Info about Umamusume: Pretty Derby:

Official game description:
\-- Umamusume. They are born to run. They inherit otherworldly names, and are inspirited by dreams most dramatic and wonderful. Now, they run ever forward. That, is their destiny. No one knows how the races that lie in their futures will end. Even so, they continue to run, aiming only toward the goal in front of them.
\-- Each and every one of the runners sports a unique charm. It's up to you, the trainer, to lead them down the path of victory! You have but one goal—raise your Umamusume to her fullest potential and help turn her greatest dreams into reality. In order to reach these newfound heights, it's your job to participate in—and win—as many races as possible! Triumph awaits those who train hard and work to communicate. Only by cooperating will you take the crown!
\-- Experience the thrilling stories of historic racers, such as:
Special Week (Voice: Azumi Waki)
Silence Suzuka (Voice: Marika Kono)
Tokai Teio (Voice: Machico)
Oguri Cap (Voice: Tomoyo Takayanagi)
Gold Ship (Voice: Hitomi Ueda)
Vodka (Voice: Ayaka Ohashi)
Daiwa Scarlet (Voice: Chisa Kimura)
Mejiro McQueen (Voice: Saori Onishi)
Symboli Rudolf (Voice: Azusa Tadokoro)
Rice Shower (Voice: Manaka Iwami)
Haru Urara (Voice: Yukina Shuto)
Nice Nature (Voice: Kaori Maeda)
...and so many more—over 20 Umamusume are searching for a trainer to help them achieve their goals!
\-- Cheer for your favorite Umamusume and immerse yourself in exhilarating races and stunning performances in breathtaking 3D graphics. Up to 18 Umamusume compete in races against each other for first place—watch them go as you tune in to the game's incredibly realistic live commentary. And of course, stick around after the race to support the victor during a dazzling winning concert! Whether on the racetrack or the stage, raise the roof to each exciting new performance!

Release date: 24 Jun, 2025

Categories: Training Simulation, Management Simulation, Gacha System, Visual Novel, Racing Simulation, Character Progression, Roguelike, Idol Management


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Captivating Characters & Story (weight 0.57): The game excels in character writing, creating lovable, unique, and memorable "horse girls" with individual stories that foster deep emotional investment. The engaging narrative and lore contribute significantly to the game's overall fun and addictiveness.
- Accessible Yet Deep Gameplay (weight 0.56): The game offers a surprisingly deep and complex roguelite-style management gameplay loop with elaborate decision trees, while remaining very free-to-play friendly. Its unique gacha system is praised for being generous and player-prioritizing, avoiding common pitfalls like FOMO.
- Innovative Horse Racing Sim (weight 0.43): The game uniquely blends horse racing simulation with idol management and "waifu" elements, creating an engaging and often addictive experience. It demonstrates a deep understanding and love for real-life Japanese horse racing history, making the sport accessible and interesting even to newcomers.
- Thrilling Training & Races (weight 0.35): The core gameplay loop of training characters and watching them compete in races is highly rewarding and emotionally engaging. Players experience intense excitement and satisfaction from seeing their efforts culminate in thrilling, well-animated race victories within the compelling career mode.
- Stellar Visuals & Audio (weight 0.12): The game is consistently praised for its high-quality 3D models, stunning animations, and excellent voice acting. These production values contribute significantly to the overall immersive and enjoyable experience.
- Smooth Rerolling Process (weight 0.09): The game's rerolling system is noted for being quick, easy, and convenient. This allows players to efficiently optimize their starting experience, contributing to a positive initial impression.

Common complaints:
- Poor Game Explanation (weight 0.46): The game does an inadequate job of explaining its complex mechanics, leaving players confused and requiring external research. The tutorial itself is excessively long, non-interactive, and overwhelming, failing to effectively teach core concepts and hindering initial player understanding.
- Predatory Gacha & P2W (weight 0.42): The gacha system is described as predatory, greedy, and ruthless, demanding significant time or money investments. Progression, especially for competitive play, is heavily tied to acquiring and limit-breaking essential support cards, making the game feel pay-to-win and frustrating for free-to-play users.
- Repetitive & Grindy Gameplay (weight 0.41): Players report that the gameplay loop, particularly the career mode, quickly becomes repetitive and grind-heavy. Actions like training are monotonous, and the game demands significant time commitment for incremental progression, making it feel like a chore rather than an engaging experience.
- Excessive RNG & Low Agency (weight 0.41): The game's core gameplay is heavily reliant on multiple layers of random number generation (RNG), from training outcomes to race results. This excessive randomness often makes player choices feel meaningless and unrewarding, as effort does not consistently translate to success.
- Missing PC Features & Localization (weight 0.24): The PC version lacks expected quality-of-life features and graphics options, such as v-sync and 60 FPS settings. Furthermore, the game suffers from poor localization, including missing language support for several major regions and inconsistent translations, hindering accessibility for a global audience.
- Emotional Toll of Failure (weight 0.11): Players experience significant emotional distress and discouragement from in-game failures, such as losing races or having bad gacha luck. This can lead to feelings of depression, frustration, and even prompt uninstallation, highlighting a punishing progression system that can feel unrewarding.
- Overwhelming Visual Novel Content (weight 0.1): The game is criticized for being disproportionately focused on visual novel elements, with an excessive amount of unskippable cutscenes and dialogue. This design choice makes the game feel more like an anime or underdeveloped visual novel than an interactive game, leading to limited and often boring gameplay.
- Persistent Connection Issues (weight 0.1): Many players report widespread and persistent connection problems, specifically "Error 102," which prevents them from logging in or playing the game on both PC and mobile. This critical technical issue renders the game unplayable for affected users.
- Forced C Drive Installation (weight 0.06): The game forces its installation and data saving onto the C drive, regardless of the user's preferred game drive. This behavior is problematic for users with limited C drive space or those who prefer to manage their storage differently.
- Cluttered & Outdated UI (weight 0.06): The user interface is widely criticized for being cluttered, cumbersome, and outdated. Players describe it as having "menus within menus" and an archaic appearance, making navigation and overall user experience problematic, especially on PC.

Gameplay feedback:
- Horse Girl Training Sim (weight 0.5): The game is primarily a roguelite gacha training simulation where players raise anime horse girls (Umamusume) to compete in races and perform as idols. It blends elements of visual novels, management sims, and gacha mechanics.
- Strategic Training System (weight 0.17): The core gameplay involves a detailed training management system where players meticulously plan cycles, manage character stats (Speed, Stamina, Guts, etc.), and make decisions over a limited number of turns. Random events and support cards significantly influence training outcomes.
- Coach, Not Racer (weight 0.15): Players act as trainers or coaches, guiding their horse girls through training and events. They do not directly control the characters during races, instead observing the outcomes.
- Support Cards Crucial (weight 0.08): Support cards are highlighted as a critical element for progression and success in the game's roguelike runs, often more important to acquire than new Umamusume characters themselves. Players are advised to prioritize pulling for these cards.
- Steep Learning Curve (weight 0.07): The game is noted for its complexity and a lack of clear explanations in its tutorial, requiring players to figure out important mechanics and strategies on their own.
- Rerolling for Characters (weight 0.06): The game features a significant rerolling process, especially in the initial phase, where players spend time rerolling for specific desirable characters or support cards to optimize their starting position.
- RNG Influences Races (weight 0.06): The game features significant RNG, particularly in race outcomes, where player control is limited to preparation rather than direct action. While training increases chances, luck plays a heavy role in winning or losing.
- Comprehensive Career Mode (weight 0.03): The game includes a career mode where players train individual Umamusume characters over a set period, memorizing optimal stats and making strategic choices to achieve goals.

Performance notes:
- Variable Mobile Performance (weight 0.05): Players report a mixed experience regarding game performance on mobile devices, with some encountering stutters or lag, particularly during races. However, others find the game stable, and the Japanese DMM version is specifically noted to run smoothly.
- Request for 60 FPS (weight 0.03): Many players desire 60 frames per second (FPS) support, especially for the Steam version, as the game is currently locked at 30 FPS. An upgrade to 60 FPS is expected to significantly improve gameplay smoothness and enjoyment.
- Steam Deck Compatibility (weight 0.01): The game is reported to function normally on the Steam Deck, indicating good compatibility with the portable gaming device. This is positive feedback for players using or considering the Steam Deck.

Recommendations:
- Anime & Content Access (weight 0.4): Many reviewers suggest watching the anime series to fully appreciate the game's characters and story, indicating that familiarity with the franchise significantly enhances enjoyment. Some even suggest the anime is a better experience or that players should consider the Japanese version for more content, even recommending alternative ways to access game content like CGs and music outside of gameplay.
- Cute Horse Girl Appeal (weight 0.37): The game is highly recommended for players who appreciate cute anime horse girls and the general aesthetic of horses doing charming things. This visual and thematic appeal is a significant draw for many players.
- Performance & Stability Issues (weight 0.06): Some players cannot recommend the game due to persistent connection errors and a lack of higher FPS options. They state the game is unplayable until these technical issues are addressed.
- Monetization & Luck Concerns (weight 0.05): The game is not recommended for free-to-play players due to its perceived reliance on luck and significant spending. Reviewers warn players to be vigilant about money spent, suggesting the game is better for those who are rich or willing to grind extensively.
- Raising Sim Appeal (weight 0.05): The game is highly recommended for players who enjoy training and raising simulation games, particularly those involving stat management, optimization, and strategic planning with a degree of random outcome. It appeals to fans of titles like Princess Maker or Idol Master.
- Skill Improves with Practice (weight 0.02): Players are encouraged not to be discouraged by initial training failures, as skill and understanding of the game's mechanics improve significantly with practice. This suggests a learning curve that rewards persistence.
- Theory Crafting Focus (weight 0.01): The game appeals strongly to players who enjoy spending time theory crafting and optimizing perfect builds. This focus on strategic planning and character development is a key draw for a specific type of player.
- Missing English Commentary (weight 0.01): A specific request for English-dubbed race commentary was noted. This suggests a desire for more localized audio content to enhance immersion.
- Positive Western Release (weight 0.01): Reviewers expressed happiness and satisfaction regarding the game's release in Western regions. This indicates a positive reception for the localization effort.

Other player notes:
- Long-awaited Global Release (weight 0.36): Many players had been eagerly awaiting the global release of the game for years, often having played the Japanese version previously despite language barriers. This long anticipation shaped their initial expectations and overall excitement for the game's availability on PC and Steam.
- Unique Horse Girl Concept (weight 0.1): The game's core concept, blending real-life Japanese racehorses with anime-style girls and idol elements, is a unique and sometimes initially bizarre premise for Western audiences. Characters are based on actual historical racehorses, adding a layer of depth to the concept.
- Content Delay & New Player Barrier (weight 0.05): The global server launches with a significant content delay, approximately 4.5 years behind the Japanese version, which might affect player motivation. This delay also contributes to a high barrier to entry for new players trying to catch up with existing content and events.
- Anticipated Character Releases (weight 0.03): Players are eagerly anticipating the release of specific popular characters like Kitasan Black, Tamamo Cross, and Orfevre. These character releases are significant events for the player base, driving excitement and engagement.
- Requested Camera Features (weight 0.02): Players have specific requests for new features, such as the addition of a dynamic camera mode and a first-person experience. These suggestions aim to enhance the gameplay immersion and visual experience, similar to options available in the Japanese version.
- Cygames & Future Game Hopes (weight 0.02): The game is developed by Cygames, a well-known studio. Some players express a desire for Cygames to develop more traditional or 'real' games within the Umamusume franchise in the future, beyond the current gacha format.

Emotions:
- satisfaction (weight 0.23): Emotion: satisfaction
- enjoyment (weight 0.03): Emotion: enjoyment
- joy (weight 0.09): Emotion: joy
- frustration (weight 0.1): Emotion: frustration
- confusion (weight 0.01): Emotion: confusion
- addiction (weight 0.02): Emotion: addiction
- excitement (weight 0.12): Emotion: excitement
- disappointment (weight 0.08): Emotion: disappointment
- surprise (weight 0.03): Emotion: surprise
- anger (weight 0.02): Emotion: anger
- appreciation (weight 0.01): Emotion: appreciation
- admiration (weight 0.02): Emotion: admiration
- amusement (weight 0.02): Emotion: amusement
- anticipation (weight 0.02): Emotion: anticipation
- relief (weight 0.02): Emotion: relief}