Long before mobile games took over the public’s vision, music games have always been a hardcore category that revolves around a niche circle. Even though the masters in front of the machines continue to dance to the heart-shaking music rhythm, the game method that is difficult to start and even more difficult to master still excludes ordinary people from thousands of miles away.
However, as game developers bring this genre to mobile devices, the once cool music games have begun to embrace ordinary players in a more friendly way. From the improvement of audio-visual experience to more exciting rhythm performances, from mixing in action elements to deepening the storyline, all these improvements have gained a lot of fresh blood. It can be said that in recent years, music games have achieved a lot of development relying on mobile platforms. It can be said that it is a small achievement, not to mention that everyone knows it.
Among these developers, Rayark Games from Taiwan can definitely be said to have made an indelible contribution. “Deemo (Ancient Tree Melody)”, “Cytus (Music World)”, “Voez of Lankong”, all players who have played mobile games in the early years have basically seen the three music games under Rayark. And “Deemo” is the most well-known work among the three, and it is loved by more people because of its unique story interpretation. The long-lived vitality has not diminished since 2013, and even recently landed on PS4 in the form of a reborn 3D.
A new life from hand-painted to three-dimensional
As a remake, the new work “Deemo -Reborn-” is not a simple rehash of the old stuff, but as the word “reborn” in its name suggests, it has a major upgrade with a complete makeover.
The fresh and lovely hand-painted pictures in the past have been replaced by pure 3D, and the little girl Alice and the black gentleman Deemo have jumped from the 2D plane into the three-dimensional space. This is not just a change in the form of the picture expression. The simple touch interaction has been replaced by a more free three-dimensional space exploration. In addition to playing music, players can control Alice to explore the world around them and expand the adventure location through interactive puzzle solving.
Although this visual transformation does not bring about earth-shaking changes, it is still enough to bring enough novelty and fun to a music game. In particular, when the interaction between the lovely Alice, Deemo, and the masked lady has more visual dynamics, the proud story interpretation of the original version has a new emotional expression.
In addition, even the performance part of the music game has changed in the new work. Although you can tell that it is still the original classic tune as soon as you start playing, the experience after rebirth can also make people feel happy.
The novelty behind interactive adventures
Telling a moving story in the form of a music game may be the most unique but attractive feature of “Deemo”, and it is also the key core that makes it stand out from similar works. As mentioned above, the 3D “Deemo -Reborn-” strengthens the interactive experience of the game, enhances the sense of immersion, and adds a lot of adventure puzzle elements, and through this link, it adds more extensions to the original story.
As in the original game, the main process of the game is to play the piano to make the saplings grow, thereby advancing the plot. While the new game uses this design, it allows players to control Alice to explore the world around her and obtain more music scores as the puzzles are solved. There is no deliberate guidance in the process of solving the puzzles, but the hints seem to be everywhere, such as the murals in the corridor, the growing saplings, and the open pages of the book, which prompt you to touch, explore, and discover the answers to the puzzles yourself.
From the outside, the interactive puzzles in the game seem very simple, but in fact, the puzzle design inside is still quite challenging. The clever ideas combined with music knowledge require a certain level of artistic accomplishment to understand.
Of course, every interaction in the game has its meaning. It is not to trap you with difficult questions, but to let you immerse yourself more deeply in the plot of the game, experience the mood of the characters, and feel complex emotions. The seemingly hazy expression is full of symbolic meaning. Through the combination of music games and interactive puzzles, players can feel the complex emotions from the simple communication between the two protagonists.
In addition to adding adventure puzzles, another sincerity of “Deemo -Reborn-” is the addition of a large number of new songs. Rayark did not cram the old version of the song pack into the new game, but while selecting classic songs, it also included a lot of new music. On the one hand, it adds more freshness to old players, and on the other hand, the high-quality new songs also make the audio-visual experience of the game a step further. Of course, DLC song packs also exist as always. If you are nostalgic for the songs you once liked, it is not a bad idea to buy a few song packs and relive them on PS4.
In addition, the fact that this game supports PSVR is a good new point of view. This more immersive way of playing is also more realistic for music games. However, the button layout of the MOVE controller and the problem of original music score judgment make this game’s VR mode still in the early stages of trial. Therefore, compared with those mature and professional VR music games on the market, the experience is still far behind.
The old question behind rebirth
Despite their fresh appearance, both the original “Deemo” and the reborn “Deemo -Reborn-” are essentially hardcore music games, and the core music game part still has an extremely high threshold for mastery.
In fact, from the very beginning of Deemo’s music score, the game’s difficulty is not low. The fun of finding a little vitality from the uninterrupted rhythm will accompany the player from beginning to end. And Deemo -Reborn- maintains this hardcore design. The basic operation of 6 keys plus dual joystick sliders is already a signal that strangers should stay away. Even for a veteran of music games who has been playing for many years, it is not easy to easily challenge the music scores of LV10 and LV11.
Players familiar with Deemo should know that Rayark has always been unsatisfactory in judgment and high-difficulty scores. Especially when ported to PSV and SWITCH, two platforms with physical keys, the button experience is a disaster, and the experience depends entirely on the touch screen. Even now that it has been reborn on PS4, these old problems have not been well solved. In particular, the high-difficulty scores are still difficult and have been designed arbitrarily, resulting in a sharp increase in the difficulty of the later song packs. At the same time, the problem of some songs not having key sounds also makes the sense of rhythm when playing a lot weaker.
Although I am not a high-level music game player, I am considered an entry-level player after years of immersion in the music game circle. However, I have to admit defeat when faced with the difficult score of the new song of “Deemo -Reborn-“. The continuous staircase-like arrangement of buttons really makes my hands tremble, and the problems with buttons and judgment are really uncomfortable. I can only challenge All Charming at normal difficulty.
In such an environment, newcomers who come here for the game will naturally face great challenges. Fortunately, the game is not too difficult for players to simply pass the level. The simple difficulty is enough to fully appreciate the story behind the game. With the adjustment of solving puzzles, it is not too difficult to play the game. But if you want to pursue more in-depth fun of music games, perhaps other professional and old-fashioned music game series are more suitable for practice.
Conclusion: New buds sprout from old trees
Deemo -Reborn- is not just a nostalgic renovation of the classic Deemo, Rayark has done much more with it than just the original “music game part”. On the one hand, the new interactive puzzles brought by 3D give the game more possibilities beyond the traditional music game gameplay; on the other hand, VR is a new entry challenge for another experience device.
Although the game itself is not perfect in the core music game due to its usual problems, no one can deny the novelty and sincerity of “Deemo -Reborn-“. Perhaps through this attempt, Rayark will bring more interesting game designs to players in the future, so let’s wait and see.
