An English release of Umamusume: Pretty Derby has been announced, with a demo having been available at Anime Expo on 4-7 July 2024. A huge hit in Japan, the franchise has also been steadily gaining popularity outside of the country as well.
What is Umamusume?
Umamusume: Pretty Derby is a media mix series about anthropomorphized race horses (the titular “Umamusume,” literally meaning “horse girls”) spanning anime, manga, and video games, with the flagship title of the series being the free to play game for iOS, Android and PC (via DMM) of the same name, which this article is about.
While the theme of the game is of course horse racing, it is not a racing game: Rather, its main “Career” mode is a raising sim with roguelike elements, in which players train an umamusume for the first three years of her career, focusing on building her stats and achieving set goals.
The umamusume have designs and personalities based on real racehorses, often incorporating anecdotes, traits, and elements from the horses and occasionally their jockeys or owners. Additionally, since horses from different generations coexist as umamusume, this allows for dream teams and matchups.
While the game draws from historical events, players can and often will change the outcomes of these events, making it enjoyable for fans of Japanese horse racing as a collection of alternate history stories: Many of the goals set in each character’s Career mode draw from historical races, some of which the horse they are based on might have lost, and the player is thus given chances to change history. There are even secret story events hidden behind participating in certain races or achieving certain goals that might have been unthinkable for the characters’ real-world horse counterparts.
While the umamusume remain a constant, each character’s Career mode story (and also the various media like the anime) exists in its own world, creating a multiverse-like setting where different race outcomes and relationships can occur without too many contradictions.
There is also of course the unavoidable topic of monetization. Umamusume: Pretty Derby is a free to play game, with monetization implemented in the form of gacha, which is used to obtain new characters and support cards. That being said, players, especially new ones, are given ample amounts of the “jewel” gacha currency as rewards for a myriad of different achievements, and the game is not very demanding compared to the monetization schemes in many other contemporary free to play games.
For players who get into the game seriously, there is also a monthly 800 JPY (~USD$5) premium pass that gives the player 1700 jewels, worth 3400 JPY (~USD$20) if purchased, in addition to a large number of other rewards including tickets that can be used to obtain two max rarity support cards, and a 1000 JPY (~USD$6.50) daily jewel pack that yields 2000 jewels worth 4000 JPY (~USD$25). A 10-pull from the gacha costs 1500 jewels, but assigning a monetary value is of course difficult due to the number of free jewels given out as rewards from various achievements. The game also frequently implements sales (usually 33% off) on the gacha currency, and gacha banners with guaranteed max rarity characters or support cards.
Gameplay
Most of the gameplay in Umamusume is found in Career mode, a roguelike raising simulation game in which the player has three years (divided into turns, with each month consisting of two turns) to raise an umamusume while hitting specific goals.
Career mode lets the player choose from multiple scenarios (something like campaigns), each of which has its own story, goals and unique systems, and the chosen character also has their own story events and goals.
Clearing Career mode with a character allows the player to race that character in other modes for rewards, which means that simply clearing the mode is not enough: Much of the meat of the game is in trying to get the right stats and skills for the perfect build for the type of race you want to participate in.
Each character has their different starting stats and growth bonuses, skills, and aptitudes for different courses, race lengths, and running styles, and making builds is complicated by how stat bonuses and skills can be influenced by inheriting “sparks” from previously raised characters (clearly inspired by horse breeding in similar games) and support cards.
This is especially true in the case of skills, where inherited sparks and random events from support cards give the player hints, going up to level 5, which make the skill available to be learned to the current character, with the level reducing the skill point cost needed to learn it. There is a lot of RNG involved, and while you can influence the chances of getting skill hints to a degree, there is never an absolute guarantee that you will get one (outside of the character’s few own unique skills and certain ones that can be learned from scenario story events).
Stats
The various stats are given numerical values and different characters have different starting stats and growth bonuses (percentage bonuses for increases in certain stats; the total bonus is 30%, but how this is distributed varies). Each stat also has a cap determined by the scenario.
- Speed: Determines maximum speed.
- Stamina: Determines ability to maintain maximum speed.
- Power: Determines acceleration and ability to get through when the path is blocked by other umamusume.
- Guts: Determines ability to compete with other umamusume for advantageous positions.
- Wit: Determines skill activation and ability to avoid the “kakari” status effec which increases stamina use.
Aptitudes
Aptitudes are given alphabetical ratings starting with G and going up to A, followed by S.
Track: Turf and Dirt.
Distance: Sprint, Mile, Medium, Long
Style: Japanese horse racing has four common styles. These are terminology specific to Japanese horse racing, as there are many different terms used throughout the world with variations depending on country and region; even in English there are widely differing terms in the US and UK, and as such, the English version’s translations have slightly different nuances from the original Japanese.
- Nige (逃げ): Emphasis on taking the lead early and maintaining it, as if running away from other horses. Translated to “front” in the English version.
- Senkou (先行): Staying close to the front, looking to overtake the lead. Translated to “pace” in the English version which is inaccurate as “pace setter” it implies leading. Closer to Stalking or Pressing in English horse racing terminology.
- Sashi (差し): Staying around the middle or back for most of the race and making a strong move to overtake the leads in the later stages. Translated to “late” in the English version which captures the idea, but “Closer” is an English term that fits.
- Oikomi (追込): Running at or near the back to conserve stamina for most of the race before making a very powerful charge at the end to overtake the leads. Translated to “end” in the English version. This is a nuanced variant of the English racing term “Closer”.
Aptitudes help determine what stats a player should focus on. For example, an umamusume specializing in nige and sprint/mile races might not need that much stamina and instead want to focus on speed and guts, while one using sashi or oikomi might want to focus on power.
Additionally, some skills have specific requirements for activation which would require focusing on a certain stat (for example, one that has to have the umamusume not go into kakari at any point would necessitate high wit), and conversely, some skills might be able to cover for low numbers in a certain stat such as ones that raise speed or recover stamina.
After Career Mode
Once the player has completed career mode with a character, that character is considered “completed” and can no longer raise their stats or learn new skills. In exchange, they are allowed to participate in various other modes such as daily races, events, legend races, and PVP races.
Tips for Beginners
Try all the scenarios: While the game recommends that new players start with the first “URA Finals” scenario in Career mode, don’t take this too seriously: The first scenario is only the simplest (in terms of mechanics), not the easiest, and some of the later ones are actually easier and give characters better stat boosts and skills, and they are not that much more complex. Additionally, each of the scenarios has its own pool of one-time rewards, so it’s better for new players to try and get as many of these as soon as possible rather than focus on one scenario.
Diversify your repertoire: Don’t focus on training the same character again: Train all sorts, because this will give you a wide variety of sparks and make it easier for you in the long run. Having a full team covering the different race distances will also make it easier to participate in events and PVP.
Don’t neglect support cards: They’re where the majority of your skills come from, so pay attention to what they’ll give you.
Follow other players: Following other players lets you borrow their support cards and rent their characters for inheriting sparks in Career mode. Following high-level players will give you a huge advantage when you’re new to the game.
A complex-looking system and ample use of racing-related terminology might make Umamusume seem hard to get into, but both the system and terminology are actually fairly straightforward. As a raising sim, the gameplay is naturally not for everyone, but fans of the genre should definitely give it a try.
