Broccoli and Klab have announced that their boy band Otome, Utano☆Princesama Shining Live is available right now. The game combines J-Pop culture with the visual novel flair of having 11 boy band members to get attached to.
Utano Princesama Shining Live is currently available on the iTunes App Store for iOS devices and on the Google Play Store for Android devices. The game mixes together the romantic elements of visual novels with the musical elements of music-rhythm games.
The visual novel sports original stories themed around the 11 boy band members and their ups and downs in the lifestyle of being a popular singing group in Japan. A launch trailer rolls through some of the features of Utano☆Princesama Shining Live and a few of the members of the J-Pop group you’ll interact with.
Gameplay wise, the music-rhythm sections play out by hitting the corresponding notes with the half-wheel chords located at the lower half of the screen. Much like Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, Rock Band or other music-rhythm games, you’ll have to synch up your button combos to match what’s being displayed on screen until you reach the end of the song.
As you play through the VN, there are also some new character profile CGs that you can collect, featuring each of the boy band members in their signature poses. Unfortunately, if you were hoping for the kind of gravure mode featured in some other visual novels or games like Dead or Alive Xtreme 3, you’re fresh out luck here, friend. However, the AR mode does allow you to mix and match certain settings with different profile pictures, so it’s not all bad.
You’ll also be able to interact with and build your relationship with the idols in between their concerts, helping them raise their abilities by practicing their lessons, improving their idol status and snapping photos. It’s like the ultimate Justin Bieber simulator, except before he embraced his thuggery, and there’s like 10 different iterations of him.
The original voice cast from the previous Starfish and Quartet Night games and anime are also returning, including Showtaro Morikubo, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Shouta Aoi, Tomoaki Maeno, Takuma Terashima, Kenichi Suzumura, Kisho Taniyama, Kisho Taniyama, Mamorou Miyano, Junichi Suwabe, Hiro Shimono, and Kohsuke Toriumi.
Utano☆Princesama Shining Live is available worldwide in over 136 countries, save for Japan and mainland China. However, the game still offers support for traditional Mandarin, so if you manage to get your hands on the game in China (even when you’re not supposed to) you can still play through the visual novel as if you were walking free and talking loud in burgerland.
You can grab copy of Utano☆Princesama Shining Live right now from the iTunes App Store or the Google Play Store right now.
