Project DIVA MEGA39's

[nocturnal YL]

Just as many fans suspected, something was going to happen on the 10th anniversary of the original Project DIVA (on PSP).

There's a new Project DIVA coming!

Project DIVA MEGA39's (pronounced "Megamix") is coming to Nintendo Switch in early 2020! Songs from this game are also going to be available as Future Tone DLC!

The Switch version is going to feature 101 songs, and an anime-like, cel-shaded style. This visual style is for MEGA39's only, and not Future Tone.

And yeah, instead of flying PlayStation icons, the Switch version will have flying ABXY icons. The game itself plays like Future Tone, if the screenshots are any indication.

I'm likely going to buy both versions.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, SEGA AM2!

[nocturnal YL]

Trailer, since I didn't include it before:


I'm still being pretty excited about this news. It's not even coming in half a year.

More info incoming, thanks to the Famitsu feature.

ryokutya2089.com/archives/21597

• We already know this, but there will be 101 songs total (91 old and 10 newly introduced to the series), and one of the new songs will be the game's yet-announced theme song


• All songs use NPR (non-photorealistic rendering), leading to the anime-like look


• There will be new features to make character customization more fun


• There will be a new mode that makes use of the Switch's Joy-Cons, but the defails are unknown (this will be demonstrated in Magical Mirai)


• There will be 300+ modules, including one for the theme song


• A paid DLC set will be available for PS4 Future Tone / FT DX including the new songs, also in early 2020

The followings are from the interview:

• They've been asked to make a Switch version since a long time ago, but solidifying plans to make a new game took time


• PS4 Future Tone was more well-received than expected, so they thought they'd return the fans' thanks with a new game


• Switch is a suitable platform in the sense that the series originated on a handheld


• The songs are chosen on the criteria of being representative of the various eras of Hatsune Miku, and being fun to play with Joy-Cons


• They did want to include all songs, but the limited ROM size and the development time needed made it a difficult goal


• The theme song itself is a secret; its themes are "the past 10 years" and "the future 10 years"


• Joy-Con/EASY is adjusted to be easily playable even by kindergarteners, but HARD should satisfy rhythm game fans

Comments:

I've seen quite a lot of speculations on what the Switch-exclusive mode would be, from touch mode to mirai-style charts to a dance mode. It turns out to be a Joy-Con mode… interesting.

Future Tone currently has 399 modules! It should break the 400 barrier after the DLC. And I wonder if they're finally going to include Hatsune Miku V4X in both versions. Come on! Crypton's own polls show that people like the V4X design better than V3, Append and original!

I thought of a lot of reasons both for and against a Switch version of Project DIVA. The main reasons for it are the versatility of the system, the disjointed directional buttons, and there's a sizable fanbase on the Nintendo side. Reasons against are also the versatility (which makes testing difficult), the less durable and asymmetrical controller, and that the gameplay itself screams PlayStation. Kudos to the team for making the move anyway.

And just as I thought, game size was one reason we only get 101 songs. I never expected a full Future Tone port anyway. But I also didn't expect to see Future Tone's game system used without changes, multi-press and all.

The comment on the difficulty worries me a bit. I hope they aren't going to stop at HARD. That would lead to the same problem the mirai series had: being too easy for rhythm game veterans. I hope all the original difficulties get carried over, even if most players can't handle it. The existing screenshots are already suggesting that the Switch/PS4 charts will be identical, so this shouldn't be so unreasonable to hope for.

And one last thing, I hope the icons can be changed. I use arrows in both mirai DX and Future Tone DX, eliminating the whole X/× button issue. The team does realise that Project DIVA has quite a lot of cross-platform players, right?

[Nester the Lark]

It's officially coming West. Japanese release date is February 13, 2020.



Not sure if this game is for me, but I'm keeping an eye on it.

[nocturnal YL]

We also finally see what the Mix Mode is like. It reminds me of the Slide Mode in Band Brothers P, which I don't really remember fondly, but that's because that game uses the music sequence directly as the rhythm game charts instead of letting the music creators hand-craft them.

Just as I thought, the songs picked are the ones that are the more "safe" choices, with no trace of songs submitted via contests or otherwise songs without general appeal to non-Project DIVA Miku fans.

A while ago there was a source (real-sounding, but unverified) that "leaked" (he said it was okay to with no risk to his job) on a video sharing site, saying that there will be DLC and they wanted to eventually cover all songs (among other things, like what they said about the Switch version being limited as a result of both time and game card size being an honest truth, and how outdated the Project DIVA Arcade engine is and don't be surprised if this is the last game in this style). Well, there is a DLC pack that comes with the special edition of the game, but I doubt if it really will cover all songs. Time will tell.

Also, unrelated to this, SEGA is going to make a mobile gacha game called Project Sekai. Details to come later. (Maybe they're finally going to realise their original vision of Project DIVA being a galge before deciding to make a traditional music game instead?)

[nocturnal YL]

They released a video on the game's controls:



(Also, while it's not mentioned in promotional materials, but an earlier interview confirmed that the melody icons can be customised to arrows or shapes).

They also announced the lost of returning songs:
miku.sega.jp/mega39s/song/

It's mostly just like what I expected. Everything is from Future Tone, with no intention to port any of the X songs, and only one of each pair of similar songs return (so only Colorful×Melody and no Colorful×Sexy, only Cendrillon and no Adolescence, and only Senbonzakura -F edition- and no original PV-based Senbonzakura). Also like I thought, the new Mix Mode only goes up to HARD while EXTRA EXTREME Arcade Mode is back in full force.

Including this:



Good luck trying to play this with any of the official Nintendo Switch controllers.

[Evie the Mother Hen ❤✿]

I like the series. Sad to hear about the control for Switch being not the best.