Blue Reflection Quartet Review – Four Emotional Adventures in One Package

Blue Reflection Quartet Review

My favorite video game genre is JRPG. But I’m also a bit of an elitist snob, and tend not to love the ones by c-tier developers like Gust and Compile Heart. I didn’t play any of the Blue Reflection games before getting assigned this review. I was curious to try them though, as they’re quite beloved, with people usually citing the story and emotional vibes as strengths. Because Gust games rarely go on sale, the original Blue Reflection still sits in the PlayStation Store as a full-priced $80 game, despite being nine years old. But Koei Tecmo has released a compilation game covering the narratives of both mainline Blue Reflection games, and their anime and mobile spin-offs. Blue Reflection Quartet is four PS5 games for less than the price of the standalone original game on PS4. Read on to find out how they play…

The games found in Blue Reflection Quartet are: Blue Reflection, Blue Reflection: Ray (a spin-off anime series), Blue Reflection: Sun (a Japanese-exclusive mobile game), and Blue Reflection: Second Light (a proper sequel to Blue Reflection). All the games have been remade to feature the same gameplay and UI. Blue Reflection: Ray isn’t here as a watchable anime; it’s been turned into a fully playable game. Blue Reflection: Sun doesn’t resemble a mobile game at all. This might be a shame for fans of the multimedia nature of the series, but for anyone who wants all of the Blue Reflection narrative in the form of the most up-to-date version of the games, this is the collection for you. It’s incredible how much value there is in this budget-priced package.

Magical Girl Story

Blue Reflection Quartet has a shoujo magical girl story. This was a refreshing discovery in a world oversaturated by battle shonen. I don’t think it’s a shoujo written by women, as there are a few weird male gaze aspects like breast physics and shots of bare legs. But the genre definitely helps the story to stand out. The first game’s story is about Hinako, who is a new student at an all-girls school in present day Japan. Early in the game, she’s transported to another world, and given power as a Reflector (magical girl). There are already two Reflectors at the school, and the three girls work towards defeating Rampant Emotions, which take the form of possessed students.

Most battles take place in the other world. Blue Reflection Quartet’s combat is turn based. There’s a timeline at the top of the screen that shows the player character and enemy turn order. Characters can attack or use skills which cost MP. Some skills have knockback effects that change turn order. Enemies have weaknesses to different kinds of attacks. New skills are gained as characters level up. It’s a very simple combat system. The difficulty is quite easy. There aren’t any new ideas, but for JRPG fans looking for something familiar, it’s enjoyable enough.

Persona-lite

Characters don’t level up traditionally though. Their levels increase through plot progression and side quest completion. Characters get points to distribute amongst their stats. Battles give items for crafting. This is one of many features that makes Blue Reflection Quartet feel like a light version of a Persona title. In the real world, Hinako attends classes. She can choose between activities, who she wants to spend time with, and answer people’s questions. These have small effects on stat gains and cutscene dialogue, but they don’t affect stats (or arcana) anywhere close to the way Persona does. The changes are minute. But I did enjoy the cozy time spent in the real world.

My main complaint about Blue Reflection’s gameplay is that it’s very simple. All the mechanics are lighter versions of ideas from other games. The difficulty is extremely low. This makes Blue Reflection Quartet function well as a cozy JRPG for people who want something that plays familiarly, but has a unique package. But the game won’t do anything for anyone looking for a JRPG with fresh ideas.

Gorgeous Aesthetics

Blue Reflection Quartet is clearly a budget title. It can be a little rough around the edges with stiff animations, and sloppy cutscene transitions. But it has some fantastic aesthetic choices that make it shine beyond its means. The cell-shaded anime aesthetic has textures and lines that give a pencil drawn look. This really makes the visuals pop. The entire game has a soft blue and white color palette. The alien design of the other world looks gorgeous, and makes it enticing to explore. The music is beautiful. It’s usually pretty and ambient, but switches to pop songs at key story moments. The cutscenes are really well-composed. I should note that there’s no English dub, although Blue Reflection Quartet is so Japanese that this shouldn’t be an issue for many.

Blue Reflection Quartet is good, but not great. I really enjoyed the shoujo story, pretty visuals, and emotional music. The gameplay was very simple and derivative of other series, but some might find it cozy. I’m a sucker for Persona-style school sim by day, and combat by night structure. It’s something I haven’t gotten bored of. Blue Reflection Quartet is four full games that can be played in any order. It’s easily over 100 hours of good JRPG for genre fans, and I am happy to recommend it to anyone curious who’s familiar with the genre.

***PS5 code provided by the publisher***