Here's a look at the main menu and the various things you can do in the game.
This is the main game, where you can play the songs you have and view music videos.
The Song Selector
Choosing Rhythm Game will take you to the Song Selector. From there, choose the song and difficulty you want to play. This list displays the song's difficulty, whether or not the song uses slide controls, has multiple singers, and even your personal best results!
There are five levels of difficulty: EASY, NORMAL, HARD, EXTREME, and EXTRA EXTREME. EXTREME and EXTRA EXTREME can only be accessed after clearing a song on HARD. Also, please note that EASY, NORMAL, and EXTRA EXTREME are not available for every song.
Playing the Rhythm Game
Project DIVA gameplay is simple to grasp, but challenging to master. Targets will appear on the screen one after another, and melody icons will fly towards them from off screen. When the melody icon hits the target, press the corresponding control, whether it be a button or the analog sticks. Hitting the buttons at the right time causes your Clear Gauge to fill, and when you cross the clear border by the time the song ends, you'll clear the song! But pressing the wrong button or pressing at the wrong time will cause your Life Gauge to fall. When your Life Gauge runs out, that's game over!
When you select a song, a number of options will be displayed. Use the "No Fail" option to practice without fear of running out of Life, or tweak the "Game Modifiers" option to alter how melody icons and targets behave to increase the challenge! Some songs even support changing the voice of the singer, or let you change how the video will play out!
Practice Mode
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone introduces a Practice mode that lets you practice specific portions of a song. Choosing the "Start Practice" option will put you into Practice mode. Use this to master those challenging sections!
Set your starting point to any place you like via the "Start Time" option, and follow the on-screen control guide to reset your position and move to the parts you want to practice!
Watching Videos and Snapping Photos
Using the "Watch Video" mode, you can watch the game's music videos at your leisure. This mode allows you to snap photos in a way that's totally separate from the PS4's SHARE feature by simply pressing the △ button. This lets you easily grab photos of your favorite songs, which are then used as loading screens within the game! You can also check and upload photos you take via the PS4 Capture Gallery.
Buy and set modules, hairstyles, and accessories, and change button sounds via the Customization Menu. You are able to set options on a global or per-song basis. You also can change various other settings for the rhythm game here.
You can customize the look of the characters in the music videos by changing their modules, hairstyles, and accessories. You can also exchange VP you collect during the rhythm game for items you haven't yet obtained. Purchasing a module gives you both the module and the associated hairstyle.
Choosing a Module
Scroll through the list of modules at the bottom of the screen and select one to change your character into that outfit. If you don't have the module, you will have the option to buy it with VP you have earned. You can also preview how a module looks before you purchase it.
Each song has a module that matches it particularly well. Pressing both the L2 and R2 buttons together will automatically select that module for you.
Changing Hairstyles
As a bonus for purchasing both the Future Sound and Colorful Tone expansion packs, you will be able to customize the characters' hairstyles as well! You can take a module and customize it with the hairstyle of another. Note that certain modules can't change hairstyles, though. You will be able to preview a hairstyle customization before you buy it.
Accessories
As with all Project DIVA titles, you can accessorize modules with a number of items for the head, face, chest, and back. You can purchase items you don't have for VP, as well as preview what the item will look like equipped before you buy it.
Random Modules and Hairstyles
There's also a feature where you can have the game randomly choose a module or hairstyle on your behalf. If you choose the random setting, the characters' modules will be randomly chosen at the start of the video.
On the module customization screen, select Random from the list in the upper left of the screen. You can then select to have a random module from a specific character chosen, or you can go Totally Random and have a random module selected from any character within the game.
You can do the same with the character's hairstyle by going to the Hairstyle menu and choosing the Random Hairstyle option from the list.
By mix and matching the various random settings, you can get the following combinations:
Hairstyle will be set in accordance to the module.
Note that you cannot select specific hairstyles when using the "Totally Random" setting and Modules that do not allow hairstyle changes cannot select Random Hairstyle.
*Note that to access the Hairstyle customization feature, you must have purchased both Future Sound and Colorful Tone expansion packs.
Here you can change various settings for the rhythm game, such as the button configuration and how melody icons are displayed. Settings are global.
Button Config
This is where you change what buttons are used for melody and slide icons. Practically every button on the controller can be customized, and you can set multiple buttons to support the same icon. You can also set buttons to use for multi-press situations, such as when you need to press the △, □, and × buttons at the same time. If you are having trouble nailing those multi-presses, try adjusting your button configuration here!
Here are some of the other features you can tweak.
Melody Icon Display
You can choose from one of five melody icon display patterns. In addition to the traditional △□×○ pattern, you can also change them to be arrows and other combinations to suit your preference.
Multi-Press Assist
You have the option to use an assist feature for multi-press situations.
Button Help Display
This will display a mock-up of the controller with the buttons needed highlighted to help you easily identify which buttons need to be hit when multi-press targets enter the playfield. Note that this feature may be inactive on certain difficulties and under certain button config settings.
Detection Assist
This gives you a little help by not decreasing your health when you hit the wrong buttons as long as you hit the correct number of buttons.
Here's an example of the Button Help Display. Notice how the controller is displayed (right) to help tell you which buttons to hit.
Song-Specific Lag Calibration
In addition to the global lag adjustments you can perform via the Options menu, you can also make small adjustments on a per-song basis.
To adjust the song-specific timing, pause during the rhythm game by pressing the OPTIONS button, and selecting Options from the menu. You can adjust that song's lag by changing the "Song" value, or change the global value by adjusting the "Shared" value.
Note that if you adjust the lag values during gameplay, your score will not count for the remainder of that song, and will need to reset the song or choose a new song.
Use the Playlist feature to create and edit lists of music videos that play continuously one after another. After selecting Custom Playlists for the first time, you will be provided with a quick how-to and presented with a sample playlist containing the Prelude songs, Weekender Girl and 1/6 -out of the gravity-.
▲ Playlist
▲ Song List
Select a playlist displayed on the left side of the screen to play and/or edit it. Add in whatever songs you wish using the song list displayed on the right.
You can delete, reorder, or alter song settings such as changing the vocals or how the video plays out. Note that not all songs support success effects, vocal or video changes. You can also customize the singer by selecting Character.
Playlists can continuously play music videos either in order or shuffled. During playback, use the same controls in the normal video viewer. You can also cycle through repeat modes, rewind to the start of the song, or skip to the next one.
Note:
- Pressing the □ button will toggle the control guide.
- Tapping rewind twice will take you back to the previous song.
- Taking snapshots and watching videos in playlists don't count towards their respective trophies.
Here you can check out your own scores, completion rates, and view the online rankings.
Records
View a list of your achievements and play stat totals here.
Personal Bests
View your high score for each song here.
Song Clear Stats
You can view your clear results per difficulty and your average Clear % here.
Information
Check here to see what songs are unlocked for each difficulty, how many modules you've acquired, and other miscellaneous info.
Rankings
For the first time in the series, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone features an online ranking board, which allows you to compare your scores to other players online. There are three categories: High Score Rankings, Clear % Rankings, and Survival Rankings.
High Score Rankings
This is the high score ranking for every song. You can check rankings for HARD, EXTREME, and EXTRA EXTREME.
Clear % Rankings
Each expansion pack has its own set of completion rate rankings, which show the total of clear rates for all the songs. You can check rankings for HARD, EXTREME, and EXTRA EXTREME.
Survival Rankings
Survival Courses are added once you purchase both expansion packs, and each course has its own ranking. Check those rankings here.
Note:
- EXTRA EXTREME is only available for specific songs.
- In order to upload your scores to the online rankings, you will need to be connected to PlayStation™Network.
- Each ranking board goes up to rank number 3939.
Tutorial
As is now a long standing tradition with the Project DIVA series, the Hachune tutorial once again makes an appearance to teach you the basics, including Future Tone-specific controls like slides and holds.
