Blue Reflection Critic Reviews

The story at the heart of it all is one of the most moving and heartfelt tales I’ve ever seen in a game, and that’s a huge achievement. The best part is that Mel Kishida is just getting started—if this is his directorial debut, I can’t wait to see what the future has in store.

Blue Reflection is incredibly upfront about what it’s trying to accomplish here — it’s explicitly about the real dangers to life and limb that can be caused by depression and negative emotional states, and it’s also about the importance of reaching out to those who are suffering and trying to make their lives better. I can’t say that I’ve seen many games with the same goal, but I enjoyed making the world a better place. The experience is sweet, funny, intense, and one of the most fundamentally good-hearted titles I’ve seen in ages.

Blue Reflection looks and feels a lot like Persona. It's not flawless, but its beautiful environments, decent gameplay and outstanding soundtrack will keep you immersed for a long time to come.

Blue Reflection is Gust’s best new IP and one that would’ve been a better game had Koei Tecmo put some actual effort into localization wise.

Blue Reflection is a hidden gem that any anime and JRPG fan will not want to miss this year.

Blue Reflection is lacking in a few areas, but it still has enough going for it to offer an overall enjoyable experience that fans of the magical girl sub genre will enjoy.

Gust’s attempt at creating a brand new world with Blue Reflection shows. The development team brought innovation to the table demonstrating they can step outside their comfort zone. However, production value and time may have hurt the project as the game suffers from random graphical stutters, a lack of rich animation, and a failure to utilize the entire cast of characters. Nonetheless, the party customization, character interactions, art style, and overall design is admirable and keeps things entertaining.

Blue Reflection is an interesting mix which makes a step beyond the regular "Atelier series" games. Its story seems common from a regular "shojo manga" with fantasy but after each chapter it becomes more interesting until the end. The combat system in battles it's simple but also fun to play and with every other things to do in the game and the notable soundtrack, with really good themes, make it an option to take into account for the genre fans.

Gust's new turn-based RPG presents good ideas as a more accessible combat system than the Atelier saga or the possibility of choosing which song to listen to. However, the division by zones, not have English voices or the little challenge presented in fighting makes Blue Reflection undeserving of more praise.

As a brand new IP, Blue Reflection does its job well and may serve as a good foundation for a sequel, with an enjoyable (albeit not all that original) story, good character development, a unique leveling system, and a stylish presentation. Sadly, most of the game's features resemble too much those found in the latest Persona games and, as such, the game doesn't feel very unique, while the low difficulty level prevents the RPG mechanics from reaching their full potential.

Blue Refletion provides a unique twist on the JRPG format. Having the protagonist reflect on her own feelings of loss while trying to gain insight into other characters’s feelings in order to acquire their friendship is an interesting idea. The problem is the game doesn’t delve deep enough into this territory, and while this is a great design concept, it could be so much better if they took the idea further and added more depth to the characters. The mix of the real world with the Common is a good blend of environments and the gameplay in both is enjoyable but the time we spend in the Common exploring and fighting demons feels disproportionately short compared to the massive usage of cutscenes.

Blue Reflection tells an accurate story of a high school girl who is coming to terms with becoming a magical girl. The game is graphically one of the best looking games from Gust that I have played and I applaud them for trying something new. There’s a lot to see in Blue Reflection if players put the time into the story, but if you’re looking level grinding and item collecting, this isn’t going to be the game for you.

Blue Reflection is a good start for something even greater. It manages to perfectly capture the atmosphere of classic magical girl anime series, and does so with some of the prettiest visuals I’ve seen in a Japanese PS4 game. Unfortunately, it fails at making a truly engaging JRPG to go with it. The lack of a focus on combat is interesting, but it ends up making combat feel more like an afterthought than it ought to be. I hope Gust is willing to put out a sequel, because with some of these issues tackled, this could end up being my new favorite JRPG series.

Considering this is a new IP with a small budget, the result is quite good. If you want an RPG without much emphasis on the combat and you like its theme, it can be a good option.

A very special JRPG in which all the characters are teen girls. Turn based battles and the diverse relations established between the different girls are the main pillars of the game.

Blue Reflection is a game that displays a heartwarming amount of beauty and grace even in the face of some tragically ugly flaws and mistakes. On a gameplay level, it never reaches the heights it wanted (or deserved) to, but as an overall experience, it feels like something special in a way few other games do.

A number of issues with Blue Reflection quickly present themselves, such as some screen-tearing witnessed in the visual stakes and a questionable focus on the level of fan service wedged into the adventure, yet underneath these opinion-splitting matters there is an extremely enjoyable, memorable, and rather uncommon Japanese RPG adventure that will certainly leave an impression for the duration of the journey, as well as for a while after playing it.

Nothing here will anger or upset you, but nothing will amaze or move you either. It's a steady, repetitive line to the end without any sort of escalation, but not everything need to be full of crazy turns and ups and downs.

Blue Reflection is just a repetitive and simple RPG full of colors and nice music. It's view of relationships is utilitarian and flat. Just another piece of fandom for the magical girl fans.

In the end, I feel like Blue Reflection had some good things going for it. I didn’t mind the story even if it was a bit melodramatic more times than not, and the combat was in the right place, I just wish it would have offered up more of a challenge. Obviously, this is not a game for everybody, and the game knows its audience and caters to it the best way it can. Still, many fans of this style of game will find it overly simplistic and not difficult at all. While I enjoyed my time with it for the most part, there were still a few times I rolled my eyes at the things on screen. That’s going to happen with me in these games. Still, the target audience for Blue Reflection will enjoy it for the most part, although it may very well be too simple for their tastes.