Approximately 3.5 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. It is currently available on PC, Switch, and iOS. Rating: 6.5 out of 10ĭisclosures: This game is developed by PeroPeroGames and published by X.D. There’s a solid base of something great here, but it would be an easier recommendation if it offered some content for those outside its niche. However, I don’t fall into the target demographic and the grind-heavy progression turned things more tedious than necessary. When Muse Dash works well, I felt the same sort of accomplishment as I might when nailing a fighting game combo.

Not all the costumes are skimpy, but most of them are Dead or Alive-style waifu cheesecake. Apart from the heavy emphasis on J-pop, expect to fight cutesy enemies while one of the leads (who looks like she’s fourteen, mind you) wears lingerie. Essentially, the peak otaku content here will be the deciding factor as to whether a player will love it or not. However, players must also earn materials (awarded at random) to unlock costumes for the three heroines, and also for elfin pets that provide additional buffs. Experience gained by completing songs goes to leveling up, and leveling up grants new songs.

It’s like the devs couldn’t decide between lootboxes or standard unlocks, so they split the difference. While the gameplay is solid enough, the progression system in Muse Dash makes absolutely no sense. Also, the combo meter only breaks if players take a hit - missing an enemy isn’t penalized, which is a nice change from the norm. The difficulty balancing is superb, though I often found the harder songs were ironically easier to follow as they tended to go beat by beat, rather than offering awkward pauses in enemy waves. No matter how players choose to play, though, they’re met with a graceful learning curve in comparison to most rhythm games.

A standard controller seemed the least responsive, in my experience. At most, the bosses change the aesthetic of the incoming beats - instead of an angry monster, players have to smash bullets.īetween using two keyboard keys (which are fully rebindable) or mouse, I found mouse inputs to be most responsive, and I scored better than on keyboard. This mashathon also applies to facing each song’s “boss”, though using that term feels generous. A single tap on F or J (or LMB & RMB) destroys regular enemies, with bigger grunts requiring players to furiously mash both buttons to destroy them. Players run headfirst at two streams of enemies forming each song’s beats. Putting aside musical tastes, Muse Dash only requires two inputs at any given time, and the controls are incredibly intuitive. I was able to find a handful of satisfying rock, metal, and electronic tunes ( Destr0yer being my personal favorite) but the overwhelming number of tracks are cutesy songs. There’s a deep variety in Japan’s music scene brimming with material that could have been tapped, but the devs have a very specific audience in mind. Muse Dash is a solid rhythm title about three heroines fighting goofy monsters, but sadly, it only offers J-pop at its J-poppiest. WTF A progression system more puzzling than the levels themselves. LOW A playable tween character with underboob. HIGH Perfectly chaining a song I actually like.

Muse dash