What do pretty girls, racing, horses, and school all have in common? Usually nothing, unless you are looking at some unsavory videos out there on the internet. However, Umamusume: Pretty Derby attempted to blend all these features together and create an irresistible experience that I can’t pull myself away from, losing countless hours as an excuse for this review. I’ve followed the game since its Japanese debut in 2021, and the Western release only amplified its popularity, with the community diving deep into its mechanics to uncover new meta strategies.
The entire experience has been surreal to watch, as Umamusume has been blowing up in every corner of the internet. Fans have even gone so far as to compare each girl to the horse she’s based on, and to analyze the real-life counterparts of each race. It’s fascinating to see the community come together to celebrate our favorite new horse girls, both in their victories and their defeats.
However, is all this hype surrounding a new title that has already existed for four years in Japan worth it? Is there some secret sauce that others have missed?
Welcome to Tracen Academy
Umamusume: Pretty Derby has you take on the role of a trainer, a school employee who scouts and trains Umamusume to compete in races at Tracen Academy. However, the school has seen better days. In an effort to restore hope and morale, the new headmaster creates a special event she calls the Ura Finale. This event will feature only the most popular Umamusume in all divisions to celebrate the girls and bring attention back to the school. Now you and your trainee must complete your goals in the next three years and build a strong enough following to compete in and win the Ura Finale. Will you be able to do it?
Okay, I’ll admit it — I lied to you a little. What I just described is the story, but only for the main mode, known as Career Mode. The other story, named Main Story, is a companion to a career that follows a completely different plot. That said, there are some key similarities between the two modes. You still take on the role of a trainer, but this time, you’re managing a team on the verge of falling apart. Your goal in this mode is to recruit new members and guide them into becoming a top-tier team. I know it’s weird that there are two separate stories in the same game, but it works to a degree I was not expecting, especially since the two modes work in tandem, encouraging you to do both at an equal pace.
The driving force is that they are two entirely different styles of game; the career mode is a management sim that has events as its story, while the main story is a visual novel that uses races as a backdrop. These races are meant to limit you by not giving you any Umamusume to work with; instead, you must train them in career mode, and only then can you use them for the main story. However, you’ll receive recommendations on which Umamusume to use, along with helpful boosts for specific characters. That said, you’ll still need to rely on the gacha system to unlock each girl.
This system, for those unaware, involves locking characters and other in-game items behind a paywall with a lottery system. These work by using currency called Carats to receive characters and support cards that are important for Career mode. Umamusume: Pretty Derby does use this system, and it has been under fire as of late for its predatory aspect. However, the system, while important, won’t be holding anybody back from completing the scenario. After all, any Umamusume can rise to stardom and succeed in both Career Mode and the main story. While power creep does occur, it primarily affects Team Races. These races serve as a competitive mode where players pit their teams against one another. However, I found that this mode was secondary, and you won’t need to interact with it unless you want to rise to the top of the leaderboards.
Career mode is the star of Umamusume: Pretty Derby for one reason: the trainee stories. These are unique scenarios based on the Umamusume you chose to train. For example, my favorite is a tie between Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka, two eternal rivals, and their stories are reflections of each other. In fact, you will see the same events happen from different perspectives, giving more insight into each character. My investment in this drama surprised me, as each race I found myself physically cheering Vodka or Daiwa Scarlet forward, wanting them to win as badly as they did. This right here is exaclty what drew me to spend over thirty hours over the course of a weekend.
Race Past The Competition
How does the gameplay influence the two separate story modes? I mentioned that the main story is a visual novel with races, but what are races? These are cutscenes that the game will play with no input from you. That’s right, during a race, you can’t do anything but cheer on your Umamusume and hope they win. What determines the outcome is a mixture of five different stats: Speed, Stamina, Power, Guts, and Wits.
Each stat contributes to the race, the most obvious being speed and stamina, affecting how fast and how long the girl can run. However, the last three are nebulous initially, and truthfully, I am still unsure exactly what they do. Power, from what I can tell, affects how well your Umamusume can break out of the pack, making this important for acceleration and passing opponents. Guts is the most confusing to me, because it feels like another stamina meter, but only for the high-stress races, think the Ura Finale and similar title races.
The final stat, Wits, is another complicated stat because it affects the way your Umamusume reacts during a race and how she uses her skills. This will include starting late into the race, panicking and losing stamina, or being unable to use any skills to close out the race. This complicated stat influences so much during a race, but feels very unimportant at first, to a detrimental degree. I was losing races due to my Wits stat being too low, forcing me to readjust my training style inside career mode.
This mode is where you will spend most of your time in Umamusume: Pretty Derby. Your career is split between races, events, and training, which will raise your trainee’s stats. These training sessions are influenced by her stamina, mood, and support cards that you choose at the start of the run, which determines the Umamusume your trainee will befriend during your training sessions. These friendships enhance training sessions by allowing support characters to join in, pushing your trainee beyond her limits, and offering skill discounts that can turn the tide in races. In fact, I’d argue that having a strong set of support cards is just as important as your actual race stats.
I’d love to say the game clearly explains each stat, but in reality, it leaves you to figure most of it out on your own. There is a small hint bubble at the top of the screen that suggests what to train, and after each loss, you’ll get a reason for why your Umamusume didn’t succeed. Still, I often found myself confused, thinking I had enough stats, only to be surprised by an unexpected defeat. Once I got the hang of it, though, I could feel around how much of each stat I would need depending on how far in my career I had progressed.
The mixture of cards, skills, stats, and friends makes each run feel closer to a stat management rogue-like than anything else, because once you finish a run, your Trainee turns into a Veteran Umamusume. They will then be able to pass down their skills and stats to your new trainee, making even a failed run a step closer to winning everything. That was the draw that pulled me even further into this rabbit hole. I would scream and shout as I won, cry when I lost, and come back stronger to go even further beyond; that is satisfaction that I can’t put into words.
Let’s Go Even Further Together
Umamusume: Pretty Derby is quite the experience, and one that I know everyone who tries will instantly fall in love with. No matter whether it’s for the drama of the stories, the feeling of winning a race, or even just the cute girls. There is something here for all types of players that comes together beautifully in a package that I can’t stay away from. Every time I start a new career run, I know I’m going to be in it for hours, but I wouldn’t trade that time for anything.
After all, I was there to train my Umamusume, and I felt real joy when I first managed to qualify for the Ura Finale. Yes, this is a time commitment; however, I never once regretted it, even as I lost. I would use that frustration to start a new run, and for a free game, you have an unbelievable amount of content to go through. I encourage you, no, I beg you to download Umamusume: Pretty Derby today. I promise you won’t regret it at all.
