The rhythm and music game genre is definitely one of my most played and favorite types of games. Thanks to the rising of touch-based controls due to mobile devices, there are plenty of rhythm games out there to find and enjoy. So it is a little surprising to me that the Playstation Vita didn’t get lots of touch-based rhythm games in its library, which is already full of some great controller-based ones. So when I heard that Deemo, a touch-based rhythm game that was a hit on smartphone devices, was going to get a release on Vita I was looking forward to it. Not only cause it’s another rhythm game on Vita, but it’s a fully touched controlled one and I was very curious to see how that would feel on the handheld.

Deemo originally released on smartphone devices and became quite the hit. With Deemo: The Last Recital, the game has made the transition to the Vita and makes full use of the system’s touch screen. Much of the game looks and plays the same, but some additions have been made. The cutscenes in the game have been redone and are fully animated, with the original game only having moving still images. There’s also an After Story mode that occurs after completing the initial story of the game and features exclusive music not found in the mobile version. So there may be some interest to double dip if you’ve already experienced the original game.

Gameplay of Deemo is only done with the touch screen of the Vita. Bars will move down the screen from the top to the bottom. Once they reach the timing line on the bottom, you tap the screen at the note on time in order to register it. There is also a different glowing note that will come down in a group and it requires you to hold your tap on the screen and slide it across the incoming notes. It’s quite simple to understand and easy to get into.

Aside from the story, there is a local multiplayer aspect in the form of duets and duels through the Linkplay mode. Unfortunately, I don’t really know another Vita owner, so my experience with this is quite thin. The modes sound interesting, but only supports ad-hoc mode for local play. There is a leaderboard function as well if you wish to compare your overall score in the game against others.

THE GOOD: The music for a rhythm game is the most important part of the game and it’s essential that the music is not only good to listen to but to play in rhythm to as well. Fortunately for Deemo, it’s mostly good. The song list is surprisingly varied, but they have the central theme of the piano. Makes sense because the story does involve a piano. So you get plenty of nice piano melodies to play along to, and when the notes play in sync with the piano music, it’s very fun to experience. Like with any song list, if it’s varied enough, you will get a couple that you’re not a fan of, but I enjoyed most of the music in this game.

The storytelling of Deemo is also as simple as its gameplay. The animated cutscenes look great and beautiful to watch, with beautiful melodies in the background. No words, but that doesn’t stop you from feeling what is being told. I think it was nicely presented and serves as a good piece of motivation to progress in the game.

This release is a long-time coming, since Deemo has been available on mobile devices for quite some time. The game is still even getting support with new song packs. So with this Vita release, I was worried that it might be an outdated version of the game. Fortunately, there is actually a lot of DLC support for this game. Lots of songs packs are already available for the game if you wish to expand your experience beyond the story. I’m not sure how up to date it all is compared to the mobile version, but it sure feels close with the amount of content that is available for purchase. So it’s great to see how well supported the game is already with the content additions.

THE BAD: Gameplay and music are the most important things to me in any rhythm game, so my nitpicks tend to be what’s around those core mechanics. One of those is how the progression of Deemo is handled. Completing songs will increase the size of a tree that the story is revolved around. Earning high percentage scores and earning full combos will net you the most points towards growing the tree. Reaching certain thresholds will unlock new songs and story scenes. My issue with this progression system is that when you replay a song on the same difficulty, you won’t earn that many points, unless you greatly beat your previous score. In order to be the most efficient at earning points, you’ll need to play the same song on each of the difficulties available. This goes against my playstyle for rhythm games where I tend to hardly touch the easier difficulties because there’s just not much going on and I mostly prefer playing them on a harder setting since you get more notes and a challenge. So being forced to play songs on an easier difficulty just made things feel like a grind in order to make progress.

Another thing I had a slight issue on is with the exploring mechanic of the game. Outside of songs, you can explore rooms and tap parts of the environment to trigger small pieces of voiced dialogue. You can also earn hidden songs from these environments, but there will be a point where this plays a crucial part in progressing the story. I felt like the game could’ve just presented the story more traditionally without the need to force the player to tap around. This being a rhythm game, I felt all of that stuff was needless in the end.

Last complaint is just a minor thing with the game’s song selection menu. You swipe your finger across the screen in order to move from song to song and it can feel a bit slow and a slight struggle. If this was a touch-only device, I wouldn’t complain about it, but having to do this swipe motion in order to scroll through a song list when there was a D-pad nearby felt like a missed opportunity to me. I understand that this is a touch-only game, but it would’ve been nice if some menu navigation was possible with the buttons that are present on the platform this is on.

Also, songs are divided into several volumes that each house a specific group of songs. If you’re scrolling through a group of songs, but want to go through a different volume, you need to back out into the main hub of the game. Then you select a new volume in order to see a new set of songs. In between all of this is a bit of loading time, so it made me wonder why we can’t switch volumes while on the song selection screen instead of having to back out and watch a loading sequence. Even more puzzling is the fact that this ability is actually present in the Linkplay mode.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Before I share my final thoughts on Deemo there’s something I feel those interested in this game should take into consideration. That’s with the platform this game is on. It’s all touch-based, and the Vita is kind of a bulky system to get your hands around. So playing this game can be quite a test depending on your hand size. Since I wanted to experience the game in a normal handheld manner, I opted to play with my thumbs. My hands were big enough that I could reach enough of the screen from both sides. Certainly took some getting used to. So if you are thinking of playing this game, I recommend you grab hold of your Vita and try to rub your thumbs across the bottom of the screen and see if that feels alright to you or if laying it down and playing with fingers sliding around is a good option. Then compare that feeling with your smart device, if you own one. The game plays the same on both platforms, so get a feel for which platform suits you best and consider getting the game there.

Playing through Deemo and hearing the songs it offers and how it plays, I now understand why this game is so beloved by mobile device owners. It’s a great rhythm game. I do have some minor nitpicks with the stuff surrounding it, but it’s easy to look past with how great the core experience is. Does feel a little odd playing a touch-only game on the Vita, but I found it works quite well. There are some Vita exclusive bonuses too with Deemo: The Last Recital, so it may be worth a look for those thinking about making the jump from mobile to Vita. There is also a lot of DLC packs you can purchase for extra songs, so it really does feel like no content is missing from what the mobile version is offering. Whichever platform you do choose to get it on, Deemo is a great rhythm experience that I highly recommend you check out.