Release compiles all 4 installments in series, with adjustments to graphics, story structure, quality of life
Koei Tecmo and its Gust developer announced a new release in its Blue Reflection magical girl RPG series titled Blue Reflection Quartet. The game takes all four previous works in the franchise (Blue Reflection, Blue Reflection Ray, Blue Reflection Second Light, Blue Reflection Sun), and bundles them into a new release, altering the format and story elements of some them. The release is slated for PlayStation 5, Switch, Switch 2, and PC via Steam on July 30.
Image via Blue Reflection franchise’s X/Twitter acount
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The original Blue Reflection game included in the release will have remastered graphics with updated textures, as well as quality of life features such as making the exploration speed faster, and giving players the option to speed up battles.
The version of Blue Reflection Ray adapts the anime’s story into a rearranged new format, with gameplay mechanics focused around Hiori and Ruka collecting “fragments” of memory. These fragments present the story of the anime, and show some scenes from the actual show. The game will also contain a new prologue and epilogue that will bridge the game better to both Blue Reflection and Blue Reflection Sun. The game’s story will be fully voiced, featuring re-recorded lines from the anime.
The version of Blue Reflection Sun included in the release re-arranges the smartphone game’s story, and with combat mechanics changed to be based on the Blue Reflection Second Light game. The game will include new story scenes not seen in the mobile game, as well as a new prologue and epilogue that helps tie the story to the other games. As in the original smartphone game, players play as the franchise’s first male protagonist (the franchise has an otherwise all-female cast in all the other games, with Blue Reflection Sun having the only significant male character).
The version of Blue Reflection Second Light (Blue Reflection Tie in Japan) will add a total of eight characters in the battle system originating from Blue Reflection Ray and Blue Reflection Sun. Similar to the additions to the original Blue Reflection, the game will come with new quality of life features such as making the exploration speed faster, and giving players the option to speed up battles. The game will also include new poses for characters in the photo mode.
Aside from compiling all four works, Blue Reflection Quartet also includes an interactive character relationship chart for the whole series, a timeline of events, a term glossary, and a gallery featuring past artwork for the series, as well as 20 entirely new pieces of art by the game’s character designer and supervisor Mel Kishida.
The original Blue Reflection game launched for PS4 and PC via Steam in North America and Europe in September 2017. The game shipped in Japan in March 2017 for PS4 and PlayStation Vita.
Blue Reflection Ray, the television anime based on the original game but with different characters and story, premiered in April 2021, and aired for two cours (quarters of a year). Funimation streamed the anime as it aired in Japan. The staff canceled the show’s Blu-ray Disc releases in Japan for “various reasons.”
Gust’s Blue Reflection: Second Light game launched in the West for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam in November 2021. Gust released the game in Japan in October 2021 for PS4 and Switch.
DMM Games launched the Blue Reflection Sun game for smartphone and PC via the DMM Game Player platform in February 2023. The game ended service in May 2024.
Sources: Blue Reflection Quartet’s website, Koei Tecmo’s YouTube channel
