One moment, you’re walking to school. The next, you’re waking up in a strange world with no way out. Such is the dilemma players face when they play as Ao Hoshizaki in Koei Tecmo’s sequel to the original Blue Reflection game. Developed by Gust Co, Blue Reflection: Second Light has quickly become a fan favorite and praised successor to its predecessor.
STORY
While players need not to play the first game in order to enjoy Blue Reflection: Second Light, it is still recommended. Not playing the first game will do little to impact gameplay or overall experience, however, players might find themselves missing out on Easter eggs and the return of a few key characters from the first game.
Upon first launching the game, players will find themselves living the experience of Ao Hoshizaki. After dropping her phone, she picks it up to find a strange app on it. This app teleports her to a new, mysterious world. She meets the other main two inhabitants- Kokoro Utsubo, and Yuki Kinjou- who have lost their memories. Ao is the only girl who has retained her memories from her life before.
This alternate world the girls find themselves is one shrouded in mystery and chock full of monsters. All of the girls live in an empty academy surrounded by water and other strange lands. As the story progresses, more girls begin appearing in the academy and, with them, more lands. The girls discover the ability to unlock memories through exploring these lands, which in turn leads to Ao deciding to lead them all on a quest to recover their memories. These memories manifest in important people and events in the girls’ lives. The girls embark on a journey of fun and friendship as they set out to recover everyone’s memories and, hopefully, return to the real world.
Along the way, the girls are aided by ReSource, a mysterious bot that messages the girls using the strange smartphone app Ao discovers at the start of the game. It is through this app that all the girls communicate and send Ao requests.
Although this story may appear short and sweet to some, it becomes more complex and heartfelt the longer the game goes on. The friendships that are written are surprisingly genuine and it becomes incredibly easy to fall in love with all the characters the player encounters. This JRPG is definitely directed at a female audience, as these stories would likely resonate more with them, but it can be enjoyed by anyone.
GAMEPLAY
Although the cutesy beginning and artwork might have players believe that the gameplay would be simple, this game packs a surprising amount of punch!
The whole point of this game is to form bonds with the other girls, which is done through doing tasks for them and spending quality time with them. Although players can only control Ao, other girls may accompany them in moments called dates. These aren’t necessarily romantic; they just happen to be called that. The aforementioned requests that girls send Ao during the game serve as the way the players receive tasks to do. These tasks not only build the bonds between Ao and the other girls, but also serve as quests for the player to go on. Like most games, this game has main quests and side quests. Meaning, some requests are pivotal to progressing in the main story while others are just satisfying side journeys for the player to go on.
While players build up bonds with the other girls, they are also tasked with developing different facilities in empty areas of the academy. Each facility grants different bonuses to the player when they visit the strange lands. Some of these facilities are necessary to the story while others are not.
Players can also craft and cook in this game. Cooking allows for players to create different foods that provide bonuses to be used in combat or while dungeon crawling. Crafting, on the other hand, is essential for creating new facilities and is done with monster drops from the outside lands.
Now, finally, comes the best part of this game: The combat. These strange lands surrounding the academy, dubbed the Heartscape, are filled with dangerous enemies that the girls must fight. Each of the girls arrive in the new world equipped with a mysterious ring on their fingers. These rings become powerful weapons known as Reflectors for the girls to use in combat.
Each new land in the Heartscape is filled with different demons, materials, and memories. Players can use Stealth Mode in order to avoid enemies or gain an advantage in battle by attacking them from behind. The game features a real-time battle system rather than the typical turn-based combat most players might be used to. This means that players have to fire off attacks in real-time while parrying attacks from enemies. This allows for a greater deal of immersion into the game, as the stakes in combat are raised, almost.
During combat, teams usually consist of three party members and a support character. Characters and enemies must build up Ether during combat in order to purchase an attack. The more powerful an attack, the more Ether it costs. The Ether continuously replenishes during combat at a set rate for each character and enemy. Players fully control Ao, but can choose to either fully control party members, or leave them on auto mode. During combat, players can choose to attack, counterattack, dodge, or use a special ability.
Combat in Blue Reflection: Second Light focuses on combos. The more combos made during a fight, the more damage is done, allowing for each attack to hit harder. Enemies are able to reset the combo counter with certain attacks though, so be careful!
FINAL THOUGHTS
There is, however, a problematic note in this game. During the aforementioned dates Ao can go on with other girls, players can have Ao make flirtatious comments resulting in some inappropriate and oddly sexualized interactions. This, coupled with some unsavory shots of the girls’ lower ends definitely took me out of my immersion at times. It is really the only issue I found with the game, as the story, visuals, and even the music was amazing.
In the end, Blue Reflection: Second Light certainly surprised me. I went in expecting a simple story filled with melodrama and left moved, with a new favorite game.
RATING: 9/10
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Victoria's fascination with games dates as far back to the early days of Newgrounds, where she became enthralled with the patchwork flash games that the site boasted. From there, she continued onward, playing a multitude of different games, diversifying her taste with every new day. Whether it was talking to Alduin at Skyrim's peak, or romancing Sebastian in Stardew Valley, she has always been fixated on the mechanics of games, as well as the diversified culture that backgrounds them. Even to this day she continues trying new genres: from RPGs, to Roguelites, to even more quaint experiences found in Cozy games.
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