Review: Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd (PS3 & PS Vita)

All screens from the PlayStation Vita version.

So, Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd is finally here. My first time playing a Project Diva game was last year when it came out on PS3 in western territories, and I’ve been hooked ever since. So many hours of my time logged into playing Project Diva F. Needless to say, I was looking forward to Project Diva F 2nd and it doesn’t disappoint, in fact, it goes beyond my expectations.

If you have played Hatsune Miku Project Diva F, you have an option of carrying over all the accessories, modules, and items you have unlocked over into F 2nd when creating a new game. Don’t worry if you haven’t unlocked everything, F 2nd gives you a way to unlock items from the first game if you haven’t unlocked them.

I feel that the song list in Project Diva F 2nd is a huge improvement over Project Diva F. Although opinions regarding songs is a completely personal thing of course, so you might feel differently. For me though, this song list is really good. There isn’t a single song I dislike. There is also a lot more songs coming in the future as DLC, too.

It’s hard to take screens and play at the same time!

GAME MECHANICS

Now I will talk about game mechanics. I’m not going to go into detail about every game mechanic, that would take way too long and bore you. First, a quick overview for people who aren’t familiar with the game. Hatsune Miku Project Diva is a colorful and challenging in your face rhythm game. The core gameplay is hitting the controller face buttons with the rhythm as the prompts fly by on screen while dealing with crazy distracting backgrounds that will drive you insane if you are new to the game. You get used to it after a while though, don’t worry =)

New to the Project Diva series is cross save. Cross save lets you share your game data between PS3 and PS Vita in a very seamless way. You can have the games set to cross save automatically, but I personally prefer cross saving manually through the options menu once I’m done with my gaming session. There is no loading or saving with cross save, just cross save.

So, say you’ve been playing on Vita and decide you want to try the PS3 version. Just enable cross save on the PS3 version like you did with the Vita version and your game data will automatically be downloaded off PSN. Don’t have to worry about your Vita data being overwritten by your PS3 data. It’s a smart cross save system. Also, yes, this means that both versions share the same trophy list. Sorry, trophy hunters.

The combo star notes along with a skin bought from the in-game store.

New versions of star notes have been added to Project Diva F 2nd. The first is combo star notes. Combo star notes are star notes linked together with a line and if you swipe/flick them all successfully you get bonus points. Double star notes are star notes where you have to swipe the screen with two fingers or flick the control sticks at the same time. The Vita version also allows you to set the control sticks as your method for hitting star notes without penalizing you. You could use control sticks physical buttons for Star notes on Vita in Project Diva F, but your score suffered because of it.

The song list also has some new mechanics. You can now view some of the items are you able unlock and how you can unlock them. Some items are still kept a mystery, though. Also new to the song list is a mechanic called Spotlight Song. While playing, a spotlight song will randomly come up. If you successfully complete a spotlight song you get a lot of extra bonus diva points which are used to buy costumes and other items from the in game store. You have to play the spotlight song when it comes up, though. If you don’t play a spotlight song right away, it disappears. I think it’s a cool mechanic that adds some unpredictability to the game.

Also new to Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd is the ability to change the look of the gameplay graphical user interface by buying skins from the in-game store. Oh and English subtitles for the song lyrics! A really cool feature. It’s cool to know what the songs are saying without looking them up on youtube.

Hooray for faster load times!

TECHNICAL STUFF

If you have ever played the PS3 version of Project Diva F you know that in-game calibration is a big deal. If you don’t have the game calibrated correctly you are pretty much setting yourself up to fail. In both the PS3 and PS Vita versions there is a new calibration mode that is more user friendly. Interestingly enough, the old calibration option is still in the PS3 version. I’m not sure what the difference is between the two. I’ve always had trouble getting Project Diva F calibrated on my TV, and still am. So yeah. Just my thoughts on this feature.

Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd is looking better then ever. The graphics have been improved quite a bit on both platforms. The PS3 version still looks the best, but the PS Vita version of Project Diva F 2nd is more sharp looking compared to the Vita version of Project Diva f. Loading times on the Vita also feel much snappier to me. On PS3 the load times feel the same as they did on Project Diva F.

WHICH VERSION?

Both versions of the game are good. Although which version you get can possibly affect your enjoyment of the game. So here is some advice from my personal experience. Get the Vita version if you want a portable experience that works perfectly out of the box without any screwing around with the input lag options. Get the PS3 version if you need superior graphics and a big screen experience. Get both versions if you want both experiences! I also find it easier to see the button prompts while playing a song in the Vita version.

This game is awesome!

OVERALL

Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd is a wonderful game. There is more features and modes I won’t be covering in this review, but rest assured there is a ton of content and features that justify the asking price for this game. If you are curious in knowing more about the kinds of extra features included in Project Diva games, I encourage you to check out my Project Diva F review from last year. Also, Project Diva F 2nd feels more challenging compared to Project Diva F, so just be aware of that. Newbies might want to start on easy mode.

If you are bored of games and looking for something different, this is a great game to try. I can’t promise you’ll love it though, its very Japanese and extremely colorful so it all depends on your personal taste. Now, if you would excuse me. I need to get back to playing this game and beating my high scores. Thank you for taking the time to read my review!

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