Oh goodness what do I say about this game?
Personally, I never played a rhythm game. My hand-eye coordination is very bad compared to others, but because I've at least memorized most of this series collection of songs, I decided to at least give it a shot. People who kept saying that Gunvolt needed a rhythm game because of the various vocal tracks the series had, it feels like you wished upon it with a monkey's paw.
Many reviews have already pointed out the disappointing song count for the base game, and honestly I agree. If the series should of had DLC, it should be at least songs released after this game (like Sparking Elation and Afsan for example) or songs that were released as bonuses for the CDs in JP (Tabula Rasa, Paradox Stage). The DLC added up costs twice the amount for the base game, which is kind of criminal since the series doesn't have a high song count from let's say Hatsuna Miku, even if I'm comparing a small harvest that's just bore its fruit to a vocaloid whose harvest has been generous for the past decade or so.
If someone was watching, they would assume that the controls were around 4 buttons and the joy sticks, but that's wrong. For some reason, despite the left and right having lanes, one input from the respective bumpers triggers both. So it makes me beg the question to why split the lanes three way on both sides if they are all tied to one button. So knowing that there are lanes for now nonapplicable reason other than making the gameplay UI look nice, it makes songs such as Beyond Probably a pain to actually get off the ground in higher difficulties because the lanes affect my vision on what button to press. The analog is fine? I did have a moment where it didn't register my inputs from time to time. Along with that, the misinput for holding a button longer when it was just a press seems nonexistent in terms of penalty.
For reasons unknown the 3DCGI concert songs have a half length version and a full length version that unlocks upon completing the half length (and yes this applies to the DLC songs such as Glass Paradise and Struggling to Dream). I have no idea why a decision like this was made other than to provide filler. They are decent to learn the first half of the songs, but they're kind of...there? I don't really have a reason to revisit them unless I feel confident enough to S rank them. Also don't know why they exclude the live action music videos for some of the songs (such as Memoria of He). I found them charming, but my best guess is that it would ruin the immersion for the game using the VAs instead of the character models.
As for the GV2 songs, where some have Lola and Lumen versions, only the Lumen versions are available in this game (including the DLC versions), which is kind of disappointing. I understand that Lola's VA changed between GV2 (Yurika Endo) and iX1 (Mayu Mineda), but I have seen the latter have covers of some of the GV2 songs such as Stratosphere. I don't know why those are lacking in this game. They would have been nice to see, along with (hopeful thinking) versions that use both Lumen and Lola renditions in one, since Indigo Destiny doesn't sound as hype or impactful when you hear only Lumen's side. I think it would have given the game more life if there were collab songs among Lumen, Lola, and Luxia, since all the songs can be categorized as: Lumen Song, Lola Song, Luxia Song.
Pet peeve of mine, because I don't speak a lick of Japanese, I wish there was an option to have English Subtitles to these songs. Is it useless for the player? Yes it is during gameplay, but I think having something like that would benefit if you decide to listen to the songs in the album collection. Having an option to at least read the lyrics in some capacity, whether in the original Japanese version and translated versions can give wider appeal to the songs. Most of these songs are a bop afterall.
Overall, I'd say not to buy it if you are a rhythm game fanatic. Wait for a sale if you just want to have this game for the sake of listening to the songs offline. Unfortunately my hours in this game will keep growing because I like doing the latter.
