The Idolmaster: Dearly Stars is a Japanese life simulation video game. The game is a spin-off of The Idolmaster series and its timeline coincides before the events in The Idolmaster 2. The gameplay in Dearly Stars is similar to previous games in the series, but with new elements and differences to the minigames. The gameplay was adjusted to allow the player the option to quickly play through the game's story, but head director also wanted to add in gameplay elements that would add another layer of challenge. The story is told from the perspective of three prospective pop idols introduced in Dearly Stars as they enter the talent agency 876 Production, and deals with their training on their way to stardom. The player has access to the three idols' different scenarios when playing, and each one involves a branching plot line.
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NGL I mostly played this as a curiosity than anything else because I wanted to see how the core idolmaster gameplay could translate to a DS spinoff. The PSP game, Idolmaster SP, was actually a really good conversion so I wanted to see what the DS could do for the series. What I got wasn't really an idolmaster game as much as it was an idolmaster VN. You don't really do a lot of producing in this game because instead of being the producer in this game, you see everything through the eyes of the idol you decide to play as, which makes things a lot more narrative focused instead of like micromangey like the main games. It's to the point where there's not even a time limit to the game, you can grind your stats up as much as you like for as long as you like, which also kinda defeats the purpose of stats to begin with imo. I think that the things they try to do to tie this in as an idolmaster game kinda drag down the experience and it would be better for it to have just gone full VN with minimal interaction from the player. The lives themselves are pretty cool tho, even if the low resolution and processing power of the DS makes the girls seem a bit crunchy at times. The actual story was decent (I played eri's route), in fact I'd say its the most complex story told in an imas game so far, with you uncovering the secret past behind your producer and 876 pro. That all being said, unless you REALLY like idolmaster like me, this is definitely a game you can pass. play if you like idols
Not giving it a rating since I only played for 20 minutes.
The VN part is decent. Characters are likable and pretty well-written, not any worse than modern anime idol writing.
The minigames are whatever. Very basic.
The gameplay is minigames, reading stuff, seeing your idol grow, going through cutscenes etc.
The Japanese isn't too hard. And the three main idols are fully voiced I think.
I imagine if I completed the game I'd rate it a 3.5/5 or 3/5.
Entertaining, cute, it gets you to root for the girls you're playing as. It is soulful. There are worse ways to spend your time.
The VN part is decent. Characters are likable and pretty well-written, not any worse than modern anime idol writing.
The minigames are whatever. Very basic.
The gameplay is minigames, reading stuff, seeing your idol grow, going through cutscenes etc.
The Japanese isn't too hard. And the three main idols are fully voiced I think.
I imagine if I completed the game I'd rate it a 3.5/5 or 3/5.
Entertaining, cute, it gets you to root for the girls you're playing as. It is soulful. There are worse ways to spend your time.
i'm only technically speaking on the manga that came alongside the release of this bc the game itself is largely untranslated, but this is seriously such an underrated branch of imas. it's its own distinct thing while also being a expansion of the universe allstars originally put forward with some actual substance behind it. the lack of the self-insert producer + idol/unit relationship also feels fresh here, like i am a harukaP before being a human and the other allstars are all great in their own rights too, but ds framing each idol's story not as their story for you to roleplay within, but those of their story AND the fleshed-out people in their lives too, is something i wish even the core imas games would shift towards a little more.
there's a common thread between the three 876 pro idols as responding to their specific challenges that the industry places on them that really endears me to them too. i am ride or die for both eri, the anxious hikki net idol (the portrayal here might seem sterilized and lacking in self-awareness in a post-riamu world, but that is a good thing in a way lmao) trying to break into the irl world, and ryo, a boy reluctantly marketed as a girl which sounds awful BUT, swear to god, when taken as something resembling a trans guy narrative it is actually kind of good? seeing him again in sidem makes me proud of him with the context of this game. unfortunately ai's scenario is the worst of the three, not so much her fault i dont think--her want to step out of her superstar mother's shadow is a compelling pitch in itself--but more how said mom and her manager are not that great as complementing characters. the ones supporting eri and ryo are awesome though, especially motherfucking REIKO in eri's story who is an ideal every producer should aspire to and one of the best non-idol characters the franchise ever had imo.
idolmaster has so many strange iterations of itself that can be imaginatively connected with each other, even if very obliquely, and forming that puzzle with its characters pulled from these points in time and space makes it special to me. i ascribe alot of this to allstars stuff (the "core" console games from what ive played/seen and relevant manga and anime and whatnot) but dearly stars is absolutely its own interesting part of that quilt. i do partly mean it literally is in that same world, the 765 pro girls appear as established characters whose personalities help color the 876 idols in consistently cool ways. but more importantly i also mean that none of the mobage branches, not even million live which is set in 765, feel like a serious continuation of those kinds of stories, ones of tough business and evolving relationships, like dearly stars is. i wish imas would be seen for that more often.
there's a common thread between the three 876 pro idols as responding to their specific challenges that the industry places on them that really endears me to them too. i am ride or die for both eri, the anxious hikki net idol (the portrayal here might seem sterilized and lacking in self-awareness in a post-riamu world, but that is a good thing in a way lmao) trying to break into the irl world, and ryo, a boy reluctantly marketed as a girl which sounds awful BUT, swear to god, when taken as something resembling a trans guy narrative it is actually kind of good? seeing him again in sidem makes me proud of him with the context of this game. unfortunately ai's scenario is the worst of the three, not so much her fault i dont think--her want to step out of her superstar mother's shadow is a compelling pitch in itself--but more how said mom and her manager are not that great as complementing characters. the ones supporting eri and ryo are awesome though, especially motherfucking REIKO in eri's story who is an ideal every producer should aspire to and one of the best non-idol characters the franchise ever had imo.
idolmaster has so many strange iterations of itself that can be imaginatively connected with each other, even if very obliquely, and forming that puzzle with its characters pulled from these points in time and space makes it special to me. i ascribe alot of this to allstars stuff (the "core" console games from what ive played/seen and relevant manga and anime and whatnot) but dearly stars is absolutely its own interesting part of that quilt. i do partly mean it literally is in that same world, the 765 pro girls appear as established characters whose personalities help color the 876 idols in consistently cool ways. but more importantly i also mean that none of the mobage branches, not even million live which is set in 765, feel like a serious continuation of those kinds of stories, ones of tough business and evolving relationships, like dearly stars is. i wish imas would be seen for that more often.