It’s here! I’ve been waiting for more rhythm based fun for my Vita. You may have seen my rather excited preview based on the demo?
Well now I can sink hours and hours into the full game and let you know if I think it’s worth it.
For a rundown on how the game plays, who Miku is and what exactly Vocaloid music is when it's at home (or anywhere else for that matter), see our handy primer....HERE or get up to speed with our review of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f and f 2nd in issue 9 of Niche: Treat Your Geek (special free preview HERE).
Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X is a rhythm action game and if you’ve been reading Niche for a while now then you know how this works already but the linked Primer goes into more detail. Not much has changed for the core gameplay; chained combos have gone, rush notes look a bit different and there’s a new score multiplier feature, there are plenty of other changes to cover though.
It’s evident that the developers have made an effort to improve the experience as a hole, refreshed graphics, streamlined menus and much shorter load times all become apparent pretty quickly. The game isn't simply recycled from last year and none of the new features feel gimmicky, although I feel like the new story mode could have used a bit more fleshing out.
The first mode you’ll be able to play is this new story mode, songs are separated into clouds and it’s your job to help Miku and Co sing well enough to restore the cloud and unlock the next one. On your first run through there’ll be regular breaks for visual novel style conversations, I like that they’re bringing more focus on the characters and while there’s some funny or cute moments it is a little underwhelming, I’d have preferred full blown cutscenes similar to the intro movie for each game. I was worried that splitting the songs into clouds to be unlocked in any order might cause problems for new players with massive difficulty spikes, although helpfully playing through once on easy is enough to unlock every cloud, every song (almost) and progress to the next phase of the story, no difficulty spikes in sight. Once you have restored each cloud you’re then free to pick which song, difficulty or challenge you want to do, and you’ll also have the songs unlocked in the more traditional free play mode.
Story also has a few bells and whistles over freeplay so it might be worth sticking around. For instance, equipping accessories will boost your score multiplier, if they match the theme of the cloud, making it easier to pass challenges and recharge the cloud. You can also equip new costumes called modules that add to this multiplier but also have special bonuses, such as extra points for long combos or a greater chance of a rare loot drop... Yes I said loot drop, story mode is the only mode where you have a chance of unlocking new modules (appropriately during chance time) and if you score high enough you’ll receive random accessories or gifts for your idols. I think this is a great addition, it removes the early grind for points of previous games, no more exiting the game to the shop menu, purchasing and going back into the game and with the attached bonuses there’s more reason to switch up gear and try new things. These small instant rewards are something we see more of in modern games, and that’s because they’re so effective at encouraging prolonged play... as if I wasn‘t addicted to these games already! One issue I have had with this customisation though is that during story songs the game wont automatically set the correct performer so at one point I had Miku playing all the male parts... rather confusing. There is a little symbol to match up while picking your module though so the game doesn't leave you completely clueless.
Pick up a few of the gift items an you’ll be able to give them to your favourite singer, this time around you don't need to go into separate menus. The last character you performed as will live on the main menu and even occasionally comment on your progress, at times they’ll make a vague request for an item and you’ll have to pick which item you have that would make them happiest, this can be tricky now that you can't select exactly which gifts you want to buy but it’s a nice way to integrate the gift giving, plus get it right and eventually your relationship will level up, granting you a bonus to the way you build your multiplier. Streamlining of the process does mean we lose some of the gift giving scenes and room customisation but that isn't something I did much of given that it was separated from the main game, plus the results are still the same; your relationship goes up or down and items appear on shelves in the background.
We do lose out on a few features through this streamlining but they tend to be lesser used features, edit mode has gone but you can still produce performances to existing tracks, load screen art has gone but there are some stills to unlock and the buff/handicap items are now built into challenges or free to use in freeplay mode. There are two features that I’m sad to lose though; gadgets seem to have been taken out, meaning you cant set up playlists to just watch or listen to... this is how Miku invaded my life before, I could take the songs anywhere, but I guess it was one of the less popular features. The other change I can see fans disagreeing with is that we no longer get full music videos for the tracks, the new stage performance style suits the themes of the game but aren't quite as engaging or impressive, on the plus side this means there’s less to distract you mid song and everyone has a chance to show off their mad dance skillz.
This time I even managed to put down my precious vita and go try the PS4 demo, it’s the same game but the graphics really pop on a big screen and it suits the game’s concert vibe. I didn't have any problem calibrating for display lag this time either. PS4 also has the promise of VR content once the PSVR is released... although I can‘t justify buying in to VR just for the sake of Virtual Miku concerts... or can I?
Project Diva X, advances the series with several improvements that make it more accessible and get you into the game quicker. Two of my favourite features have gone, and I'm not too happy about that, until I pick up the game again and realise I still love the music and the gameplay. If you're looking for rhythm game you can't do much better... provided you're open to vocaloid music. The loss of the background music video style means I'm reluctant to refer to this as the definitive Hatsune Miku game, but that doesn't stop it being one of my gaming highlights this year.
Well now I can sink hours and hours into the full game and let you know if I think it’s worth it.
For a rundown on how the game plays, who Miku is and what exactly Vocaloid music is when it's at home (or anywhere else for that matter), see our handy primer....HERE or get up to speed with our review of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f and f 2nd in issue 9 of Niche: Treat Your Geek (special free preview HERE).
Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X is a rhythm action game and if you’ve been reading Niche for a while now then you know how this works already but the linked Primer goes into more detail. Not much has changed for the core gameplay; chained combos have gone, rush notes look a bit different and there’s a new score multiplier feature, there are plenty of other changes to cover though.
It’s evident that the developers have made an effort to improve the experience as a hole, refreshed graphics, streamlined menus and much shorter load times all become apparent pretty quickly. The game isn't simply recycled from last year and none of the new features feel gimmicky, although I feel like the new story mode could have used a bit more fleshing out.
The first mode you’ll be able to play is this new story mode, songs are separated into clouds and it’s your job to help Miku and Co sing well enough to restore the cloud and unlock the next one. On your first run through there’ll be regular breaks for visual novel style conversations, I like that they’re bringing more focus on the characters and while there’s some funny or cute moments it is a little underwhelming, I’d have preferred full blown cutscenes similar to the intro movie for each game. I was worried that splitting the songs into clouds to be unlocked in any order might cause problems for new players with massive difficulty spikes, although helpfully playing through once on easy is enough to unlock every cloud, every song (almost) and progress to the next phase of the story, no difficulty spikes in sight. Once you have restored each cloud you’re then free to pick which song, difficulty or challenge you want to do, and you’ll also have the songs unlocked in the more traditional free play mode.
Story also has a few bells and whistles over freeplay so it might be worth sticking around. For instance, equipping accessories will boost your score multiplier, if they match the theme of the cloud, making it easier to pass challenges and recharge the cloud. You can also equip new costumes called modules that add to this multiplier but also have special bonuses, such as extra points for long combos or a greater chance of a rare loot drop... Yes I said loot drop, story mode is the only mode where you have a chance of unlocking new modules (appropriately during chance time) and if you score high enough you’ll receive random accessories or gifts for your idols. I think this is a great addition, it removes the early grind for points of previous games, no more exiting the game to the shop menu, purchasing and going back into the game and with the attached bonuses there’s more reason to switch up gear and try new things. These small instant rewards are something we see more of in modern games, and that’s because they’re so effective at encouraging prolonged play... as if I wasn‘t addicted to these games already! One issue I have had with this customisation though is that during story songs the game wont automatically set the correct performer so at one point I had Miku playing all the male parts... rather confusing. There is a little symbol to match up while picking your module though so the game doesn't leave you completely clueless.Pick up a few of the gift items an you’ll be able to give them to your favourite singer, this time around you don't need to go into separate menus. The last character you performed as will live on the main menu and even occasionally comment on your progress, at times they’ll make a vague request for an item and you’ll have to pick which item you have that would make them happiest, this can be tricky now that you can't select exactly which gifts you want to buy but it’s a nice way to integrate the gift giving, plus get it right and eventually your relationship will level up, granting you a bonus to the way you build your multiplier. Streamlining of the process does mean we lose some of the gift giving scenes and room customisation but that isn't something I did much of given that it was separated from the main game, plus the results are still the same; your relationship goes up or down and items appear on shelves in the background.
We do lose out on a few features through this streamlining but they tend to be lesser used features, edit mode has gone but you can still produce performances to existing tracks, load screen art has gone but there are some stills to unlock and the buff/handicap items are now built into challenges or free to use in freeplay mode. There are two features that I’m sad to lose though; gadgets seem to have been taken out, meaning you cant set up playlists to just watch or listen to... this is how Miku invaded my life before, I could take the songs anywhere, but I guess it was one of the less popular features. The other change I can see fans disagreeing with is that we no longer get full music videos for the tracks, the new stage performance style suits the themes of the game but aren't quite as engaging or impressive, on the plus side this means there’s less to distract you mid song and everyone has a chance to show off their mad dance skillz.
This time I even managed to put down my precious vita and go try the PS4 demo, it’s the same game but the graphics really pop on a big screen and it suits the game’s concert vibe. I didn't have any problem calibrating for display lag this time either. PS4 also has the promise of VR content once the PSVR is released... although I can‘t justify buying in to VR just for the sake of Virtual Miku concerts... or can I?
Project Diva X, advances the series with several improvements that make it more accessible and get you into the game quicker. Two of my favourite features have gone, and I'm not too happy about that, until I pick up the game again and realise I still love the music and the gameplay. If you're looking for rhythm game you can't do much better... provided you're open to vocaloid music. The loss of the background music video style means I'm reluctant to refer to this as the definitive Hatsune Miku game, but that doesn't stop it being one of my gaming highlights this year.
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