beatmania IIdx 16: EMPRESS

[Garylisk]

Just got my hands on my copy of Empress for PS2, and I am loving it. If you ever wanted to get into IIdx, but weren't sure which style you wanted to get, I highly recommend this one.

Reason being is that it comes with 2 discs. 1st disc is the main Empress game, which has all the new songs, plus a bunch of returning songs from previous styles. The 2nd disc is the Premium Best disc, which has all the old games' artwork and other such stuff archived. You have to unlock it, but it seems like you just have to play to unlock a lot of it, not even necessarily pass. This 2nd disc has so much great music on it from older styles, I practically don't need my older discs.

Obviously, this disc doesn't have every song ever on it, but it has most of what I'd call the highlights. Some may say there's some songs that should have been on there that aren't, myself included, but it's all a matter of opinion, and they did a heck of a job narrowing it down to all great music.

Anyway, great mix of songs. For the new stuff, I am pretty fond of smooooch ・∀・, 不沈艦CANDY, BITTER CHOCOLATE STRIKER, PunchLove仮面, and so many others... The "House Nation" tracks I could honestly do without, especially since they ALL have the same boring video... CaptivAte2 ~覚醒~ is amazing. Arabian Rave Night is exciting.

Plus there's lots of remixes of old songs. V gets a 2 with V2, Monkey Dance '09 is just as bouncy as its predecessor, and B4U (Bemani For You Mix) is an interesting mix of an old favorite (though I don't know if I'd call it better). Possibly the best remix here, though, is THE SHINING POLARIS (kors k mix). This song was always pretty, and anything kors k touches turns to gold, so you can guess that it's pretty awesome. Great remix.

Again, highly recommended for fans of the series and beginners (Though newbies would have to get a controller, too.). (Beginners may also want to look into IIDX RED, just to mention it. It's got the most easy songs of styles 1-15, though this style may beat it with the archive disc.)

Overall, a 5 out of 5 for the last IIdx game for PS2. "IIdx 17: Cirrus" will be on PS3 most likely. It has been confirmed that it won't be on PS2 at all.