Finally, the worlds biggest Vocaloid star makes her debut on the Switch
After downloading the Hatsune Miku demo, I was instantly impressed by the bright graphics and the energy of the game. It’s been a long time, but now people on the Switch can experience what I’ve been playing on the Playstation 3 and Playstation 4.
When you start the demo, you are welcomed by a colourful menu screen with three options: Rhythm Game, Customization, and Options. The Options are simple enough; you can change the volume of different assets like music and sound effects. You can also choose what music plays on the title screen. Next is customization, where you can change the appearance of the characters that appear in the music videos. There isn’t much to choose from except the default outfit for all Vocaloids, and two extra outfits for Miku. Finally, the most important option, Rhythm Game.
In Rhythm Game, you can play in either Arcade Mode or Mix Mode. Arcade Mode is very simple; press the button that appears on the screen when it reaches its target. Mix mode is a little different. Only available on the Switch, this mode has you hold a Joy-Con in each hand, turning your wrist so that it aligns with the icons appearing on screen before pressing a button. Both modes feature many different genres of music, as well as being accompanied by several beautiful music videos. It was a very enjoyable experience, even if the demo only had two songs.
The graphics are outstanding and a joy to behold. Instead of being able to see small pixels, as is often the case in other games, everything looks well polished, including all of the menu screens. The animation in both demo songs feels almost like the Vocaloids are real. They move so smoothly throughout the videos. To add to that, the character design is appealing and eye-catching, since each costume has its own unique style to fit a certain song. They all have bright colours that drag your attention to them. The outfits can range from fancy dresses to silly cat paws. The backgrounds are also something to take note of. They fit their songs almost perfectly, and are definitely very unique.
Each song that features throughout the demo has its own style. While some songs may not appeal to certain players, most are enjoyable to listen to whilst playing. That said, the demo only gives a limited preview of the wide variety of melodies in the full game. You can only play two songs in the demo: Romeo and Cinderella, and Arifureta Sekai Seifuku. Both are sung in Japanese and are decent to play along to.
In conclusion, the demo is very impressive and definitely makes me want to play more. It has a bright and cheerful charm to it, which makes the prospect of playing the full game very appealing. As much as I try, I can’t find much to fault. From the menu screens to the music videos, there has obviously been so much effort put into every single part.
Looking forward to the full game release, what I am excited about the most is the wide variety of songs and the different costumes for all of the Vocaloids. I enjoyed playing the demo over and over since the melodies and graphics were so addictive. Even just playing the same two songs over and over was very enjoyable. The T-Shirt Creator, an application, that is only accessible by buying the full game, also sounds very intriguing. The thought of being able to see the characters dance around in your own designs leads me to conclude that it would be quite great fun to make clothing designs of my own. I hope that the full game will be just as impressive and fun to play.
