K-Pop Idol Stories: Road to Debut Review (PS5)

I originally intended to get real creative with my K-pop Idol Stories review.

I had this idea of recreating my favourite girl group NewJeans and documenting the process, but after a few hours with this PS5 tycoon title I realised it didn’t really have the flexibility to fulfil my concept.

This isn’t necessarily a criticism of the game, but I think it’s important to understand exactly what Indonesian dev Wisageni Games is offering.

While the release does include simulation aspects, I’d say this experience more closely represents a visual novel where you’re making management decisions along the way.

You do have flexibility over the type of group you’re trying to create – I went for “cute” as a concept, putting all my chips into innovative choreography and overall charm – but you’re restricted to recruiting from a pool of just a handful of wannabe idols, and you don’t get much authorship over their personality.

The game is divided into a series of milestones, or Evaluations, which you must prepare your trainees for. On a day-to-day basis you’ll select different activities for them to do, like dancing or vocal lessons, with the results contributing to their overall stats.

There’s an enormous emphasis on RNG, so you’ll never really know the outcome of the activity until afterwards. A lot of the time, you’ll find your trainees are distracted or tired, so don’t get the full benefit of the activity.

Of course, you also need to consider their overall happiness and energy levels, so scheduling in recreational activities – like shopping and coffee breaks – is important too.

But as you progress, you’ll be able to send your trainees to audition for roles in movies or TV shows, often with a 10% or lower chance of success. I found this deterred me from even attempting them, as while I’m sure the rewards are great if you land a role, it felt more important to me to build up my trainees’ stats or set them to work making money.

I do think the presentation is generally very good, from the user interface which packs a lot of information on the screen through to the manhwa-inspired art style, which is crisp and colourful.

The game also has a genuinely fantastic soundtrack inspired by 2nd and 3rd generation K-pop groups, and I never really tired of any of the loops.

Working as a manager for WG Entertainment – I assume a parody of real-life SM Entertainment – your ultimate goal is to get your group to debut.

For those not familiar with K-pop, this is when a unit steps out of the practice room and onto the stage, usually with a carefully curated image and sound.

The game more or less ends once your group debuts, but the road to releasing your first song will be fraught with all kinds of issues: stalkers, injuries, anxiety will all force you into making difficult decisions.

I also struggled with money towards the end: I wanted to boost the fame of my group before they debuted, but I probably over-extended myself, and I ended up having to take out a loan. I think I probably could have managed this better.

In addition to being able to hang out with various different characters in order to build relationships, you’ll also need to complete minigames.

Many of these are simple, like selecting a specific drink from a vending machine using the right number of coins, but I think they add character to the title.

I personally really enjoyed cooking Korean BBQ with my trainees; this felt like a solid fit for the source material, and added a fun little distraction to the usual scheduling activities.

I think what impressed me the most about the game, even if it is a bit more rigid with the type of groups you can create than I expected, is that you have a lot of authorship over certain aspects.

Like, you can create the CD cover for your group’s first song, and even design their light stick using a variety of different components. The game seems to deeply understand all of the aspects of K-pop culture.

And while I wouldn’t say it’s deeply critical or thought-provoking, it does dig into some of the more controversial aspects of the industry, like dating bans and overly obsessed fans. I appreciated that these topics were present.

I also think the writing, while a little repetitive, isn’t bad at all. I do think this game leans heavily into its visual novel aspect, but the script is snappy and direct; I never really felt like it was wasting my time with unnecessary text.

Given the limited pool of idol personalities and the overall rigidity of what you can do, I wouldn’t say I’m desperate for another playthrough, but at $19.99/£15.99 (with a 20% PS Plus discount at launch) I think there’s just enough here to recommend.