Uma Musume Pretty Derby

 Making myself dig even deeper toward the Gacha Hell as i gave Uma Musume Pretty a try, it seems that i should consider quitting as Shikikan. The Second Season of Uma Musume is really good that it manage to make me bother to give the game a try which is still in Japanese until this time. Uma Musume Pretty Derby turns out to live up to its hype as the game dominates the Japanese gaming market by the storm after Cygames released the game early this year. To put it simply Uma Musume is a Hybrid Simulation Bishoujo game which mixes Moefied Horserace, Idols and training simulator which works out quite well somehow and not to mention the production value is Top Tier for a Gacha game. 

 In this post i will try to give some general guide to make the game easier to comprehend with the language barrier, but the game is easy enough to comprehend if you have basic knowledge of Japanese.

 In Uma Musume Pretty Derby you play as a Trainer who is tasked to train your Horsegirl to be the very best over the span of three years career. Each Horsegirl have their own respective scenario that has different checkpoints in order through the game, failing to reach the objective in the check will effectively end the session prematurely. But in essence, if you train your horsegirl well and win the horseraces that matters, the checkpoints are quite easy to complete. 

 The Game version of Uma Musume main appeal lies in the personalized experienced with the individual the Horsegirls, considering the anime version doesn't work in that structure. There is a certain charm when the Horsegirls treat you affectionately after helping them reaching the top

The gaming session of Uma Musume starts with the selection of the playable horsegirls. Each Horsegirls have their own stats, preference of Race Course and Running tactics with the latter usually tied to their special ability. The SSR Horsegirls had their own unique costumes from the start and the rest need to ascend to 3* first before getting their unique costume. The ascension systems works like Honkai Impact where you need to gather character fragment gained from gacha roll and shops which will take a while.

After picking your horsegirls, you will need to select the Inheritance and Support cards. The inheritance mechanics gained from the Horsegirls cards of the previous session which grants bonus stats and skill inheritance. Early in the beginning you don't really need to care much about the inheritance horse and just try to reach as far as possible

 As for the Support Card, there is no doubt this is the most important aspect of the preparation part. Your Main horsegirl uma musume friends and training partners are represented as Support card in this game which ultimately affects the stats growth and divided into 6 types; 5 stats attributes and 1 support type. You get 5 Cards to choose for the support deck and 1 extra from the Friendlist, ideally the composition should be balanced and the support need to align with your Horsegirl race track and tactics preference, unless you have maxed SSR Cards. While the Short-distance and Mile-Run are more lenient with the deck composition, it is really hard to get far without proper support deck with Middle and Long Distance run.

 For the main part of the game session, you will be training your horse girls most of the time while paying attention with her condition at the same time. There 5 Attributes to train which is separated into Main Stats which include Speed, Stamina, Power and Supporting stats which are Guts and Intelligence. You have to pay attention with the main stats the most as it affects directly with the Horsegirl performance. Shorter distance favor speed while the longer one favor Power but stamina need to be kept at certain level to be optimum which increases along with the running distance. The Guts and Intelligence stats serves as the random multiplier with Guts affect the performance of last spurt while Intelligence mainly have to do with skill activation rate which can be a real gamechanger.

Throughout the game you will encounter character-related and support card events which grants additional bonus stats and skill discount. The support event usually triggered after you train with the related support card participate in the training event.

As for the racing part, you can join a wide range of racing events throughout the span of 3 Years career of your horsegirl, preferably the race that suits your horsegirl specialization. The Horserace is separated into several ranks with G1 being the most prestigious. It is the main source to earn Skill Point and the only way to accumulate fans which is important as the higher race are locked until you reach certain level. Before the race starts, your winning odds are the best when your all main stats are in double circle. Ideally by the time of URA Finals your main stats need to be above 550 for good chance to win.

 After you finish the game session you will get the scorecard of your horsegirl which you can use for Inheritance of the future sessions and assembling for PVP Match which is another main part of the game. Typically with Sub-optimal support deck, your scorecard will only range around C+ to B+ level

As i have managed to finish several URA Finals properly by this time, there are some pointers that i can give to make the game experience smoother

•  During Early game always aim for the training program with the most support cards included to get the max relationship which will increase the chance of boosting the training results 
• When it comes to selecting skill to purchase, always pick the skill that suits your horsegirl tactics but do try buy them in discount rate which is why the support event is important. Depending on the inheritance and Support you can easily get 30-40% discount rate and probably even more if the support card stacks.
  
• There are Two Summer Training that last for 4 turns each in every session which your horsegirl can gain significant boost from the training. Ideally you have to make use all 4 turns for the training but 3 turns are acceptable as well. Tazuna-san, the green receptionist girl always notify you for the summer camp 2 turns in advance
  
• There are secret events that usually starts around February 2nd year which increases your horsegirl special skill level if the fans requirement met the criteria.
• So try to aim winning at the suitable G1 race events to get highest amount of fans 
• The Support type Card usually grant additional events that can be done to give bonus stats. As for Kiryuin Aoi, her event grants great amount of Skill Points as well as occasional Mood and Health boost 
• Sakura Bakushin is the most recommended starter choice for horsegirl as her route is the easiest to clear as long as you have High Speed stats. El Condor Pasa and Vodka are quite easy to use as well
  
• Prioritize rolling for Support Cards over the Horses because that will affect your gameplay experience the most. Ideally commit you gacha currency for Support Cards once you have your desired Horsegirl

 In terms of production value, there is no doubt that Uma Musume Pretty Derby is the dominant one this year and FGO definitely had another major threat. The game managed to make the characters feel lively. While there is a significant gap between F2P Players and Whales in the PVP mode, at very least it doesn't really affect the campaign mode unless you are obsessed to make Rank SS Horsegirl. At the beginning Tokai Teio and Mcqueen is the horsegirl that makes me attracted with Uma Musume Pretty Derby but Symboli Rudolf is the one that wins over me so far in the game. There is a strange sensation of happiness when your Horsegirl defied the odds and wins the race topped by the Announcer calling the horsegirl name enthusiastically.

In terms of Gacha Currency, while Uma Musume is quite generous early on, i think the free currency rate is about the same with FGO. But given the track record of Cygames, i think they can be quite generous in handouts from time to time

 If you are willing to overcome the Language Barrier, Uma Musume Pretty Derby is one of the hottest Gacha Game at the moment. The potential at the game is promising but still uncertain as the Racehorse name owner are quite fickle with how the IP being utilized. 

There is a reason why there are scarcity of R34 works of the series despite the popularity since there are rumors that the underworld involved as the strongarm to enforce the rule of no lewd works made out of Uma Musume. Probably this has to do with the horseowner interest with their thoroughbred breeding business which had its own share of dark sides. But at least the game will remain dominant for this year if nothing bad happens to Cygames. Lastly Symboli Rudolf's singing Umapyoi is not something that i expect to like so much.