After reviewing Hatsune Miku: VR Future Live’s 1st Stage, it’s now time for my review of the 2nd Stage. Given how much overlap there is between the 1st and 2nd Stage, I’ll only be talking about the differences compared to the 1st Stage here. As such, you may want to read my first review before this one if you’re not familiar with the game.
Like the 1st Stage, the 2nd Stage contains seven songs, but it also introduces the characters Rin, Len and Luka, three other Vocaloids that were also featured in many of SEGA’s Project DIVA games. And aside from different unlockable modules and minor differences in Hatsune Miku’s dialogue in between the songs, that’s basically the only difference with the 1st Stage. The rest is pretty much identical: the stage, the glow sticks, the crowd, …
And while Rin, Len and Luka are present, they’re not given nearly as much attention as Hatsune Miku. Rin and Len are only featured in two songs together with Hatsune Miku, while Luka only has one song. The lack of songs for the other Vocaloids was an issue in Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X as well, which makes it odd to see the same thing happen in VR Future Live. So far, out of 14 songs in the 1st and 2nd Stage, only one doesn’t have Hatsune Miku in it. The private performance at the end of the show also only features Hatsune Miku, just like in the 1st Stage, rather than any of the other three Vocaloids. Even if she’s the titular character, a bit more variety would have been welcome. And like in the previous stage, the solo performance remains the most underwhelming and awkward part of the game.
What’s particularly disappointing is the fact that the songs in the 2nd Stage can’t be combined with the 1st Stage, so there’s no way to create a longer concert or choose out of all 12 songs during a concert. Because of that, splitting the game in different Stages seems like a mistake, The three Stages may be sold as standalone content, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of synergy between them. The only thing that appears to cross over between stages are the unlocked modules that you can use during the encore. It’s an odd design choice, and I’m puzzled as to why the developers made the game this way. Whatever the reason, it certainly hurts the game’s longevity.
Conclusion
In the previous review, I mentioned that I was hoping to see more improvements to the 2nd and 3rd Stage, but sadly it seems we won’t be getting those. In fact, the 2nd Stage ended up being even more limited than I had anticipated, and that’s largely due to the way SEGA structured the game. As it stands, Hatsune Miku: VR Future Live just doesn’t compare favorably to the existing Project DIVA games given its price and limited content. Even if you own a PlayStation VR, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X is the better deal, as it offers a lot more content and also includes some VR functionality.