How to Make This Game More Playable / How to "Get Good": A Short Guide

[Cave Johnson]

     For those that are pro at rhythm games with bad UI (aka the Persona rhythm games), this guide is unnecessary. For everyone else, I hope to assist in finding a setup that works, as well as getting over the weird learning curve that Love Live! School Idol Festival ~after school activity~ Wai-Wai!Home Meeting!! has (first and last time I’m using the full title). In most games, any options that need adjustment can be found within the actual game. With this game, however, that is not the case; external factors, like screen size and the distance between the player and said screen, are important. This is all thanks to the weird UI this game has, which did not translate well from the arcade to consoles. Were the UI laid out more like Beatmania, Pop’n Music, DDR, or any other such game, I’m sure that the trophies (not the grindy ones) wouldn’t be ultra rare. Those are all owned by Konami though, and creating a rhythm game that looks the slightest bit similar to anything they’ve made is a quick way to get sued. [Ask the developers of DJMax how that went for them.]

 

Step 1: Setup

 

In short, use a smaller screen (if possible), and sit farther away than usual. For a more detailed explanation, keep reading (or just skip to step 2).

 

     This is the most important step, and will require some trial and error. As mentioned previously, the most important variables to consider are screen size and distance. For reference, I use a 24” monitor and sit about 6 - 7 feet (around 2 meters for the rest of the world) away from it. From this, it can be easily inferred that the larger the screen is, the more distance away from it is needed. Most TVs these days are large, which is a problem when it comes to this particular game. For example, my TV is 55”, roughly 2.3 times the size of the aforementioned monitor. Let’s say that I sit 7 feet away from the 24” monitor (for the sake of math). To achieve the same effect with my TV, I would have to sit 2.3 times farther from it, which is 16.1 feet (~4.9 meters).

Step 2: Game Settings

 

The second and easiest step is simply changing a few settings. All but one (rhythm icon speed) should remain the same at all times. I’ve provided a screenshot to make it as easy as possible to understand:

 

 

Rhythm Icon Speed: This should be adjusted to whatever feels comfortable. Note that difficulty itself also affects speed, meaning it should be changed based on the difficulty. Here are my recommendations:

 

Beginner - Fast

 

Standard - A Bit Fast

 

Hyper - A Bit Slow (at first) / Normal (once some experience is gained playing hyper)

 

Judgement Timing Adjustment: -2 (The timing window is fairly forgiving, but is somehow off on the default setting. Changing it to -2 should make getting perfects easier.) 

 

Live Show Background Brightness: Dark (This makes everything but the notes and timing windows darker. As one would expect, the notes can be read more easily this way.)

 

Rhythm Icon Button Display: Off (This may seem useful at first, but I’ve found that it only makes it harder to comprehend what’s going on, especially on hyper.)

 

Step 3: Starting Out / How to Improve

 

     First, start by playing songs on standard and get a feel for the game (assuming that hasn’t been done already). The most important thing to practice here is focusing on the center of the screen, towards the top a bit (where the notes come from). Try to time the notes to the music, not by lining up the notes with the timing window. This is a very basic concept that applies to just about every rhythm game in existence. However, thanks to the awful UI in this game, doing so is far more necessary than usual. Trying to follow all the notes to their respective timing windows, all while said notes are going in different directions towards different parts of the screen isn’t possible. Getting used to this is integral to being able to play songs on hyper. 

 

Before continuing, here’s a suggestion (highly recommended, but optional): Buy one or two song packs. Getting better at the game and trying to get the trophies will get dull rather quickly otherwise, since there are only eight songs. [Despite how it may sound, I wasn’t paid by Square Enix to include this part.]  

 

     Next, try switching to hyper and pick songs with the lowest rating (six). As mentioned in step two, I recommend changing the rhythm icon speed to “A Bit Slow” when first playing hyper. From the default songs, try “Daydream Warrior” and “Donna Tokimo Zutto” first. “It’s our miraculous time” and “Mirai no Bokura wa Shitteru yo” are also rated a six, but I’d say they’re a bit more difficult than the previous two songs I mentioned. The other four songs are all sevens, and hyper only ranges from 6 - 8. I should note that because of the restrictive rating system, the ratings aren’t always accurate. 

 

     That’s about all the advice I can offer. Past this, all I can say is to practice, and keep trying. Know that it isn’t as hard as it seems, which is why I referred to the learning curve as “weird”. At first getting a full combo on hyper seemed impossible, but in just a few days time, hyper became comprehensible. To illustrate this, here is a timeline of my experience after returning to this game last week:

Spoiler

 

Day 1 - I came back to the game hoping the UI would be fixed / adjustable since release (nothing changed). Annoyed, I started testing different ways to make the damn game playable. Eventually I settled on the setup I’m currently using, and mostly stuck to playing songs on standard.

 

Day 2 - I played a little bit more on hyper, bought some song packs, and came up with the idea to write this guide.

 

Day 3 - I started playing hyper almost exclusively, and really felt like I was getting the hang of it. At this point I realized that it’s better to leave “rhythm icon button display” off (then I bought more song packs).

 

Day 4 - I bought more song packs (don’t ask how much money I’ve spent), played a lot of songs on hyper, and got the two full combo trophies without much trouble. 

 

Good luck, and if all else fails, you can always try calling upon the power of Lucifer or something. 

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by Cave Johnson
Forgot to explain one of the options

[AihaLoveleaf]

I appreciate the guide! Replicating an optimal setup won't be an issue, and I'll make sure to follow the advice here if I ever get started.

 

I've had my eye on this game since release, and it's been on my list for quite a while, but I just can't get over how terrible a value the whole thing is financially--absurd amounts of money for packs of 5-6 songs each that have not once seen a discount, nor any sign of a complete bundle. I know the justification is that it's "cheaper than the arcade version", but it still doesn't sit right with me. I can only hope this game will be made financially "playable" sometime in the future so I can finally go for those trophies.

[Cave Johnson]

5 hours ago, AihaLoveleaf said:

I appreciate the guide! Replicating an optimal setup won't be an issue, and I'll make sure to follow the advice here if I ever get started.

 

I've had my eye on this game since release, and it's been on my list for quite a while, but I just can't get over how terrible a value the whole thing is financially--absurd amounts of money for packs of 5-6 songs each that have not once seen a discount, nor any sign of a complete bundle. I know the justification is that it's "cheaper than the arcade version", but it still doesn't sit right with me. I can only hope this game will be made financially "playable" sometime in the future so I can finally go for those trophies.

 

I recommended buying one or two song packs in the guide, but I can completely understand why people wouldn't want to support this. No other rhythm game I know of has prices this ridiculous. I'm sure that the justification used by the developers would be, as you said, that it's cheaper than the arcade version. Looking at the cost of Project Diva: Future Tone, though, anyone could easily see what a horrible excuse that is. Anyway, sometime next month will be the one year anniversary for this game, so there's always a chance (albeit miniscule) that there will be a sale. I certainly wouldn't count on it, but you never know. 

[serpent_guy]

The grinding part of this game is no joke. I've been nearly 100 hours & still haven't completed neither any of the group regular skill cards. The problem is you can still get duplicated card & the worst part is, even if the card's level already max'ed, you can still earn that card later on. So playing it for 100 hours or 1000 hours won't raise the chance to get specific cards you're looking for.

Edited February 25, 2022 by serpent_guy

[Cave Johnson]

10 hours ago, serpent_guy said:

The grinding part of this game is no joke. I've been nearly 100 hours & still haven't completed neither any of the group regular skill cards. The problem is you can still get duplicated card & the worst part is, even if the card's level already max'ed, you can still earn that card later on. So playing it for 100 hours or 1000 hours won't raise the chance to get specific cards you're looking for.

 

There's no way around the grind, unfortunately. I've still got a long way to go myself; I don't have the trophy for playing songs 999 times yet. At least μ's have a skill card that increases the number of card drops. I've never seen any more than two drop at once, though.