iiotenki

The Tony Hawk of Tokimeki Memorial

A most of the time Japanese>English game translator and writer and all the time dating sim wonk.



iiotenki
@iiotenki

After buying it months ago, I finally ripped the Wacca Complete Album, all three discs and 90+ songs, and man, it's so good to finally have these gremlins and their music on my computer where they belong. I didn't play through anywhere near all of the game's original music before it shut down in August, so genuinely looking forward to making my way through this album over the next couple of days. (Not that I can't play through them now while the cabinets are still playable in offline mode, but I tend to be somewhat of a creature of habit when I make my monthly-ish pilgrimage to the local one, so.)

I know I've said it before, but despite only really being able to play it while it was active for the last year and a half of its lifespan, Wacca easily remains my favorite rhythm game I've ever played. Such a lively, energizing soundtrack backed by fun art and UI/UX and some of the most inventive note charts I've ever played of its kind. Genuinely beautiful stuff, even at the lower levels. It deserved so much more success than it managed to attain for reasons entirely beyond its control and I really am contemplating picking up a cabinet one day once I'm in a place with more room. I love it that much.

Go play it if you have a Round 1 near you overseas and if you can't, load up that music and hear for yourself just how much love was clearly poured into it from all angles.

Love you, kiddos.


iiotenki
@iiotenki

I finally finished listening to the whole thing and while I feel like it front-loads a lot of the best music on the first disc, it's definitely strong stuff across the board and I'm glad I was able to pick it up while it was still on sale, especially since it's an immaculately produced package on the whole. The UI music on the final disc in particular is a nice touch; I only started playing the game after the final character addition by way of Rune (Lune? Loon? Japanese phonetics, man.) and never realized that Elizabeth and Lilly each had their own menu themes during their respective seasons, for lack of a better term, so it was genuinely fun getting to acquaint myself with those finally and better appreciate how the game's identity evolved on that end over time.

I'd say it's a no-brainer to pick up for fellow Wacca heads if it was still readily available now, but since it was a limited time release to commemorate its shutdown that now tends to go for at least double its asking price used online (ie: 10,000+ yen), it's a little tougher of a recommendation to make unless you like it that much. (And honestly, I probably still would nab it if I didn't have it already.) Either way, it's a beautiful celebration of a music game that deserved a much better fate. Like I said before, if you happen to find a cabinet overseas—and I can attest, they are out there—give it some love, as it's a pointed reminder of the sort of magic that only arcades can ever offer when it comes to music games.


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in reply to @iiotenki's post:

wacca's touch sliding really is fun (probably because I have the same impression of chunithm too) but mostly I found it pretty neat that they basically let HARDCORE TANO*C take the reins over a whole game

Y'know, strangely, I've never taken to Chunithm quite as much for whatever reason. Definitely enjoyed my time with it for sure and I know it's definitely by far more of a staple in arcades that Wacca ever has. I think something about Wacca being more of a full body(-ish) experience just speaks to me more and how I take in music when I listen to it, I dunno. I should probably spend some more time with Chunithm and see how I feel about it after being so taken with Wacca, it's been years now.

But yeah, HARDCORE TANO*C taking charge really goes a long way to giving the whole experience a real sense of aesthetic consistency from start to finish. Most every rhythm game strives for that sort of thing, but I think that identity is just a lot stronger, that's probably another key reason I took to it as much as I did.