Love Live! School Idol Festival (iOS)

9/11/2014 - 6:08 PM - GMT +8
By: Seth Legaspi

For this week, I decided to make a game review on, "Love Live! School Idol Festival."

Enter Screen

Love Live! School Idol Festival (SIF for short), is a rhythm game based on the popular idol anime, "Love Live!" This game is available on both the iOS and Android in English.

This game first caught my attention when it was still exclusively available in the Japanese region, and of course, with my non-jp apple account, I did not pay that much attention to this game. With its localization however, which somehow went in tandem with the time I started watching the series it was based on, I was simply enamored. It's just that I really liked their songs, they were simply superb. Those things they say about idols bringing out hope and stuff? Well, Love Live songs really got it in there.

The first thing that I find memorable about this game, is that it allows one to level up their characters. Yes.
Level up characters.
Yes.
Level up Characters in a rhythm game.

Yeah, I found that kind of feature totally new and refreshing. I literally haven't played a rhythm game that I can compare to that kind of system yet.

Well... Then again my experience on rhythm games is mostly limited to Project Diva... So yeah.

If the level up feature doesn't make sense, then I should first explain that the game has a 'card-based' system to it, wherein one can collect 'attribute-specific' cards whose strengths depend on their rarity.

A SR(Super Rare) pure attribute 'card'

Leveling up a character, or card, consists of sacrificing partnering up other characters to the card that you want to level up. For some ambiguous plot, a hidden game mechanic perhaps, an unexplained event happens to these practice partners, since they disappear after practicing with a chosen card.

Must provide Offerings

If the ritual- leveling up thing was not enough, you can also 'idolize' your idols! (A sort of evolving mechanic) All it takes is another copy of the same card that you want to 'idolize.' An example would be of the Kotori card I have shown above:

From this...

Voila! New clothes! New pose!

Of course, what truly lured me to this rhythm game would be the songs and adding to these already alluring songs, the game also features a special random song not found in the common 'Hits' playlist. These special songs will only appear for a certain amount of time on a random day in the B-Side selection.

Must get S Rank.

Before starting a song, the social feature of Love Live! School Idol Festival truly shines in the form of friendship points and the stat bonuses that come with a friend's chosen center...

Ok, maybe this thing is focused more on the stat bonuses. There truly is that probability of people just preferring and adding people with UR(Ultra Rare) centers, due to the large bonuses they give.  But I can agree with that certain feeling that having solid friends on your friends list can give you that 'competitive' spirit with your peers. There's just that day of the week wherein you want to brag and all with your rank, or awesome center... Not including, of course that they're guaranteed to never remove you from their list.

I hope everyone gets a UR(Ultra Rare) soon...

Speaking of friendship points, you can use these points to scout new members... Or sacrifices training partners for your other characters.  There is also the premium credits, called Love Gems, which through some patience and effort, can be gathered to a decent enough amount to use, which makes the game pretty neat since it is not wholly dependent on the Love Gems.

26 more Love Gems...

There's also the game-play itself, which is pretty straightforward but really gets one into the beat and rhythm during a song. Here are some screenshots of game-play that lost me some points and full combos:

I sa~aaay~ ♪

Almost an S... Rank.

The game also has a story that is used as the basis for unlocking new songs, and even introducing the characters, both normal minor ones, and the main μ's cast.

Story!

As for the minor characters, they are the N(Normal) cards that consist of characters that do not consist of the original μ's members.

That armband! It's the disciplinary committee!

Another feature would be the events that range from the main character's birthdays, to 'grinding' events, wherein one attempts to garner a certain number of points to gain certain rewards.

にこ～にこ～に～！

An event that features Nozomi as the notable prize

To end this game review, here is my rating for this game:

(9/10)

Pro's

• The song playlist is really large, and still expanding in the English version, as of the posting of this article
• The songs.
• Game mechanics and the user interface are really straight-forward and simple
• Events help in keeping the game fresh

Con's

• Game may get repetitive, especially in the 'grinding' events
• The 'gachapon-like' way of getting new characters may get frustrating at times

I recommend this game for people who like the anime series this game is based on (Yeah, the songs!). Also, the game is not one wherein  entire hours are spent on it, due to the LP(Live Points, sort of like an energy thing) there's a cap for how many songs one can play through for a given amount of time, thus making this a good game to play in short breaks.

For everyone else, I suggest that this game be given a try, especially if one has an interest in J-POP, or other similar interests.

For details on the game: Click Here for the game's website.
Note: (As of 9/15/2014 - The game has 21 songs, not including B-Sides)

Too fast Rin! Too fast!!!