GOAT
This review contains spoilers
Blue Reflection TIE/Second Light makes me really happy that I play JRPGs. It's captured why I love and play video games, and all the anxieties and joys that come with it, and it also looks and feels amazing to play in the meanwhile.
The visual coherence of this game cannot be overstated. The Kokorotope dungeon designs, the cutscene directing, the character models and their expressions, even the lighting effects all contribute to the world, the 世界観 that the game wants to establish. The devs at GUST really poured their hearts into making this game look memorable.
It doesn't just look good for its own sake though. The aforementioned Kokorotopes are the characters' hearts manifesting as dungeons. They're great characterization set pieces, but the game does so much more than just that to give nuance to its cast. The characters all get ample screen time with the main character Ao that they all get to express many facets of themselves. it also helps that Ao is a really well-written empathetic character who brings out the best of the rest of the cast. The character writing is top-notch, it is respectful to its characters' nuances, issues and relationships without feeling condescending or simplistic.
The soundtrack is admittedly a little less catchy than the first game's. I have not played BR1, but its soundtrack has drawn me in ever since I first heard it. Even then, I consider this game's soundtrack to be impressive anyway. W-P.NEURONS is less catchy than OVERDOSE, but it's easier to listen to and works perfectly as a regular battle theme. The Kokorotope themes are all memorable as well. What I like the most about the soundtrack though is how it makes the main leitmotif for the franchise feel meaningful to you the player by the time you get to the ending credits.
BR Tie is also an especially rewarding game if you go into it after playing Gust and Tsuchiya Akira's earlier games, Ciel Nosurge and Ar Nosurge. There are ideas and themes and narrative quirks from those earlier games that can be recognized in this game that's made me smile throughout my playthrough. More impressively though, the (Normal) end of this game frames its outlook on video games in a slightly different way than Ar Nosurge's that I cannot help but be impressed. I cannot decide if I like Ar Nosurge or BR Tie more. I think that is the highest praise I can possibly give to this game.
The visual coherence of this game cannot be overstated. The Kokorotope dungeon designs, the cutscene directing, the character models and their expressions, even the lighting effects all contribute to the world, the 世界観 that the game wants to establish. The devs at GUST really poured their hearts into making this game look memorable.
It doesn't just look good for its own sake though. The aforementioned Kokorotopes are the characters' hearts manifesting as dungeons. They're great characterization set pieces, but the game does so much more than just that to give nuance to its cast. The characters all get ample screen time with the main character Ao that they all get to express many facets of themselves. it also helps that Ao is a really well-written empathetic character who brings out the best of the rest of the cast. The character writing is top-notch, it is respectful to its characters' nuances, issues and relationships without feeling condescending or simplistic.
The soundtrack is admittedly a little less catchy than the first game's. I have not played BR1, but its soundtrack has drawn me in ever since I first heard it. Even then, I consider this game's soundtrack to be impressive anyway. W-P.NEURONS is less catchy than OVERDOSE, but it's easier to listen to and works perfectly as a regular battle theme. The Kokorotope themes are all memorable as well. What I like the most about the soundtrack though is how it makes the main leitmotif for the franchise feel meaningful to you the player by the time you get to the ending credits.
BR Tie is also an especially rewarding game if you go into it after playing Gust and Tsuchiya Akira's earlier games, Ciel Nosurge and Ar Nosurge. There are ideas and themes and narrative quirks from those earlier games that can be recognized in this game that's made me smile throughout my playthrough. More impressively though, the (Normal) end of this game frames its outlook on video games in a slightly different way than Ar Nosurge's that I cannot help but be impressed. I cannot decide if I like Ar Nosurge or BR Tie more. I think that is the highest praise I can possibly give to this game.
What makes a person who they are is an endless ocean of choices, decisions, and mistakes. It’s nearly impossible to sum up the human experience succinctly, no matter how you go about it, but the past always returns as a unifying factor. Going through life, with every fleeting moment influencing, or influenced by, an infinite amount of moments, what gives someone that unique spark among the almost eight-billion could be condensed to the minutiae of human life, the trials and tribulations of living on Earth. Each trauma, each miracle, every fear and passion, coalescing into an approximation of humanity, the individual soul.
Blue Reflection: Second Light initially seems wrapped up in this hypothesis, with memories and recollections of the past at the forefront of determining who we are. Waltzing across each character’s reified backstory, a physical representation of themselves, the keypoint in coming to terms with oneself is found in accepting what came before. Throughout the story, however, there’s this constant rhetorical question being asked, an implication that shines doubt what you are approaching as a goal. As you weave between the collective backgrounds of the game’s cast, the detours through the various Heartscapes becomes secondary until… something happens. Somewhere between spending precious hours beside these characters and learning their experiences one by one, Blue Reflection… opens up. The narrative isn’t about "the before", the uncountable and infinite universe of outcomes that fused into what becomes an individual. The "past" isn’t “you”, so much as it’s context for “you”. What makes someone who they are after that, in the moment, is just as much the bonds they share, the loves that flourish, the passions ignited and fears embraced, as it is an arbitrary “past”.
…It’s sort of inescapable that this game is focused on the meaning of “moving on”. The summer vacation framing, the constant allusion to people not wanting things to end, the oppressing fear of what comes next and the change it brings… The future as we know it is beyond the horizon, endlessly far off but within reach, all the same. What happens to the friendships we made, the stories we’ve told and moments we’ve shared, five years from now? Ten? Fifty? Facing the crossroads at the end of an era, what will you take away, and what will you leave behind? Even looking at Backloggd itself, it eventually vanishing is a sure-fire possibility. Not now, maybe not in the near future, but… what do you do with that? For most, this site, the one-liner reviews, the heartfelt tangents, the caustic arguments, will all vanish without a trace, while others will hold the memories earned here close, all gained by sharing a passion with, to be blunt, total strangers.
Inevitably, this will end, and we’ll all move to new corners, a sort of “moving on” itself. But is that necessarily a bad thing? If the site died tomorrow and the community surrounding it shriveled up, would that change the love and hate that went into the words etched into it? Just as the past gave context to who we are now, does this community become another page of backstory, a background to appreciate as we move onto the next thing?
…These are some thoroughly navel-gazey thoughts brought out by what could be surmised as a “cute-girls-doing-cute-things” game, and I won’t pretend I haven’t gone off on similar tangents for an endless slew of slice-of-life anime. But over the entirety of Second Light, with every new character thrown into the party, I saw a familiar face, a person I recognized personally. Chalk it up to great writing, or chalk it up to me seeing what I want to see. I’ve seen these stories, not in a “trite anime trope” way, but in a “I know someone like this” sense, and even on a niche video game logging site I’ve seen the people who are deftly portrayed in Blue Reflection. I won’t go as far as to say this is an essential introspective reflection on community or something pompous like that. I’d imagine for most crowds, this will come off as a very well done character-focused slow burn, and that itself is by no-means a negative reading. But I suppose I can only say this, the story, what it meant in the grand scheme of things, hit me at the right time.
Blue Reflection: Second Light initially seems wrapped up in this hypothesis, with memories and recollections of the past at the forefront of determining who we are. Waltzing across each character’s reified backstory, a physical representation of themselves, the keypoint in coming to terms with oneself is found in accepting what came before. Throughout the story, however, there’s this constant rhetorical question being asked, an implication that shines doubt what you are approaching as a goal. As you weave between the collective backgrounds of the game’s cast, the detours through the various Heartscapes becomes secondary until… something happens. Somewhere between spending precious hours beside these characters and learning their experiences one by one, Blue Reflection… opens up. The narrative isn’t about "the before", the uncountable and infinite universe of outcomes that fused into what becomes an individual. The "past" isn’t “you”, so much as it’s context for “you”. What makes someone who they are after that, in the moment, is just as much the bonds they share, the loves that flourish, the passions ignited and fears embraced, as it is an arbitrary “past”.
…It’s sort of inescapable that this game is focused on the meaning of “moving on”. The summer vacation framing, the constant allusion to people not wanting things to end, the oppressing fear of what comes next and the change it brings… The future as we know it is beyond the horizon, endlessly far off but within reach, all the same. What happens to the friendships we made, the stories we’ve told and moments we’ve shared, five years from now? Ten? Fifty? Facing the crossroads at the end of an era, what will you take away, and what will you leave behind? Even looking at Backloggd itself, it eventually vanishing is a sure-fire possibility. Not now, maybe not in the near future, but… what do you do with that? For most, this site, the one-liner reviews, the heartfelt tangents, the caustic arguments, will all vanish without a trace, while others will hold the memories earned here close, all gained by sharing a passion with, to be blunt, total strangers.
Inevitably, this will end, and we’ll all move to new corners, a sort of “moving on” itself. But is that necessarily a bad thing? If the site died tomorrow and the community surrounding it shriveled up, would that change the love and hate that went into the words etched into it? Just as the past gave context to who we are now, does this community become another page of backstory, a background to appreciate as we move onto the next thing?
…These are some thoroughly navel-gazey thoughts brought out by what could be surmised as a “cute-girls-doing-cute-things” game, and I won’t pretend I haven’t gone off on similar tangents for an endless slew of slice-of-life anime. But over the entirety of Second Light, with every new character thrown into the party, I saw a familiar face, a person I recognized personally. Chalk it up to great writing, or chalk it up to me seeing what I want to see. I’ve seen these stories, not in a “trite anime trope” way, but in a “I know someone like this” sense, and even on a niche video game logging site I’ve seen the people who are deftly portrayed in Blue Reflection. I won’t go as far as to say this is an essential introspective reflection on community or something pompous like that. I’d imagine for most crowds, this will come off as a very well done character-focused slow burn, and that itself is by no-means a negative reading. But I suppose I can only say this, the story, what it meant in the grand scheme of things, hit me at the right time.
A triumph of what video games are capable of with regards to forming connections with virtual characters. The game puts you into the mindspace of the main character Ao effortlessly, with excellent writing and enough player agency to offset feeling disconnected from her. All of the relationships are so thoughtful and given so much care, no character is a weakpoint, they are all given appropriate time and attention.
The game's structure fully facilitates this kind of storytelling, with a plethora of side content in the "dates", where there is over 100 unique events, all giving either genuinely funny comedy or extremely heartfelt bonding. A lot of the nuanced writing is seen here, too. It's inspiring seeing Ao navigate these relationships with so much sincerity; she wants to empathize with them and is extremely self aware. I am jealous of her ability to be so effortlessly intimate with other people.
The overall plot and the main themes of the game are definitely nothing you haven't seen before, but it's told with so much earnestness that I never felt it was hackneyed or trite. Though it has an amazing canon lesbian relationship, which is certainly unique and it's probably my favorite part of the game.
I should also mention that the music in this game is incredible. Unlike BR 1, the music perfectly fits into the game and is used really well. Sadly it has no massive songs like Sayonara but it more than makes up for it with beautiful ambient and exciting dnb battle tracks. I loved how all the kokorotope music reflects it, like the bittersweet tones of Rena's kokorotope theme.
My favorite game of 2021. 2 days late but I will say it counts. (also i couldn't find a place to put my thoughts on the combat systems but basically they're good but the game's balancing is too easy on normal, i am sure the NG+ difficulties bring out how fun the combat system can be though).
The game's structure fully facilitates this kind of storytelling, with a plethora of side content in the "dates", where there is over 100 unique events, all giving either genuinely funny comedy or extremely heartfelt bonding. A lot of the nuanced writing is seen here, too. It's inspiring seeing Ao navigate these relationships with so much sincerity; she wants to empathize with them and is extremely self aware. I am jealous of her ability to be so effortlessly intimate with other people.
The overall plot and the main themes of the game are definitely nothing you haven't seen before, but it's told with so much earnestness that I never felt it was hackneyed or trite. Though it has an amazing canon lesbian relationship, which is certainly unique and it's probably my favorite part of the game.
I should also mention that the music in this game is incredible. Unlike BR 1, the music perfectly fits into the game and is used really well. Sadly it has no massive songs like Sayonara but it more than makes up for it with beautiful ambient and exciting dnb battle tracks. I loved how all the kokorotope music reflects it, like the bittersweet tones of Rena's kokorotope theme.
My favorite game of 2021. 2 days late but I will say it counts. (also i couldn't find a place to put my thoughts on the combat systems but basically they're good but the game's balancing is too easy on normal, i am sure the NG+ difficulties bring out how fun the combat system can be though).
"This is really the end. The summer vacation was over before I knew it."
This game was... certainly something. It started just as 'oh, this looks cool' to '...this was a blast'. Blue Reflection: Second Light is a story about a summer vacation which, well, has to end sometime.
The game is good. Really good. I started, also, with some fear of the fanservice that people talked about, but besides the DLC content and some... butt shots, it wasn't that big of a deal.
This game is surprisingly beautiful with its graphics. The atmosphere, the soundtrack... everything is tied up with such a intimate storytelling for each one of the girls that you met. The battle system is really, really fun and somehow strategic on how you use your actions: and how the enemies can screw up your Ether management.
If you are suspicious because of the 'cute girls fighting evil', really, there's SO MORE behind that. The first seven chapters (of eleven!) consists on character introductions and, at the beginning, I was really afraid that the story was going just to be around Ao (she's a good character too!), but every girl has its moments and deserved screentimes. There's a trope for each one of them that you probably will like: the 'loving sister', the 'hype machine', the 'calm collected one' and many more: it's really easy to like one of them, but it's really more easier like every single one of them. The girls have their own insecurities, fears and hopes and, even if your favorite doesn't have that many screentime, don't worry, she can be developed with the Date system and, if she's on the battle team, furthermore with the Talent system.
Happily, this game doesn't use, at any moment, a queerbait approach to a school full of girls, which was also one of my main fears. Their interactions are just something pure-ish, things girls of their ages would say to one another. You, as player, cannot have any romance options, but two characters will enter in a relationship (which is NOT in a friendly way, in a romantic way), but no spoilers! See for yourself!
If you feel that the game is slow, well, it really is. DON'T RUSH IT or you'll get super exhausted of its mechanics and the sidequests. Play at a chill pace and enjoy at it fullest: it's a summer vacation, and will end sometime.
If you get lost at any point of the game, use this site: https://barrelwisdom.com/second-light/faq (NOT MINE!) to get some advice from the FAQ or the Items list, it'll be useful sometime.
This game was... certainly something. It started just as 'oh, this looks cool' to '...this was a blast'. Blue Reflection: Second Light is a story about a summer vacation which, well, has to end sometime.
The game is good. Really good. I started, also, with some fear of the fanservice that people talked about, but besides the DLC content and some... butt shots, it wasn't that big of a deal.
This game is surprisingly beautiful with its graphics. The atmosphere, the soundtrack... everything is tied up with such a intimate storytelling for each one of the girls that you met. The battle system is really, really fun and somehow strategic on how you use your actions: and how the enemies can screw up your Ether management.
If you are suspicious because of the 'cute girls fighting evil', really, there's SO MORE behind that. The first seven chapters (of eleven!) consists on character introductions and, at the beginning, I was really afraid that the story was going just to be around Ao (she's a good character too!), but every girl has its moments and deserved screentimes. There's a trope for each one of them that you probably will like: the 'loving sister', the 'hype machine', the 'calm collected one' and many more: it's really easy to like one of them, but it's really more easier like every single one of them. The girls have their own insecurities, fears and hopes and, even if your favorite doesn't have that many screentime, don't worry, she can be developed with the Date system and, if she's on the battle team, furthermore with the Talent system.
Happily, this game doesn't use, at any moment, a queerbait approach to a school full of girls, which was also one of my main fears. Their interactions are just something pure-ish, things girls of their ages would say to one another. You, as player, cannot have any romance options, but two characters will enter in a relationship (which is NOT in a friendly way, in a romantic way), but no spoilers! See for yourself!
If you feel that the game is slow, well, it really is. DON'T RUSH IT or you'll get super exhausted of its mechanics and the sidequests. Play at a chill pace and enjoy at it fullest: it's a summer vacation, and will end sometime.
If you get lost at any point of the game, use this site: https://barrelwisdom.com/second-light/faq (NOT MINE!) to get some advice from the FAQ or the Items list, it'll be useful sometime.
Made a leap of faith and it ended up just what I was looking for! Made me love jRPGs again! Also made me explore the Atelier series, which I now appreciate. My gateway into Gust games. The game isn't perfect (the stealth missions in particular can really just go away!), but I rated it high based on personal biases.
Note that since this my first Gust game, I've never played the first Blue Reflection. Many people consider this an improvement over the original many aspects. I didn't feel I missed out on much by not playing the original or watching the anime, but I can see how those who have might get a bit more out of the characters.
Note that since this my first Gust game, I've never played the first Blue Reflection. Many people consider this an improvement over the original many aspects. I didn't feel I missed out on much by not playing the original or watching the anime, but I can see how those who have might get a bit more out of the characters.
Gust REALLY didn't have to go that hard but holy fuck am i glad they did apart from 2 super cringe sidequests that was all super good
loved a lot of it. this game is built on interacting with the side content and if that's not your thing, you're gonna find yourself struggling to progress after a certain point. but at the same time, there's a LOT of side content to get through and if you're someone like me who likes to do all the side content they can uncover, you might experience some burnout. this was my favorite part of the game but also my biggest pet peeve. the side content is written well and shows off characters in many different lights, but there didn't need to be that much side content.
but yea besides that, wonderful game.
but yea besides that, wonderful game.
This review contains spoilers
Gust's most polished game of all time. Quite possibly the best soundtrack of the HD era of gaming. Genuine humor and pathos with an endearing cast. An explicit lesbian couple whose love is celebrated by the narrative.
I don't think BR Tie is perfect but or even necessarily that novel (outside of Yuuki and Rena's relationship, which is wonderful to see in a JRPG), but I'm giving it a score this high anyway because of what it represents to me. It makes me feel rewarded for supporting Gust for the past 16 years (a little more than half my life), ever since Atelier Iris was localized. I'm really glad they put so much love and care into this. Highly recommended for fans of Tsuchiya's games as well; he was the development producer and came up with the story, so it shares many thematic elements and storytelling devices with the EXA_PICO series.
Strong recommendation to watch the Blue Reflection Ray before playing. Weaker recommendation to play Ar Nosurge beforehand (it's probably the most similar game Gust has made, though maybe not in ways you're expecting). The first BR game is pretty skippable honestly.
I don't think BR Tie is perfect but or even necessarily that novel (outside of Yuuki and Rena's relationship, which is wonderful to see in a JRPG), but I'm giving it a score this high anyway because of what it represents to me. It makes me feel rewarded for supporting Gust for the past 16 years (a little more than half my life), ever since Atelier Iris was localized. I'm really glad they put so much love and care into this. Highly recommended for fans of Tsuchiya's games as well; he was the development producer and came up with the story, so it shares many thematic elements and storytelling devices with the EXA_PICO series.
Strong recommendation to watch the Blue Reflection Ray before playing. Weaker recommendation to play Ar Nosurge beforehand (it's probably the most similar game Gust has made, though maybe not in ways you're expecting). The first BR game is pretty skippable honestly.
Played the demo on Switch and I mostly liked it. I wish there was more gameplay (there was tons of cutscenes but some cutscenes showing our character going out somewhere could have been a gameplay moment) and more exploration but I understand that it's a very linear game with a focus on story. The combat felt great and the characters felt real too. I plan to buy and play the full game when I get the chance.
This review contains spoilers
After dropping the first game in the first few hours and dropping the anime about 2/3rds of the way through, I didn't expect to be so endeared to second light. This game has more heart in it than just about anything else I've ever played. It perfectly captures the spirit of a summer vacation you never want to end with its carefree days spent interacting with an extremely likable cast of cute characters as well as the inevitable bittersweet ending.
I typically keep a straight face when I'm playing a game no matter how fun it is, but the surprisingly stellar writing in second light left me with a dumb grin after nearly every date and daily life scene. I've always believed that a JRPG lives or dies by its characters and their interactions and second light passes this evaluation with flying colors. The characters' dialogue feels sincere and the way they handle their insecurities and aspirations are surprisingly natural while still keeping the exaggerated energy and cuteness of a CGDCT character. I could really empathize with Ao and her complex over her own ordinary traits, contrasted with her charismatic and gentle interactions, made her a very compelling and likable main character. What really solidified my glowing impression of the writing was one of the one-on-one interactions between Ao and Hiori in which Hiori lamented her straightforward personality and constant taking of people at face value, followed by Ao praising her and telling her that a lot of people act the way they want to be seen so Hiori's shallow perception was actually helpful to them. I found it surprisingly insightful and while it further endeared me to Ao, it also emphasized the down-to-earth style of writing that I can only imagine comes from a lot of life experience. I also enjoy yuri so getting to build Ao's harem was a great joy, especially since I never get to see yuri content in which my favorite ordinary main-character-type girls hook up so going on dates with Hiori and Hinako was a rare pleasure.
Of course the other characters were great too. I loved seeing Rena and Yuki develop an actual straight-up romantic relationship when this kind of content usually just sticks to hinting at yuri and Yuki's somber background really tugged at the heartstrings. Shiho and Kirara were adorable and had some particularly enjoyable date scenes when you hit on them with Ao. Hiori and Mio have plenty of cute interactions while still retaining their surprisingly heavy backstory from the anime and the uncertainty surrounding Uta made for a very interesting development. While I didn't have much experience with the first game, it was cool having Hinako in the party and her more serious personality contrasted well with Ao's. The only character I found kind of weak was Kokoro and her food obsession but I still enjoyed a lot of her scenes and didn't dislike her at all.
While the animations can be kind of stiff and the graphics generally aren't very impressive, the imagery of the areas and cutscenes in second light is great and make it enjoyable to traverse the otherwise simple dungeons. The enemy designs are cool but there's a tad too many recolors even for bosses. Also the girls are cute! CUTE!!! The music is also very good and excels at accentuating the more dramatic scenes and creating a very potent otherworldly atmosphere in the heartscapes when combined with the aforementioned imagery.
The gameplay ends up being a lot more fun than I expected from the initial hour or so. Building a wide variety of facilities and attractions around the school and getting to enjoy the date scenes involving them was a real blast and decking out my party with skills and fragments was pretty fun too. The combat starts to shine later on when you get your characters' ether speed up and they can shift gears faster, especially during boss fights where you get to use all the skills from gears 3 and up. I do think they should've started a bit faster by default though, it's rare to even see the reflector forms at all in the first part of the game. The stealth function doesn't really detract from the game but it doesn't help much either given how little of a bonus you get for sneak attacks. The last couple stealth missions are pretty annoying though.
I typically keep a straight face when I'm playing a game no matter how fun it is, but the surprisingly stellar writing in second light left me with a dumb grin after nearly every date and daily life scene. I've always believed that a JRPG lives or dies by its characters and their interactions and second light passes this evaluation with flying colors. The characters' dialogue feels sincere and the way they handle their insecurities and aspirations are surprisingly natural while still keeping the exaggerated energy and cuteness of a CGDCT character. I could really empathize with Ao and her complex over her own ordinary traits, contrasted with her charismatic and gentle interactions, made her a very compelling and likable main character. What really solidified my glowing impression of the writing was one of the one-on-one interactions between Ao and Hiori in which Hiori lamented her straightforward personality and constant taking of people at face value, followed by Ao praising her and telling her that a lot of people act the way they want to be seen so Hiori's shallow perception was actually helpful to them. I found it surprisingly insightful and while it further endeared me to Ao, it also emphasized the down-to-earth style of writing that I can only imagine comes from a lot of life experience. I also enjoy yuri so getting to build Ao's harem was a great joy, especially since I never get to see yuri content in which my favorite ordinary main-character-type girls hook up so going on dates with Hiori and Hinako was a rare pleasure.
Of course the other characters were great too. I loved seeing Rena and Yuki develop an actual straight-up romantic relationship when this kind of content usually just sticks to hinting at yuri and Yuki's somber background really tugged at the heartstrings. Shiho and Kirara were adorable and had some particularly enjoyable date scenes when you hit on them with Ao. Hiori and Mio have plenty of cute interactions while still retaining their surprisingly heavy backstory from the anime and the uncertainty surrounding Uta made for a very interesting development. While I didn't have much experience with the first game, it was cool having Hinako in the party and her more serious personality contrasted well with Ao's. The only character I found kind of weak was Kokoro and her food obsession but I still enjoyed a lot of her scenes and didn't dislike her at all.
While the animations can be kind of stiff and the graphics generally aren't very impressive, the imagery of the areas and cutscenes in second light is great and make it enjoyable to traverse the otherwise simple dungeons. The enemy designs are cool but there's a tad too many recolors even for bosses. Also the girls are cute! CUTE!!! The music is also very good and excels at accentuating the more dramatic scenes and creating a very potent otherworldly atmosphere in the heartscapes when combined with the aforementioned imagery.
The gameplay ends up being a lot more fun than I expected from the initial hour or so. Building a wide variety of facilities and attractions around the school and getting to enjoy the date scenes involving them was a real blast and decking out my party with skills and fragments was pretty fun too. The combat starts to shine later on when you get your characters' ether speed up and they can shift gears faster, especially during boss fights where you get to use all the skills from gears 3 and up. I do think they should've started a bit faster by default though, it's rare to even see the reflector forms at all in the first part of the game. The stealth function doesn't really detract from the game but it doesn't help much either given how little of a bonus you get for sneak attacks. The last couple stealth missions are pretty annoying though.
Damn, this game went way harder than it had any right to. Apart from a few moments where the side content structure became pretty obnoxious, this is probably pretty peak as far as modern JRPGs go
This game was a ton of fun to play both in and out of combat. Its nice to see a magical girl rpg both things i like in one game. I enjoyed the story and how the game ended. The characters and their relationships to one another especially one pair really hooked me two. I will say that if you have lots of talents unlocked and fragments used the late game can be kinda easy. The game looked really nice as well as each setting was fun to look at. Also if you looking for any canonical queer rep this game does deliver with two characters becoming a couple.
This review contains spoilers
Franchise review time, I guess, since in order to discuss Second Light one must inevitably look back at Blue Reflection in its entirety. Blue Reflection has been a game I hold a lot of affection for ever since playing it. The game felt like a repetitive, uphill battle the entire way through and I always had to search for motivation to play it over my year-long dripfeed of gameplay, yet at the same time by the end I felt I was not ready to say goodbye to its world and characters. When news arrived that the project was going to be expanded, I was ecstatic. Gust has been on a roll ever since Atelier Lulua so the prospect of them taking another crack at Blue Reflection in their current state told me they were wanting to finally do it justice. The original game is an oddity. It simultaneously feels blindingly ambitious and totally phoned in, decorated with so many neat story, character and gameplay concepts that for the most part don't ever come to fruition. The game has so much heart...and little else. The intimate scale of the protagonist's journey is something I greatly respect, that instead of adopting the fate of the world or all that usual mahou shoujo biz she's just an ex-ballerina coming to terms with her knee injury. But beyond Hinako and the surprisingly killer boss themes, the game was one with no substance beneath its style. Blue Reflection is at its best when you can immerse yourself in its airy atmosphere, since it actually offered little else beyond that.
As as they are now, however, I knew Gust would give it the chance it deserved back then. The first of the new projects - the anime series Blue Reflection Ray - is something that I'd best describe as 'deceptively fantastic', when taken wholly on its own merits. The amateur-ish presentation and somewhat generic story create a surface-level discolouration, but when you pay attention at all beyond that the music and characters border on incredible. However the way it expanded upon the Reflector lore and introduced so many new concepts made me wonder what this meant for the previous entry. The simple story of the original didn't seem like it could work anymore within Ray's setting of time loops, magical girl organisations and placing a much greater importance on Yuzu and Lime. Hinako's character journey operated on a much less dramatic scale that Ray thus had no synergy with.
Second Light is the piece that ties (see what I did there) it all together. Both the original that was seemingly incompatible with that which came after, and the apparent finality of Ray, are united in a natural way through its narrative. I am genuinely so impressed how deeply it interacted with finale of the first game and the implications the final battle carried for the world. The best characters and story components from each are pulled into the new all-star mashup of Reflectors. I think I still did prefer combat in the original and felt it odd the girls wouldn't always be in their Reflector forms, but it was still very fun. The presence of actual difficulty was a quite welcome change (at least until I realised Shiho solos this game hard). Understanding of the turn order and ATB timing had a concrete effect on the tide of battle and thus rewarded playing well. By the end I was strong enough to where I avoided most battles in the last few dungeons, but I feel that's always an element of Gust games stemming from Atelier's resource-gathering focus - you fight enemies as needed, rather than simply everything in your path. Which is an interesting approach. The crafting mechanics felt like mere obligation in the original, which Gust were forced to put in as stewards of the Atelier franchise. This time they're better integrated. The mechanics are not nearly as fluent as that of Atelier and you do seem to be permanently in deficit of supplies, but that's okay because the game isn't Atelier. I spent an absurd amount of time with the photo mode too, which took me by surprise. In nearly every way it's just Blue Reflection in a properly-realised form. Both of those which came before were highly ambitious projects stifled by a visible lack of effort, but Second Light at last had the appropriate amount of care put into it. There is finally an unapologetically good magical girl game. The original was an aesthetic experiment more than anything, while Second Light is more about being an ordinary video game. This shift does ultimately cause it to diverge from the identity of the original, since the absence of the iconic boss rush meant Hayato Asano didn't get nearly as much chance to go buck-wild with the big, bombastic multi-phase battle tracks, but it's otherwise a positive increase all around. They gave it an unexpected second chance at life, and Blue Reflection was thus allowed to show its worth as a project.
As as they are now, however, I knew Gust would give it the chance it deserved back then. The first of the new projects - the anime series Blue Reflection Ray - is something that I'd best describe as 'deceptively fantastic', when taken wholly on its own merits. The amateur-ish presentation and somewhat generic story create a surface-level discolouration, but when you pay attention at all beyond that the music and characters border on incredible. However the way it expanded upon the Reflector lore and introduced so many new concepts made me wonder what this meant for the previous entry. The simple story of the original didn't seem like it could work anymore within Ray's setting of time loops, magical girl organisations and placing a much greater importance on Yuzu and Lime. Hinako's character journey operated on a much less dramatic scale that Ray thus had no synergy with.
Second Light is the piece that ties (see what I did there) it all together. Both the original that was seemingly incompatible with that which came after, and the apparent finality of Ray, are united in a natural way through its narrative. I am genuinely so impressed how deeply it interacted with finale of the first game and the implications the final battle carried for the world. The best characters and story components from each are pulled into the new all-star mashup of Reflectors. I think I still did prefer combat in the original and felt it odd the girls wouldn't always be in their Reflector forms, but it was still very fun. The presence of actual difficulty was a quite welcome change (at least until I realised Shiho solos this game hard). Understanding of the turn order and ATB timing had a concrete effect on the tide of battle and thus rewarded playing well. By the end I was strong enough to where I avoided most battles in the last few dungeons, but I feel that's always an element of Gust games stemming from Atelier's resource-gathering focus - you fight enemies as needed, rather than simply everything in your path. Which is an interesting approach. The crafting mechanics felt like mere obligation in the original, which Gust were forced to put in as stewards of the Atelier franchise. This time they're better integrated. The mechanics are not nearly as fluent as that of Atelier and you do seem to be permanently in deficit of supplies, but that's okay because the game isn't Atelier. I spent an absurd amount of time with the photo mode too, which took me by surprise. In nearly every way it's just Blue Reflection in a properly-realised form. Both of those which came before were highly ambitious projects stifled by a visible lack of effort, but Second Light at last had the appropriate amount of care put into it. There is finally an unapologetically good magical girl game. The original was an aesthetic experiment more than anything, while Second Light is more about being an ordinary video game. This shift does ultimately cause it to diverge from the identity of the original, since the absence of the iconic boss rush meant Hayato Asano didn't get nearly as much chance to go buck-wild with the big, bombastic multi-phase battle tracks, but it's otherwise a positive increase all around. They gave it an unexpected second chance at life, and Blue Reflection was thus allowed to show its worth as a project.
Just finished it today and man oh man what a GAME. Just lovely, works super well, everything just flows SO nicely. Its been awhile since I've been compelled to do literally all side content in an RPG as it comes.
Ending was maybe a little bit "eh" so temper expectations I think, but the ride is worth it.
Ending was maybe a little bit "eh" so temper expectations I think, but the ride is worth it.
this is gust's best game since atelier shallie/the atelier dusk trilogy in general and that completely took me by surprise. the original blue reflection is what i would call a (perhaps more than) slightly perverted edm album with boss fights - hayato asano, who returns to score second light, provided an absolute rave of a backdrop to the few spectacular battles but everything else about the game had this uncomfortable sense of voyeurism barely holding together an rpg with many pointless systems and no budget to make sense of any of it. based on my experience with another of gust's sequels - nights of azure 2 - and the general trend in the kind of audiences they have been more obviously courting (stares despairingly at atelier ryza which i have not played yet due to oozing reddit aura) since about 2017 or so i had no hopes for this game and had written it off. a day before its release i had an epiphany that if i dont buy a physical copy now i would never be able to. so i did.
not only does it tone down the leery undercurrents of the original game, limiting more """fanservice""" (god i hate this term) elements to the DLC costumes that i'll happily look away from if it keeps the actual game not-cringe, it produces a kind of jrpg that simply doesnt exist anymore - one where characters have relationships with other characters who arent the protagonist! this is partially due to it having its own original cast, the cast of the 2017 game, the BR Ray anime and the BR Sun (as of yet unreleased) mobile game all present but they are all so well integrated into the narrative - a genuinely well written science fantasy mystery underpinned by the usual jrpg themes of friendship, love, self-actualisation - that it never feels like the annoying crossover episode it should feel like.
the most genuine pleasant surprise of all? a lesbian romance that is celebrated and proves central to the narrative, not fetishised even to the extent that it is in the original nights of azure - which i still commend for staying true to itself and acknowledging itself as a gay romance unlike the obnoxiously fetishising and pandering nonsense of nights of azure 2.
the battle system is fantastic, so in love with "ether per second" as a statistic that exists - extremely fun to say. but like most gust games the difficulty just isnt there to warrant engaging with the systems too much on the normal difficulty and you only unlock hard after your first playthrough. there is a bonus ending to achieve on new game plus so there is incentive there so i may return at some point. the auxiliary systems that exist - the social mechanics, the school building aspect all serve their functions but it isnt anything unseen before.
if you have ever been a fan of gust's output you will absolutely love this. its their best work in close to a decade and im glad its free from the worst elements i was saddened to see them approach on the whole. but fuck mel kishida for doing NFTs
not only does it tone down the leery undercurrents of the original game, limiting more """fanservice""" (god i hate this term) elements to the DLC costumes that i'll happily look away from if it keeps the actual game not-cringe, it produces a kind of jrpg that simply doesnt exist anymore - one where characters have relationships with other characters who arent the protagonist! this is partially due to it having its own original cast, the cast of the 2017 game, the BR Ray anime and the BR Sun (as of yet unreleased) mobile game all present but they are all so well integrated into the narrative - a genuinely well written science fantasy mystery underpinned by the usual jrpg themes of friendship, love, self-actualisation - that it never feels like the annoying crossover episode it should feel like.
the most genuine pleasant surprise of all? a lesbian romance that is celebrated and proves central to the narrative, not fetishised even to the extent that it is in the original nights of azure - which i still commend for staying true to itself and acknowledging itself as a gay romance unlike the obnoxiously fetishising and pandering nonsense of nights of azure 2.
the battle system is fantastic, so in love with "ether per second" as a statistic that exists - extremely fun to say. but like most gust games the difficulty just isnt there to warrant engaging with the systems too much on the normal difficulty and you only unlock hard after your first playthrough. there is a bonus ending to achieve on new game plus so there is incentive there so i may return at some point. the auxiliary systems that exist - the social mechanics, the school building aspect all serve their functions but it isnt anything unseen before.
if you have ever been a fan of gust's output you will absolutely love this. its their best work in close to a decade and im glad its free from the worst elements i was saddened to see them approach on the whole. but fuck mel kishida for doing NFTs
This game was absolutely amazing, I don't think I had a single problem with it
I'd go as far as to say this is Gust's best game yet (probably even of of the best JRPGs ever) and I'm VERY excited to see where the series goes after this and Sun (this last part did NOT age well huh!!)
I'd go as far as to say this is Gust's best game yet (probably even of of the best JRPGs ever) and I'm VERY excited to see where the series goes after this and Sun (this last part did NOT age well huh!!)
Full video review: https://youtu.be/o7cz8Asam4g
Despite being a sequel to 2017's Blue Reflection, Second Light hardly feels like the same game - but not in a bad way.
Do I need to play the first game?
The short answer is “no, but it’s still recommended if you want the full experience”. Second Light features an entirely new main cast of characters and the story is mostly told without being too reliant on the first. I say mostly because the cast from the first do eventually make their way into this story, but it’s done in a manner that you would be able to understand even without being familiar with them.
This extends to the anime adaptation as well: Blue Reflection Ray. I myself did not actually finish that anime yet I had no trouble getting to know the characters from it in the game – so again, you can just start from Second Light and be completely fine.
Combat
Despite how simple the combat in the first game was, I kinda liked it. It was effective and perfectly matched the game’s laidback, slice of life feel. Second Light, on the other hand, completely throws that combat system out the window for an active-time battle system – similar to what we got in the recent Atelier Ryza games.
Battles are far faster as a result and with the changes to the ether system, they only get faster the longer you’re in a battle. The MP system is removed entirely and now attacks, skills, and items all consume ether, which is regenerated at different rates per character depending on their stats. That said, I am a bit torn on this system. It is a completely different feel from the previous game and, while cool in theory, it does come with some problems.
Mainly, it’s that it takes away a lot of the variety that the first game had with regards to its skills. Whereas in the first game, I was constantly scrolling through my different attacks and figuring out which best to use in a given fight – this game it is 95% of the time just going to be one of my basic attacks. I would enter a fight, spam A throughout the entire thing, and call it a day.
Difficulty
Hard difficulty is not unlocked until you fully clear the game once, so you have to do your first playthrough on normal and I found it to be a bit too easy. Even after I intentionally kept myself underleveled by avoiding a lot of the enemies on the map, I still had no trouble clearing each and every encounter I ran into.
Around halfway into the game, I stopped caring to even figure out the best party composition, which skills to unlock, and even what moves I was using – it hardly mattered with how easy it is and with how the ether mechanic is designed. Just keep spamming those basic attacks and you’ll build up your combo quickly, which in turn allows you to do more damage with your next basic attack and so on.
Finishing up the game, I couldn’t escape this feeling that the battle system was just underutilized. It has all these cool mechanics, but the low difficulty and emphasis on building up combo quickly leave it feeling a bit repetitive.
Level Design
In the first game, the level design was some hot garbage – mostly small groups of pathways and platforms. In Second Light, they went all out. Now there are multiple areas per biome, movement options outside of just… walking, and some actual exploration elements, even if on the lighter side. The new areas are also far more dense, with more detail put into individual buildings and the overall geography being much more varied.
Side Quests
Having to do fetch quest after fetch quest just to get to the next chapter in the first game was some incredibly boring stuff, so I was very happy to see that done away with entirely in Second Light. Now, side quests are just that – optional side quests. That said, they’re also more varied. Aside from the usual “craft this for me” or “kill this enemy for me”, a lot of them now have you build unique school development stuff – stuff that you actually can use outside of that individual side quest.
There are even some side quests that straight up expand on individual characters by having you explore different areas with them to unlock their memories. You sometimes have to do some boring stealth missions, but it’s at least much better off than the filler that the first game had.
Story
It still has the same overall school-magical girl theme told across different character arcs, but there is FAR more focus placed on a larger, more connected story instead of just rushing things right at the end like the last game. Character arcs are almost immediately tied into this bigger story and the game does a great job balancing out character development with this larger mystery.
The game as a whole takes a darker tone than the original and the pacing starts off slow, but ramps up around the halfway point once you start realizing the truth behind this world. It doesn’t go completely overboard either – in fact, it might actually be a bit too slow. Perhaps this is just because the game is longer (this one took me just over 30 hours whereas the first took just 20), but I felt like they could have shaved off a bit towards the end to make it flow better.
Still an interesting story for sure (and definitely better than the first game), but not quite at the level that I would call it anything more than just “good”.
Aesthetic
I am a huge fan of the urban fantasy magical girl aesthetic and Second Light only expands on the first game in this regard with the improved world detail and upgraded visuals that bring it more in line with the recent Atelier games. It’s definitely not a shining example as far as actual graphical quality, but the setting, character designs, and overall theme are solid. The music on the other hand, while still good, I did not find to be quite as good as the first game.
PC Port
The first game somehow used 100% of my RTX 3080 Ti even with the fps capped to my monitor’s refresh rate, but this one ran just fine at 155 fps without turning my computer into a jet engine. There are far more graphical options to change this time too, so there is ample room to finetune settings if you need to.
One recommendation I will make – do disable the game’s depth of field setting, it is WAY more aggressive than it needs to be. Otherwise, the only other problems I had were with the game always launching in windowed (which you can solve by hitting F9) and a game crash about two hours in. I didn’t lose much progress due to the new auto save feature, but any crash is worth mentioning.
And surprisingly, the keyboard and mouse controls are actually NOT garbage this time around. There’s actual mouse support in the menus, on the field, and it doesn’t feel like it’s just emulating a controller. I still used a controller myself, but it’s one of the few Koei Tecmo PC ports where the keyboard and mouse controls would be a viable alternative – I had no problems with them during my testing and they are rebindable too.
Overall
Blue Reflection: Second Light is an overall improvement over the first game in almost every regard. A more fleshed out story, a bunch of useful quality of life features, much better visuals, vastly improved level design, a decent PC port – it’s got a lot going for it. Unfortunately, the combat is a bit of a mess and the game is far too easy, making a lot of the new combat additions redundant. That, and while the story itself is interesting, it doesn’t come without its problems. Still, I had a good time with it in spite of these faults and would recommend it if you like Gust JRPGs.
Despite being a sequel to 2017's Blue Reflection, Second Light hardly feels like the same game - but not in a bad way.
Do I need to play the first game?
The short answer is “no, but it’s still recommended if you want the full experience”. Second Light features an entirely new main cast of characters and the story is mostly told without being too reliant on the first. I say mostly because the cast from the first do eventually make their way into this story, but it’s done in a manner that you would be able to understand even without being familiar with them.
This extends to the anime adaptation as well: Blue Reflection Ray. I myself did not actually finish that anime yet I had no trouble getting to know the characters from it in the game – so again, you can just start from Second Light and be completely fine.
Combat
Despite how simple the combat in the first game was, I kinda liked it. It was effective and perfectly matched the game’s laidback, slice of life feel. Second Light, on the other hand, completely throws that combat system out the window for an active-time battle system – similar to what we got in the recent Atelier Ryza games.
Battles are far faster as a result and with the changes to the ether system, they only get faster the longer you’re in a battle. The MP system is removed entirely and now attacks, skills, and items all consume ether, which is regenerated at different rates per character depending on their stats. That said, I am a bit torn on this system. It is a completely different feel from the previous game and, while cool in theory, it does come with some problems.
Mainly, it’s that it takes away a lot of the variety that the first game had with regards to its skills. Whereas in the first game, I was constantly scrolling through my different attacks and figuring out which best to use in a given fight – this game it is 95% of the time just going to be one of my basic attacks. I would enter a fight, spam A throughout the entire thing, and call it a day.
Difficulty
Hard difficulty is not unlocked until you fully clear the game once, so you have to do your first playthrough on normal and I found it to be a bit too easy. Even after I intentionally kept myself underleveled by avoiding a lot of the enemies on the map, I still had no trouble clearing each and every encounter I ran into.
Around halfway into the game, I stopped caring to even figure out the best party composition, which skills to unlock, and even what moves I was using – it hardly mattered with how easy it is and with how the ether mechanic is designed. Just keep spamming those basic attacks and you’ll build up your combo quickly, which in turn allows you to do more damage with your next basic attack and so on.
Finishing up the game, I couldn’t escape this feeling that the battle system was just underutilized. It has all these cool mechanics, but the low difficulty and emphasis on building up combo quickly leave it feeling a bit repetitive.
Level Design
In the first game, the level design was some hot garbage – mostly small groups of pathways and platforms. In Second Light, they went all out. Now there are multiple areas per biome, movement options outside of just… walking, and some actual exploration elements, even if on the lighter side. The new areas are also far more dense, with more detail put into individual buildings and the overall geography being much more varied.
Side Quests
Having to do fetch quest after fetch quest just to get to the next chapter in the first game was some incredibly boring stuff, so I was very happy to see that done away with entirely in Second Light. Now, side quests are just that – optional side quests. That said, they’re also more varied. Aside from the usual “craft this for me” or “kill this enemy for me”, a lot of them now have you build unique school development stuff – stuff that you actually can use outside of that individual side quest.
There are even some side quests that straight up expand on individual characters by having you explore different areas with them to unlock their memories. You sometimes have to do some boring stealth missions, but it’s at least much better off than the filler that the first game had.
Story
It still has the same overall school-magical girl theme told across different character arcs, but there is FAR more focus placed on a larger, more connected story instead of just rushing things right at the end like the last game. Character arcs are almost immediately tied into this bigger story and the game does a great job balancing out character development with this larger mystery.
The game as a whole takes a darker tone than the original and the pacing starts off slow, but ramps up around the halfway point once you start realizing the truth behind this world. It doesn’t go completely overboard either – in fact, it might actually be a bit too slow. Perhaps this is just because the game is longer (this one took me just over 30 hours whereas the first took just 20), but I felt like they could have shaved off a bit towards the end to make it flow better.
Still an interesting story for sure (and definitely better than the first game), but not quite at the level that I would call it anything more than just “good”.
Aesthetic
I am a huge fan of the urban fantasy magical girl aesthetic and Second Light only expands on the first game in this regard with the improved world detail and upgraded visuals that bring it more in line with the recent Atelier games. It’s definitely not a shining example as far as actual graphical quality, but the setting, character designs, and overall theme are solid. The music on the other hand, while still good, I did not find to be quite as good as the first game.
PC Port
The first game somehow used 100% of my RTX 3080 Ti even with the fps capped to my monitor’s refresh rate, but this one ran just fine at 155 fps without turning my computer into a jet engine. There are far more graphical options to change this time too, so there is ample room to finetune settings if you need to.
One recommendation I will make – do disable the game’s depth of field setting, it is WAY more aggressive than it needs to be. Otherwise, the only other problems I had were with the game always launching in windowed (which you can solve by hitting F9) and a game crash about two hours in. I didn’t lose much progress due to the new auto save feature, but any crash is worth mentioning.
And surprisingly, the keyboard and mouse controls are actually NOT garbage this time around. There’s actual mouse support in the menus, on the field, and it doesn’t feel like it’s just emulating a controller. I still used a controller myself, but it’s one of the few Koei Tecmo PC ports where the keyboard and mouse controls would be a viable alternative – I had no problems with them during my testing and they are rebindable too.
Overall
Blue Reflection: Second Light is an overall improvement over the first game in almost every regard. A more fleshed out story, a bunch of useful quality of life features, much better visuals, vastly improved level design, a decent PC port – it’s got a lot going for it. Unfortunately, the combat is a bit of a mess and the game is far too easy, making a lot of the new combat additions redundant. That, and while the story itself is interesting, it doesn’t come without its problems. Still, I had a good time with it in spite of these faults and would recommend it if you like Gust JRPGs.