Official Score
Overall - 90%
90%
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix+ is all killer and no filler, offering up the finest Vocaloid action to date. Rhythm game fans, arcade junkies, and music lovers, rejoice; this is your game.
After countless video games, concerts, and collaborations with Domino’s Pizza, everybody’s favorite Vocaloid Hatsune Miku is making her way to the PC with SEGA’s Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix+. The time-tested rhythm-based gameplay and catchy beats are present and accounted for, but does this new age pop star resonate with a new audience?
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix+ Review
New to the Project DIVA series of games? No need to worry – the chibi-stylized Hachune Miku (complete with leek in hand) can get you up to speed. Gameplay is synchronized to melody icons that correspond to buttons and sticks. If an A, B, X, or Y button comes across the screen, you press the corresponding button on the controller.
Seems simple enough, right? Well, it all depends on the difficult setting one plays Mega Mix+ at. Those that take it to normal will have to contend with controller stick slides, multiple button presses, Challenge Times, and other factors. If one is up to the challenge, its Extreme and Extra Extreme options require a fair amount of dexterity – just the thing for hardcore gamers.
Thankfully, players won’t be starved for choice. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix+’s rhythm mode features a staggering 250 songs in its VIP package that draw from the series’ rich history. SEGA fans will dig After Burner and Magical Sound Shower, anime fans can get down to Black Rock Shooter, and the old timers can jam out to Po Pi Po and The World is Mine. Those who played the excellent Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone for the PlayStation 4 will see a fair amount of overlap, but this expansion of the formula easily makes Mega Mix+ the definitive version of the long-running series.
It’s not just the multiple song charts that make this one shine; there’s also a corresponding music video to go along with each song. One can even change the ending of the music video by hitting the special rainbow notes. The audiovisual presentation is top notch, with everything from the notes to the music to the colors; Mega Mix+ provides that oh-so-sweet dopamine rush. One can also check out the music videos on their lonesome with the custom playlist feature.
One is also able to customize Hatsune Miku and her friends with the Customization feature. Modules, hairstyles, accessories, t-shirts, and button FXs can all be customized. This isn’t anything revolutionary and many people will likely gloss over this feature, but it is still welcome nonetheless.
There has been some controversy over Mega Mix+ having the anti-tampering Denuvo technology, with reports that there is some slowdown. During our time with the game, we noticed no slowdown with our Nvidia GTX 2060. While the graphics are far from cutting-edge, the stable framerate made for some silky smooth action.
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix+ is all killer and no filler, offering up the finest Vocaloid action to date. Rhythm game fans, arcade junkies, and music lovers, rejoice; this is your game.
