Hatsune Miku: VR Future Live – 3rd Stage (PlayStation 4) Review

The Hatsune Miku: VR Future Live season pass has finally come to a close with the third and final stage. In this zenith encore, once again, Miku and company will perform in a VR venue. With seven new tracks to perform, with MEIKO and KAITO (for some more masculine vocals) getting some stage time, the overall package feels more complete, now. The VR implementation is still pretty much consistent with the previous episodes and the venue still looks the same, but with every performance having its own variation they are still able to be as exciting as any live vocaloid concerts.

Like always, the game mechanics require shaking a controller to the beat along with the rest of the audience members. The core game is still not really riveting even with the entire season's worth of songs, to say the least. The overall experience is still a slick and magical kind of concert Miku is known for. Expect more magical girl-style costume changes, flying platforms, lasers and falling glitter. The effect of being at this concert in VR is still very engaging in spite of the completely lacking and shallow rhythm game mechanics. There are some really choice songs here, such as "Amazing Dolce" - even those who have no knowledge of this sort of genre will likely still be able to appreciate much of the compositions.

The completed season has about 20 songs in total, which is a couple of tracks more than an average album. This, however, runs $39.99 for the entire season pass, which is still really steep for a very passive VR experience. Hatsune Miku: VR Future Live is really hard to recommend to anyone who cares about rhythm games, since this is probably the least challenging and engaging Miku licensed title around, and it being relegated to VR is not going to do it any favours in terms of exposure.