A new Hatsune Miku game has once again managed to release stateside, thanks to the fine folks at SEGA. That game being Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd, a sequel to the original Project DIVA F game that came out last year. I’m positive that there are many Miku and rhythm game fans who are already looking forward to this game and I can happily say that anyone who enjoyed the first Project DIVA F game will continue to find enjoyment with this sequel. Not too much has changed in terms of overall gameplay, but with a new set of songs and minor gameplay tweaks, Project DIVA F 2nd provides a better experience that any rhythm and music game fan can come to enjoy. Unless, for some reason, you dislike the heavy Japanese and Vocaloid presence.

Much like the original Project DIVA F, the sequel has you pressing various buttons in rhythm with many songs sung by Miku and her other Vocaloid friends. The game is simple to pick up and veteran players will already know what to do since the gameplay is the same it has been all series. One new addition has been made with Star Notes though. There will be instances where Star Notes will appear in a line. These work like regular Star Notes, with a flick of the thumbsticks or swipes on the Vita touch screen, but obtaining great timing on all notes along the line will net you a score bonus. For those new to the game, I highly recommend a quick playthrough of the game’s tutorial. It’s a song in itself and does a great job in introducing the game’s mechanics.

Other than playing through hit Vocaloid songs, there are various game modes players can also choose to check out. The DIVA room is back once again, which acts as a side game to the rhythm stuff. In this mode, you’ll get to interact with all the Vocaloid characters by giving them gifts and rubbing their heads. You can purchase items to change up the clothes they wear and how their room will look. You’ll eventually trigger mini-games and special events by continuing to interact with them. However, these Vocaloids do have likes and dislikes, and a misstep will cause them to be upset. Just like the main game, it’s fairly simple to grasp and takes some time and management if you wish to see all that there is.

The Edit Mode is back once again, which is a way for players to customize their own Project DIVA music levels. Using in-game music, or their own, creators will be able to take advantage of the deep system in place to create their own levels to either play for their own amusement or to share with others. Creations can be made public, where players can discover them and download. If music outside the game is used, players will need to download the proper MP3 into their system in order to play the song. Other game modes include a Live mode, which has Vocaloid characters performing songs on a digital stage where you can control the camera angles and the Photo Studio, where you can position the characters in various poses in order to take pictures that you can save onto your system. For Playstation Vita, there is an AR mode which has a similar function to the Live mode and Photo Studio, but makes use of the Vita’s camera to set up a stage as if it’s actually happening right in front of you or to display characters alongside objects or people for interesting pictures. An AR marker also isn’t needed to perform these tasks, giving you ability to set up Miku and friends anywhere.

The Good: This is a rhythm game, so music plays a big part in the overall enjoyment. Like with any music game, there are bound to be dislikes with the choice of music. With how huge the Vocaloid library is, and how new songs are constantly being created, favorites are sure to be omitted. Fortunately, I’ve found most of the songs in Project DIVA F 2nd catchy and fun to play through. Some familiar favorites and others being heard for the first time. I’m not keeping a close eye on the Vocaloid scene, so I was looking forward to hearing tracks for the first time with this new release and they didn’t disappoint.

While most of the gameplay remains the same, one other new addition made is the inclusion of English subtitles for the lyrics in every song. For as much as I loved the first Project DIVA F, I was disappointed when the song lyrics were just set to Japanese romanji. It felt a bit lazy to me and still kept that mystery of not knowing what these songs were about, which did dampen the overall experience a bit since I still felt that separation from the music. So I was quite happy when the announcement of English subtitles was made. While it’s difficult to see the subtitles while playing, you can view music videos outside of the gameplay to get a better look at what the song is about. Let’s just say, I’ve grown more love for several songs once I knew what it was about.

Another thing I can happily say that was kept well intact is the game’s overall difficulty. Trying to play notes while on a constantly changing background brings its own set of difficulties to it since they tend to be colorful and interesting, but there are challenge items you can put in place to change things up. One challenge item requires players to obtain the COOL rating in order to stay alive in songs, where anything lower will inch you closer to defeat. Other items will increase the speed at which notes fall in, randomizing where they’ll fly in, making notes smaller, or having them appear at the last moment. In the first Project DIVA F, you could only choose one challenge item for your song. With Project DIVA F 2nd, you are now allowed to choose up to three challenge items, which drastically make things interesting and difficult. It felt very satisfying to complete a song with three challenge items on.

Just like with Project DIVA F, the presentation found in Project DIVA F 2nd is fantastic. Graphically, not much has changed. That’s not necessarily a negative though since I was fine with the graphics in the previous game. That colorful flair that I enjoyed in Project DIVA F is continued with the sequel. Sure it’s distracting during gameplay, but that further solidifies the fact that these music videos are a joy to watch.

While this feature may not apply to many, it was something I appreciated a lot and found it to be a nice inclusion. That would be the ease of cross-saves. Not everyone will buy both the PS3 and Vita versions of Project DIVA F 2nd, but those that do can easily move saves from one system to the other thanks to cross-saves through PSN. A surprising feature I found was the ability to import saves from the Japanese version of the game. I actually did import Project DIVA F 2nd from Japan when the game came out, so I was able to easily import my save from my PSN account and continue where I left off from the Japanese version into the English release. Saved me a lot of replay time, which I greatly appreciated. Speaking of saves, those with a save file from the first Project DIVA F can apply that save to Project DIVA F 2nd in order to unlock all the items that they’ve already obtained in the first game into the sequel.

The Bad: One of the things I was disappointed in with the original Project DIVA F was the lack of leaderboards. There are many players out there and it would be nice to know how I stack up against others. While obtaining a PERFECT on a song brings me great satisfaction, it would be an even greater feeling to see just how rare or common it is for other players to also get a PERFECT on that song. Sure, the lack of leaderboard hardly takes much away from my overall enjoyment of the game. However, it would be a nice inclusion since high scores are being tracked in the game already.

While this isn’t a bad thing, I feel it should at least be addressed. This is very much a Japanese game. By which I mean, the music and overall feel are very Japanese. So those who aren’t into Japanese music or Vocaloids won’t be having much fun with this title. It can be difficult to get a feel for the rhythm if you’re disliking the music. So just be aware of what the game is. Although, those looking for some kind of introduction to the world of Vocaloid and JPOP, Project DIVA F and Project DIVA F 2nd are great ways to jump into the genre while also enjoying a great rhythm game.

Overall Thoughts: Fans of the first Project DIVA F will no doubt find plenty to enjoy in Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd. It adds on to the gameplay and provides an overall more enjoyable and challenging feel. The song choices will be hit and miss for some, but that’s to be expected from a genre with an ever growing library. DLC for more songs is already planned post-release to help keep the fun going, so the possibility of more favorites coming along is there. The addition of English subtitles helped me appreciate the songs and videos more since I gained that layer of understanding, which helped increase my overall experience. Simply put, I’ve enjoyed every minute I’ve played of this game, from the wonderful music to the colorful visuals. I am very grateful to SEGA for taking a chance with these games and releasing them stateside. They have become some of my favorite rhythm games ever. So I’m hopeful that the Project DIVA series continues to see releases stateside, since I will definitely be looking forward to having another musical gaming experience with Hatsune Miku.