Horns and red face paint greeted me the first time I saw this game at Anime Expo this summer. They red horns were on a girl as she was seemingly casting a nether-spell to release the beast from the pits. Arcane symbols of squares and circles whizzed on screened. I ran away in terror as not to become part of this dark summoning.
As it turns out it was just the new Hatsune Miku game, Project DIVA X. Oh, Japan, you so cray-cray. The crazy nonsense of this rhythm of game is only maximized by it's insane fairy tale like story, crazy dance numbers and somehow parts of a dating sim.
Summoning Satan is only what the game may look like to a newcomer to the rhythm game series. The simple game-play, that can get pretty fast and hard, is simply matching the controls on screen to certain button pressed in time with the music. See circle, press circle as it is timed on screened.
For someone watching...the game looks crazy nonsense. Just like the recently reviewed The King of Fighters 14, when you see this and aren't playing you can just keep staring.
Hatsune Miku, a well-known digital idol and her friends dance around to songs as though possessed by demons. Fancy footwork and fun stages are happening in the background as you're stuck looking to make sure you hit square on time.
Story matters here as much as most Japanese games when not rewritten for the American audience; very little. You have to save music or something, I'm not sure but I saw a ghost version of Miku, who is still alive, comforting Miku in the opening cut scene. Yeah, I don't know or care why that happened, it's from Japan, they just don't care about ending stories.
Songs can be catchy messes of fire and you can try your best to master them and even unlock costumes if you do well enough in them.
Costumes are plentiful, so plentiful that I believe it might be the most I've seen in any game I've played. They aren't just for Miku, but her friends too. You can mix and match them. Some costume and pieces actually help you out on gaining energy in songs. Because you have to fill up some energy crystals or some other reason.
Piles and piles of DLC are waiting for you if you want more costumes with more goodies like two more songs to get.
Friendships, they're not just a joke in Mortal Kombat anymore, are slightly lifted from dating sims. You'll get prizes that you give to gain friendship with the other digital idols. Oh, and you aren't Miku, you also have to give her prizes too.
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X must be the work of the devil. It's another strange rhythm game from Japan and you know what you're getting if you're going out of you way to buy it.
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X
out now on PS4 and Vita
Price: $49.99 (PS4), $39.99 (PSV)
Reviewer was provided game by publisher for review purposes.
So bad it's good pick of the week Time Raiders
Playing Now
AMC Atlantic Times Square 14
$$
We can't believe there's another major motion picture from China this year about grave-robbing. Mojin: The Lost Legend came out in January and we were surprised there was continuity; unlike most Chinese films. Now with what looks to be a boy band is another film about grave robbing and immortality. Is that a thing there now?
For more than half a century Cinephiles have gathered over Labor Day
Weekend to celebrate the movies at the annual Cinecon Classic Film
Festival. Cinecon is where archivists, authors, collectors and film fans
come together for five days of classic film screenings, special
programs, celebrity guests, and the best movie memorabilia show in the
nation.
Four evenings of live music outdoors in the intimate S. Mark
Taper Pavilion at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum.
LA Fleet Week
Sept 2-5
LA Waterfront, San Pedro
Free
LA Fleet Week is a celebration of our U.S. armed forces at our nation’s
#1 port, the Port of Los Angeles. The four-day festival will host active military ships
along the LA Waterfront and feature public ship tours, military equipment demos,
live entertainment, educational activities and more.
The 4th Annual Coaster Show
& Mark Todd “Covered”
September 2 – October 2, 2016
Opening Reception: Friday, Sept. 2nd, 8-11 PM
In Covered, Mark Todd continues his reinterpretations of comic book art. It’s hard to believe this year is already the fourth annual installment
of the La Luz de Jesus Coaster Show! What started as a last minute
substitution has grown into a legitimate institution–one of the most
anticipated events of the LA Art Scene.
*Labor Day Monday, Sept. 5, falls under Weekend + Holidays pricing.
Enjoy our annual fair and live out all the moments you've seen in TV shows.
The Taste
Sept 2-4
Paramount Pictures Studios
$tarts at $100
Los Angeles Times has gathered the best of the best of Chefs and food to feed you this weekend.
626 Night Market
September 2-4, Friday & Saturday & Sunday 4pm–1am
Santa Anita Park
Free parking. $3 admission at the door only. Children 6 and under get in free. Many vendors are cash only
The last night market of the summer! How will you eat strange new foods and meet people? Wait, we have farmer's markets all the time.
Anime California
Sept 2-4
Long Beach Convention Center
$60.00 and will go up closer to event date
Anime California will bring eSports and Anime fans together to celebrate
Japanese culture, music, and animation. Join us to celebrate anime,
professional gaming, music, and more.
$85 - VIP Admission. Includes VIP Line at Entrance,
Exclusive Access to VIP Lounge, Two (2) Drink Tickets.
$50 - WET Afterparty: Party after the party on the Queen
Mary Sports Deck from 9:30PM to 2AM.Featuring DJs David Faustino & SB The DJ. Appearances by Big Boy, Dj
Carisma, Letty, DJ Damage, DJ A-OH, Ayyde, DJ Hed, DJ Lezlee. Does not include
access to WET Carnival.
The first-ever WET Carnival offers festival goers a day of
fun in the sun with incredible live music, water-themed activities, dancing and
more. The inaugural music festival will bring today’s top artists and DJs to
Long Beach with performances from B.O.B., Lil Jon, Tyga, Kent Jones, DJ
Mauricio and more.
Anthony Petrie, accomplished artist takes us on another trip through cinema and pop culture. Anthony Petrie's Charts 2
will be opening for public consumption Sept 3 at Gallery 1988. He finds
a way to make a film seem like a stylized infographic like no other.
Dropping bits of info in a beautiful looking piece that must adorn any
cinephiles screening room.
Joining us in the gallery for the sequel to his successful graphic novel
Fantasy Sports, Sam Bosma will be greeting fans, signing books, and
spectating friendly games of volleyball.
In the spirit of the
comic, we will transform our gallery into a volley ball court and
encourage attendees to play in teams of two up to eleven points per
game. First come first serve.We will release a brand new Fantasy Sports 2 poster by Sam which will be awarded as prizes to the winning teams.
Ben Edlund (Supernatural, Gotham, Powers, Angel , Firtefly, etc.) in person. FREE LIMITED EDITION POSTER AUTOGRAPH EVENT WITH THE TICK CREATOR
*The Los Angeles Zoo celebrates the first day of FLEET WEEK L.A. with
FREE admission for all active and retired U.S. military personnel on
Friday, September 2, 2016, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Immediate family
members receive a discount of $3 off adult and $2 off child admission.
Free admission is available for one day only by presenting a valid
military ID at the time of purchase on September 2 only.
The maker of Vinyl Idolz made some of the best fan art, take my money, that needs to be made into real toys. You can look at some more of the figures on their Instagram and blog.
Oh, please let it come out in time for our Halloween office party! Little is known about the new game from Jackbox Games, the makers of You Don't Know Jack, but they'll be showing it off on their Twitch channel tomorrow Aug 31 at noon PST.
Downtown finally has a comic book shop to call its own, A Shop Called Quest opened up in the middle of August in the Arts District. The store features one of the nicest looking setups inside with a nice collection of indie and common titles. The store also features art prints and pins to snag to look good and make your place look good.
