Overview
Subtitled Over the Maximum, DJMAX trilogy is the second PC game in the DJMAX franchise (first being DJMAX Online). The word Trilogy is used to reflect that this game is a compilation of contents from DJMAX Online, Portable, and Portablde 2.
Forte Escape (Chulhee Lee) was the head producer and the sound director, with Panneh (Huunjin Cho) as the art director. This was developed in parallel to Metro Project, which involved DJMAX Clazziquai Edition, Black Square and Technika.
As of 2014, the game is remembered as the last retail PC game published by a South Korean publisher. It is estimated that about 50,000 copies were sold.
Notable Features
Nostalgia as the Theme
People familiar with DJMAX Online would immediately recognize that the overall UI design is very similar to the former game. In addition, the song selection is based on popular tracks from Online, Portable 1 and 2; a total of 121 songs. When a song is selected, on the loading screen the logo of the game in which the song was originally produced for is displayed.
Play Modes
Freestyle mode lets lets the player select any song that have been unlocked. The combo meter is continued between songs (i.e., it is not reset after each song is completed, or when game is restarted). Songs need to be unlocked by playing to completion in Stage Mode.
Stage Mode emulates the arcade experience, where a limited set of songs for each stage with a total of 4 stages plus a bonus stage.
Network Mode is an online versus mode with a lobby system.
Mission Mode provides a set of challenges that provide extra EXP and items.
Gameplay
As in other DJMAX games, Fever mode is implemented. Fever mode is activated by filling the fever gauge by hitting the notes and pressing X when filled; while fever mode is active, combo counter is multiplied (increasing from 2x to 5x every time Fever is activated while another Fever is active).
Fever system is slightly tweaked compared to the portable games on PSP. In Portable series, Fever mode, once activated, lasts about 10 seconds. In Trilogy, the duration depends on how accurate the notes are being hit.
USB Dongle-based DRM
For copy protected, Pentavision opted for a hardware-based solution. A USB dongle, called USB Profile Key, is required to launch the game. The USB key stores the player's profile data and progress; the technology used is similar to hardware used to store certificates for Internet banking in South Korea, although closed-source. Many users reported that if the dongle becomes disconnected while flashing, it led to data corruption, which resulted in loss of progress or worst, being unable to launch the game client entirely.
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