Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X’s Raspberry Monster Is Appropriately Colorful

Now that Atlus and Sega have teamed up and are best friends forever, it meant people visiting the Atlus booth at E3 2016 could sample games from both companies. This meant both 7th Dragon III Code: VFD and Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X were both playable. Well, if you could get near them. (The Persona 5 Morgana hats were quite popular, and people needed to play at least three games at the booth and get stamps to acquire one.) Fortunately, sneaking in a sample of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X wasn’t too difficult and proved to be quite a bright experience.

Given the time constraints and crowds, Hatsune Miku: Project Project Diva X provided what could possibly be considered one of the best examples of showcasing what a game can do in a limited amount of time. You could peek through the four available modules, as an example, to see how they look and get an idea of what they do. In the E3 demo, the Hatsune Miku Original Classic, Raspberryism Cool, Colorful Gumdrop Cute, and Heart Hunter Elegant Modules. Each one has its perks. For example, the Hatsune Miku Original module offered a 20% Voltage Rate bonus and Aura bonus. While this wasn’t a situation where progress could be made by choosing the appropriate modules to clear Live Quests, it was interesting to get an idea of what properties some outfits may have.

E3 2016 was also the perfect time to check out some of the songs new to the Hatsune Miku: Project Diva series. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X’s demo offers one of the new songs, “Raspberry Monster” to play. Considering how dark and dreary some of the rooms and booths can get and that this was a year in which much of the focus and attention was on dark, gritty games like Battlefield 1, Resident Evil VII, Mafia III, and Dead Rising 4, something bright and poppy with a rocking beat was a perfect pick me up. Especially if someone had just come from the sometimes two-hour line to see The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilds at the adjacent Nintendo booth.

As far as gameplay goes, there’s not much you can say. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X plays as well as Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd. The main draw here, aside from the Live Quest feature for various Clouds and attributes assigned to modules, is the visual upgrade. On the PlayStation 4, it displays in 1080p at 60fps. Granted, an E3 demo station isn’t the ideal situation for getting pictures of what’s happening on screen. Let me assure you, though, that this is a significant upgrade. It looks far more fluid and natural in-action than previous entries in the series. Normally, I’m one of those people who doesn’t pay as much attention to frame-rates and such. (The sorts of games I enjoy most don’t need to rely on such things to look good.) But what I saw at E3 was impressive. I hope the picture I did manage to get of another attendee playing “Raspberry Monster” helps convey that in some way.

Hatsune Miku is the kind of cheerful character that possesses the ability to easily brighten anyone’s day. I saw a lot of people with happy smiles at Atlus’ booth after getting a chance to go through a song in Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X. It was a perfect dose of delight, one which could easily act as a palate cleanser as you went through more intensive games or waited in longer lines. I’m confident it’ll bring joy to quite a few PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita owners in the west.

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X will be released on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in North America on August 30, 2016.