With the success of games like Love Live and Bang Dream and the popularity of console rhythm games based on Vocaloid music and characters, perhaps the most surprising thing about the existence of Project Sekai: Colorful Stage feat. Hatsune Miku is that it’s taken this long for such a title to be produced. A rhythm mobile game utilizing vocaloid music feels inevitable, and over the last few months the team over at SEGA have been providing semi-regular updates about the development of exactly such a product. In the last few days, an official release date for Project Sekai: Colorful Stage of September 30th has been unveiled alongside an in-depth reveal of the game’s rhythm and virtual live features.
Rhythm gameplay for the title works as you would expect for a mobile rhythm game, with players tapping buttons on the screen in time to the music. If you’re a fan of Vocaloid music, this game is for you. It’s the virtual live feature I think is far more unique and worthy of discussion.
A simple one-sentence description of the feature would see me compare the Project Sekai: Colorful Stage virtual lives to the recent spike in virtual social spaces like Virtual Shibuya or Pokémon Virtual Fest and events like Comic VKet and Music VKet. Upon entering the virtual live venue, players can freely move their fully customizable avatar around this 3D space. Here, you can watch performances of your favorite songs performed by the in-game characters with other players. Performers will also talk to the audience as though it’s a real live performance, while you can act as a real-life audience, waving penlights in time to the music and leaving comments. These performances can be seen from anywhere in the venue as close or as far from the stage as possible, all in an attempt to replicate a concert experience that feels all-too-rare in 2020.
It’s features like this that help Project Sekai: Colorful Stage stand out in a crowded market and I’d be excited to see this feature in action after release. The game will be available on iOS and Android devices on September 30th and you can find out more over on the game’s official website. A special rehearsal edit version with a sample virtual live and demo song will be available from September 4th.