Mojib Ribbon

Overview

Mojib Ribbon is a rhythm game developed by NanaOn-Sha for the PlayStation 2 that was released only in Japan. A spiritual successor to NanaOn-Sha's PlayStation 1 game Vib-Ribbon, Mojib Ribbon is centered around rap music, with the gameplay revolving around controlling one of several characters as they use a mystical calligraphy brush to write lyrics in time to the beat of each song. Each character sings the song in Japanese as they write it using a computerized voice if the player's timing is correct. Depending on the player's performance in the game, their character can either rank up to higher states of being or transform into lesser and lesser creatures until they lose the round. Additionally, the game has prominent text input features, at first used to provide some supplemental player content to predetermined songs before eventually being used to outright compose entire songs.

Gameplay

Playing each song in Mojib Ribbon is done entirely with the right stick on the PlayStation 2 controller. Lyrics for every song are broken up into different chunks with noticeable start and end points. Right before reaching the starting marker, the player is supposed to press up on the right stick to lift their calligraphy brush in the air and recharge its ink level and then quickly press it down right as the character is passing over the marker. The brush then either has to be held down until a gap after the writable area is reached, which is when the right control stick is supposed to revert to the neutral position in the center, or another starting marker is reached and the ink is recharged again before more lyric writing commences. Each stanza also has an ending marker that requires the player to quickly press up in timing to the music to move on to the next part of the lyrics. This general cycle is repeated across multiple stanzas until the end of the song is reached. After a song is completed, the player's score is calculated and then, when necessary, additional gameplay features and story modules are unlocked.

In addition to the main rhythm gameplay, the player is also regularly able to insert their own writing into the game and play it out in timing to preset music. Initially, this is limited to small text strings that the game requests the player to fill out as a consequence of the plotline. However, the player eventually unlocks the ability to rewrite the lyrics for any of the songs that they've unlocked in the game. Although text input is possible with the controller via a special use of the two control sticks that enables the player to quickly access every hiragana and katakana character, with a kanji converter also included. It's also possible to compose rap lyrics using a USB keyboard. With an Internet connection, players can also compose messages to each other and send rap lyrics that can then be downloaded and played in the game.