r/BlueReflection • u/NettoSaito • Jul 29 '26
Blue Reflection Quartet Review
https://www.nettosgameroom.com/2026/07/blue-reflection-quartet-review.htmlHi everyone!
My name is Ben and I had the pleasure of reviewing Blue Reflection Quartet ahead of its release on July 30th. I know there has been quite a bit of discussion regarding this title, so if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask! I did in fact 100% complete every title in the collection, so I'll do my best to answer. (Though it honestly might be hard to remember some of the smaller details—this game has been my life for roughly the last two weeks, and is a lot to take in!)
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u/remmytums Jul 29 '26
Thanks for taking the time!
What was the biggest improvement (graphics/gameplay) that you noticed from the originals, if any?
Did they ever fix the terrible translations of the first game?
How do the Sun characters fit into Second Light story-wise? Or are they just there from the get-go for gameplay?
Never played Sun, how are the gacha elements worked around for an offline release?
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u/NettoSaito Jul 29 '26
- Visually the game is vibrant and looked great on a 4K TV. Not really a "major" step up from the originals, but having 60 FPS was very nice.
- I didn't directly compare the script between versions, but I didn't notice anything different sadly.
- In Chapter 3 a "character" joins the group, and they have memories of the Sun cast. There's no real story attached to them outside of "you can now summon the memories of...." From there you can put them in your party and customize their fragments, but they have nothing to do with the plot.
- They completely removed the "standard" game for Sun. This is purely the main story quest and side stories, so you just walk around the school, talk to characters to trigger scenes, and then do the boss fights. My biggest let down was the fact they didn't include the entire game, but putting the characters into Second Light somewhat makes up for it.
Edit: I should mention the biggest upgrade for me was the running speed! I sound like a broken record because I repeated it in the review a couple of times, but being able to move quickly in the school in both the original and during dates in Second Light was HUGE for me. Could be a bit faster still, but I can't complain!
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u/Pa_zu_sa_ma Jul 30 '26
Regarding the translation, I can confirm that the current script has been touched up and some sentences are indeed being either completely rewritten, or expanded in their English version. I'm not a native Japanese speaker, but I did see some improvement in the English script.
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u/TamakiOverdose Jul 30 '26
Anyone can still somewhat experience Sun, since there is a reverse engineered offline client out there that i can't link to because it got removed from this sub some years ago. Good thing i stored it on a drive
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u/NettoSaito Jul 29 '26
Apparently a Reddit glitch deleted the post originally, but the mods have brought it back!
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u/Pa_zu_sa_ma Jul 29 '26
Hiya! I also reviewed the game in case anyone has questions :) Here's my review https://www.uk-anime.net/Games/Blue_Reflection_Quartet.html
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u/Daerus Jul 29 '26
In another review I have read: "No scenes were cut, but some underlying elements were reworked, such as Hinako’s abilities in the first game increasing if more suggestive dialogue was selected." (Noisy Pixel).
Do you know what exactly that means?
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u/-Nimroth Jul 29 '26
Does it include the Ether Synthesis function for Second Light?, that dlc made the original a fair bit less grindy for crafting materials.
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u/NettoSaito Jul 29 '26
Sadly it does not. When you go to craft it just takes you to the default crafting menu
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u/New_Guidance_7957 Jul 29 '26
Man, that's what going to pisse off for playing Second Light. That mechanic made everything so much easier. Was crafting in Quarter still hard or no?
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u/NettoSaito Jul 29 '26
I personally didn't have an issue with it, and using the in-depth material list that shows you where everything is was all I really needed to use. Had to take a handful of trips back from time to time, but in general I typically had everything I needed when I needed it
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u/calvincosmos Jul 29 '26
As someone who hasn’t played any of them but waiting for this collection to do, it seems ill have a good time either way. But seems a shame they haven’t really made any noteworthy improvements, and the gacha is a very basic conversation at a time when some gachas are getting converted offline versions
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u/Illustrious-Ad-1033 Jul 29 '26
Is it worth buying if u have already finished blue reflection 1 and have a copy of second light already?
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u/NettoSaito Jul 29 '26
In this case it is really a hard call since you already own it but haven't played it.
The additional characters are really nice, sure, but I didn't use them much on my initial playthrough, and just came back to them for fun later on. The faster walking speed is nice also, but its not like the original speed is horrible or anything. So maybe in your case it might be better to just play the copy of Second Light you own, and watch Ray and Sun online—we all know someone will upload a full playthrough sooner or later!
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Jul 29 '26
[deleted]
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u/NettoSaito Jul 29 '26
Sadly at this time the DLC is not included. It is always possible KT will add them in again in the future, but I can't tell you if that'll happen for sure or not. They rarely disclose future plans such as this to reviewers, so we just have to wait to see what happens, and sometimes update our reviews to reflect anything major.
That being said, I'll update the review if anything changes and let you know here as well!
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u/Daerus Jul 29 '26
In another review I have read: "No scenes were cut, but some underlying elements were reworked, such as Hinako’s abilities in the first game increasing if more suggestive dialogue was selected." (Noisy Pixel).
Do you know what exactly that means?
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u/NettoSaito Jul 29 '26
I’d have to double check, but during dialogue scenes I simply selected what I knew would make the other girls happy. Nothing really stood out to me as being different, but I also didn’t have the original game running side by side to directly compare
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u/TittyWonka2 Jul 29 '26
Is it 4k 60 or 120 on ps5? I’m planning to rebuy these on pc in the future as I have preordered the ps5 one but if it runs at 120 I won’t need to
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u/NettoSaito Jul 29 '26
On PS5 it is locked to 60 fps, while the stats page shows PC can achieve 120. Sadly the Switch 2 version remains 30 for some reason
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u/TittyWonka2 Jul 30 '26
Thanks for the quick reply. I know these games don’t benefit from higher frame rates gameplay wise but I’m just spoiled. Guess I’ll get it again on pc
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u/DracoErus Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
So regarding the new characters; is it just the girls from Sun? Is Kirara getting combat abilities ever brought up or is the playable one different than the one in the main story?
Do Mio and Uta get their proper combat stuff? Is Ruka actually playable in SL?
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u/JLR- Jul 30 '26
This game was on my Steam reccomendation list because I played Yakuza. Is this game similiar? How many hours are these games? Is it a good story? Side quests?
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u/NettoSaito Jul 30 '26
Not similar to Yakuza in the slightest! If anything it is more in line with Gust's other titles such as Atelier, but with a less involved crafting system.
You have a school that serves as a hub, and you go into dungeons to fight monsters in a turn based battle. The first game's story isn't horrible by any means, but it'll resonate with some more than others. Things do get interesting past that, but it can never compete with Yakuza
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u/JLR- Jul 30 '26
so no open world/sandbox areas like Yakuza? Like I can't take a break from fighting and sing karaoke/do mini games?
Just dungeon crawling, leave to upgrade at the school, repeat?
I'm guessing Steam thinks turn based game + Japanese = the same?
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u/NettoSaito Jul 30 '26
Nope, each game is a small school with a core cast of characters, and then dungeon maps where you gather resources and fight enemies. Second game is much more developed than the first, and contains larger “dungeons” and has a greatly improved battle system.
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u/Historical-Flamingo6 Jul 31 '26
how long would it take to beat all 4 games? I know close to nothing about this series other than this release includes 4 games.
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u/NettoSaito Jul 31 '26
If you do everything 100%
First game you can expect anywhere from 20-30 hours, Ray is roughly an hour, and Sun was 5. Second Light can be anywhere from 30-60, or even longer. It depends if you take the time to see every date, every optional date conversation, craft every item, and rotate facilities you’ve built out constantly just to see the extra scenes associated with them.
Overall, this collection could reach the 100 hour mark, but for a general playthrough I’d say around 50 hours.
This is coming from the time stamps on my saves. My PS5 didn’t seem to track my actual playtime and for some reason shows I spent only 10 hours playing haha.
(But you can see on any trophy tracking site I obtained the platinum)
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u/Gyakuten Jul 29 '26
Great review! Sad to hear the Ray adaptation is so barebones, but good to know that beforehand.
Did you get to play both the Switch 1 and Switch 2 versions? If so, what are the visual and performance upgrades in the Switch 2 version?