Time to review the game of the virtual pop idol that claims "World is Mine."
“Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX” is an upgraded version of “Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai 2,” the sequel to “Hatsune Miku and Future Stars: Project Mirai,” all released for the Nintendo 3DS. The games are all developed and published by SEGA, the same people behind Sonic the Hedgehog.
Project Mirai is a spin-off of Sega’s “Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA” series of rhythm games for PlayStation consoles, starring the popular Japanese virtual pop idol Hatsune Miku.
Hatsune Miku, along with most of the other characters in Project Mirai DX, are Vocaloids developed by Crypton Future Media. A Vocaloid is a voicebank for a vocal synthesizer that can be used to add/create vocals to songs.
What started as simple voicebanks for the “VOCALOID” and “VOCALOID2” voice synthesizer software led to some of the most popular characters in the anime style.
I've been playing “Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX" since May 2018, so consider this a review that took three years to make. Due to the game not having a story to speak of, there will be no story section this time around.
Presentation (A+)
“Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX” is amazing visually for the 3DS. The character models and environments of the game are pretty and vibrant.
The game has Vocaloids in the Nendoroid style, Chibi figures with giant adorable heads and small bodies. It helps compensate for the 3DS hardware limitations in the cutest way possible.
The music videos also look fantastic. There are two types of music videos: dancing on a stage and visual spectacles that tell a story.
Regardless of the type of music video, the animation is always great with both the stages/backgrounds and Vocaloids. These Chibi have some smooth moves.
My only complaint with the animation is in the opening. It's underwhelming compared to the previous Mirai Openings, which are unlockable in the game, because of the animation style.
It’s just picture stills of the Vocaloids to create animation instead of the more alive 3D animation of previous Mirai openings. It's minor but makes for a weak opening.
In terms of sound, the music really shines.
The 40 Vocaloid songs are catchy, some songs like “Reverse Rainbow” can have different singers of the player’s choosing. The vocals for the songs do feel off due to how artificial they can be though.
However, the instrumentals are godly to the point where some of the songs sound like final boss themes. It makes me wish there was an option to turn off the vocals to appreciate the amazing instrumentals.
The background music for menus (ex. profiles) and rooms (ex. Penthouse) are phenomenal as well, with great variety. There are also variant songs for each room that are equally catchy, such as the Penthouse variant.
The default Naturale Room theme in particular is one of the most relaxing songs I’ve ever heard.
There is also a music player, where you can put the songs into a playlist to listen to them with the Vocaloids in their rooms. There's even an infinite loop function, which is great.
However, the lack of sound effects is awkward in the Vocaloid's rooms. While others might find that relaxing, I find it makes the rooms and activities the Vocaloids do feel a bit hollow.
Gameplay (A)
Project Mirai DX is a mix between a caregiver simulator like Tamagotchi and a rhythm game like Guitar Hero.
The caregiver section is where you take care of the Vocaloids. They can be given allowance to buy things; taken to Mirai Mall to buy things; fed food; and play Mikuversi with, better known as Reversi/Othello.
Doing these activities will increase their invisible relationship meter.
The Penthouse and Villa rooms can multiply the relationship points gained by doing these activities, with the Villa being the highest. However, these locations cost rent to stay at for a week in real-time, the Villa costs 300,000 to stay up.
A Vocaloid can have four different relationship levels, each indicated by their icons when changing to another Vocaloid. The lowest status background is plain — while a rainbow background means the highest relationship status.
It’s a timely process that will require a lot of grinding and earning Miku Points (MP), the game’s currency. While relationship building is satisfying when a new stage is reached, it can take far too long to get there.
This isn’t so bad with one Vocaloid but remember there are six Vocaloids to take care of in total. That means feeding six Vocaloids and buying food for the Vocaloids each day for a month or two. Additionally, eating animations cannot be skipped.
The Vocaloids themselves are blank slates with no distinct personalities, so I don’t really care if I’m good friends with them or not. They’re cute but that can only go so far before the cracks of blandness start revealing themselves.
Maximizing a relationship with a Vocaloid only earns stamps for the Stamp Collection. It’s not worth the time investment. The only exception is with Hatsune Miku as she gets the Mikudayo outfit that's wearable in music videos. This is amazing in every way possible.
In fact, there are plenty of outfits for each character. Almost each music video sports a unique outfit. They are unlocked when the associated music video is completed once.
Outfits can also be mixed too, even from different Vocaloids.
There are also special faces for Miku and KAITO that can be unlocked that can change their faces, like with the Hachune Miku face which is adorable and funny.
I really wish there were more, these are comedy gold. Like a Tako Luka face for Megurine Luka,
These outfits, alongside food and decorations, can be bought in Mirai Mall with MP. Decorations can be interacted with by the Vocaloids or look cool. Like, who can resist the Panda Kart?
Okay, so maybe the Vocaloids can be a little frustrating when they don’t use the expensive items.
Decorations and outfits can go on sale from time to time. Vocaloids can also randomly buy these items with their allowance for half the price, killing two birds with one stone.
However, how does one earn all this MP for all these amazing things? Well, there are three ways, none of which involve selling your kidneys.
First is playing Othello Mikuversi. Just get most of your coloured stones on the board and you win.
Even if you’ve never played before, the game lets you know where stones can be placed.
Second is playing “Puyo Puyo 39,” where five rounds of “Puyo Puyo” are played against the other Vocaloids.
Blocks of differing colours are eliminated when four blocks of the same colour connect.
Eliminating blocks creates gray blocks on the opponent's side that can only be eliminated by doing a connection right next to them.
The higher the connection chain, the more monochrome blocks that fall.
Both Othello Mikuversi and “Puyo Puyo 39” are fun additions, but the MP earned isn’t all that high, especially given these minigames last a while.
So, do we need to sell our kidneys after all? Well, no. The best way to get MP in Project Mirai DX is through the main aspect of the game, the rhythm game.
The rhythm game involves either pressing buttons or using the touch screen to the circle indicator to match the beat of the song.
If you miss too many notes, you fail.
There are four difficulties in total, with Super Hard being the toughest, but it's only available for six songs. The higher the score and difficulty, the more MP that will be earned.
However, while Super Hard songs give the most MP, only playing Super Hard songs isn’t recommended. It's repetitive playing the same songs repeatedly.
Notes are tapped/pressed, long notes require the appropriate side of the touchscreen/button to be held down.
There are other note types, such as slide notes that require sliding the stylus in a direction. Holding down the stylus while hitting these notes creates a chain for a higher score.
Overall, the rhythm game is addictingly perfect. Pressing the notes correctly and getting S+ grades, especially on Super Hard stages, feels so satisfying.
There are other things that can be done in the game as well, such as taking photos, the Dance Studio for making choreographed dances to the chosen song(s), the AR Station, making a tune the Vocaloid can sing or play with an instrument, and more.
Most of these are cool additions, although I didn’t use them much apart from taking pictures and the tune maker.
They’re not bad by any means, they just didn’t hold my interest since stuff like dancing isn’t my thing.
The AR Station itself only works with the AR cards for Project Mirai DX. Unfortunately, they are not provided with the digital version of the game.
However, there is a workaround thanks to this video by Blake: The Nerd.
Finally, the Stamp Collection is where progress is kept track of. Everything covered in the gameplay section has stamps, such as the AR Station.
It can be things like having a character interact with a decoration or doing something for the first time like visiting the Penthouse. Requirements for tasks can be clear or vague.
When one stamp section is filled out, the currently selected Vocaloid is visited by GUMI, a guest Vocaloid, to give a MP reward.
GUMI also visits the Vocaloids to drop off gifts and notifications on random/special occasions.
The Stamp Collection is a great way of keeping progress or finding new things to do. However, it is underwhelming that the reward is just MP though.
For example, clearing out Mirai Mall requires spending over 300,000 MP but my reward is just 30,000 MP? Bruh.
Some of these stamps are also near impossible to achieve. For example, the stamps for the profile cards require StreetPass/SpotPass. I’ve never run into a single other entity who plays this game. I’ve never received a single profile card.
The best way to view the Stamp Collection is that it's more so to mark the progress of the journey, rather than a destination to reach. Since, in terms of being a destination, it’s not worth it. Treating it as a destination will only turn the game into a grind-fest and that’s no fun.
Overall (A+)
“Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX” is a fantastic game. It nails its cute presentation with phenomenal looking and sounding music videos. The gameplay is very addicting and satisfying with a lot of variety to make it hard to be bored. I have 80+ hours in the game with more hours to come.
Project Mirai DX isn’t perfect by any means. It can become very grindy when the focus is on completing it, with an end reward that isn’t worth it at all. The same goes for building relationships with the Vocaloids. It’s like becoming friends with pieces of cardboard, even then, that’s an insult to cardboard.
However, it accomplishes in being a relaxing and cute time to help rewind. For $20 on the Nintendo 3DS eShop, it’s well worth the price.
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