I was this". Second Light does an upstanding job of helping you relate and learn about their characters through dating activities and cutscenes, and the only real shame this game has is that you simply can't experience it all in one playthrough.
Blue Reflection Second Light also uses, and expands the battle system it had previously, but also cuts out some more challenging parts. While I wouldn't call regular battles themselves particularly challenging, the boss battles in the previous game were absolutely a wonderful mix of challenge and preparation management that sadly is lacking in the sequel. Instead what we get is an odd mix of focusing on a combo system, active timeline based combat, and occasionally 1 on 1 matches. The problem here, however, is that there is too much weight on holding your combo over knocking the enemy off your timeline to attack you. While it doesn't seem like a big problem at first, the further you go into the game, the more apparent it gets that having faster characters and reactions leads to bigger combos and therefore damage. This makes faster characters, and maximum button presses to be the overall focus over something more nuanced like causing super effective damage or knockback. This means that the majority of the time you're just using the same attacks over and over again without going into further tactics; this sucks because there are new mechanics that get underutilized because of it. One on One battles are largely absent from any challenge as further in the game you are just too stacked against enemies that you either beat them before a one on one fight can happen or bosses are already on the brink of death. As well, the super attacks that you acquire later on require a hefty 15 turn combo to be acquired, and sadly combat just doesn't last that long in regular battles or boss fights. There is clearly a lot of thought going into the combat system, but the game allows you to be busted to quickly to sadly make any real use of it, and due to the lack of the hefty boss battles we had in the previous game, there simply isn't any challenge to this game.
I'd be remissed if I didn't talk about more of the games good points, and I assure you that Second Light has a lot going on visually. From the way they present overworlds, to the imagery in each dungeon, and the way they present some of the games cutscenes. It really works well with it's dreams and memory elements that really help sell how this can be a person's mind, feelings, or desires. Add on the fact that this game has literally the best version of in game camera I have seen. The fact you can add certain characters or enemies, pose them in certain ways, move the camera in any way you want, and the many filters they have for you. Honestly, you can spend hours just making a bunch of fun scenarios with the camera that I just don't see in other games especially being as easy or having as many options as Second Light has. Plus the soundtrack for both Blue Reflection games has been absolutely stellar with it's way to present emotion and calm moments mixed together to form a soundtrack that just feels like something you listen to while trying to study for that big test tomorrow. Absolutely nothing in that soundtrack is a miss, and the way this game kinda just blends into the background for Second Light really help the overall atmosphere for the game.
Unique, I think is the best way I can describe the Blue Reflection series. The way it handles it's elements, characters, and lore are all fascinating and really make me wish more would come from this series. Second Light is certainly a step back when it comes to combat, but it absolutely nails everything else it has going for it. The story is wonderful, the soundtrack is relaxing, and the visuals have only gotten better. If you haven't played Second Light yet; please do, it's apart of a wonderful series that deserves more praise.
simply beautiful
Damn, this game went way harder than it had any right to. Apart from a few moments where the side content structure became pretty obnoxious, this is probably pretty peak as far as modern JRPGs go
This review contains spoilers
YukiRena <3
this game is truly something special and its wild that it exists
The Will of Sappho possessed me into completing this game in near one sitting and honestly I'm glad she did
Wow...who knew a game I picked up on a whim would be this much of a surprise? I thought it was just going to be Atelier but magical girls, which it is, but I didn't think I was going to care so much by the end. The ending was bittersweet in a way I haven't experienced in a game in a long time. It's a low-budget affair but the entire way through, I could see the vision and how much work was put into its characters and story. It's slow and way too easy but I think it's one of those games you're meant to just cruise through and enjoy the vibes. It will definitely be seeing a new game plus run from me.
loved a lot of it. this game is built on interacting with the side content and if that's not your thing, you're gonna find yourself struggling to progress after a certain point. but at the same time, there's a LOT of side content to get through and if you're someone like me who likes to do all the side content they can uncover, you might experience some burnout. this was my favorite part of the game but also my biggest pet peeve. the side content is written well and shows off characters in many different lights, but there didn't need to be that much side content.
but yea besides that, wonderful game.
but yea besides that, wonderful game.