Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX for the Nintendo 3DS is set to start making its debut in the West in just a couple more weeks, and we can’t tell you how excited we were to finally have a chance to play it. So of course we were thrilled with the opportunity to give an early impressions and review of the game.
This will of course be an impressions of the full game, not the demo, so we’ve been doing some thorough testing to see what is new, interesting and unique to this game series that helps set it apart from the largely popular “Project Diva” series of rhythm games.
Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX is an enhanced version of Project Mirai with additional gameplay features. So if you have not played the two previous Project Mirai games in the past due to difficulties of importing and region lockouts, fret not. This game has all songs from the previous two games, and more! This of course pushes the game to a decently considerable filesize for the digital download, one likely worthy of an SD card upgrade if you’re lacking free space.
The game clearly aims to charm the player with its cute Nendoroid style models/graphics, and it certainly works. I can’t even count how many times I caught myself enjoying watching the characters loafing around, or their faces full of glee and anger while playing against them in minigames.
The rhythm gameplay style is quite similar to the Project Diva series when playing in button press mode. The button symbols and placement may confuse seasoned Project Diva players at first, but you should start adapting to the new layout without too much difficulty. Tap mode feels more like Project Diva Arcade in style with the swipe notes, and the note timing also seems less strict compared to button mode. However, it brings a new gameplay element not found in button mode: Chains (more on this later in the full review).
The smaller activities like minigames, shopping, music composing and just hanging out are all enjoyable to mess around with, although some options seem questionably useless (microphone on the main screen or song list does seemingly nothing), or some arguably important features are simply missing (no Mirai Points counter on the main screen?). Besides the thyrhm game mode, there’s plenty the game has to offer to keep you occupied.
The song selection and customization options are also among the most sizeable of any of the console-based Hatsune Miku rhythm games, and offers a great play value for its price ($39.99 US, $49.99 CA). If you own a Nintendo 3DS, and you’re a fan of Hatsune Miku and rhythm games, this is definitely a game title that should be on your list.
If you preorder the game early enough in North America, you can score yourself a Hatsune Miku wallet chain, and 19 double sided AR cards for use with the game! You can download the free demo now and try it out to see what it’s like, if you’re still on the edge (but trust me, you’ll love it). The North American launch is on September 8th, with the European launch on September 11th.
Project Mirai DX Official Site: http://miku.sega.com/miraidx/
About jrharbort
A Hatsune Miku fan since December 2007, jrharbort joined MikuFan as the Head Writer in October 2011. Follow on Twitter at @jrharbort.