For those not in the know, Hatsune Miku is massively popular in Japan and also has a decently sized following outside of Japan. Sega realized it and in 2013, they announced that they will be localizing the PS3 exclusive Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F game. It's a bold and risky move and one that I hope paid off for Sega (it must have as the Vita version and sequel was released later on). Unfortunately, only America had the physical copy while elsewhere was digital only. So, that's the background. Project DIVA F itself is a rhythm game. It's self explanatory, you must tap buttons in time with on screen prompts.
On harder difficulties, it requires good hand eye coordination, attention to detail and practice in order to get a good score. The tracks in this game are sung by Vocaloids, which are computer synthesized voices. Yup, the voices that you hear are all artificially produced without a real person behind them singing the song. It's pretty amazing actually. The game doesn't only star the titular Hatsune Miku (even though the vast majority of songs has her as the default singer), but also features Kaito, Megurine Luka, Meiko, Kagamine Rin and Kagamine Len (google them if you don't know who they are).
There are 38 tracks in total, which includes six songs which were DLC on the Vita version, so there is a fair amount of choices. To be honest, unless you're already a Miku fan or heard of her, I don't think the game will be purchased by just any random person off the street. There are already a few Miku games before Project DIVA F so to this game doesn't have many (if at all) of the well known songs such as "World is Mine" or "Romeo and Cinderella". That said, most of the songs are catchy and I find that playing the rhythm game allows you to appreciate the melody and the way the lyrics are placed more than you would if you were just listening to it.
My favorite track would have to be "Acute", the scene was fantastic and you could feel the theme right away even if you didn't understand the lyrics. Oh yes, the lyrics. While the game may have been localized, only the menus were translated into English, the song lyrics were preserved int heir original Japanese voices, which is the way it should be. It would seem weird if they were speaking English especially when the English speaking Vocaloid software is not as matured. However, it would have been nice if they could have translated the meaning of the lyrics into English so that you can actually know what they're singing about.
Now, onto the actual gameplay. It's your standard rhythm game and there are a few little change ups to make it more interesting. The basic mechanics are pressing the four face buttons on the PS3 controller, flicking the analogue sticks and combining directional buttons with face buttons. It sounds simple by believe you me, your hands will get confused on the harder levels. There are other mechanics such as "Chance TIme" which is a particular section on every song where if you get enough points in that period, it changes the scene and also gives you a nice boost in scores. "Technical Zone" sections occur where the aim is to not miss a beat, again, for a nice score boost.
For a newcomer to rhythm games, even the Normal difficulty is difficult. You will need some practice to get used to the timing (also note the possibility of display lag, where it seems that the game registers the pressing of buttons later than you expect. The game offers a solution through a calibration setting to help offset this). Soon after, you will find yourself getting better and ready to tackle the harder difficulties. There are four difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard and Extreme. I find that the Hard and Extreme difficulties have buttons that are timed better to the lyrics which makes it more fun and sometimes more intuitive on when to press the buttons compared to Easy or Normal.
Watching videos online of gameplay will probably confuse you since there are symbols flying everywhere. How are you supposed to to keep track of the stuff that's popping up everywhere? Answer, you will get used to it and it's actually not as hard as it may seem at first. The markers are placed in such a way that your eyes will naturally follow where to go next, but you still have to pay close attention. I find that the backgrounds, especially the ones with heaps of colors to be distracting and even hide the markers until it is too late. The game also tends to rely heavily in getting the technical sections perfect in order to get high scores and ratings beyond just "Standard".
There is more to this game than just the rhythm mode. There is an online function which has user generated content which you can download. Naturally, this means there is an Edit mode in which you can create your own dance moves and button patterns. It takes a while to learn how to navigate the different possibilities and creating a decent dance routine is painstakingly slow. You're also not limited to the songs provided in the game, you can make dance moves to any song stored in your PS3's hard drive.
The other major mode is the Diva Room, which, to be honest, I don't really see the much point in. For each of the six Vocaloids, they have their own room which you can customize, from the theme to the type of furniture and decorations. You can raise your affinity levels with the character by rubbing their head (yes, it's as weird as it sounds), giving them food, playing games (a type of rock paper scissors which gets boring after a few goes) and other gifts. It is superficial and quite boring, if it wasn't related to trophies, I wouldn't touch it for longer than a few minutes.
There are other bonus extras such as Live Stage which shows videos of six more songs (These are unplayable but does include the famous "World is Mine" song) and a photo mode in which you create stills with the Vocaloids as the star. You wouldn't expect it but the game has a lot of loading screens, it is highly recommended that you install game data as it drastically reduces the loading time to a more painless length. A cool thing is that loading screens show fan art. You can watch videos of any song after you've cleared it once. This is good because when you're playing them in the rhythm game, most likely, you weren't paying attention to what they were doing.
You can also customize the songs to a certain degree such as giving characters different costumes or swapping them out completely. You earn Diva points from playing the rhythm game and one of the trophies is getting all items, which is a huge grind if you're not too good at the game. You pretty much have to manage to make next to no mistakes on the hardest difficulty to get a decent amount of points. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F is a fantastic rhythm game and is highly addictive to play. You don't really have to be a fan of Vocaloids to have fun although obviously it will enhance the experience if you have some idea of what to expect. It's a shame that only America had the physical copy but thankfully, it sold well in its localization, so bring on Project DIVA F 2nd!!
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