Blue Reflection

Release Date: March 30, 2017

RPG, TPP, fantasy, turn-based, jRPG, singleplayer

6.8

OpenCritic

80%

Steam

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A conventional jRPG featuring a turn-based combat system. Blue Reflection was inspired by games such as Persona 4, and anime series and comic books belonging to the magical girl genre. The game was developed by Gust - a studio popular mainly for the Atelier series, which encompasses several installments. The game is set in contemporary Japan.

Plot
Mechanics
Technical aspects

Blue Reflection for PC, PS4 and PSV is a jRPG set in contemporary Japan. The game was created by Gust – an experienced studio founded in 1993. The developer is especially popular for the Atelier jRPG series, which has been developed by the team practically without any breaks for over two decades of the studio's overall work. Blue Reflection is only the fifth franchise created by Gust, after Atelier, Ar Tonelico, Ar Nosurge and Nights of Azure. The creators were inspired by games such as Persona 4, as well as anime series and comic books belonging to a genre known as magical girl.

Plot

The story is set in contemporary times and the player is taken to a big Japanese city. The teenage Hinako Shirai is the protagonist – she attends a girls' high-school known as Hoshinomiya. At the beginning of the school year, she meets her old friend from the secondary school – her name is Sane. However, the protagonist is surprised to notice that a strange aura surrounds her friend. At that very time, she is taken to a fantasy world where a monster has been waiting for her. Facing a deadly threat, the girl discovers a power in her, which allows her to transform into Reflector – a magic warrior. Along with the Yuzu and Lime twins (they have the same powers), she explores the mysterious dimension inhabited by aggressive monsters. Hinako learns, that those are actually manifestations of human subsconsciousness that represent the hidden issues and emotions of her schoolmates. The three warriors have thus divided their lives into fighting the threats from another reality and participating in daily school routine.

Mechanics

In terms of the gameplay structure, Blue Reflection for PC, PS4 and PSV resembles the Persona series. The game is divided into adventure, and exploration segments. The in-game time passes as the virtual days go on, when the protagonist attends the school and interacts with her friends, gaining their trust and resolving issues troubling them – those usually have their representations in another reality mentioned earlier. The game is played from a third-person view. At her free time, Hinako can explore the school buildings and the area around them without limitations; she can also talk to her friends then.

When the protagonist travels to the other dimension, the player will be traversing simplistic mazes with enemies to be killed, as well as different items and treasures (useful in combat) to be found, apart from things required to complete side-quests. Fighting takes place on separate arenas. The player's team consists of three warriors: Hinako, Yuzu and Lime. Each of them has a unique set of attacks and special skills. Making moves is turn-based here.

Technical aspects

Similar to other games developed by Gust, Blue Reflection for PC, PS4 and PSV is far from the highest quality possible in terms of the visuals, especially concerning the animations and impressions made by the in-game environment. However, the 3D character models filled with details deserve recognition – those were designed by Mel Kishida, who had also worked on the Atelier franchise and such anime series as Hanasaku Iroha, Sora no woto or Kami-sama no Memo-chou.

Last updated on July 24, 2017

Videos and Screens

[1:28] Blue Reflection Launch Trailer

6.8

OpenCritic Rating

Game is Recomended by 37% of Critics. There are 43 Critic Reviews.

OpenCritic

TheSixthAxis: 7 / 10 by Miguel Moran

Blue Reflection is a good start for something even greater. It manages to perfectly capture the atmosphere of classic magical girl anime series, and does so with some of the prettiest visuals I've seen in a Japanese PS4 game. Unfortunately, it fails at making a truly engaging JRPG to go with it. The lack of a focus on combat is interesting, but it ends up making combat feel more like an afterthought than it ought to be. I hope Gust is willing to put out a sequel, because with some of these issues tackled, this could end up being my new favorite JRPG series.

Full Review

Hardcore Gamer: 3.5 / 5 by Chris Shive

The overall experience of Blue Reflection is enjoyable even if it does rely heavily on yuri tropes. The high school setting, particularly what the player does in their free time and tries to befriend the other students feels like the developers took some pages from the Persona 4 book and mixed it into the Nights of Azure Atelier.

Full Review

Wccftech: 7.3 / 10 by Francesco De Meo

As a brand new IP, Blue Reflection does its job well and may serve as a good foundation for a sequel, with an enjoyable (albeit not all that original) story, good character development, a unique leveling system, and a stylish presentation. Sadly, most of the game's features resemble too much those found in the latest Persona games and, as such, the game doesn't feel very unique, while the low difficulty level prevents the RPG mechanics from reaching their full potential.

Full Review

80%