my girlfriend is a big fan of this series and after trying out a few of the PSP songs, I figured I'd give this one a try. it's got the quality you would expct for an internally-developed sega title and a suprisingly fun selection of songs, even for someone like me who hadn't been into vocaloid before playing this game. the game is played primarily with the playstation face buttons, though you can use the d-pad for the same inputs as well (and are virtually required to for alternating patterns on extreme-level tracks). it's very easy to pick up, and has a solid amount of songs for a game of this era.
what I realized made vocaloids more apt for a game of this nature is the sheer variety in composers, and the freeform nature of how these songs came to be popular. since the vocaloids are just instruments, their sound can be harnassed in a wide variety of genres and moods, and with most of these songs achieving success on niconico, which songs actually blow up is entirely dependent on the fanbase without producers and record labels in the way (as much, anyway). while there's plenty of up-beat pop tracks, there's an eclectic mix of genres here, and songs with unsettling themes that could only be here thanks to the fanbase show up as well.
as for what this game adds over the previous ones: the grading system has been refined, making this a good entry for beginners to try. the percentage cleared needed to pass a song has been lowered, and you can now get percent bonuses from technical zones and the returning chance time sections. the former yields a bonus if a certain section is completed flawlessly, and the latter now can trigger a special event in the PV while also giving a bonus of its own if enough notes are hit. this allows the designers to make it clear which parts you should practice in order to pass or get a Great/Excellent rating. many of the technical zones are played by flicking the joysticks, which is imprecise and yet accounted for by a much more generous timing window than the regular notes.
besides the rhythm game, there's a small life sim mode where you can play with each vocaloid and give them gifts. this is a rather shallow mode, with no emergent interaction with the vocaloids and no point beyond getting trophies tied to the mode. there's also an edit mode like the previous games, and a few other knick-knacks to play around with (live studio mode, a little arcade shooter, etc.). other than for getting trophies, I spent most of my time plowing through songs in the actual game, as there's no instant unlock for the higher levels.
overall this really hooked me on the series thanks to how easy it is to pick-up-and-play on console while also offering enough depth and difficulty. not all of the songs are winners for sure, but there's some insanely fun ones to play in here: remote controller, negaposi*continues, urbandonment, and mmorpg addict's anthem were all ones I've grinded endlessly to get excellents and perfects. would def recommend to those looking to try a new rhythm game series with good song variety.
what I realized made vocaloids more apt for a game of this nature is the sheer variety in composers, and the freeform nature of how these songs came to be popular. since the vocaloids are just instruments, their sound can be harnassed in a wide variety of genres and moods, and with most of these songs achieving success on niconico, which songs actually blow up is entirely dependent on the fanbase without producers and record labels in the way (as much, anyway). while there's plenty of up-beat pop tracks, there's an eclectic mix of genres here, and songs with unsettling themes that could only be here thanks to the fanbase show up as well.
as for what this game adds over the previous ones: the grading system has been refined, making this a good entry for beginners to try. the percentage cleared needed to pass a song has been lowered, and you can now get percent bonuses from technical zones and the returning chance time sections. the former yields a bonus if a certain section is completed flawlessly, and the latter now can trigger a special event in the PV while also giving a bonus of its own if enough notes are hit. this allows the designers to make it clear which parts you should practice in order to pass or get a Great/Excellent rating. many of the technical zones are played by flicking the joysticks, which is imprecise and yet accounted for by a much more generous timing window than the regular notes.
besides the rhythm game, there's a small life sim mode where you can play with each vocaloid and give them gifts. this is a rather shallow mode, with no emergent interaction with the vocaloids and no point beyond getting trophies tied to the mode. there's also an edit mode like the previous games, and a few other knick-knacks to play around with (live studio mode, a little arcade shooter, etc.). other than for getting trophies, I spent most of my time plowing through songs in the actual game, as there's no instant unlock for the higher levels.
overall this really hooked me on the series thanks to how easy it is to pick-up-and-play on console while also offering enough depth and difficulty. not all of the songs are winners for sure, but there's some insanely fun ones to play in here: remote controller, negaposi*continues, urbandonment, and mmorpg addict's anthem were all ones I've grinded endlessly to get excellents and perfects. would def recommend to those looking to try a new rhythm game series with good song variety.
2 Comments
thanks!
FrozenRoy
3 years ago