B-PROJECT Ryusei Fantasia | Nintendo Switch Review

‘B-PROJECT RYUSEI*FANTASIA’ is releasing on July 15th, 2024, for Steam & Nintendo Switch. 

What is B-PROJECT?

B-PROJECT (or B-PRO) is a mixed-media project collaboration between producer and popular J-pop artist Takanori Nishikawa (T.M. Revolution) and original creator and lead planner, ChiyoMaru Shikura.

The project launched in 2015 and has spawned 3 anime series, over 40 music and drama CDs, 1 smartphone game, and a Nintendo Switch game, B-PROJECT RYUSEI FANTASIA.

The project features 4 idol groups. Those are the following:

• KiLLER KiNG: Shoya Chiba, Koutaro Nishiyama, Taku Yashiro, Takuya Eguchi
• Kitakore: Daisuke Ono, Daisuke Kishio
• MooNs: Yuto Uemura, Tetsuya Kakihara, Showtaro Morikubo, Toshiki Masuda, Genki Okawa
• THRIVE: Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Kazuki Kato, Natsuki Hanae

B-PROJECT RYUSEI FANTASIA game review

流星＊ファンタジア (Ryusei Fantasia) is a new game in the B-PROJECT franchise.

Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch
International release date: July 15th, 2024

B-PROJECT RYUSEI FANTASIA is finally available for international fans after its original release in Japan in 2021 on Nintendo Switch and iOS / Android.

This game, set in the B-PROJECT franchise but not necessarily following the content from previous games, puts the player in the place of B-PROJECT’S A&R – artist and repertoire manager.

And what awaits you is an exciting tale that does the rare thing of putting you in charge of managing one of the main 4 groups in the franchise – KiLLER KiNG, Kitakore, MooNs, and THRIVE.

A note that this game doesn’t include the franchise’s new group, ULTRAS which debuted in 2023.

Synopsis

Become the representative of the famous B-Project in this unforgettable musical Visual Novel. Support a group of 14 idols from their humble beginnings through to fame. Befriend them, influence their music, and help them through turbulent times as they follow their dreams.

Story

Have you ever wanted to manage your own idol group?

I know this is something that I would love to do and, in a way, I could see myself in the place of Sumisora – the player character – in this story.

The way she’s described and her talents – especially writing those commentary, sort of review signboards for a music store as well as her detail for listening to music critically and catching all the geeky details puts her on route to work in the music industry.

Not going to lie, this is the first time a visual novel protagonist feels this close to me as I have a similar profile – and even dipped my feet in the music industry as a producer and composer, then worked for a talent/events agency and I’ve been a music reviewer for a while.

Sumisora’s description fits my profile perfectly so… where can I apply to be an A&R for an idol group or a solo artist in Japan? Gandara, call me I’d love to manage THRIVE!

Kidding aside, in B-PROJECT RYUSEI FANTASIA, you step into the hardworking role of A&R (Artist & Repertoire) manager to the talented idol group, B-Project and its original 4 sub-groups.

You are Sumisora but you can change the names completely. I usually play with my given and surname as I play visual novels to immerse myself in a story.

You can play it with Sumisora’s name or yours that’s your pick.

After that, you will take 14 young members under your wing, each with different personalities and struggles. If you’ve watched the anime series or listened to the drama CDs before, you know a bit about them all.

In the game, it’s your job to support them, help them grow, and allow them to flourish!

An interesting twist in this game is that you start it in media res, with the members of B-Pro reminiscing about the time you joined the company and your interactions with them.

Discover the beginnings of the different idol groups – Kitakore, MooNs, THRIVE, and KiLLER KiNG. Learn about their trainee days and the struggles they faced on the path to success. 

Being an idol is not a story filled with glitter and happy times, you’re really going to dive deep into their struggles, fights, dark moments, almost breakups, and more.

But those struggles are exactly what a group goes through to become more united and in sync. 

And to ensure they all work together and become one group, B-project, you’ll be there, helping every step of the way as they stand on Japan’s brightest stage.

Music/OST

As far as the soundtrack goes, this is the type of music you expect to find in an idol game. 

It is bubbly, jaunty at times, and really focused on EDM pop. 

You will also find a Bpro song – RYUSEI FANTASIA, which was released in 2021 – inserted in the first couple of minutes into this game both in the intro video as well as during the prologue.

I wouldn’t say the music is memorable or impactful but it perfectly fits the game’s tone and vibe and that’s, ultimately, what matters in a game like this. 

Music is here to create ambiance and does a good job at it.

Gameplay/UX/UI

When it comes to gameplay, the game plays like any other visual novel. 

This is made to read a lot however B-PROJECT RYUSEI FANTASIA goes the extra mile as the game is fully voiced, something that few 2D music project games focus on.

In the game, you have 3 game modes:

• Adventure in which you follow the stories of the groups. There are two endings, and if certain conditions are met, it will branch into epilogues (14 types)
• Smartphone trigger: As you progress through the story, you can interact with members on your smartphone. Depending on your choices, the intimacy will change with those characters and the story will branch out. That is done in-game through a communication app named “JOIN”. Various contents include work-related matters, casual contact, and private consultation. Be careful not to miss the reply timing.
• Special content: Achieving certain things or meeting certain conditions in the game unlocks individual stories for each member. There are “Personal Stories” and “Side Stories” to enjoy.

Another point is that the playable character – Sumisora – is not really a blank slate ready to be filled in with your passions, or personality.

In my case, Sumisora and I share a couple of things as far as our background goes, so I kind of live vicariously through her, but I believe not many will feel the same and, when they notice the player character is fully voiced, they may feel a bit put off.

The good news is that you can turn off the player character’s voice. And then, you can roleplay as an A&R and insert your voice and personality as you play.

A nice touch that I enjoyed a lot was that you change your name when you sign the contract at the start of the game. Yet again, another simple yet effective way of immersing you in the world of being an A&R.

Another thing I loved about the game was the menu UI. 

It looks stylish and makes sense to be a smartphone as managers basically do their jobs there. The calls, midway through the story – were a nice touch, giving a different feel to how the story is being told and how you interact with it. The design is slick and it’s the first time I see it that well done and seamlessly integrated into the game’s mechanics.

A big drawback for me, but I may be spoiled by games like Birushana or even when it comes to 2D music games, to IDOLiSH7, is that most games of this genre or style either have 3D or stylized 2D models in which the mouth movements match what is being said.

In this game, however, the mouths stop moving midway through the lines and it breaks a bit the immersion.

It ends up being a downer for me as the mouth moves at the start or the end, but never in a full, smooth motion from start to finish, as a result, the reactions and emotions each character has may fall a bit flat.

Still, this may not be a problem for you.

As far as the localization goes, it is good so far. I found 1 typo in the menu where it refers to the “heroine” but beyond that, the sentences flow smoothly the grammar is well translated and even the banter and jokes connect well and naturally.

Final impressions

I played the first hour of the game and can say for sure that there’s plenty of movement going on. 

Usually, the first hour into the game is to introduce people to the world, story, and characters and it can actually drag on for many more hours – there are games with 8-hour prologues, for example.

In this case, in the 1-hour I played, I noticed that everything was explained quickly yet fairly easily. 

Those getting this game but not familiar with Bpro will not feel out of place as the reminiscing about you – the manager – ends up being the catalyst for everyone to pitch in and talk with each other. 

Through those interactions, you learn who they are, who they get along with as well as the groups they belong to as each will take turns to talk about when they first met you.

This is an interesting prologue with a quick presentation of the characters through their interactions with each other and you. There are no cheesy freeze-frame moments to introduce anyone, which is a plus.

There’s banter between characters, quirky moments, and a lot of individuality in the character’s dialogue.

If you ever dreamt of becoming an idol group artist manager or A&R, this will be the thing for you.

But you’ll be asking: but Vanessa, is there any romance? 

I haven’t played past the first hour but it is heavily hinted that there is something as you grow your bonds with specific characters. 

Just don’t expect full-blown, obvious romances like in other visual novels, the focus in this one is on the music, the groups, and your role as an A&R.

‘B-PROJECT RYUSEI*FANTASIA’ is releasing on July 15th, 2024, for Steam & Nintendo Switch. 

This is an Idol management visual novel – much in the likes of IDOLiSH7 – but with a different flair.

Thanks to PQube for sharing a review code with me, and making this review possible!

Are you going to get B-PROJECT RYUSEI FANTASIA? And if yes, which group do you want to manage? Share it with me in the comments!

Official links: B-PROJECT game official website (in Japanese) / B-PROJECT RYUSEI FANTASIA official international release website (in English)