Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X (PlayStation 4) Review

Sometimes it's necessary to switch things up in a series that sticks close to its core principles to offer a bit of variety and breathe new life into it. SEGA's Project Diva rhythm games have never really demanded any extravagant changes, though—mostly because they're simply good enough with their established formula. Pick a song to button tap away to, earn enough points to pass it, and then either attempt to clear the harder difficulties or move onto the next tracks.

Project Diva X goes out of its way to try something different, however, and the result isn't the best. An attempt at a "story" is shoehorned into the mix right from the get-go, and this impacts on how the game must be played for the next few hours. To keep it simple (which the story is, anyway), the Clouds that contain songs have lost their energy and need refilling again to unlock other Clouds with other songs. Choose one Cloud to begin with, play all of its songs, then choose to open another Cloud and do the same for that one. Repeat until all songs are unlocked.

The kicker is that this must be done in order to unlock the songs in Free Play mode. There is no jumping into any song of your choice and playing whichever difficulty is desired from the off. In fact, the story forces playing each song in either Easy or Normal to begin with, meaning Project Diva veterans are in for a drag, since the tougher difficulties aren't available at the start. Every couple of songs, some generic dialogue between Miku and her pals plays out, offering next to no development whatsoever for these one-dimensional characters—all these discussions do is force pressing the X button that much quicker to get to the next song.

The rhythm gameplay itself is much the same as before in terms of hitting or holding the correct buttons as they fly across the screen during the music video in the background, but the method for actually completing the stage is altered from the traditional Grade Points. This time around, Voltage points are gained, which is what is needed to restore the Clouds to their former glory and unlock the next ones. The amount of Voltage gained per song depends on not just how well the track is performed, but on boosters that increase the percentage of Voltage acquired through various modules (costumes) and accessories.

Before each song, a Vocaloid character—whether it's Miku, Rin, Meiko or any of the others—and their outfits and add-ons can be picked, with certain get-ups and items offering better stats at gaining Voltage. This ultimately affects how songs are cleared, where there is less reliance on actual skill levels and more on simply equipping the better boosters to gain enough Voltage to pass the stage. Project Diva X is made all the easier compared to previous entries because of it, and while that means many will now be able to pass tracks on Extreme difficulty that they wouldn't have if it was the normal Grade Points method, it feels like the game isn't being played the way it should be, which is rewarding appropriately for the skill gained from retrying and mastering each song.

What's all the worse is that there are only a measly 30 tracks in total—a far cry from the latest iteration that has recently released in Japan, Project Diva Future Tone, which contains more than 200 songs across two versions—and the quality is very poor by Hatsune Miku standards. Taste varies amongst everyone individually, but there really is only a handful of standouts in Project Diva X, with some of the best stuff actually coming in the six medleys that unlock in each Cloud once all other songs have been completed.

It's ironic that some of the top songs are the medleys, which consist of multiple old and new songs compiled into a single track for a lengthy performance that tests skill levels with a range of tempos and button combinations. It's almost sacrilegious that the songs that make up the medleys cannot be played in full in Free Play, though. Personalised medleys can actually be created, however, with three songs maximum chosen for the performance, as well as the Vocaloids that will sing, and their costumes. These individually-created events don't transition as smoothly between each short version of the songs used, unlike the pre-created medleys found in the story mode, unfortunately, but they are most definitely appreciated as a new option to sit alongside the normal playing of the songs.

With a small and rather lacklustre song selection, it's inevitable that grinding would factor into extending the lifespan of the product. Once the story is completed, players are asked to do it all over again… and again… and again, basically to refill the energy of the Clouds and gain crystals, which, in turn, are used to unlock a final ultimate medley. It's not worth the effort. Of course, modules and accessories are also unlockable items, but are gained at random, with no indicator on how many you have left to obtain, save for a vague percentage calculation—and they can only be gained in the story mode, which doesn't record the high scores obtained like Free Play does, meaning there is discrepancy in picking which modes to play. Why not allow the recording of high scores and unlocking of items through Free Play?

The familiar relationship building returns, with gifts needing to be handed over to Vocaloids to raise their affection levels to witness cutesy dialogue and scenes, but they don't amount to much. It's also not always clear exactly what the character is asking for on certain occasions, with an item they dislike lowering their affection if it is presented to them. There are a couple of redeeming factors on top of the medleys, though, and the main one is the concert editor, which lets players create their own music videos, with plenty of fine-tuning that allows for some imaginative performances. Unfortunately, these side activities don't do enough to elevate Project Diva X above the middling ground it sits on.