Blue Reflection Quartet

Overall, the changes made to the four stories in this Blue Reflection collection don’t compromise the central thesis of the series (even with Sun and that pesky male character): These are truly, almost painfully ethereally beautiful magical girl JRPGs with a relentlessly wholesome message behind them. I have no idea if Koei Tecmo sees a future in something this niche, but even if this collection is the grand sum of the Blue Reflection vision, it’s an enormously heartwarming 100 hours that will linger with you long after you stop playing.

Blue Reflection Quartet is absolutely worth it for the original two console games, but the adaptations of the Ray anime and Sun mobile title aren’t as strong. The two mainline releases both feel wonderful to play, look great, and still tell relevant stories. This take on Blue Reflection Sun isn’t terrible, but it lacks punch and attention to details. The Blue Reflection Ray segment is so poorly handled that it’d really be better and more entertaining to watch the anime on Crunchyroll instead.

A four-in-one deal of three amazing games and one poor game to drag it down. While Blue Reflection Quartet, for the most part, tells compelling stories about growing up, the unfortunate black sheep makes the uncomfortable camera angles of the other games impossible to write off as flukes. Despite its questionable fan service, it is hard not to fall in love, as Blue Reflection Quartet offers great characters and combat systems that will keep fans of the genre stuck to their Switch 2s through the rest of the summer.

Players looking primarily for complex combat systems or sprawling open worlds may struggle with the deliberately measured pacing. Likewise, those expecting a traditional magical girl adventure filled with spectacle might be surprised by just how introspective these stories often become. For those willing to discover the series on its own terms, however, Blue Reflection offers something refreshingly different. It’s thoughtful and sincere, and perhaps most importantly, it’s unapologetically comfortable with vulnerability, which brings me back to those Saturday mornings. When I watched Sailor Moon as a child, I didn’t understand what made it different from the cartoons surrounding it. Magical girl stories simply weren’t something I thought much about.

Blue Reflection: Quartet’s goal is noble. It’s trying to give players an all-in-one ticket to an RPG series that may well have slipped under their radars. Between the modest technical performance and half-baked adaptations of the anime and mobile game, this whole affair ends up feeling quite underwhelming. Blue Reflection and Second Light are interesting spins on the usual Gust fare, and I’d almost prefer whatever resources went into the other half of Quartet had instead been spent polishing those titles so they shone just that little bit brighter. If you’re curious about Blue Reflection and you prefer to play on Nintendo’s consoles, this will check that box well enough. I wish it did more than just that, though.

BLUE REFLECTION Quartet is a collection that is less than the sum of its parts, with the adaptations for Ray and Sun being extremely lackluster. Additionally, the new and improved visuals are still quite dated and also unimpressive from a performance standpoint, especially on the Switch 2. Despite its phenomenal audio design, which significantly elevates the experience and all its other elements, the collection feels more like a missed opportunity, much like its overall narrative that wasted its potential.

An absolute mixed bag, featuring 2 reasonably good and distinctive RPGs, but then 2 lesser offshoot efforts that muddy the overall picture of quality for the package.

Censored. Locked at 30 FPS on Switch 2. Sun and Ray are incredible lazy ports/adaptations.

Heavily censored, doesn't include any of the previously released DLC and constantly lags on handheld mode.

Went the censorship route to pander to a "modern audience" that didn't show up and betrayed the people that supported the series in the 1st place. Besides that, this "collection" is incredibly lazy. The adaptation of the anime specially has 0 effort put unto it. The additional content added to Second Light (a few extra playable characters from the gacha that have 0 interactions or story relevancy) is not even close to make up doesn't for what wasn't included from the original version or what was butchered from Blue Reflection 1.