Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S review

The twin-tailed songstress adds a welcome dose of visual and sonic delight to a colossal collection of nonograms in Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S.

There’s a good reason why mobile ports are generally disliked by the PC gaming community. All too often, publishers pump out lazy adaptations that fail to take advantage of more powerful hardware. Save for a few glaring oversights, that’s not the case with Crypton Future Media’s Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S. Originally released on iOS and Android in 2020, “Mikuogi” provided 225 nonograms centered around the beloved vocaloid and her friends.

Miku’s PC release weighs in at a meager 526MB. But the download is packed with substance, offering several amenities that didn’t make it into the mobile app (but were included in last year’s Switch offering). One of the biggest improvements is the number of puzzles. 345 normal puzzles range from tranquil 5×5 grids all the way up to the cerebral workout of 20×20 ones. Additionally, there are 200 15×15 special monographs, that when solved contribute to 8 immensely-sized meta-puzzles. It’s especially fulfilling to chip away at Miku mosiacs.

For a game that was centered around the world’s most popular virtual songstress, the mobile version of Logic Paint S didn’t include much of Miku’s music. Fortunately, that’s been mended here. You earn up to three stars for beating puzzles, not using hints any of the three available hints, or making mistakes. Logic Paint S lets you spend those stars on 18 unlockable music tracks. There are a few bangers like Shunki Ito ‘s “By YOUR SiDE” and MochiMochiTamago’s “Colouring*”, but don’t expect classic fan favorites like “Ievan Polkka”, “The World is Mine”, or “Senbonzakura”. While the collection of mid-tempo tracks is undoubtedly a great supplement, a few additional songs would have been quite welcome. Others might take issue with the lack of localized song names or the complication of making a customized tracklist.

Visually, the PC version Logic Paint S takes advantage of the larger screen size. Now, one of six different Piapro characters adds a bit of energy to the proceedings. Each personality cheers you along from the sidelines, jumping and swirling around like a Paper Mario character. The only detail that’s missing are distinctive animations. Everyone from the Kagamines, Kaito, to Megurine Luka all move identically. I would have loved to have seen Miku sporadically spin a leak while waiting for my next move.

At present, you’ll have to play Logic Paint S with some kind of physical controls since neither mouse nor touchscreen support is offered. With a controller the game is responsive, allowing players to swiftly paint, place checks, or mark each box without making any unintentional inaccuracies. Pleasingly, the game automatically fills in checks and greys out the numbers as you complete each row or column. In execution, the design decision helps accelerate the pace of problem-solving. And if you’re wondering, Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S plays seamlessly on Steam Deck.

Nonograms that require a guess to get the puzzle started can be discouraging, especially when you are penalized for the misstep. Fortunately, Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S plays fairly. There are some serious head-scratchers in the game. But each of the game’s 545 puzzles can be cracked open without resorting to speculation. The quality of nonogram collection is solid too. Kindly, the game avoids a linear progression, letting you skip any nonograms you’re stuck on.  Just as importantly, Logic Paint S habitually shirks the kind of symmetrical puzzles that can feel like filler.

Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S offers a sizable collection of puzzles and the lure of a serenade by the twin-tailed songstress. For vocaloid fans, that privilege will probably push the game toward requisite stratus. But just make sure you have a controller handy. Apparently, Miku doesn’t like mice.

Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.