Let’s not mince words here: last year’s Project DIVA X was a disappointing PlayStation
4 debut for digital idol superstar Hatsune Miku and her Vocaloid pals, mainly due to
a shockingly small song list and an overall game structure that felt at odds with itself
and forced players into a repetitive grind.
I ended up feeling pretty “Meh” about it, and that was reflected in my review score.
So allow me to be very clear: other than the core rhythm gameplay, Project DIVA Future
Tone is a COMPLETELY different beast.
Based on the Japanese arcade game of the same name, Future Tone is essentially the definitive
hardcore Miku experience on consoles.
While many of the frills seen in prior Miku games - such as a story mode, light dating
sim elements, and the ability to create your own music videos - are not present here, Future
Tone makes up for that where it really matters: sheer gameplay content.
All told, Future Tone offers a whopping 224 songs to play across several difficulty levels,
and the points you earn from playing them can be used to purchase an utterly massive
array of costumes and accessories with which to customize your Vocaloids.
And that’s pretty much the main thrust of Future Tone - no frills, just sheer content.
If you’re the kind of Miku fan who spends a lot of time giving gifts to the Vocaloids
to increase your relationship level with them, you may want to give Future Tone a pass - there’s
absolutely none of that here.
But if you’re like me and you’re mainly here for the killer music and razor-sharp
beat-matching gameplay, Future Tone constantly feels like an embarrassment of riches.
In an interesting twist, Future Tone is actually made up of two components that must be purchased
separately: Future Sound and Colorful Tone.
Future Sound collects 127 songs from prior Project DIVA games, while Colorful Tone adds
95 songs from the Arcade game and the 3DS’s Project MIRAI series.
Both components cost $30 separately or $54 when purchased together, so Future Tone’s
content being divided up like this isn’t an issue and you’re essentially getting
over 200 songs for a price that is equal to or slightly less than a standard $60 game.
Simply put, Future Tone offers amazing bang for your buck whether you buy its two components
together or separately!
While the majority of Future Tone’s songs are returning from prior games, some of those
games were never released outside of Japan and there are still some songs original to
Future Tone as well, so the song list as a whole still feels fresh and exciting even
if you’re a long-time fan who’s put in dozens of hours playing Project DIVA F, F
2nd, and Project MIRAI DX.
Even better, Future Tone’s massively comprehensive song list also means that fans of Vocaloids
other than Miku herself are also taken care of.
While Miku is still the clear focus, Rin, Len, Luka, Meiko, and Kaito all have a bunch
of songs exclusive to them as well, which is especially good news after Project DIVA
X gave Miku’s fellow Vocaloids so little love.
Even a small number of Miku’s own songs allow for another Vocaloid to sing them instead,
which is a nice touch!
What returning fans may not expect is how difficult Future Tone can be even if you’re
a seasoned Miku veteran.
While the general gameplay remains the same, with you pressing buttons to the rhythm of
the music according to on-screen prompts, Future Tone goes a step further as a direct
arcade port by sometimes requiring you to hit two, three, or even four different directions
simultaneously - something you never had to do in Project DIVA F, F 2nd, or X.
This can lead to a lot of frustration early on as you struggle to read and pull off button
combinations that were designed for an arcade controller, not a DualShock 4.
Case in point, when I first started playing Future Tone, I found that I had trouble posting
even decent scores on songs I had utterly mastered in prior games.
However, with practice I did eventually start learning to recognize these button combinations
at a glance and when I did, pulling them off successfully felt immensely rewarding and
my scores skyrocketed.
The sense of skill progression in the Miku games has always been incredibly tangible,
of course, but it’s more emphasized than ever in Future Tone.
Fortunately, Future Tone’s other big gameplay addition - Slide notes - are fairly easy to
pull off on a DualShock 4 at all difficulty levels, and the game gives you several different
options for performing them.
Normally they’re assigned to the shoulder buttons, but you can also slide your finger
across the touch pad or even turn on motion controls and tilt the controller in the direction
of each slide note if you want.
I prefer the standard option of mapping slide notes to the shoulder buttons, but the alternate
options are remarkably well implemented for players who might prefer them.
On a related note, Future Tone offers an impressively comprehensive suite of options for customizing
the core gameplay experience and tailoring it to your personal preferences.
Nearly every button on the controller can be remapped, you can change the appearance
of the on-screen prompts altogether, and more.
Future Tone knows it’s a direct PS4 port of an arcade game, and it makes a genuine
effort to bridge that gap with various options geared toward player convenience and assistance.
Future Tone looks every bit as gorgeous on the PS4 as it does in the arcade, and that’s
an impressive feat considering the sheer amount of content on offer.
Everything runs at a silky smooth 60 frames per second, with the various bright colors
and bombastic energy associated with Vocaloid music videos looking better than ever in Future
Tone.
If you’re coming fresh from Project DIVA F, F 2nd, or X, you may notice that the Vocaloids
themselves look somewhat different in Future Tone, taking on more of a “realdoll” appearance
than the pure anime look seen in prior games.
While I wasn’t initially a fan of this change and found it to be jarring, I eventually got
used to it and grew to appreciate the overall style.
Before I wrap up, I just want to reiterate that Future Tone is absolutely a “no-frills”
experience.
There’s a truly gargantuan amount of content here, but all of it is geared toward the core
rhythm game and unlocking various costumes and accessories to customize the Vocaloids
with.
You can also create custom playlists of music videos to watch in succession, but that’s
it - no sim elements, no relationship building, no story mode.
Whether this is a good or bad thing will depend on the kind of Miku fan you are.
If you really enjoy those elements, Future Tone may not be the Miku game for you.
By all other measures, however, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone is the definitive
Miku game on any platform and a true return to form after the disappointing Project DIVA
X.
Simply put, I love it.
With a staggering 224 songs across multiple genres and over 340 costumes and accessories
to collect for Miku and friends, there’s just so much game here that most players may
never see it all!
And with a well-balanced difficulty spectrum that runs the gamut from Easy to Extra Extreme,
there’s plenty of content here for players of all skill levels.
With such an impressive amount of content on offer, Future Tone is an easy recommendation
to any fans of Miku and music games in general.
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