Hatsune Miku: Project Diva

[Gabriel]

Now with my first import game in the bag, the bug has bit me and I'm looking at some other overpriced games that I can't understand the text of to buy. As Macross Ultimate Frontier seems to be the best Macross game ever (although I'd still like a crack at the TG-CD tactical wargame), I'm looking around for other easy to import PSP titles.

 

Since I enjoy J-Pop and anime, it's not much of a coincidence that I ran across music videos featuring the Auto-tuned Vocaloid Hatsune Miku. That led me to Sega's Project Diva game featuring the same character and her synthesized tracks. And tracks like Far Away, Last Night/Good Night, Packaged, Secret Garden, Sweet Drops, and a few others (which I don't know the names of since they're in Katakana or something) immediately appealled to my somewhat warped taste in music.

 

Anyway, it's a rhythm game. As far as I can tell, gameplay works more or less like Boom Boom Rocket on Xbox Live Arcade. Button icons appear on the screen and scroll to a spot where you are supposed to press them in time. The game also has an edit feature where you can load up MP3s, compose the button strings to play the game, and design dance routines for the onscreen characters. It seems that if I can puzzle out Macross, then I should be able to figure this one out.

 

Checking out the online opinions of this game, they're all over the place. I guess I could say that the reviews come in two general flavors. First there are the Miku/Vocaloid fanatics who think the game is the absolute best thing in the universe. Then there are the people who just come into it as a generic rhythm game and they seem to find it average at best.

 

Has anyone else picked this up? I've read about some issues playing it on a model 1 PSP, but I think those issues were because the people playing were using pirated ISOs, so that won't be a problem for me if I buy it.

[Gabriel]

No one cares, but I picked this up and I enjoy it so far.

 

It's a simple rhythm game. Since I like J-pop its catchy and addictive. If other rhythm games are instrument or dancing simulators, then this is more of a toe-tapping or tapping your desk simulator. During the songs the virtual songstress, Miku, does her little dance number and these tend to be well animated and entertaining.

 

One problem with rhythm games is how your attention is always focused on watching the button presses scroll across the screen rather than enjoying the performance. This game sidesteps this in two ways. One: it has the notes final position move around the screen. This keeps your eyes moving and lets you catch the music video. Two: once you do well enough on the song, it unlocks the ability to play the music video without having to tap out the song.

 

I simply downloaded a game save to unlock all the songs and costumes. But if unlocking is the sort of thing that motivates you, there are plenty of songs, costumes, different characters, items, difficulty modes and pictures to unlock.

 

If you want more songs, there's a game mode where you can build your own dance routines and button taps for the songs. It's pretty dense stuff since it's all in Japanese, and I can't figure it out. I'll need to consult a translation guide.

 

There's also a strange little mode where you can observe Miku in her room. In this mode you can select her room style, what music she has playing, and what objects she has decorating the place. There's not much to it. It's kind of like she's in an aquarium.

 

Whether Miku is in a music video or in her aquarium, you can take pictures with the right trigger button and save them to the memory card. This serves no purpose whatsoever, and the interface to position the camera isn't very good, but it's there.

 

The biggest part of it is whether you enjoy auto-tuned j-pop from a sythesized anime pop-idol.

[liveinabin]

I thought this looked kinda fun. Is it easy enough to play with no (useful) command of Japanese?

[Gabriel]

I thought this looked kinda fun. Is it easy enough to play with no (useful) command of Japanese?

 

Sure. Just select the top menu option, then choose a song, and tap away. After you've cleared it, you'll get some messages in Japanese about what you've unlocked which will be unintelligible, but you can navigate around and figure it out after a bit.

 

I don't think the game has an auto-save feature. So, you'll have to locate which menu item is the save function and use it frequently.

 

Experimentation will teach you everything except for the make your own music video part. That portion of the game is a maze of japanese menu options.