BEAT ARENA

I've just played a few tracks off Beat Arena and despite the huge accessibility issue and major stuttering I've had (which I think because of my setup with Virtual Desktop) I would recommend this game to those who really like Bemani or just wanted a Bemani experience within a premium budget. This game interestingly opt out from western licensed music (unlike most western localization) and instead listed a handful and popular bemani music from both pop'n music, and gitadora. The music is limited, but I found some of my most favorite classics are listed. The gameplay itself is pretty basic, but works well with VR. The drums being the most obvious is kind of clunky since the virtual drum is huge and you can't really adjust the size of it. The guitar and bass is straightforward enough, use your dominant hand to strum and your non-dominant hand on the neck. It's straightforward enough and once you got the gesture, it's actually the most fun (apart from way too many vibration happening) I haven't tried other instrument yet, but I assume it's mostly simplified version of the actual instrument but made it fun to play. Two major downside however is the music sync and performa…

[h2]Not great.[/h2] [b]Gameplay - 2/10[/b] - Four instruments to play, each being more or less the exact same thing with different layout/controls. - Guitar/Piano were awfully implemented and feels clunky to play. Bass is the same as Guitar but you can choose to 'pluck' instead of 'strum' which makes it infinitely more playable. - If not for the Drums, I would give this game a 0/10 on gameplay. Drums are the only part of the game that takes advantage of the 3d space and are actually okay to play... for the most part. - Songs are too easy even in the 'advanced' difficulty. The only hard part of the game is fighting against the motion controls. - The only gimmick to this rhythm game is the motion control in 3d space. I pretty much experienced this game in its entirety after 10 minutes and everything afterwards was just a grind for the achievements. [b] Graphics - 5/10[/b] - Meh. Just regular anime slop. Looks relatively low-effort, but nothing that strains the eye. - Vibrant colors and a lot of 'holographic' effects. [b]Soundtracks - 8/10[/b] - Generic J-pop and instrumental tracks. I don't dislike it though, some of the songs are pretty catchy. - All songs are cut so even the lon…

I've been playing BEMANI's rhythm games ever since I was a kid. I had Dance Dance Revolution MAX 2, Extreme, SuperNOVA 2, and X on my PS2, and later on imported a Beatmania IIDX controller and a few of those games as well. Fast forward to a few months ago when I learned they made a VR game too, and I knew I had to try it eventually. Today it was on sale and I finally got it in the VR Bundle with Zone of the Enders 2, annnnnd... I think it's alright ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯ It definitely doesn't hold a candle to their high-quality traditional rhythm games, but for their first attempt at a VR rhythm game, it definitely could've been worse. It definitely has that "Developers' First VR Game" feel to it though, and I think BEMANI could improve it quite a bit in a sequel. Considering this game doesn't even have a Wikipedia page though, I don't think it sold well enough for that to happen :( One thing I do particularly like about this game though is its style. It's so flashy and colorful compared to a lot of its competitors, and actually playing on a stage with virtual band mates is honestly pretty sick. TL;DR: I think it's an alright VR rhythm game with plenty of style but it's a bit jank.

I really wish this was something more than it is. The song selection is rather light, and only a handful of songs I actually enjoy. I also wish there was more variation in stages and modes. Hopefully they will come out with a gitadora version or a BeatArena 2.

I'm just gonna be honest here. The guitar sucks. All the other instruments are good except the guitar because up strumming is so terrible. I am a good player at this game but playing the guitar i miss so much because the guitar strumming. Please fix the Up and down strumming.

rock