Utano☆Princesama Shining Live Eng PV

Introduction

For decades, much of the gaming environment had been saturated with a cornucopia of titles targeted towards the male audience. Many begged for a change and desired a way for more females to take advantage of such an illustrious industry, with such an enormous history. Fast forward to today and we’re seeing a giant influx of not only games targeted toward the female demographic, but more doors have been smashed wide open and have allowed women to take charge in various fields. One major genre that has really kicked into high gear over the past several years has been the Otome genre, which in Japanese refers to a game targeted towards girls or younger women.

So in whole it means a game about males, but just not any type of male but very handsome ones, decked out in fashionable clothing who act as sort of your “partner” in game. Pair that with the very popular rhythm game and visual novel genre and you now have KLabGames’ latest Otome rhythm title, Utano☆Princesama Shining Live. Now Utano☆Princesama isn’t just a random pop group in Japan. This idol group has become a nationwide phenomenon spanning 4 seasons in the anime realm, which is a notable achievement for any series. Not only that but their music has also topped the J-Pop and anime music charts multiple times, and fans all over go heads over heels to hear the latest singles. All of that has been jam packed into one serving on our smartphones, and lucky for us we had the opportunity to play a live test version of the game. The version we played on felt very complete in every way. but we imagine that some added changes will be made to ensure the launch is a smooth one. With all that being said, let’s jump into our impressions!

Impressions

The event kicked off with the KLabGames team explaining all of the perks behind the game, and just why it’s such an exciting game to play. One major selling point that is that despite the game being formed around the rhythm game aspect, it also comes with a very rich story that players can soak hours into. Each character within the game comes equipped with their own unique characteristics and authentic voice actors, which fans of the series will most likely swoon over. For those just getting into the series and are unfamiliar, not to worry as the game does a great job of introducing every character to you through its Side Story portion.

You don’t even need to enjoy Otome games in general to truly experience Utano☆Princesama Shining Live, as the rhythm game format is a blast in and of itself. Being a guy myself and playing an Otome game seemed a bit far fetched at first, and admittedly, the feeling of loneliness kicked in as the room was mostly filled with passionate female fans of the genre. Luckily the game does a wonderful job of immersing you with its well designed UI, challenging rhythms and of course most importantly, the very catchy pop tunes that make you forget you’re even playing a game in the first place.

The longer you play the higher your rank grows, with each new idol you unlock giving you more opportunity to create your own dream group (you can even have a group of all the same person!). Depending on your live performance during the song, you can receive anything from an E rank (being the lowest) all the way up to an S rank (being the highest) for your performance, all while you continue to build bonds with your favorite idols in order to increase popularity and points in game. Prisms that you obtain allow you to unlock special moments and often provide you with spectacular rewards that only entice you to play more. It’s a great incentive for both new and veteran players since there’s always something new to look forward to each time you play.

In addition to the great gameplay that you’ll most likely spend hours on, fans of the Utano☆Princesama Shining Live idols may spend just as much time taking photos with their dream mate with the Camera Mode option. This allows you to go just about anywhere and snap shots alongside your favorite husbando.

Maybe you’re at a fancy restaurant and want to share it with friends on Twitter. No problem, just take a photo and boom, watch as your likes and retweets go up. Other players will grow jealous of your appeal and will also want to try out Utano☆Princesama Shining Live to take their own selfies and impress their friends. The Photo Shoot feature allows you to get new versions of your favorite characters containing outfits so you can customize them to keep them looking dapper, and there’s the option to have your favorite idol stay on the main screen to greet you every time you log in! With a visual novel appeal in the Story Mode, there’s a plethora of things to do in Utano☆Princesama Shining Live so as we mentioned earlier, you don’t really need to be a die-hard Otome junkie to really feel the good vibes this game generates. The main story is where a lot of your time will be spent in the earlier portions of the game, since unlocking tunes will be the first thing on the agenda. The Side Story portion is pretty much an added bonus for those who want to dive deeper into the lives of their favorite idol, and collecting perks to boost your group’s image and concert flare.

Visually speaking, Utano☆Princesama Shining Live is incredibly well detailed with regards to illustration. The characters move fluidly and each idol has their own little mannerisms that you can identify once you get to know them better. Even while playing on our iPhone the game was vivid and the colors were sharp, while playing with headphones really brought out the sounds of each performance played. While not every portion of the game is fully voiced, the game still rewards you with a great deal of excellent voice acting as we mentioned earlier in the article, which only generates a more comforting feel for players who pick up and play. You really feel like you’re right there with your favorite idol, talking back and forth with each other on a daily basis. It’s certainly a nice way to take your mind off all the tension of the real world and live out your fantasy for several hours, which is never a bad thing. The list of things you can do in Utano☆Princesama Shining Live goes on and on, but we’ve covered perhaps the most pivotal features that will undoubtedly keep you hungry for more the longer you invest.

Honey's Final Verdict:

The global version of the game, with English and Traditional Chinese language support, will be separate from the Japanese version, meaning that each server will be different. However, the developers stated that both Japan and Global players will receive the same goodies simultaneously, so no need to worry about unfairness. In closing Utano☆Princesama Shining Live was an amazing first time experience for us. It left a very positive impact, which only leaves us feeling grateful that we had a chance to try it out. With a large list of J-POP songs to jam to between ST☆RISH and QUARTET NIGHT, a detailed visual novel story packed with humor, romance and more, handsome husbando to flirt and take photos with, Utano☆Princesama Shining Live is one concert that you definitely should attend!

Oh my god! Yes! It's finally getting localized! I've been waiting for sooooo long to play this in English! My body is so ready for this!

Ranmaru!!! Bring him to me!! I need him close to me right NOW. My heart flutters the minute I see him.

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