APPEND! MUSECA gets a update two weeks into R1!

By Ann Nakamura

Thanks to Paul Richardson at Bemanistyle, we had gotten a tip regarding an update that was supposed to change some minor flaws (not necessarily bugs or glitches) regarding MUSECA's gameplay. This update also dramatically improves readability during gameplay. Let's take a look!

The update comes after two weeks of reporting MUSECA entering Round 1 USA's gamefloor. The update, according to Richardson, allows players to now change the lanes from the "W-shape" (default MUSECA play lane, three blue buttons on top, two yellow buttons on bottom) to a "M-shape" (inverse of the play lane, two yellow buttons on top, three blue buttons on bottom) and to a flat shape, where the buttons are all in one line. There were also changes to the UI system as well, making the interface cleaner and somewhat easier to navigate. The song selection screen has also improved in terms of loading time. However, we were unable to locate the options for lane brightness or the note colors both in-game and on the e-amusement site for MUSECA. There was one other change that we noted where "Story Mode" had been moved out of the main menu, and the player can now opt out of it. 

The one really notable change with the February 10th update.

Our field correspondents, Andy Castro and Oliver Wing had gone to Round 1 and gave MUSECA a try with the updates. I asked them if they had any change of heart about the game after getting this update from KONAMI. 

 "MUSECA is a little better now, but it should have been like this from the start." Oliver says. "More than ever it feels like we got a beta version that was missing important features like, you know, 'flatten the lanes'." Wing does note the UI change in the game, and how it has actually improved navigation. "The UI is better now that it's been decluttered a little." He also noted that, "The option screens now have better mini-images and less explanation text, and that they actually inset the 'turn this button to scroll your Grafica/songlist/frame options' diagrams in a much more visible way." 

Andy looked at the update with an overall approach, explaining: "The game is now a lot easier, but it does not make the game conceptually better". Andy states after trying out a couple of games with the new update that, "It still has a lot of hurdles that it needs to fix, but this update has proven that what they [KONAMI] are doing is listening to our input and willing to adapt. They're open to suggestions and it's a very good step in the right direction."

Despite Castro's words about the game not being better overall right now, he is very positive that the game will start to improve as time goes on. He explains how Sound Voltex Booth (herein SDVX), another music game by KONAMI, had similar issues that MUSECA is currently having with its first installment. Andy reiterates that the current iteration of SDVX has improved tremendously since the very first release, and is now a very popular, user friendly game. While MUSECA is still in its early stages of release, it may take some time (months or even years) before a general consensus can be made about the game.