SoniPro Review(Kuro Game of the Year 2014)

Announced together with Motto! SoniComi for PS3, which is a port of older PC game called SoniComi, it was a completely new game about Super Sonico, Nitro+'s digital mascot.

She has made numerous appearances in both Nitro+ games, and as a cameo, but that doesn't really matter, does it?

So, the game, as implied by the title Super Sonico in Production(abbreviated as SoniPro), is about Super Sonico entering the idol industry.

The protagonist, or the avatar of the player in the game world, is her Producer-to-be, or at least he(the Player) will be her producer.

The story turns out NOT IMPORTANT at all. The game is all about characters, character interactions, character development and, of course, Sonico herself.

The producer has  the power of choice of how to produce Sonico. There are 3 ways of doing It, represented by 3 colors – Peach(Pink), Black and White. Depending on the color Sonico has more, Color Events, as well as the way she’ll achieve success(even if only a minor step to a bigger success we won’t see) will change.

Depending on Color, the songs Sonico will sing also change. For example, as Momo Sonico, she will mostly sing ones that she already knows – the songs of Daiichi Uchuu Sokudo, the indie band she is in with her friends. However as Black Sonico or White Sonico, she will sing new songs, positioned as “songs unrelated to Daiichi Uchuu Sokudo”.

Color disambigation is an interesting way to represent Sonico changing as an idol. As her natural image turns out to be not enough to attract much audience, she is forced to change her image, and either become a girl who gives energy to everyone with her songs(Momo Sonico, Pop-style), or bold, dominating girl (Black Sonico, Rock-style), or a cute “big child”(White Sonico, Techno-style).

However, while her image as an idol changes, Sonico herself doesn’t really change, which is something I can nod to, somehow. I feel she shouldn’t change, at least not so fast. People do not change much within some months, right?

The game features quite a bit of new characters, as well as quite a bit of characters we should already know and welcome warmly.

New ones:

Amagi Sakura – she is the head of Laputa Productions, the company the protagonist is in. Her head is filled with strange ideas she just can’t wait to have Sonico do. No, seriously, a tambourine girl?(girl having tambourines instead of clothing) or tube girl(a girl purposedly letting others see her panties through a tube)? She’s really strange.

Miya Miyako, a.k.a Myako-san – the owner of NyanQ, a cat café…a literally CAT café, as it’s filled with cats, and Myako-san does everything else by herself. She apparently can communicate with cats through a strange shamanic dance, and understands them natively. She also keeps a tiger.

Kamijou Kurumi – the owner of ChaotiCrush(カオティっクラッシュ) club. She is quite a fan of Rock music, as well as has a sharp tongue. She wears a cap that looks like a wolf’s head in reverse, and her forelock acts like a dog’s(wolf’s) tail.

Komatsuri Hibiki – the annoying store manager of the CD Shop “Jet Records”. She is one of those people who speaks so fast, that you lose your composture and either buy the thing they recommend, or leave the shop.

Muse – the goddess of music in Greek mythology. She gives the Destiny Ticket to the protagonist, saying that it will guide him, and that his destiny, as well as HERS(of course Sonico), depends on him. A bit later she runs an in-game shop(Muse Shop Direct), selling a lot of useful things. Seems she has sisters.

Hoshikage Versta – self-proclaimed rival to Super Sonico. While she calls Sonico her rival, she’s quite fond of her. In yuri way. Versta is half-russian, but lived in Japan for her whole life. Still loves russian cooking, it seems. Also, look at those breasts...I don't believe she is even half-russian, full-russians rarely get such big ones.

Returning ones:

Kitamura Manager – the Manager of Sonico as a gravure idol. He wears a strange Oni mask.

Watanuki Fuuri – Sonico’s close friend, a member of Daiichi Uchuu Sokudo. She loves to eat.

Fujimi Suzu – Sonico’s close friend, the leader of Daiichi Uchuu Sokudo. She loves games and cosplaying. Constantly cosplays as a nurse.

The gameplay includes 4 parts:

Scheduling(Time Management)

Live(Rhythm)

Gravure(Photo)

Challenge Mission

Before explaining the Scheduling, the way the game’s calendar works should be explained.

The week is split into 4 parts – Mon/Tue, Wed/Thu/Fri, Sat, Sun.

During Mon/Tue and Wed/Thu/Fri, the player chooses an action, but Sat and Sun are already decided without him. Saturday is the Gravure Photoshoot day, Sunday is Live day.

So, Scheduling part has player choosing what Sonico will do during current time period. Besides that, the player can communicate with Sonico, like talking with her, taking her to one of: NyanQ, Jet Records, ChaotiCrush, to meet one of the 3 supporting characters, or giving her presents.

Live part is a usual rhythm game we all know. It’s similar to Hatsune Miku Project Diva by gameplay, but I actually prefer SoniPro in terms of this. Reason is – I hate arrows that represent timing in PD. SoniPro uses expanding circles which are easier to follow for me.

There are 2 Difficulty settings – Normal and Hard. Normal is…normal, while Hard is something out of my league. I can clear some songs well, while I’ll never be able to keep up with others, it seems. While you cannot completely fail a song, the evaluation you get (E, D, C, B, A, S, SS) affects how will the story turn out at times.

Also, a honorable mention should be made to the Free Mode, which allows you to replay a song as much as you wish, as if you'd played a usual rhythm game. Some gaems should learn from this.

Gravure part is a reminiscence of SoniComi, where the player has to take the camera in his hands, and shoot some awesome pantyshots of Sonico in different costumes. Of course the costume Sonico wears is up to player to decide.

In Challenge Missions, Sonico will try herself in different roles, such as Race Queen, NyanQ’s manager, Reporter etc. to understand different “hearts”, or experience.

It is up to player to help her decide how to do it at some points. Like how to attract customers, or if to accept a photosession etc.

Besides just doing everything the game offers, one can go for sub-events, like if you choose to rest at the end of the week, you’re likely to encounter a  Holiday Event, which always includes a Touch event(hehe, don’t touch Sonico’s breasts, you beast).

The game is really going for a variety in gameplay, as well as development of Sonico stage character.

To sum up my feelings about this game – it is the best game of this year for me. I can’t add anything else, as “it’s GREAT” or “it’s AWESOME” or “USDAYDIOASDASHKDJAHSDTHEBESTGAEMEVER” won’t describe how good it is. It’s just not enough to describe my feelings.

I picked up this game following my sixth sense. I felt it’s a great game, I felt I will like it, I knew it’ll give me what I longed for this year, but didn’t receive in other franchises’ games.  It did.

My sixth sense wasn’t wrong. Then again, it’s NEVER wrong. My sixth sense in gaming is the only friend who’s opinion I can rely on.

If you're still doubting whether to get it or not - be no more. Here, have some Sonico butt to convince you. Not really the best picture, but thanks Nintendo I can't do a proper screenshot, because you disabled screenshots for it on Miiverse.