Review: Hatsune Miku Project Diva F. PS Vita

To try it is to...

"What the heck is Hatsune Miku?". I'm sure that will be the first question on many's lips. Just know that many, many other's will consider that an insult as the correct question should be "Who the heck is Hatsune Miku?". To put it simply, Hatsune Miku is a Japanese popstar. A HUGE Japanese popstar with a unique voice, typically massive eyes, bright hair and skimpy-bordering on inappropiate-dress sense. To the uninitiated your next question may be: "So what? What makes her different from the countless other Japanese pop idols". Well how about the fact she dosn't exist? Thought that may get your attention. Allow me to explain.

  So Hatsune Miku is indeed a HUGE J-pop idol with sell out tour's a plenty, a plethora of merchandise including, of course, two PS Vita video games (The first of which in question here *ed) and yet she does not exist in the real world. Yes, those crazy Japanese went and made a digital pop star. Hatsune Miku is all digital,even down to the synthesized voice referred to commonly as a Vocoloid. Everything about the persona that is Hatsune Miku is made, produced and animated using a computer. And she is, in my opinion, excellent.

Rhythm Action At It's Finest.

So thats Hatsune Miku. "But what about Hatsune Miku project diva F?" will no doubt be the third question on many's minds. Well Project Diva F is, rather obviously, a rhythm action game featuring the pop diva and her digital friends performing new and well loved song's. These songs range from 200 bpm monster J-pop dance tunes to slower,smoother balads. The soundtrack is really quite ecclectic and excellent. And when I say excellent, what I really mean is excellent with a great big mysterious asterix (* for those wondering *ed) next to it. In other words I'll come back to that shortly.

  The aim of the game is to press buttons in time to the song played out onscreen. All the  PS vita's face button's come into use,pressing them as the icon's fly toward the relevant cross, circle, square or triangle button's. The touch screen comes into play too requiring deft swipes and rub's at certain intervals. Bonus section's appear during tricky section's and only "good" or "cool" button presses are acctepted ensuring intense play on harder difficulties. Button icon's can litterally fly from anywhere on the screen so concenration and focus is needed to get the games "excellent" rating.  This all adds up to a very addictive, very challenging game.

On top of the standard rythm gameplay there are various extra modes to keep you in Hatsune Miku's world including a Tamagotchi-esk game involving dressing, feeding and touching (... *ed) Hatsune or one of her digital friends. Dresses,toy's and various miscellaneous item's are rewarded in the main game and its here where you can use them for your pleasure. If the above sound's worrying and borderline perverse then dont worry. It's innocent enough and is an optional extra. Another optional extra is an augmented reality mode where Hatsune and friends can be put in various poses and photographed over a real world background. 

  Both these extra modes are a neat addition and thankfully optional. Some people will love the pet mode, others may want to stear clear. They dont impose on the main game at all.

Its All A Matter Of Taste.

Earlier I put a wopping big asterix next to my statement of the music in Hatsune Miku Project Diva F being "ecclectic and excellent". I do indeed believe the music to be upbeat, addictive, feel good, just a little zany and extremely catchy. However that is just my opinion. Opinion's, especially opinion's on music can vary wildly and while one person may think Mozart is a musical genius, other people may think the same of Jedward or The Cheeky Girls. Its a sad fact and the reason I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this game to everyone. The cheesy and over the top japanese performance's in this game will be utter brilliance to some and a bit too much for many. If you are still reading up to this point then chances are you are in the former's camp. This game is the ultimate definition of "niche" which to a few will only make the game more attractive and enticing to them. I am one of these people and after giving the game a try I can say with no shame that I am a fan of not just Hatsune Miku Project Diva F, but of the J-pop star herself.

What I Would Pay For This Game.

While I cannot recommend this game to everyone. Anyone with an interest in rhythm action games, Japanese culture, or just willing to give something different a try should absolutely do so with this game. It's pretty. It's crazy. It's Japanese and I am glad I decided to give the game a bash.

I would pay £15 for Hatsune Miku Project Diva F