BanG Dream! Vs Live Event: A First-Timer's Perspective

BanG Dream! Vs Live Event: A First-Timer's Perspective

(I'm an idiot and didn't screencap anything prior to posting so I'm sorry, this is gonna be really rambly).

I love rhythm games. So much so that I would download every single available Idolm@ster if it didn't cause me to lose more time than I already am. So when I decided to start playing BanG Dream!, I was already pretty sure of what to expect. I was pretty confident in my ability to play the game, so much so that I skipped the Easy and Normal difficulty settings and went straight to Hard. This didn't provide much of a challenge for me outside of the general challenges that come with playing a new game nearer to the highest difficulty from the outset.

I'm not going to talk about the story all too much because 1.) I've been logging into the game since October so I'd have to go back and see what happened to remind myself and 2.) I spent most of this time playing the Vs Live event that was happening last week. Despite some connection issues on my end, I had a fun time. I won't lie and say it didn't take a little getting used to, though. BanG Dream! has a system in Vs Live wherein everyone chooses a song to play and then it gets randomized so that one person's song is picked for everyone. I really loved this feature, because it meant that I could play some songs that I never would have considered going for because of the decisions of other players. At first I was a little wary, though, as I'd never heard much music from the game before and--if I'm just gonna be honest here--my favorite rhythm game, Idolm@aster Cinderella Girls: Starlight Stage, has much better music than BanG Dream! Be that as it may, I did get introduced to a lot of new songs, some of which I really adore (specifically "You're Not Alone" and Hello, Happy World!'s cover of "Dragon Night"), so I am grateful now that that mechanic exists.

As a new player, it was difficult to grind for the event points. I think I only made it a little past 20,000 points before the event ended, with a need to get 75,000 in order to retrieve the event-exclusive band member. Although I will say that the game does give out a lot of points, as I averaged around 400-500 points per song while only ever staying in the B-C range in terms of scoring. If that's the case, then I can see how grinding in the game can be pretty easy in order to get those exclusives. Not to mention that the game has a pretty good leveling system that makes it easier to score more points as you continue to play. Instead of relying on sacrificing items or band members in order to level up your better band members (both of these are still options, however), the game makes it so that your band levels as you continue to play with the members. I think this is an excellent mechanic, as it makes it feel as though what I'm doing is worthwhile for everyone on my team instead of just giving me random characters to be sacrificed to one, maybe two different members.

I'm not too sure if there's much else I have to say, as I got a really good impression of the game that people familiar with it probably already have. If I had to make one critique, I guess it would be that I'm not the biggest fan of all the songs. Maybe I've just been spoiled by other games, but it doesn't feel as quality here, not in every aspect, at least. I don't know; I think that's more personal preference and what I'm used to in these types of gaming taking over, so it's not too valid a criticism. Either way, I really enjoyed playing through the latest event, and while I don't plan on starting the story mode anytime soon, I am looking forward to grinding in "Determined Darkness, Blue Rose Pride" (the current event going on right now). Might even roll, who knows. BanG Dream!; a good game, solid fun, would recommend.

PS: Moca is cute.