ProgrammedWorld

Presentation-wise, Project Diva f for PS Vita is almost identical to it's PS3 counterpart: it shares the same songs (with the extra songs that can be unlocked on PS3 being $10 DLC on Vita), the same charts, the same menues, etc. Other than some sporadic slow-downs it runs fairly well. The major problem with this version, however, is the notes in all of the charts appear later than they should. The timing window for getting a perfect judgement for any given note is shifted significantly after its corresponding musical cue. While on lower levels this may not be game breaking, once you hit 6+ it turns into a *very* big issue, and makes 9s/10s pretty much unplayable. The music off-set setting was removed from this version of the game as well, so those who bought it are basically SOL unless Sega decides to push down a patch for it. To be frank, it's more than a little disappointing. how this got past QA is beyond me.

As a fan of both rhythm games and Vocaloid, I was excited when the news broke that Project Diva F would be seeing a proper states-side release. Having never played games in the Project Diva series before I was eager to give it a shot. The game, from a Vocaloid fan standpoint, is great. Extras like the metagame Diva Room stuff are good for fans looking for something to do outside of the main rhythm gaming portion of the title. There's unlockable art and costumes at you can unlock for the characters as well, which they'll wear in the background animation as you play through each song. The songlist, while small, does a good job of covering a lot of the popular Vocaloid tunes. While there is room for expansion it's a solid setlist with enough variety to keep most people busy for a while. As far as the gameplay itself goes, it's a mixed bag. Each song has a chart for each of the four difficulty levels (Beginner, Normal, Hard, and Extreme), with each chart having a difficulty from 1 to 10 stars. Everything 7 stars and below is playable on the dualshock controller, and some of the charts re actually clever and challenging. However, above that the game starts to break down. Instead of making the challenge in reading more complex, quicker note patterns, many of the charts will break down into forcing you to mash out repeated notes on the same button as quickly as possible, followed by similar chains on another button. While it may work on an arcade style controller (and even then, it's still uncomfortable), it's something that is nigh-impossible to do on a dualshock, which is where most people will be playing the game. Mashing out 16th notes on one button at 160+ BPM (205 on Unhappy Refrain, dear god) is *not* fun, and is less a test of skill and more of an exercise in frustration. *EDIT* Just learned you can use the d-pad alternating with x/triangle/circle/square to hit normal notes. Didn't see this mentioned in the documentation anywhere. Bumped the score up two points as it fixes the one main problem I had with the game (which, turns out, wasn't a problem to begin with xD Much easier, 9s and 10s are actually passable now. However, the rest of the game is still enjoyable. If you are a Vocaloid fan who won't be hitting the higher levels or simply has no desire to, pick it up. If you're a rhythm gaming fan, give the demo a shot first before dropping cash on it. You'll probably still enjoy it, but try it first!