Blue Reflection: Second Light

Blue Reflection: Second Light is a soothingly peaceful and aesthetically “Kawaii” JRPG, featuring a charismatic cast of characters and a wonderfully unique world. Explore vast and varied dreamscapes as you collect and hoard as many materials as possible to build your perfect school, or, maybe just cook a nice meal. Sit back, relax and enjoy the vibes in this faithful yet innovative successor. Who knew the life of a School girl could be so interesting?

Developer: Gust Co. Ltd.

Publishers: Koei Tecmo, KOEI TECMO AMERICA Corporation, Nippon Ichi Software

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch

Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch

Review Code Provided

Written by: Gabriel Sewell

Blue Reflection made its debut in 2017 with its first instalment, being developed by; Gust, fans of the developers had high expectations for this new IP, that sadly just weren't met upon release. And even though it only received mostly mediocre scores from players and journalists, it still managed to win the hearts of many gamers and earnt itself a small cult following. After just the beginning hour you can already tell a lot of care and planning has gone into creating a much more refined and enjoyable experience, remedying the many flaws of its predecessor. But we’ll get that soon.

Fans of the original will be glad to see familiar settings and returning faces. Although, if I’m to be completely transparent. I haven't actually played the original so this review will be from the perspective of someone starting with this sequel, and will hopefully be a nice insight as to if the first is imperative to enjoy the sequel or if you can just jump straight in.

Admittedly I was a little apprehensive at first about playing as a School girl, to my surprise it grew on me pretty quickly. There’s such a wonderful and wholesome atmosphere created through the characters interacting and dealing with the various situations with such a charmingly immature attitude. With the surprising amount of youthful optimism and childish naivety neatly woven into the dialog, you’ll often find yourself feeling somewhat regressive, especially when you see the gorgeous light refracting in the backdrops in such a nostalgic fashion, almost as if it’s the first day of summer break. The Pastel Colour palettes used to create this warm and dream-like tone throughout really help to elicit a soothingly serene feeling, not to mention the wonderful use of bloom effects that never look over-saturated or distracting.

Gentle and Sombre music is smartly used to create a melancholic atmosphere through the use of soft piano scores and atmospheric soundscapes that really compliment the setting and act as a nice accompaniment to an already peaceful experience. The environments are all impressively detailed and full of individuality, there’s so many cute details to stop and stare at in and outside of the School, even the chalkboards have cute drawings on. I thoroughly enjoyed admiring the different rooms and corridors within the School because of the high level of detail and personality, although at first the empty corridors can feel a bit liminal, looking back I think it actually really complimented the narrative. Outside of the School you’ll visit different areas known as “Heartscapes” and they are just phenomenal, they work not just as plot devices but also the dungeon type areas you’ll be exploring and gathering materials from, each remarkably distinct and incredibly abstract in design. Seriously, what a trip.

To summarize the premise; a girl named Ao wakes up in another world with no memory of how she got there, although she’s not alone, the other girls she meets along the way are suffering from amnesia. Armed with rings that let them transform into “reflectors” they must survive, regain their memories and find a way back to their home worlds/realities. However, describing it probably doesn't do it the justice it deserves, overall I really enjoyed the story and how it was delivered. Especially how the character development was handled, watching the girls become friends and emotionally support each other was a very heart warming experience, and even though there’s a larger focus on the “slice of life” aspect of the story, the plot still kept me engaged until the end and the high level of character development made it even more impactful in the latter half. While there might be a lot of busy work to be done, those familiar with other Gust titles should have already expected that. It follows a pretty standard formula by smartly balancing; combat, exploration and crafting. And though you might think you’ve seen it all before, a new stealth mechanic has been added which really helps to mix things up, even if it is a bit rough around the edges. My only real complaint with the pacing are the “dates” you’ll go on with the other girls, slowly walking the halls just to earn a small interaction for visiting different rooms felt more like a chore than anything else but I can’t say it’s a deal breaker since they’re mostly optional. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the more flirtatious moments, it tends to hover on the line of feeling inappropriate, but admittedly somehow gracefully walks that line without feeling crass.

It wouldn’t be School without arts and crafts right? Well I never felt stuck when crafting, You don’t often need to search for new ingredients, I usually found them naturally by picking up as much as possible while playing or as rewards for defeating enemies. What’s really cool is creating new parts from items you’ve crafted to use within the School for additional bonuses when out in the field, not only do you get to visually see your hard work pay off but you’ll also get bonuses for doing so. It subtly adds a sense of realism, like the girls aren’t just making the best of a bad situation but doing it with style. But that's not the only thing they do in style because although the active turn based battle system is one most players will be somewhat familiar with by now, there’s still a surprising amount of depth and variety for how you choose to fight, with lots of special abilities and all the usual status ailments you’d expect. While never too challenging, I still found the combat to flow nicely and offer enough variety to keep me entertained with flashy animations and interesting enemy design. Pair that with the wonderful level design and amazing world building and you’re left with such an incredibly unique experience that really holds its own throughout. Not to mention how well the mechanics are drip fed to the player, using brief tutorial battles to concisely introduce new features and how to use them.

I’m not sure what’s more impressive, the art style or the smart use of visual effects because It’s a graphically impressive game for sure. The character models are highly detailed and stylistically impressive, the animations are all emotive and expressive, the environments are full of detail, so how the hell is this running so well? Because performance wise I’m blown away with how well it keeps to its target 30fps, especially considering how sharp the image quality is. This is by far one of the most impressive looking JRPGs from the Gust team on the Nintendo Switch. Although in some areas the performance takes a hit, it’s not frequent enough to affect the experience as a whole.

Blue Reflection: Second Light is a beautiful game through and through, from the impactful character development to the cute character models and vibrant world, almost every second is bursting with personality and charm as you learn more about the engaging narrative and character arcs. It’s clear that every step was taken to create an impressive sequel that goes beyond expectations, with so much care put into creating a cohesive and relaxing experience it’s an easy recommendation to make.

3/3

Relaxing JRPG Masterpiece

Pros

Great Character Design

Interesting World Building

Well Delivered Narrative

In-depth Character Development

Cons

Some inappropriate themes and outfits

No English Voice Acting

Author: Gabriel Sewell