Well now that I have interent again I have returned to this fine forum. I realized that I haven’t done a review since Galaxy Angel II, and that was almost 9 months ago. So here’s one for my latest obession: Namco’s THE IDOLM@STER.
Ok IdolM@ster (simply IM from now on), was originally an arcade game, now it has finally gotten a home port on the Xbox 360. Some people may not consider IM to be a “true B-game” since your producing J-POP Idols, and not really in it for the love (more on this later). However, older raising games such as Princess Maker are quite loved here, so I think many fellow PPBBS readers would adore this game.
You are The Producer, the man, the only hope for a girl with dreams of being a J-Pop Idol. You work for a sponsor who only wants one thing, to see his young stars become the number one group in Japan, the “Top Idol.” The sponsor has total faith in you, but he can’t wait forever. You are given one year (seperated into weeks) to make your idol unit be the best, or fail miserbly and disappear into the darkness of budget-priced CD single racks.
Week 1: Pick your girls. There are 10 to choose from (actually 11 in total because there is a set of twins who count as only 1 girl). On your first run you are a lowly Level 1 Producer, so you can only do a solo act. However once you’ve proven what your made of, duos and even triple units become available. Get that Producer Level high enough and you can eventually train up to 10 different units at once! (A specific girl can only be a member of one active unit at a time though).
So you’ve chosen, now go meet her. Naturally she won’t have a clue who you are, so get ready for a hillarious introduction sequence. The girls are your typical bunch of love-it/hate-it anime cliche goodness. There are too many girls to give details now (I’ll add these later in a following post), but theres something for everyone. But… don’t forget, you’re a Producer with a job to do. Idols are ranked in 3 categories: Vocal, Dance, and Visual flair. Some girls can sing, but can’t dance. Others simply don’t know how to shake that money-maker. Some girls are bad at everything, but they have somthing the others don’t: Personality.
A girl’s personality may not be that important when Auditioning, but it greatly affects her Tension gauge. And that little tiny gauge will be your best friend, or your immortal enemy. So choose wisely my friends, choose wisely.
Now pick her first song, and outfit. There are only 16 songs, but all girls are capable of singing all of them, and when you look at duo and trio units, the variations feel endless. As the big P, the song choice is yours, but just like the girls, certain songs cater to Vo,Da,or Vi tastes and naturally instantly boost her stats in that area. Plus if the girl doesn’t like the song, it ain’t gonna be pretty. And you can only choose 5 songs per year, so be sure to plan ahead.
And the outfits. Oh how I love the outfits! Pick the dress, then accessorize. Go for that super girly pink dress with ribbons. Or go for that sexy sleek back velvet tank-top with the pink cowboy hats. Or how about that weird alien gettup with the shooting star antennae and flashing Christmas lights. You can pick whatever you like for the dress, head, body, hands, and legs/feet. But, don’t pick randomly producer, as every single piece of clothing affects her stats in some way.
You are the producer, so she will wear anything you choose, but that doesn’t mean she will like it. Make her look hideous and watch that Tension gauge empty quicker then 1 canteen of water in the Gobi Desert.
Week 2-52. Do what you want, whenever you want. Give her lessons to boost stats, promotions to create memories, communications to make her like you, or enter the Auditions to earn the right of a real performance and gain fans by the masses! Or if things are going rough giver her the week off for once. Be careful though as the fans are finicky, maybe they want Dancing today, but next week its all about the Visual. As the P you must adapt and evolve your strategies or that coveted Idol Rank S will never be within reach.
So you choose a lesson. Great idea, now which one? Singing, Dancing, Posing, Lyrics, or Expressions? Unless your very lucky (Bonus lessons are possible but very random) you are only doing one that week. Being an arcade game, the lessons are all mini-games, mostly of the button tapping variety, but they are all unique and fun. (Expressions is like PacMan in reverse) Depending on your skill, will affect how the girls’ stats are increased. Also this affects the Tension guage. The nicer girls don’t mind an OK lesson. The moody girls will get pissed at anything less then perfection.
Now you’ve choosen a Promotion/Communication event. Excellent. Here your are going to make your girl known to the world. Album signings,radio shows, swimsuit modeling. You name it, its in here. During these your gonna talk to your girl of choice a lot, make her happy and you will score valuable memories, which can save your ass in an Audition.
You think she’s ready for the bigtime? OK enter that Audtion. But which one? A Newbie, Local, National, or Special Audtion? The higher the competition the more fans you’ll get (if you pass of course). Auditions have strict entry rules based on Idol Image Level, Idol Rank, and sometimes many other varients. And don’t just jump in to the first empty Audition. Wait and watch to see who joins it first and you might save your girls from an embarrissing defeat. Play IM online and you might be up against your ace neighbor who has memorized every beat.
The auditions themselves are yet another minigame. Just appeal to the judges to win points and earn stars. However those judges are quite picky, if they get bored they leave and so your stars are null and void. In a jam, use a precious Memory to due a grand appeal and earn massive points, but screw it up and lose everything!
What’s that you actually won? Nice one now enjoy the show, your girls get to perform, and a beutiful performance it will be. This game has the best Cell shading I have ever seen. It also has the best motion capture work I have ever seen. It looks too good to be a videogame, but thats exactly what it is. Even the stage effects change depending on the song. But, if they haven’t been training right, that performance may be a disaster. Girls get tired and then the Accidents occur, they misstep, forget lines, and even trip and fall off stage. The Horror, the horror!
Finally your year has come to an end. Sorry girls, you were good but the show is over. Talk about a heartbreaking scene. But you get one last performance, to have her be remembered forever or forgotten. This is a special minigame, and it takes lighting reflexes if you reached the higher ranks. But, what’s that? You were nice to your unit and the girls like you? Excellent you earned special memories that can only be used here. So go my loyal JPOP troop! Sing and Dance and Appeal one last time!
And then the end. But not quite, because this unit may be over but another can be started again. If you did well, your Producer Level increases and you get even more customization. How about determining exactly which lines are song by each girl? Yes you can do that too.
Ok if you’ve read that speal you should know what to expect. Its a game of both skill and strategy, and damn is it fun. The Tension guage is their hearts, their fire, and their feelings. The higher it gets, the better they do. If it gets too low they will suck no matter how much they’ve trained and may even quit on you. Each girl has her own Tension guage, and balencing a triple unit is quite a feat. This game is addicting, it sucks you in and doesn’t let go. Its worth the price of an Xbox360 by itself. Though I live in Japan, so I don’t have to deal with the massive shipping costs. Either way if you can play it, you should.
I’ll add girl bios tommorow if I have time. But now its off to sleepy land.
.Who knows,maybe it will be as good as code geass(wishful thinking)