Parents' Guide to Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X

This rhythm game is incredibly fun and full of music, with its main issue being the amount of attention you have to pay to the gameplay and the beat instead of the visuals. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X turns players into a cross between a stage manager and a conductor for Miku and her friends. Players set the stage for each performance, choosing outfits ("Modules") and accessories with special boosts and abilities that help to achieve each song's goals or objectives. Doing well during a song usually earns the player more modules and accessories, with better boosts or abilities, encouraging them to play again and again with the new combinations in hopes of getting an even better score or earning better gear.

Although the presentation is bright, colorful, and full of life, it's also likely to get wasted on the person actually playing the game. You have to spend so much time focused on the commands to enter, what types of notes are being played, and when exactly to do everything to stay in sync with the beat, you never have the opportunity to really enjoy the performance. And with four difficulty levels with exponentially more intricate controls, you can't break focus for even a moment if you want to successfully complete a song. In another interesting quirk, due to complicated licensing issues with the game's community-developed soundtrack, using the Share button on the PS4 to record/stream gameplay actually auto-filters the music out of the gameplay footage. This means that if you actually want to see one of the songs performed in the game, you'd better have a friend handy to play for you. Even with these drawbacks, it's hard not to like Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X. Its catchy tunes, addictive (if not repetitive) gameplay, and bubbly personality will leave you humming along well after the game is done.