Kiniro no Corda 4

Kiniro no Corda 4 (金色のコルダ4, officially called La Corda d'oro 4) is the fully voiced continuation of Kiniro no Corda 3. It was first announced to the public on stage at Neoromance ♥ Festa Kiniro no Corda Jinnan Koukou Op.2.

The Treasure Box edition includes a book containing the game's event illustrations, a romantic message CD with characters from Seiso, a CD with the ensemble compositions, and fastener charms decorated with Kazuo Funaki's miniature character interpretations. The Platinum Box edition has the Treasure Box items with the following additions: a message memorial book with lines from this game and Kiniro no Corda 3 Full Voice Special, a romantic message CD featuring the other schools, a voiced clock, and envelopes containing in-character love letters from the main cast and clear files of each writer. Reserve either boxed edition by December 14, 2015 to receive postcards of the main romanceable cast, a custom PS Vita theme, and a serial that allows Salut d'amour to be used for in-game ensembles. The Gamecity Set includes a mock pamphlet for the weekend concerts and four metal charms. Reserve from Gamecity early to get a cleaner cloth; purchase any edition from Gamecity to receive a clear file. Various store outlets offer different pre-order bonuses.

Plot
Corda 4 is set one month after Seiso wins the national high school tournament. The protagonist and her childhood friend Kyoya enjoy the humdrum of their second year until their junior classmate Haruto invites them to take part in a weekend concert. Although the experience is hectic, the protagonist becomes hooked on live performances. She seeks to join and create ensembles with everyone she met during the summer.

Gameplay
The general premise and allure of the game echoes the beats introduced in Kiniro no Corda 2 and encore. The goal of the game is to plan and perform multiple concerts throughout the game. Returning characters will have new portraits for their winter school uniforms, concert formal wear, and casual attire. Autumn and winter festivities, such as Halloween and Christmas, are the new attractions for romance events.

Like its predecessors, the player can form ensembles using any main character for any applicable composition. Mixing between the student body of the other three schools from Corda 3 is allowed. Male partners will have friendship parameters with one another. If two men have high compatibility ratings, a secondary event between them shall be activated during practice sessions. Every possible match up between the twelve main characters will trigger a unique exchange between them.

A new feature being introduced is the mentor system. If the protagonist wants to practice alone, she has the option of asking one of five mentors for help. The player can choose to focus on improving her technical level or her expertise with the three expressions ( Elegant 清麗, Radiant 彩華, Melancholy 愁情). Effects will vary on the mentor and composition selected. Achieving a "Great Success" result boosts the selected parameters dramatically. Drawbacks to this system include potentially weak rewards and greater fatigue ratings for the protagonist.

Concerts can take place in Yokohama, Kobe or Sendai. The musical composition, the location for each concert, the stage lighting and the bouquets used to decorate the stage can affect the amount of Bravo Points (BP) awarded.

Maestro Field (MF) sequences are no longer decided on the musical composition. Each character has a MF gauge underneath them as they play in concerts. Once their gauge is filled, the player can unleash it onto the audience for the standard bonus BP.

Male character parameters are now represented on an "Approach Grid" which charts his feelings for the protagonist and the protagonist's feelings for him. Players must balance between these stats to achieve personal events. Reach the hearts scattered on the Approach Grid to unlock special lunch or snack events. The character with the highest affinity may invite the protagonist to an evening date after concerts.

Kazuo Funaki's miniature character renditions are used for character icons throughout the entire game. The field screen has been updated to be a flat 2D screen.

Downloadable content so far includes ensemble compositions.

Characters
Every character from the third title except for Aleksei returns. Here are the new characters in this entry.


 * Takumi Sunaga - romanceable character
 * Souichiro Ogura
 * Rei Takigawa - voiced by Ryu Hirabayashi, the pianist used for the game's compositions
 * Hanataro Okahori
 * Shoka Ryu
 * Len Tsukimori
 * Ryotaro Tsuchiura

Related Media
Kiniro no Corda 4 has been teased on stage at Tokyo Game Show 2015, Neoromance ♥ Halloween Party 2015 and Neoromance 20th Anniversary ♥ Finale. Voice actor interviews and event illustrations are being published in B's-Log and Dengeki Girl's Style. Attendees of Neoromance 20th Anniversary ♥ Finale could have saw a display dedicated to the game's Treasure Box merchandise.

A voice actor live broadcast was held March 8, 20:00 (JST). The four main Seiso characters acted as MCs. This was one of the games featured on the March 9 PlCas live stream.

Shortly after its public announcement, B's Log held a costume design contest. Fans could submit their ideas for the men's casual attire by either drawing it themselves or by tracing over the portrait templates. The five winning designs shall appear in the game; the winners receive assorted prizes.

The Wonda coffee collaboration is being revived for this entry.

Yokohama City's Transportation Bureau provided special Kiniro no Corda 4 and Angelique Retour bus tours in the latter half of January 2016. Corda's tour happened January 31.

A comic adaptation is being serialized in LaLa DX, starting with its March 2016 issue.

PlayStation Japan is planning to distribute limited edition Corda 4 PS Vita models, one after every school in the game. Buying this nets a PS Vita original theme and slip based on the school selected. A Twitter campaign to receive one of these models as a gift ended February 29. Interested fans were asked to Tweet their preferred character between two selected candidates. The character match ups changed at regular intervals.
 * 1) Kyoya or Myoga
 * 2) Ritsu or Tohgane
 * 3) Daichi or Toki
 * 4) Haruto or Arata
 * 5) Amamiya or Nanami

The second Twitter campaign asks interested fans to change their avatar to a Corda character and retweet a promotional Tweet of the game's trial version. Three participants can receive rubber keychains of the male cast and a special message from whoever is their character avatar.

An Animate cafe collaboration is taking place in March 2016. Fans who attend to second cafe can complete special missions for in-game BP. Go to any cafe on March 23 for a chance to receive a special Kyoya birthday bromide.

A 2016~2017 weekly school calendar includes original special messages from this game's characters.

Image Song

 * JOYFUL
 * Performed by Jun Fukuyama (Kyoya Kisaragi), Katsuyuki Konishi (Ritsu Kisaragi), Yuuya Uchida (Daichi Sakaki), Kaori Mizuhashi (Haruto Mizushima), Shunsuke Takeuchi (Takumi Sunaga), Kentaro Ito (Yukihiro Yagisawa), Masakazu Morita (Shiro Hozumi), Daisuke Kishio (Arata Mizushima), Kishio Taniyama (Chiaki Tohgane), Hideo Ishikawa (Housei Toki), Satoshi Hino (Leiji Myoga), Mamoru Miyano (Sei Amamiya), Yuki Masuda (Sousuke Nanami)

Opening song.

Allusions

 * Two of the downloadable ensemble pieces are songs from Geten no Hana (Sange) and Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 6 (Kokucho).