KAMITSUBAKI CITY ENSEMBLE

Most negative reviews of this game come from ProSeka players who can’t get used to the gameplay. It takes a while to get used to, but the rhythm game itself is fun once you get the hang of it. You can also play it offline, which is a MASSIVE bonus. The base game includes iconic songs from each of the VWP members, making it perfect for someone just getting into Kamitsubaki. The story is a bit goofy and lighthearted- It’s not as serious as it’s marketed to be, and that’s fine. I did tear up a bit during the emotional parts regardless. My one big complaint is the pricing. If this game was free, I’d be fine with all the DLC- But it isn’t. It really makes the game feel like a big cash grab… You could just buy Regenerate with the money the full game costs, but I digress. This game feels like it was intended to get Vocaloid fans into Kamitsubaki, but the price tag as more than likely to scare them away. One star has been deducted because of the emotional damage this game gave me.

As a music game, this one is quite good in itself. The design of the sheet music and such is fine. However, the only drawback is that it has extremely high requirements for the placement of your fingers. You often miss the notes because your fingers are slightly off-target. To put it bluntly, the feel of it is not good.

I really want to like this game as KAFU is my favorite voice synth, and I’m REALLY glad there’s a game that focuses on her and others from her company, including songs sang by the voice providers themselves. However, the lane definition is too… structured? Maybe this is a skill issue, but in every other mobile rhythm game I play, pressing the edge of a note isn’t an issue, but in this one, since the lanes are so rigidly defined, your finger can fall near the edge of a note and it’ll be “wrong” even though you’re technically touching the note. It leads to a feeling of frustration since it’s a bit hard to judge where the exact center of the note is during fast play for me, and it isn’t something I’ve encountered in day, Project Sekai or D4DJ. It leads to difficulty feeling like it’s coming from the wrong place. Maybe I’ll adapt, maybe I won’t, but it does add additional frustrations.