Title: Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f
Format: Digital Download through
PlayStation Store
Release Date: March 4, 2014
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega, Crypton Future Media
Original MSRP: $29.99
MSRB Rating: T
Have you ever
been playing Dance Dance Revolution and wondered to yourself: “You know what
this needs? More J-pop and big-eyed anime characters!” No? Well, that’s too
bad, because that’s exactly what, in a nutshell, Project Diva f brings to the table. Does the game do
a good job at delivering, or is this another game that should be delegated to
the darker realm of Japanese gaming? Let’s find out. Here’s my review.
Story: Project
Diva f opens up with a well-designed
FMV movie showing all of the characters you’ll be playing as: Hatsune Miku (the
blue-haired songstress), Kagamine Rin and Len (who are, I’m guessing, brother
and sister), Megurine Luka (who is a more reserved songstress), KAITO (a
semi-androgynous male singer), and MEIKO (the trademark large-“eyed” character)
having fun and being friends. After about three minutes of this, we’re greeted
by the game’s opening screen. That’s about all I could gather about the story,
which is to be expected for a rhythm game.
Gameplay: Project
Diva f is the Vita version of Project
Diva F for the PS3. Although there’s
not much different from the PS3 version, it is a solid port that does the
series justice. Rhythm games are not really my forte, but I did have an
enjoyable time with the game. The core mechanics of the game are timing and
pressing the right buttons. However, whereas DDR has your next move flowing
from the bottom to the top, and Guitar Hero/Rock Band has them moving towards
you, Project Diva f decided on a
different mechanic: a circular progression of the future notes moving from the
sides and corners of the screen, into the center. I have to say: I enjoyed the
hell out of it. It adds a new level of focus and concentration into the game. Like
most rhythm games, you can kind of figure out the pattern of the next command
through the lyrics and the beat. Even though the songs are in Japanese (with
the exception of Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!, which is an homage to the Nyan Cat song), it’s fairly
easy to follow along with. 
At the end of each stage, you’re
given a grade. To complete a song, you need to get at least an 80%. After
completing the song, you are then given a grade of either Standard (80.0%-89.9%
of correct notes hit), Great (90.0%-94.9%), Excellent (95.0%-99.9%), or Perfect
(100%). This leads to a HUGE amount of replay-ability within the game. I found
myself going back several times to see if I could get 100% on any of the songs.
I didn’t, but I tried. Also upon completing a stage, you receive “Diva Points”.
Diva Points allow you to play the meta-game within Project Diva f, which allows you to interact with
your performers, purchase alternate costumes, new decorations, food, and
decorations that can be placed in each performer’s room. Or, you can just rub
their faces to increase their mood and affinity towards you. It wouldn’t be a
Japanese game if it wasn’t a little creepy (I’m looking at you, Persona 4). It’s
an interesting addition that adds a little more replay-ability to the game.
Plus, some of the costumes and items you can unlock are kind of neat. 
Visuals: The visuals in
Project Diva f, although animated,
look surprisingly good. Each song has a music video that accompanies it through
the duration of the song and, once the song has been beat, you can go back and
watch the video. There are a few songs that offer a bit of fan-service to the
player (pretty much any song that involves MEIKO), as well as some exceptionally
well done videos such as Black Rock Shooter, Sadistic Music Factory, Unhappy
Refrain, and The MMORPG Addict’s Theme. As unpleasant or dark as these songs
seem to sound, they are contrasted by vivid colors, upbeat music, and
interesting videos that supplement whichever character is currently singing on-screen.
A major problem this game suffers
from is: wanting to jam too much onto the screen at once. Although the Vita has
a decent sized screen, the game does an alright job at not over-crowding the
space it has, albeit somewhat limited. There are never really more than 10
targets on screen at any given time, and the prompts themselves follow an
inward-spiraling direction pattern that becomes easier to follow and predict
the more you play the game.
With this being a port, some of the
graphics have been toned down, but not too much where it hinders the game. The
characters themselves aren’t as clearly defined as they are on the PS3 version,
but that doesn’t really inhibit the game. The commands, however, are crisp and
are clearly seen so you know what button(s) need to be hit.
Audio: Catchy J-pop
tunes are your friend here, as every song is simply that. Each song is
different, and more than once I found myself becoming enthralled with the
music. Simply put: the music is fantastic. There were a couple of songs that I
didn’t particularly care for. However, the quality of the songs/audio sounds
fantastic on the Vita. Headphones will also improve this experience to a point
where I kept a spare set around. The songs themselves have a strong variety in tempo,
ranging from 80 Beats per Minute, all the way to 232BPM.
The drawback here is, if you’re not
a fan of J-Pop, or Pop music in general, you may not enjoy the songs.
In the harder levels, I noticed
myself focusing less on the music, and more on trying to find the beat and
rhythm of the button presses. Specifically, on the Hard and Extreme
difficulties, the game becomes less about enjoying the song, and more about
seeing how fast you can press the correct button.
Online/Multiplayer: A
new feature was added to Project Diva f that
allows you to edit songs on your Vita, place them online, and do the same with
other people’s songs. The catch is you must have the song unlocked in single
player first before getting a song someone else has made. A rating system makes
it easier to sort through what you want.
Pros: high replay
value, catchy songs, fun rhythm game to take on the go, tons of unlocks
Cons: uninteresting
if not your preferred type of music/game, difficulty spike in harder modes, too
many icons on screen can easily lead to frustration
Final Score: 9.0/10
Next week: South Park – The Stick of
Truth
Agree/Disagree with the score? Have
a suggestion for a game? Questions about the ratings system, or anything in
general? Ask me on Twitter @AdHocMan, or on Google+ at +Zac Hockin
Review Written by Zachary Hockin
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