Games | Chiaki Project

K-On! Houkago Live review!!!

Okay so after playing for at least 4 hours into the game I can now make a review on it!

For those of you who’ve played and enjoyed Project Diva and Project Diva 2, K-On Portable is gonna leave you tickled pink, regardless of the mediocre song line up. As i said before it was a mere 19 songs, however it is also true that each character has her own note sequence on each song, and on another note, Azusa and Yui do get separate notations for their guitar styles, so transmuted song value is actually 95 all in all! If you count the 2 different difficulties, then double that count to 190 (unless you’re like me and don’t usually play normal modes if I can help it).

Songs cover the entire song roster of K-On! with the exception of Tsubasa wo Kudasai (a real shame indeed).

It is of reputable note that the team that developed K-On Portable did not include any members who previously worked on Project Diva, and yet they were able to emulate it quite fantastically, from the note input to the music video that happens in the background.

Key features of the game include customizable characters for the music video (similar to PD), customizable menu selection room (like the Diva room in PD except this one is always visible when choosing a mode to play with walking nendroids in the back, weee!) an item system (which at this point I have no idea what it does but they are equippable for single use on a song you play) and ADHOC play (to a maximum of 5 players of course). Sadly, there is no download function where you can add custom songs to your roster, but thinking about it in a more real sense, making notations for 5 character sets might actually be too much work.

Unlockables include costumes for the characters, room displays, accessories, consumables, hair styles, and voice collections, which are done through various achievements such as beating a song, getting a perfect note streak, and hitting the MC note which happens at the beginning or end of a given song.

Now on to the gameplay! For starters it is highly reminiscent of PD and PD2, so with that know what to expect. Key difference with PD is that instead of floating around your entire screen making you dizzy with spinning clock like timers, K-On Portable does this in its own way with a musical staff sliding across the bottom of your screen. At certain intervals the staff tilts to the left or right, which somehow makes the visual interval among notes different from the musical interval, so knowing the song really helps at such points. Note inputs appear on the staff itself and you just have to time your input with the moving G-clef. Simple enough, yes?

One of the best (and by my note, unique) gameplay innovations of K-On portable is the difference among character inputs. No, you do not just choose a character for show. Each character has a distinct style for each of their instrumental prowess, which drastically changes the way you should expect the notes to be sequenced. Besides instrumental capability, their individual trait (-cough- Mio -cough-) also affects the system. And here they are:

BTW SPOILER ALERT (well sort of, if you want to figure it out the characteristic differences yourself)

Yui (Lead Guitar) – Yui’s guitar style consists mainly of hitting the x, circle or square notes, and at some times holding them as appropriate. It also has a noticeable amount of mixups with the D-Pad buttons, but nothing you can’t handle. This style is based of an actual lead guitarist, who picks more on single notes and sustaining them as well as pick scrapes (which explains the holding of x/circle/square inputs and not the D-pad buttons)

Azusa (Rhythm Guitar) Azusa is practically the OPPOSITE of Yui, in which the D-Pad plays a more significant role, as a rhythm guitarist would mostly play on chords which are meant to be held down with the non-dominant hand on the fret board. Holds are usually introduced on the D-Pad while the inputs are struck individually (pretty much like a strum per note hit), with an occassional hold on the inputs as well (characterizing the “let ring” concept of guitar-ism)

Mio (Bass Guitar) First, the fact that it’s a bass guitar mostly centers on single notes hit with rapid succession. Now that on it’s own doesn’t say much, but as I did say about Mio’s traits, her leftie style shifts the dominant hand to the left, meaning all these rapid accounts and holds are given to the D-Pad holding hand. If you aren’t an natural leftie, you will soon find out how tiring her part actually is!

Tsumugi (Keyboard) Mugi’s synthesizer focuses on varying input notes (triangle buton is now used) hit in rapid progression, while also sporting holds for both the D-Pad and inputs. Characteristic of any keyboard player, as the left hand usually sustains the notes it presses to support the melody given by the higher octave.

Ritsu (Drums) Ritsu’s style introduces rhythmic drum patterns which are mostly composed of all four input commands (much like Mugi), and only uses the “Down” direction in the D-Pad which xorresponds to snare drum (x is mostly for the bass drum). Similarly, triangle is also mostly only used to show the cymbal effect, which is very noticeable.

Hopefully the above would help you get a feel for who you want to try first, but it would definitely be better to try all of them out then pick a style you like best!

Oh yeah, SPOILER END XD

Other than those distinctions, it’s a pretty straight forward and excessively fun game! Though I’ve unlocked all songs already, I’m not quite ready to switch back to Valkyria Chronicles 2 just yet.

Oh and before I forget! If you’re a music junkie like me, you’ll really love the way the music is arranged for this game. Naturally, you would be made to hear more of the instrument you chose while playing as to get a better feel of the beat, but if you listen to it really well, the instrumental parts feel as if they were taken to a whole new level. Fills that you wouldn’t hear at all while listening to the album versions really show their shine here (especially the synthesizer, which is also a given reason why I main Mugi now XD)

That said, pick up your PSP, stick this sucker in and get ready for a load of fun. And don’t forget to pray for a sequel!

Gameplay Vids!!!

Mugi’s Cagayake Girls