On November 14th, Bandai Namco Entertainment officially launched The Idolm@ster Shiny Colors: Song for Prism on PC via DMM GAMES and mobile devices such as Apple’s App Store, and Google Play Store in Japan.
To commemorate the launch of the game, the company released an illustration featuring Mano Sakuragi, Hiori Kazano, and Meguru Hachimiya, the three main idols forming the Illumination Stars unit.
The Idolm@ster Shiny Colors: Song for Prism is a free-to-play game that seamlessly blends idol-development simulation with rhythm gameplay elements.
Players take on the role of a producer for 283 Production, nurturing idols and overseeing their training and performance schedules of various idols under the 283 Production fold. The game delicately portrays the idols’ growth, struggles, and stories amid schedules like lessons and jobs, all from the perspective of the producer.
The rhythm aspect has been a series staple component that plays a crucial role in determining the overall score and quality of live performances.
The Idolm@ster Shiny Colors: Song for Prism is set in the same world as Shiny Colors, which launched as a browser game in April 2018 before finding a release on mobile devices the following year.
The game showcases the latest roster of The Idolm@ster: Shiny Colors, incorporating the new units introduced after the initial game’s release. While the original Shiny Colors presents characters in Live2D, Song for Prism also introduces complete 3D models for these characters.
The gameplay is reminiscent of The Idolm@ster Million Live: Theater Days, which includes the extended 765 Production.
In the game, you can access idol details from the menu providing crucial information such as fan numbers, voices, and character possessions. Strangely, Hazuki’s profile has been made public alongside the idols.
This association may have led to the need to include a page for Hazuki in the idol details, leading to the public release of her profile alongside the idols.
Although Hazuki Nanakusa is not an idol, she plays a role in the game as a supportive character. She works as a secretary and supports the idols at 283 Production.
She has been present in “The Idolmaster: Shiny Colors” since the early stages of the service, and players commonly refer to her as “Hazuki-san” (はづきさん) in line with the in-game designation.
While she holds the familiar role of a secretary in “The Idolmaster” series, her younger sister, Chika Nanakusa, joined as an idol under the new unit “Seeds” in 2021.
The game’s scenario, focusing on the entire 283 Production, delves into Hazuki-san’s daily life as she juggles her duties as a secretary and part-time jobs. There has been detailed exploration of her character, including her routine. Additionally, in the manga adaptation the daily life of 283 Production is portrayed from Hazuki Nanakusa’s perspective.
In Hazuki’s profile, her special skills are listed as short-duration sleep, cost-effective cooking, calligraphy, customer service, calculator input, traffic control, and other skills acquired through part-time work.
The profile reflects challenging experiences. The revelation of her age, along with the contrast between her age and the demanding nature of her job, has sparked discussions. Additionally, the game introduces features such as a message app-style screen, providing further insights into the characters beyond the production and rhythm game aspects.
In October 2023, the company announced the development of a PC version and initiated pre-registrations through DMM Games.
Now obviously as the saying goes, “if something is free you are the product” and that applies to Song for Prism as well, given its free-to-play nature on PC and mobile platforms it’s another gacha game, with those who’ve pre-registered receiving a bonus of ten character gacha tickets.
Because like other mobile games featuring an abundance of cute characters, the gacha element is the core component of the game itself as characters are arbitrarily locked behind the gacha paywall with differing rarities as the usual R, SR and SSR staples, given that a large portion of the game itself is idol development different characters or alternative renditions of the same characters with different costumes will have different base stats and greater potential for growth.
Bandai Namco initially unveiled “Song for Prism” in late April 2023, followed by the commencement of pre-registrations for mobile devices in July 2023. The game was featured at an event during the Tokyo Game Show this year.
It’s a mobile game so it’s not very intensive in terms of hardware requirements with the PC version requiring a Intel Core i3-4360 / AMD A8-7650K and a minimum graphics solution of either the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750Ti or AMD Radeon R7 250X.
