news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Passionate, relaxed, and joyful. This is the first impression that Umamusume Pretty Derby: Hot-blooded, Noisy, and Fun! left on me.

As the first console game of the Umamusume IP, Umamusume Pretty Derby: Hot Blood Noisy Big Thanksgiving! is more like a collaboration between Umamusume and the classic Hot Blood series. Fans of the Hot Blood series will definitely find many familiar shadows in this game, which was deeply developed by Arc System Works, the production team of the Hot Blood series.

In order to thank the fans who have always supported them, five teams of Uma Musume gathered together to hold a thank-you meeting called the "Hot-Blooded Noisy Grand Prix". This is the story background of "Uma Musume Pretty Derby Hot-Blooded Noisy Big Thanksgiving Festival!" When we were invited by Cy to step into the Cygames headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo and try the game with many media friends, we could also feel a joyful atmosphere of "hot-blooded noisy". The scene of four people sitting around the console fighting also reminded me of the feeling of sitting around the arcade with a few friends when I was a child and shouting. The excellent quality of "Uma Musume Pretty Derby Hot-Blooded Noisy Big Thanksgiving Festival!" itself can indeed make me experience this kind of happiness again.

A passionate and noisy carnival

Many people think that Uma Musume Pretty Derby is a fan-oriented game, which is true. But it is also a bit one-sided. Even from the perspective of a party game, Uma Musume Pretty Derby is a game of acceptable quality and outstanding in some aspects. Even if you have no knowledge of the Uma Musume IP before, you can still have enough fun in the game.

From the gameplay point of view, the core content of "Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Hot and Noisy Thanksgiving Festival!" is simple but interesting. The game provides four different gameplays, namely the basketball championship, dodgeball championship, glutton derby, and fan appreciation obstacle course. When starting a multiplayer game, players can choose to start a "iron horse four events" and finally determine the ranking based on the comprehensive score, or they can compete in a single event. If you don't want to play with others, you can also play against AI teammates.

The horse girls that appear in the game are divided into different teams of five. Each horse girl has five different attributes including strength and endurance. Players need to choose the horse girl with the most suitable ability according to the project they participate in.

Although the four modes of play in the game may not seem like much, each one is quite interesting. The amount of "friendship-ending moments" and the degree of chaos in a party game often largely determine the fun that the game can bring to players. And "Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Hot-Blooded Noisy Thanksgiving!" provides me with many similar experiences. Cygames has added enough changes and random elements to these modes of play, which greatly enhances their fun and chaos. Comebacks and being comebacks, surpassing and being surpassed have been happening all the time during my play, which also brought us great joy.

For example, in the "Basketball Championship", all players have to do is dribble past opponents and charge up for shots. The closer the charge bar is to full, the higher the chance of hitting the target. And all other players have to do is to interfere with them by blocking shots or stealing. There are many ways for the horse girls to interact and compete with each other. You can wait in advance on the ball path to intercept when the opponent jumps up to charge up, or you can dodge a few times in the chaotic crowd and pass directly.

The randomly changing courts further add to the chaos. After each goal, many new elements will appear on the court, such as moving conveyor belts and obstacles. It is possible that you were secretly happy about your spinning jump and long-range three-pointer in the previous goal. As a result, three baskets appeared on the court in the next game, and the opponent dunked three baskets directly to complete the overtaking.

In addition, special balls with scores several times higher than ordinary balls will appear during the game. Its existence makes it possible for the bottom player to turn the tables with one ball, and also greatly increases the variables and intensity of the game. The skills of the horse girls are also unique. Some can create a barrier that prevents people from getting close, some can directly sprint across most of the field, and some can summon flying saucers to suck the opponent who is passing by into the air. These abilities, which either strengthen themselves or interfere with the opponent, also make this basketball brawl more interesting and chaotic.

The most chaotic and fun gameplay of Umamusume Pretty Derby is probably the "Dodgeball Championship Cup". This is also the favorite gameplay of many media colleagues at the scene, including me. The core gameplay of the Dodgeball Championship Cup is "throwing sandbags" - picking up the balls that fall on the field and throwing them at the opponent, and finding the right time to catch the balls thrown at you to get a chance to counterattack.

Since it is a four-player melee, conventional friendly fire operations such as concentrated fire are naturally indispensable. Even an expert may be beaten up by the other three and run away. The special balls that are randomly refreshed in the field add more interesting variables to the game. Special balls such as fast and slow, falling from the sky, and attacking from behind will make you busy when preparing to catch the ball, thus adding a lot of fun to the normal game.

The most exciting moment in a dodgeball game is when a horse girl starts to release her special move. Yes, just like in basketball games, each horse girl has a unique special move and a charging shot. The special move slot is accumulated through charging and catching the ball. Therefore, you can often see horse girls hiding in dark corners and secretly charging in the game, and they are often the first target of others' attacks. Because the horse girls' special moves have the ability to change the situation of the battle. Either they have high damage enough to kill instantly, or they have a super large range that almost covers the entire field.

Whenever a player uses a special move, the rest of the players have to give up the fight instantly and start running around the field to avoid the skills, while the player who uses the special move has to make sure to hit as many players as possible. This process of fighting wits and courage, as well as the joy and sense of accomplishment of hitting three players with a special move or being unscathed by sly movements, is one of the most impressive memories for me.

In addition to these two most intense modes, the other two modes also have their own characteristics. In the Big Eater Derby, different colored foods will be randomly refreshed in the venue, and players need to collect food as quickly as possible to provide it to the horse girl who is eating. The core of this mode is to collect food of the same color as much as possible. If you keep providing food of the same color, the horse girl will eat faster and faster. Otherwise, the speed will be reset to zero and start again.

However, the number and type of food refreshed in the venue are random, not to mention there are three rivals around. In the actual game, I often encounter a situation where there are many delicious foods but the color I want is not there, or several stores are showing off the same color food. At this time, the colorful food that occasionally refreshes in the venue will instantly become the object of competition. Colorful food allows the horse girls to seamlessly change to show off other colors of food, and can also provide very high scores. The skills of the horse girls can also provide bonuses and interference in this process.

The final fan appreciation obstacle course is more like a combination of the original horse racing gameplay of the game and the Hot Blood series. The four horse girls will start a chaotic speed obstacle course on terrains including playgrounds, grasslands, and even residential areas. Like the Hot Blood series, various props that interfere with opponents are scattered on the obstacle course. The horse girls have their own unique skills, which can also be used to strengthen themselves and hinder others.

At the same time, the game's many detailed settings also make the game quite competitive in addition to being fun. Facilities that help the horse girl accelerate and obstacles that hinder the horse girl are distributed on different routes, and players need to choose the appropriate route according to their own situation. Players who are good at managing their physical strength can easily make the horse girl enter a passionate state of accelerating while automatically climbing over obstacles. The wake setting in the Uma Musume mobile game has also been moved into the obstacle race, and players can follow the leading horse girl to seek opportunities to overtake on the curve.

Another interesting setting is that the winning condition of the fan appreciation obstacle race is not to win the championship by the first place. Instead, it is divided into several stages according to different terrains, and the points are determined according to the ranking of each stage. The person with the highest points wins. This also makes the whole game in a very intense state. The score of the indoor track stage is greatly increased and the score is hidden. It can be said that the suspense of the comeback is left to the last moment.

Single Player Mode - A Gift for Umamusume Fans

If the multiplayer mode of "Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Hot and Noisy Thanksgiving!" is a family party suitable for all ages, then the single-player mode of the game is a gift from Cygames to fans of the Uma Musume series. Due to time constraints, I only experienced a few sections of the story mode. The stories of the game are mostly quite relaxing and interesting units, and the personality characteristics of each horse girl who appears have been excellently restored in these stories. The story volume of about eight hours for four teams can not only meet the needs of fans of the series, but also allow new players to feel the charm of the Uma Musume IP in a relaxed way.

The points collected by players in single-player mode and multiplayer battles can be used to decorate their own activity room. You can exchange for various furniture and wallpapers to decorate the room to make it unique. You can also place your favorite horse girls in the activity room. Depending on the furniture in the room, different special dialogues will be triggered. This activity room that can be freely decorated by players is also the best place for fans of the series to express their love for horse girls.

Another highlight of the single-player mode of Umamusume Pretty Derby: Hot and Noisy Thanksgiving! is the pixel game that Cy inserted into it - "Golden Ship's Adventure 2". This mini-game embedded in the game is, in a way, even more addictive than the main game. In all my free time outside of the official trial, I almost always immersed myself in it.

Golden Ship Adventure 2 is similar to Vampire Survivor, which combines horizontal level-passing gameplay. Its graphics and UI look quite retro and simple, and it feels like an old FC console. However, it is small but complete, and the gameplay and fun of these two game types are the same.

In the Golden Ship's Adventure 2, I can feel the core fun of games like "Vampire Survivor" - collecting experience and upgrading to obtain random types of weapons, and feel the pleasure of mowing the whole screen by upgrading and combining different weapons. After completing each round of the game, you can also obtain out-of-game growth equipment and permanent props that can change attributes. In addition, the horizontal version of the game also plays a very important role. I not only have to mow the grass and kill monsters, but also avoid obstacles and collect time, and run as far as possible before the time and life run out.

The farther I run, the rarer the equipment I can get at the end of the game, which gives me more advantages in the next game. This easy operation, direct positive feedback, and clear and straightforward goals motivate me to play again and again in order to get stronger props and run farther. This small game alone is enough to kill dozens of hours of my time.

Conclusion

For a party game, if it can make a few friends sit together and shout at each other and laugh, then it is good enough. Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Hot and Noisy Thanksgiving! undoubtedly has such magic. Even if you put aside the IP filter of Uma Musume, this game is also a very solid party game. The only drawback is that the four gameplay modes are still a bit too few, which makes people feel unsatisfied. Whether you are a fan of the Uma Musume series or not, Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Hot and Noisy Thanksgiving! can bring enough laughter and joy to your living room.