The sequel to Project DIVA F, this contains 40 songs which includes returning classics and some new ones. Although if you had supported the Project DIVA series since its inception, then every song is basically a rehash with updated graphics. Project DIVA F 2nd is a rhythm game. You tap the face buttons in time with the song and the note symbols on screen. Other inputs include flicking the analogue sticks. As you would expect, the gameplay remains very similar but with some minor additional mechanics. The main one being that there is a note which requires you to flick both analogue sticks at the same time.
Calibration is essential in order to combat the potential display lag (i.e. notes not syncing in time with your button presses, being slightly early or slightly later). It's hard to believe that it makes such a large difference, even if you change it by three one-thousandth of a second. The game includes an auto calibration but it's still best to tweak it until it feels right to you. It is worth the time to do this as any lag will ruin the enjoyment of the game. The gameplay boils down to while you're busy tapping the buttons to the song, it'll try and distract you by having symbols fly from all over the screen, coupled with scenes playing in the background.
Things can get hectic and confusing very fast, causing you to miss some notes as you overlook them. This is particularly true in some songs where neon colors flash all over the place (look at you, 2D Dream Fever) and it takes all your attention to not miss any notes on the higher difficulties. Doing well in a song requires not only quick reflexes and timing but also familiarity with the song. Once you have the melody in your head, it makes the game much easier. There are some songs where the notes don't seem to correspond to any type of melody though and they can be the more challenging ones.
There are four difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard and Extreme. Easy ad Normal mode are available right away but you need to complete one song on Normal in order to unlock the Hard version of it. Once you've cleared the Hard version, then the Extreme version becomes available. Four songs are available right from the beginning and for each song you clear, one more is unlocked until you've unlocked the whole roster. Clearing a song is not that hard, it only requires you to tap approximately 80% of the buttons with correct timing. Getting a higher rank requires 90% (Great), 95% (Excellent) or 100% (Perfect). It's a good feeling when you get a Perfect score but conversely, it really sucks when you stuff up one or two notes and you have to replay the song again to try and aim for that elusive rank.
Extreme mode, as the name implies, can get very crazy. There will be sections where you feel it is near impossible to complete it perfectly. Rest assured, it is possible... just maybe for those elite few. The game plays into the mentality of getting you to try one more time in order to get a higher score. Although it can get frustrating at times. Project DIVA F 2nd overall feels harder than the first game. Two songs in particular, "The Intense Voice of Hatsune Miku" and "2D Dream Fever" were insane in Normal difficulty when you first try it out.
Check out YouTube for Perfect runs of those two songs on Extreme mode and I shudder to think how much practice must have have gone into the game in order to get that rank. It is possible to fail a song either by failing to press enough buttons with the correct timing (the song will end prematurely) or you finish the song, but didn't get enough points to get the Standard rank. To spice things up a bit more, there are Technical Sections in the game which requires you to perfectly time all buttons to get bonus points.
Chance Time sections have you pressing buttons with the correct timing to fill up a star gauge, which will give you bonus points on complete too. You cannot fail a song during Chance Time (hence the name). The vocaloids featured are Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin, Kagamine Len, Megurine Luka, Kaito and Meiko. That is, your standard six. The selection of songs are great, containing some classic ones such as World is Mine, Romeo and Cinderella and Canterella. The majority of the songs are for Hatsune Miku, it kinda sucks that you cannot change the vocaloid singing the song (although you can change the character model).
During localization, all the menus are translated into English. In addition, there are now English subtitles which translate the lyrics. This is really cool when watching it in Video Mode as you can understand what they are singing about. Don't worry though, you can still have Japanese romaji if you prefer. Fan artwork continues to be shown during loading screens, some of them can be really good. Loading time sare short if you opted for installing data into the hard drive. There are various different modes, Network Mode allows you to download user generated content. Studio Mode shows off the Live Stage and Photo sections. Live Stage just means a song is played as if you were watching from a concert.
Live Stage only provides eight songs to choose from and not all of them are playable in the rhythm game. The Photo Mode allows you to pose the vocaloids and take screenshots, which isn't anything too special. Edit Mode allows you to create your own video and rhythm track but it takes a bit of skill and patience to create anything good. The Rhythm Mode is where the bulk of the game is and the place you go to play the songs. The Diva Room is a kind of simulation game, which is where you can interact with the vocaloids. You can give gifts such as food, meddle with the look of their room and furniture, and play minigames.
Unlike the first game, there is a limit on how many times you can give gifts and interact with them to increase affection level per set periods of time. This means you can only give them something and interact with them twice every fifteen minutes or so. This makes the game much more grindy compared to Project DIVA F. In order to unlock everything (and get the Platinum Trophy), you have to play each song multiple times, and keep going in and out of the Diva Room. It takes a while to level each vocaloid up. Furthermore, to unlock events, you have to give vocaloids gifts (and some of the events are randomized), so it feels like it's dragging the game out.
You can purchase those gifts from shops, which also include outfits for the vocaloids to wear during the songs. You use Diva Points which are earned when clearing the songs. To unlock more things int he shop, each song has various challenges, called Unlockables. These could be clearing the song a set number of times, playing the song with a certain outfit or obtaining a cumulative high score. This is why you have to play each song many many times, otherwise you wouldn't be able to unlock all the items you need. Overall, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd is a fantastic rhythm game that looks and feels great. It presents a noticeable step up in challenge but it is really fun and loaded with content.
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