I’m a Picross freak. I’m only half joking when I say my Switch is a Picross machine. But before I go on, I should explain what that means. Let’s take the below image:
There are numbers on vertical columns and horizontal rows, which denote how many squares in that sections are filled in. A 7 means 7 filled-in squares in a row. A 3 followed by a 4 means 3 in a row, then later 4 in a row – in that order. Using fills and x’s, you solve the puzzle and make a picture. It’s one of those things easier to experience than explain.
Why I love the series/style is very easy to explain: You use logic rather than guesswork, and at the end there’s a nice little pixel picture as a reward. Unlike something like Tetris, it’s finite. But puzzles are numerous, and you can do a couple in a sitting or spend hours completing dozens. It’s the perfect portable game in that respect. Different rules allow you to either be penalized for getting wrong answers, or being totally in the dark until the puzzle is complete. You can receive hints, or go in a blank slate.
I have loved Picross ever since Nintendo published the first one on the pea-green Game Boy, called Mario’s Picross. I later picked up Japan-only iterations for Game Boy and SNES while visiting Tokyo, and devoured any version that made it to the States. 3DS had download installments which were essentially puzzle packs, and there I got a bit behind – though I equally enjoyed the two 3D Picross games, which adds a third dimension that stretches your brain cells in a satisfying way.
Then came Switch. Nintendo has so far published 10 Picross installments there, including one ironically utilizing Sega-themed pixel art (Nintendon’t hold grudges). But Nintendo aren’t the only ones doing these kinds of games. Other devs have Picross-based RPGs, murder mysteries and dating simulators. And then there’s Sega itself with Hatsune Miku Logic Puzzle S.
Hatsune Miku was the first digital idol. Idols are typically young, attractive pop-stars who have a symbiotic relationship with passionate fans. Miku-chan isn’t real, however. She doesn’t even use a real person’s voice, instead utilizing an artificial, stitched-together singing style called VOCALOID. But she’s not the only one. She’s often flanked by a bevy of side characters, much the way Michael Jordan took to the court with a roster of players with other talents who were nonetheless completely overshadowed by the superstar.
And a superstar she is. Miku’s list of games and merch and albums is as long as any other pop-culture phenomenon. Her concerts are well attended, despite no actual person taking the stage (regular idol concerts, it could be said, are themselves merely karaoke to a backing track – and I say that as a longtime idol fan).
Still, mixing Hatsune Miku and Picross is an odd combo. I was skeptical, so I only picked up Logic Paint S once it was on sale (and when I was between proper Picross titles). Once I started, I still was unsure.
For one thing, its Picross is simplified. If a line has 5 filled-in boxes and you fill in all 5 squares, the Xs get filled in automatically. That’s not normal, and could be said to make the experience easier. Conversely, the option to remove penalties for mistakes is missing. If you fill out the wrong square, you can no longer get 3 stars on the puzzle. If you’re a completionist like me, you’ll restart from the beginning. That can be annoying, as skilled Picross players get into an almost speedrunning-like zone, and don’t want to break it until they feel they’re done (if there’s an error in other games, the puzzle won’t end – leading to error-hunting).
Another possible knock is the pictures made when solving puzzles. They don’t look like anything until the game colors them in for you. “Oh, that’s a scarf?” you’ll find yourself asking. But the game solves this smartly: Each puzzle unlocks a piece of fan-art that contains the item pictured in the puzzle. While you can’t actually zoom in, it’s a fun reward that I enjoyed perusing – fan-art being a big aspect of Miku-chan fandom.
The sheer number of puzzles in Logic Paint S is impressive, as well: 540 total. 240 of them end up being parts of larger pictures: Basically 25 or so puzzles, when finished, will show a large, more detailed image – usually of Miku or another character.That’s a few hundred more than the average Picross.
These characters also liven up the presentation, dancing on the margins and making cute faces. You can choose and change your avatar to your preference; Miku’s cast even contains a couple of boys.
By far, what sets this title apart from other Picross games is its soundtrack. It’s almost a given since Miku is synonymous with music, but I absolutely fell in love with several of the game’s tracks. You need to unlock them as you go, but there are more bangers than duds by far – each with vocal and instrumental arrangements. It’s been months since I 100%’d the game, but both me and my partner still spontaneously burst into renditions of them often. I’d pay more for an official soundtrack than I did for the game itself, but I haven’t found one. YouTube has some playlists, though, and the game has a soundtrack player which works quite well. You can also pick a song or group for both menu time and puzzle gameplay (I went for random vocal for gameplay, random instrumental in menus).
Here’s a link to Dandan Suki Ni Natte Yuku, a favorite song.
And here’s La-Li-Lu-Le-Logic, which Tomoko and I sing constantly.
In all, I spent 45+ hours to perfectly clear all 540 puzzles in Hatsune Miku: Logic Paint S. I’d say several of those hours were just jamming out to the soundtrack. While it’s not a perfect Picross game due to a lack of options – specifically ones I and other Picross hardcores crave – it’s still a great game overall that I recommend to purists and novices alike.
Final Score: 4 out of 5
eShop Link
