Earlier this year, I had a fair amount of fun with the tycoon-style visual novel K-Pop Idol Stories: Road to Debut – even if it wasn’t exactly what I expected.

However, I really don’t expect much from this new Microids effort, K-Pop Rising: Dream to Shine.

Developed by French studio Old Skull Games, it’s clearly targeting a younger audience, which I think is fine.

But this latest trailer focuses on the customisation options and rhythm gameplay, and I can’t get past the low budget artstyle, which lacks any of the flare and personality K-pop is known for.

If this was a group I dunno who I’d compare it to… Maybe Kiss of Life because it looks like it could do with a jolt of energy to me.

The campaign will plot your rise from wannabe to stardom, so I suppose that might be interesting. It also says you can make it as a soloist or as part of a group, with a co-op mode included.

I dunno, though.

While it’s unquestionably overproduced, there’s an undeniable spark behind K-pop that leads to all kinds of creative “concepts”.

This game, to me, just looks like a Roblox level.

It’s out on 5th November, and I’ll potentially review it. (Assuming they send me a code after reading this article, obvs.)