I initially meant to get actual inventive with my Ok-pop Idol Tales overview.
I had this concept of recreating my favorite woman group NewJeans and documenting the method, however after a couple of hours with this PS5 tycoon title I realised it didn’t actually have the flexibleness to fulfil my idea.
This isn’t essentially a criticism of the sport, however I feel it’s necessary to grasp precisely what Indonesian dev Wisageni Video games is providing.
Whereas the discharge does embrace simulation elements, I’d say this expertise extra intently represents a visible novel the place you’re making administration choices alongside the best way.
You do have flexibility over the kind of group you’re attempting to create – I went for “cute” as an idea, placing all my chips into progressive choreography and general appeal – however you’re restricted to recruiting from a pool of only a handful of wannabe idols, and also you don’t get a lot authorship over their persona.
The sport is split right into a sequence of milestones, or Evaluations, which you could put together your trainees for. On a day-to-day foundation you’ll choose totally different actions for them to do, like dancing or vocal classes, with the outcomes contributing to their general stats.
There’s an unlimited emphasis on RNG, so that you’ll by no means actually know the end result of the exercise till afterwards. Plenty of the time, you’ll discover your trainees are distracted or drained, so don’t get the complete good thing about the exercise.
After all, you additionally want to think about their general happiness and power ranges, so scheduling in leisure actions – like buying and occasional breaks – is necessary too.
However as you progress, you’ll have the ability to ship your trainees to audition for roles in motion pictures or TV reveals, typically with a ten% or decrease likelihood of success. I discovered this deterred me from even making an attempt them, as whereas I’m certain the rewards are nice should you land a task, it felt extra necessary to me to construct up my trainees’ stats or set them to work creating wealth.
I do assume the presentation is usually excellent, from the consumer interface which packs plenty of data on the display by way of to the manhwa-inspired artwork type, which is crisp and vibrant.
The sport additionally has a genuinely incredible soundtrack impressed by 2nd and third technology Ok-pop teams, and I by no means actually bored with any of the loops.
Working as a supervisor for WG Leisure – I assume a parody of real-life SM Leisure – your final objective is to get your group to debut.
For these not accustomed to Ok-pop, that is when a unit steps out of the apply room and onto the stage, normally with a fastidiously curated picture and sound.
The sport roughly ends as soon as your group debuts, however the street to releasing your first track might be fraught with every kind of points: stalkers, accidents, nervousness will all power you into making troublesome choices.
I additionally struggled with cash in the direction of the tip: I needed to spice up the celebrity of my group earlier than they debuted, however I most likely over-extended myself, and I ended up having to take out a mortgage. I feel I most likely might have managed this higher.
Along with with the ability to hang around with varied totally different characters as a way to construct relationships, you’ll additionally want to finish minigames.
Many of those are easy, like deciding on a selected drink from a merchandising machine utilizing the proper variety of cash, however I feel they add character to the title.
I personally actually loved cooking Korean BBQ with my trainees; this felt like a stable match for the supply materials, and added a enjoyable little distraction to the same old scheduling actions.
I feel what impressed me probably the most concerning the recreation, even when it is a little more inflexible with the kind of teams you’ll be able to create than I anticipated, is that you’ve plenty of authorship over sure elements.
Like, you’ll be able to create the CD cowl to your group’s first track, and even design their gentle stick utilizing a wide range of totally different elements. The sport appears to deeply perceive the entire elements of Ok-pop tradition.
And whereas I wouldn’t say it’s deeply vital or thought-provoking, it does dig into among the extra controversial elements of the trade, like courting bans and overly obsessed followers. I appreciated that these subjects had been current.
I additionally assume the writing, whereas just a little repetitive, isn’t unhealthy in any respect. I do assume this recreation leans closely into its visible novel facet, however the script is snappy and direct; I by no means actually felt prefer it was losing my time with pointless textual content.
Given the restricted pool of idol personalities and the general rigidity of what you are able to do, I wouldn’t say I’m determined for an additional playthrough, however at $19.99/£15.99 (with a 20% PS Plus low cost at launch) I feel there’s simply sufficient right here to advocate.
Conclusion
I actually loved Ok-pop Idol Tales’ shiny presentation and breezy introspection into the Ok-pop trade. There are higher administration and tycoon video games on the market, but when like me you’re just a little obsessive about Ok-culture, it’s arduous to look previous this effort.
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