Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- f (初音ミク -Project DIVA- f; previously known as Next Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA ) is a rhythm game created by SEGA and Crypton Future Media.
The game is the fifth game in the Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA franchise, and was released for the PlayStation Vita on August 30, 2012 and for the PlayStation 3 on March 7, 2013. The PS3 version had a change in title; the "f" was capitalized, as opposed to the PlayStation Vita version's italicized and lower-case f.
In August, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F will be released in North America as both a download package and a physical retail copy, and is the first game in Europe for download. A demo for the game will be released on PlayStation Network, June 11th. It is the first game in the franchise to be released in the West.
It is the first game in the franchise to be released on multiple platforms (Vita and PS3), and the first Project DIVA game to be released on the Vita. SEGA also announced that all songs and modules would be completely new content.
The game will retain the same basic gameplay mechanics from the rest of the games from the Project DIVA series. However, it will have several new changes. Such changes are:
A "Star" symbol will be added to the games existing cross, circle, square, triangle and arrow symbols. The symbol will represent the new "Scratch" move in which players simply have to rub the screen instead of pressing the face buttons as usual. Also, the location on the screen where the players rub does not matter.
Chance Time is now ended with either a "Success" or Fail, similar to the Technical Zone, but the criteria are different. There's a star gauge in place of the life gauge filling with successful note hits, either "COOL" or "FINE". Also, it ends with a big ☆ note played just like a regular one. The note starts off grey, but it becomes golden and glowing if the life gauge is full. Hitting the golden big ☆ note will mark the Chance Time as successful. Failing to hit the big ☆ note or hitting it without the Star Gauge full will fail Chance Time. If successful, it will boost up the Rank progress bar and proceed to the alternate ending.
A new mechanic called the "Technical Zone" will be added in which during a song players can connect combos within the time limit and earn bonus points.
Like Dreamy Theater, there will be improvements in the animations of the characters such as smoother movements for Miku's hair, Rin's bow, etc. The game will also feature improved facial expressions and lighting with real-time lighting computation being added to the game.
Like Project Mirai, Project DIVA f will have an Augmented Reality (AR) feature, which will put life-sized Vocaloids into "real life"
The HUD has rebranded from the original Project DIVA games: The life gauge looks more futuristic and turns into a star when entering Chance Time when the life gauge will not be affected, the progress bar at the bottom shows the progression of the whole song with COOLs and FINEs. When you hit all notes without failing, the last note you hit will trigger a "PERFECT" popup before the Results screen.
The red COOL, dark blue FINE and dark green SAFE are back since the first Project Diva game, this time, the letter arrangements are crooked. These ratings are displayed when hitting a note with the wrong button.
Each PV has 2 paths and both of them can be seen during Play mode and the PV mode. The alternate ending can be accessed in-game by successfully clearing Chance Time as seen above.
Hitting COOL on the start of a Hold note is worth double as normal.
Additional 200 points are awarded for every simultaneous press of both D-Pad and Action buttons whilst hitting a "W" arrow note.
Separate audio tracks are back from the first Project Diva, if you fail a note the vocals disappear. The lips will also close if you miss or miss-hit a note. DYE and Nostalogic are the exceptions, lips closing when you miss a note while the vocals continue.
Trio songs are featured in Project DIVA f. Three characters can appear in a song. The only exception is the song "Continuation of Dreams" which has four characters at once in it's PV. Maximum for users in Edit Mode is three characters at once.
There will be 2 types of character: VOCAL and Guest. VOCAL is the one who sing the song and the guest is the one who only will be there just for appearance.
Unlike previous PSP Project DIVA games, Project DIVA f will have a difficulty rating of 10 stars max. Half-stars are also featured.
All character's models are slightly increased in details than in Project Diva PSPs. Their facial expressions have become more advanced and more emotional (e.g. crying with tears).
The Vocaloids have more interaction with others in the PVs. There are either background dancers or animals for example who are now more focused.
Now characters who did not have the "kyaa" expression (> <) in previous Project DIVA games now have it available this expression in the game.
Players can now customize any of the characters' outfit, edited or from scratch, their own way with the Module Edit
Sakine Meiko is now classified under MEIKO in Module Select. Akita Neru and Yowane Haku made their appearances along with Kasane Teto as a DLC.
Project DIVA f comes with many accessories for Modules. Some examples are; hats, bows, ears, tails, and glasses.
An Augmented Reality feature that displays a "Life-size" Miku or other characters in the real world as well as taking photos of it. You can change the figure size and different poses and expressions.
The new Augmented Reality feature allows to make AR "Live concerts" by displaying a "Life-size" character, dancing to one of four exclusive songs, which aren't playable in Rhythm Game Mode. Three of them are from the first Project DIVA game.
Development for the game first began in 2011 before the previous game in the series, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Extend. The game is jointly developed by the development teams behind the PlayStation Portable (PSP) games in the series as well as the team behind the Project DIVA Arcade games. On Christmas Day 2011, SEGA released a teaser video on Youtube with footage of Hatsune Miku singing two different songs and the words "Coming 2012" at the end of the trailer. Later on April 9, 2012, Sega posted a teaser site online announcing that they would be revealing the next game in the Project DIVA series.
The game was officially revealed as a multiplatform game for both the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3, making the series' official debut on both platforms, not counting the Dreamy Theater softwares for the PS3 since they were not actual full games for the console. Development will be focused on the PlayStation Vita version first, then being shifted over to the PlayStation 3 at the later part of its development cycle, hence the Vita version being released earlier in 2012 and the PS3 version being released in 2013. In the Japanese magazine, Dengeki PlayStation, the release date for the Vita version was revealed to be August 30, 2012.
On May 22nd it was announced that NEXT will have a "homepage renewal" held on May 24th, 18:00 PM Japan's time. The site was updated completely along with a fixed title name (no longer -title project) which is 初音ミク -Project DIVA- f (Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- f).
Information about Hatsune Miku: Project -DIVA- f's PS3 version was leaked on the website Famitsu. Instead of the PS Vita version's title, the "f" would be capitalized. Six new songs would be added, along with more modules to match them, and additional accessories. Because the scratch move and AR features are unique to the PS Vita, new mechanics were made to replace these . New modes were added to the game. Song completion data and edit mode data can now be shared through the PS Vita and PS3. Some of the features were originally planned to be put in the Vita version, but they weren't due to time constraints. However, they are looking into putting some of them up for download via DLC.
This is the first Project DIVA game to feature a CERO:C Rating (Age 15 or more) because it contains little nudity (e.g if the player is using the MEIKO module called "Blue Crystal" in Nostalogic). This game has very similiar ratings with Dead or Alive:Dimensions on the Nintendo 3DS & Tekken Tag Tournament 2 on the PS3, XBOX 360, and Wii U
The game has also been appropriately been given the equivalent T rating in the upcoming American release for Sexual Theme, Violence, and Use of Alcohol and Tobacco.
This is first appearance of KAITO & MEIKO in the opening cinematic. (not counting the Project Mirai Opening)
It is also first time that the opening cinematic features all of the Vocaloid characters from the game (excluding Sakine MEIKO & DLC Characters).
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