What I did in the game: Story Mode 100% completed.
The One Picture I have taken: Story Mode selection screen.
I won't do a big in-depth review of the entire game, since most of my initial opinions havent changed much in the end. You can read them here. To summarize, there's goods and bads with this new entry. The biggest good is the Story Mode, which is a better way to unlock stuff than the Mission Board, and is actually quite long, if incomplete at this point (you get the 13 Chapters of Kakeru Arc, and then 3 Chapters of the Aria Arc before getting the message "To Be Continued - Pending Update"). So no grind necessary this time. And the story is actually quite enjoyable, if not totally cliche. But on the bad side, the songs list is quite small at release, 31 upon booting up the game, and an extra 19 in the Story Mode for a total of 50 songs. So you end up always playing the same songs over and over again in the Story, which become boring after a while. Now, I'm sure there will be tons of free updates, and it's a brand new engine, with wide-screen videos, and 2 new charts (Basic and Advanced) for each song, even the repeat ones. But so far, it really feels light on content. Also, gone is any form of multiplayer, which for me was played a lot in Wai Wai Party!!!! And finally, it's not a good or bad, but that Green Square notes that you need to push any trigger/shoulder button to hit, it just doesnt feel right for me right now. Maybe one day I will adapt, but it kinda kill my flow in the game, and just seems like going against the Arcade set-up, which was only 2 giant Buttons/Sticks.
Still, it feels kinda great to have some fresh Groove Coaster content in 2025, and not just a new DLC Packs for Wai Wai Party!!!!. There's tons of amazing potential here, I just feel that they released it maybe a little too soon. Maybe in a year or so, the package will be amazing, but right now, I would say it's only for die-hard fans like me. In any case, since I've unlocked everything so far, I also took the time to make a complete songs list video so that you can see what you're getting at release. Like Wai Wai Party!!!!, I'll try to do a new Playlist with every song preview, be it DLC or Free update this time. For now, enjoy the base songs list:
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