Me when a game is full of references:
just NAMING something ISN'T a JOKE !!!!! PICK up a PEN and start WRITING actual CONTENT !!!!! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

me when every single reference is about something i really like:
oh my god... 😊😊😊 they like that... 😊😊😊 i also like that 😊😊😊.... can't wait to see an interview later talking about some minor details I may have missed 😊😊😊... videogames are art this is so cool... 😊😊😊

Playing Hi-Fi Rush feels like reading the first volume of a comic about a brand new superhero, unburdened by expectations.

There's such an obvious, whole-hearted commitment to creating a world that runs on music that I found myself bobbing my head and tapping my foot to literally nothing an hour after I put this one down. Rhythm is so thoroughly baked into this game's DNA that, after a certain point, it becomes more difficult to do things off beat than on it. It's got charm and earnestness that quiets my impulse to nitpick. Everything is music in some way, and every element snaps into place on a beat - UI elements, footsteps, enemy attacks, YOUR attacks, item pickups. Cohesive and confident enough that I would almost believe it if you told me it was somehow an influence on every rhythm genre hybrid that came before it. Feels like a game from 3 hardware generations ago, and I mean that in the best way possible.

The Devil May Cry format, set up as a rhythm game - and while its not uncommon for the game to fail you for QTEs, the real magic lies in how Hi Fi ties every aspect of the game to the beat. Encouraging (instead of strictly requiring) rhythm promotes a groove within players, a sense that with every action they take they are jamming along with the game - achieving a potent and unbelievably addictive sense of flow when synchronized.

Frankly, I think Hi Fi’s aesthetic would otherwise be a liability for me. Garish color palettes, generic and undiverse enemy design, even the music selection is not my favorite. The supreme, engrossing nature of the combat puts me on a wavelength that elevates every other aspect of the game, I can forgive significant holes in the character writing because I am actually, literally vibing. Any mission thats mostly a gauntlet of enemies is a great time - the opposite of how I usually feel about the genre.

𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘢!

Hi-Fi Rush é um caso especial, muito especial. Pouquíssimas vezes somos concebidos e presenteados com surpresas tão positivas, mas quando isso acontece literalmente do nada, sem qualquer tipo de marketing ou informação, beira a insanidade.

A aventura rítmica de Hi-Fi Rush se baseia em uma certa simplicidade, mas ao mesmo tempo, também carrega consigo uma raridade tremenda.

Mesmo que grande parte de suas mecânicas sejam de fato simples, assim como sua história, o "simples" é trabalhado de forma tão incrível, mas tão incrível, que acaba por se tornar único, especial, uma raridade.

Além de contar com um elenco de personagens extremamente carismáticos e bem construídos, que carregam a narrativa com boas doses de humor, Hi-Fi Rush tem um dos combates mais satisfatórios dos últimos tempos.

Todo o cenário, todos os inimigos, o próprio Chai, o protagonista do jogo, tudo reage de maneira perfeita em sincronia com as batidas musicais de cada uma das fases. A frase: "Dançar conforme a música" se encaixa perfeitamente nessa situação.

Chai, Peppermint, Korsica, Macaron, 808 e CNMN, guardarei todos eles com muito carinho na minha memória.

Existe apenas uma verdade absoluta na realidade em que vivemos, o ser humano acha que não precisa jogar Hi-Fi Rush até experimentar Hi-Fi Rush.

Miss a beat in Hi-fi Rush and Chai will attack on beat anyway. It’s probably unreasonable to expect it to punish this sort of thing in the same ways that other rhythm action hybrids like Patapon, Metal Hellsinger or Cadence of Hyrule do, because it’s so notable in part specifically for being so different from everything else, but there’s being different and then there’s being disincentivisingly handholdy. It’s a symptom of a larger problem – Hi-fi Rush seems almost afraid of allowing the player to fail.

With a scarce few exceptions like one of the final boss’ more belligerent attacks, the contrast between proper timing and mistiming in Hi-fi Rush isn’t success versus failure, it’s success versus negligibly less success. It’s true that enough mistimed attacks can detract from your final rank, but this is inconsistent with how assist attacks contribute to your score despite not requiring any timing at all (exacerbated by their charitable cooldowns), as does an offbeat jump if it ‘avoids’ an enemy’s attack that was nowhere near you anyhow, and the penalty’s so minor it’s hard to notice. Rhythm Master difficulty goes some way toward assuaging all this by giving you an immediate game over if your rhythm meter falls below C, but it’s not hugely impactful because of the aforementioned inconsistencies, while the fact that it’s only available after beating the game also makes the common action game mantra of “the first playthrough is the tutorial” feel unfortunately literal.

As another example of this, Hi-fi Rush affords the player a generous helping of attack magnetism, or whatever you prefer to call the melee equivalent of aim assist that’s particularly common in western action games. Chai’s mobility is so rigid that I imagine the designers may have felt the absence of this might’ve led to a frustrating amount of dropped combos. Even still, it’s at best unnecessary given that Chai already has an equivalent of Nero’s Snatch from DMC4 & 5, and at worst a net negative for how it diminishes positioning. It doesn’t stop Hi-fi Rush from getting better as you yourself do, like any other worthwhile action game, but being able to both feel and see the developers artificially nudging things in your favour like this does cheapen the appeal of getting to grips with what is, in the grand scheme of things, quite a cool combat system.

Apparent influences from other action games, like its equivalent of Astral Chain & Bayonetta 3’s wink attacks, lend themselves naturally to the combat’s rhythm-based formula and complement the game’s lovely presentation well. Environmental doodads bounce to the beat like in Metal Hellsinger, diegetically communicating helpful information to the player not only in terms of timing but also because enemies always attack to the beat, which ensures consistency on their part (albeit hampering their ability to surprise you). Another caveat to the combat’s strengths, though, is that there isn’t really enough of it, at least until you unlock Rhythm Tower i.e. the Bloody Palace analogue.

Most levels in Hi-fi Rush are very long by action game standards and a hefty proportion of nearly all of them consists of platforming segments. This sounds inoffensive in a vacuum, particularly for a genre in which “gimmick” seems to be a dirty word in most people’s minds, until the stiffness of Chai’s movement and the absence of a proper bossfight for two or three entire chapters in the game’s midsection make it apparent how drawn-out these sections often are. The latter feels especially deflating because the bosses that are here are of a really high standard, being diverse both visually and mechanically, with a huge amount of effort and artistry gone into even just the freezeframes in their introduction cutscenes. I’d much rather have had a couple more of them than be Letz Shaked twice in a row.

What makes it feel especially disappointing to be part of the internet’s propensity for contrarian armchair criticism, aside from the fact that Hi-fi Rush couldn’t be any more up my street conceptually, is that it isn’t a game that deserves to be ragged on like this. At the end of the day, this is a new IP in an historically niche genre that’s feature-complete out of the box, bereft of tonal carcinogens like irony or cynicism, stuffed with substantial post-game unlocks and has Korsica in it. It’s just also one which is eclipsed several times over in depth, variety, pacing and general well-consideredness by any number of other action games both modern and from the period it’s a love letter to, which don’t tend to lack for sincerity, charm or bonus content in the first place.

Is it funny, deserving of success and easy to recommend to anyone interested in action games despite this? Yup. Is it the best action game ever, as suggested by its average rating here (at the time of writing) and elsewhere? That's kind of wild. I’m potentially open to the idea that Hi-fi Rush is in the top seven or so best games that Masaaki Yamada has worked on.

More firmly, I’m genuinely delighted that Tango’s thrown its hat into the action game ring and that doing so’s rewarded its clearly, transparently talented staff with their most unambiguous success so far. I’d love even more to be able to speak of them in the same vein as Capcom or Platinum or Team Ninja who, barring one or two semi-recent and enormously overemphasised missteps apiece, have long comprised a reliable triumvirate of quality action experiences which light up my frontal lobe in a way few other developers can. How often I found myself smiling during Hi-fi Rush’s cutscenes and character interactions versus actually playing the game means that I can’t yet, but it’s still promising enough to be indicative of their potential to someday join them on stage as one of the action genre’s rockstars.

Tango, what do you think you're doing. After three games of the purest, unadulterated mid you can't just drop this joyous, gen 6-ass, best action game in a decade out of nowhere.

If you go looking for it, there is stuff to complain about in Hi-Fi Rush. The mid-game isnt nearly as good as the first few or last few chapters, the combat feels like it has a relatively low skill ceiling compared to the absolute peak of the genre, I think it could have done with a few more licensed tracks, the assists are a bit clunky to use, and it feels like Tango didnt quite have the time or budget to put everything they wanted in. But I don't really care about that.

Y'know what i care about? When the game throws me through window, sticks me with a room of enemies and the world pops off to one of my favourite tracks from when I was 15. God, what the hell, it actually did that.

Hi-Fi rush's world moving to the rhythm, and the sheer enthusiasm of it all could have probably carried a game with combat of something like DMC1 or even a Ratchet and Clank, but the combat here is legitimately fantastic. I guess having Masaki Yamada - old guard from Capcom's Clover team and platinum's glory days - as lead game designer helps, but you could honestly make a case for this being his finest achievement. Not quite up to Bayonetta 1 combat, sure, but I don't feel bad about mentioning it in the same breath, which is insane for this stupid gimmick idea for an action game. I have no reservations saying its a miles better action game than DMCV, for instance.

And y'know, I even liked the characters and dumb jokes, most of the time. Yes, a lot of that is just Korsica and Macaron's accents, don't at me.

Tango has really captured lightning in a bottle here. Mad respect for Shinji Mikami and crew for fostering such a "Not 2023" concept, and also someone should help them because Director John Johanas is clearly a master manipulator to get everyone on side for this.

This game mixes the textual and metatextual sense of spectacle in an admirable way.
Combat aside, it is very little spontaneous, despite being an action game. Everything has its tempo, and that leads to a routine.
Jump here when the obstacle allows it, shoot at this grid target, destroy the wall when the circles say so. Not my ideal adventure.
But
Overthrowing a megacorp requires a plan, and in the capitalist world there is very little room for freedom, for expression, to explode with music and colors... Does it have any aesthetic sense?
Poetry is made through its structure: the idea of ​​visuals that seem to be ripped from a Jetix mid 2000 show in an explosive and colorful action game, driving a happy and carefree protagonist who literally has music in his heart and perceives The world through it, fight against machines and managers through offices and automated production floors brandishing a guitar made of scrap, which, strangely enough, takes on a pristine and ideal appearance the more we fight.
Although of course, it is better if we stick to the tempo that the world marks us (literally).
wow.
A very current dichotomy for those of us who grew up in the 2000s with the new wave of 3d action games -the misnamed """"hack n slash character action game stylisssh""" - with the new music distribution formats through Internet, the anime fansub booms and, above all, with the promises of a better future, social, labor and technological.
It doesn't matter if we look back in the days or to the future, now it sounds like utopia.
-----------------------

- Remake in the form of a mashup is something that attracts me. I see it as more honest reinterpretation than trying to be "the new standard" by holding on to past ideas.
It allows authors/programmers to be recognized as people and establishes links of understanding with them and with a medium without a real canon.
For me, Hi fi Rush is closer to Bravely Default, Tunic, Assault Spy or Spark The Electric Jester 3 than Hollow Knight, Drainus or anything from Team Ladybug because it rips off a piece of time and to articulate a fantasy that goes back to a happy and fleeting time (the truth is that at the governmental and economic level the 2000s were pretty fucked up in their last stretch) not to entrench themselves in them, but to introspect how memory is intermingled with the present. and it only takes a couple of hours of gameplay to understand this.

I guess I see it similar to all those people who say "wow its like ps2 game!"
maybe.


I haven't had a chance to play Astral Chain but I think it's beautiful that Taura ripped a piece of Japanese pop culture from Tokusatsu and Sci-fi anime (misunderstood as "cyberpunk") and made a game where the simple activity of watching and walking the streets is on the same level as the action.
Build their universes based on formative references or young fetishes. Because nowadays, how many adults have time to discover and be as passionate as when they were children? It's not vulgar nostalgia, it's the sad life cycle that some people find themselves in.

-Although I think that the planning of the game and its fiction point to the precarious and inhuman reality in which we live, articulated as a capitalist critique for children (this is good), everything is too scripted. Not condescending, patterned.
Navigating the stages is a tedious low-key and unsophisticated score, while the combat is a good jam session where finding your own rhythm and fitting it in with the world becomes a wonderful thing.

Although to be honest, this part of combat is not something new
At least if, like me, you grew up with Bloody Palace and God Hand while your mother listened to bootleg CDs of Sleater Kinney and Linkin Park at high volume?
I don't know, I don't see this being the game I return to repeatedly with my mixtapes... in a few years maybe

But I like this game, it's not the passion project they're trying to sell us, but it certainly has passion on it.
and bonus points for using Whirring as a killer track.
lovely

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2BUEzdjfpY

My personal GOTY for 2023. So much personality, so much charm, with phenomenal gameplay. The game basically turns the whole action game genre on its head with its rhythm mechanics. Controls are tight, precise and fluid, combo and special move executions literally always feel rewarding. The game is always keeping itself fresh by rewarding the player with exciting boss fights, a consistent flow of new mechanics that add to the game's superb action-rhythm gameplay, and charming characters. Lastly (and almost the most important part), the game has an excellent soundtrack. Play this game!!!

     ‘Is that code for ‘Chai forgot the plan again’?’

Whether it was Final Fantasy VII (1997) or Jet Set Radio (2000), to name but a few, a noteworthy proportion of the video games of the late 1990s and early 2000s featured avowedly anti-capitalist themes, in contrast to the unbridled consumerism typical of the era. The two titles mentioned were formative for much of the industry, due to the visual and gameplay legacy they left behind. Tokyo-to is a maze of streets framed by large buildings, while Midgar is dominated by the Shinra Tower, which looms over the shantytowns at its feet. The representation of capital through the verticality of glass buildings is characteristic of the genre, revealing rebellious individuals in the shadow of capitalist madness. While reveling in its shimmering and humorous atmosphere, Hi-Fi Rush is largely inspired by these two titles, interlacing numerous references to video game classics, from Xenogears (1998) to Undertale (2015).

       Light topics and seamless gameplay

The player assumes the role of Chai, a young man who decides to take part in Project Armstrong to replace his defective arm with a mechanical prosthesis in the hope of becoming a rockstar. An accident during the procedure leaves his walkman inside the energy core that powers his arm, making him a defect in the eyes of the Vandelay company. Defending himself against the company's robots, he meets Peppermint, who is investigating SPECTRA, a mysterious Vandelay project that would allow an AI to control anyone with a Project Armstrong prosthesis. Chai, Peppermint and their comrades are forced to infiltrate Vandelay's offices to confront the heads of the various departments and obtain their key, the only way to stop SPECTRA.

This relatively light-hearted take on anti-capitalist and transhumanist themes works within the framework of a music-driven city. The world constantly vibrates to the tempo of the music Chai is listening to, with colourful stimuli constantly helping to immerse the player in the music. These visual cues serve as crutches for the gameplay, which revolves around the concept of rhythm; since all attacks must be performed on the beat to receive a damage bonus, and all defensive actions must likewise be executed on the beat to succeed, it is essential to guide the player elegantly. Hi-Fi Rush succeeds in creating an environment that, without being too overwhelming, manages to convey essential information to the player. For those who are really struggling, it is possible to activate a bar that pulsates the tempo to provide a more explicit visual representation.

From the first few minutes of play, the title achieves a very natural flow, inviting the player to mix light and heavy attacks to plan combos. To achieve this, Hi-Fi Rush opts to have all attacks fall on the beat, regardless of the player's timing. This approach makes fights generally predictable, as it allows the player to prepare for the opponent's attacks one measure in advance. It is possible to anticipate moments when a dodge or parry will be necessary, allowing a combo of the right length to be placed in between. This situation is very common in the first half of the game, emphasising the importance of good positioning. Chai's low base speed, although compensated for by the magnetic grapple, forces the player to be strategic in the way they approach enemies: splitting or grouping them will help to perform specific combos and get better scores. At the beginning of the game, it is particularly useful to master the Triple Dodge, an effective way of quickly repositioning oneself while avoiding a strong enemy attack.

       Going off-beat: how to reward an aggressive approach

Gameplay shifts halfway through the game as the player unlocks all the companions that can be summoned by Chai in battle. Their actions work in synergy to provide powerful crowd control tools. This assist mechanic radically changes the way the game is played: the special thing about them is that they can be used outside the beat of the music. Certainly, some assists need to be timed for counters and Overkills, but these are somewhat unique actions. In most cases, it is possible to weave a series of assists between the beats of a bar, creating long stuns on a group of enemies. On the beat, Chai can string together powerful combos while nullifying some of the attacks he might receive. While this strategy is less effective on higher difficulties due to increased stun resistance, it is generally a very powerful method that reduces the need for parries and dodges. The player can use the grappling hook to jump up on an enemy and start a burst sequence of normal attacks and assists before moving away or pressing on with the combo, depending on the enemy's stun bar.

Hi-Fi Rush therefore rewards an aggressive approach that leaves no respite for the enemy robots. However, it is possible to be more cautious, and GoufyGoggs has pointed out how easy it is to spam parries on the beat to ward off any incoming attack, to the point where it is possible to play on autopilot. It seems to me that this is what the development team were aiming for, as they preferred to allow the player to remain in a trance-like state rather than punish poor combat tactics. Whether in or out of combat, the music is fluid, all actions are valid, and a temporary defensive posture, if timed correctly, maintains a sense of continuity. Such a design makes for a generally enjoyable experience, but it does have its pitfalls. Firstly, Rhythm Parry Attacks can be deceptive as they do not necessarily fall into full bars: it is easy to be surprised by the timing of the first parry, which sometimes does not match what the brain perceives as a stressed beat – perhaps this is just a personal issue, but I found it easier to focus solely on the enemies' animations to adjust the inaccurate rhythm I had in mind.

       An uncompromising rhythm and the non-combat elements

On the other hand, the rhythmic continuity of the game works well during combat, but suffers most during exploration and platforming sequences. On a first playthrough, the atmosphere of the game and the dialogue between the characters prevail, but it is particularly frustrating when replaying a chapter to have to repeat the same platforming sequences in rhythm, slowing down the frenetic pace of the combat action. Generally speaking, Hi-Fi Rush performs best when it maximises the on-screen spectacle. The deliberately cartoonish cinematography works well in this regard, and the highly kinetic sections, such as the zip-line passages, are always very enjoyable. The boss fights follow the same formula, always trying to be visually impressive and never allowing the player to get bored: the last three bosses are prime examples of that, being based around Chai's entire moveset.

The same could be said about the atmosphere of the title. The most enjoyable levels take place outdoors or in flashy environments. Hi-Fi Rush has a weaker middle section, with a series of indoor chapters featuring the sanitised aesthetics of a mega-corporation's laboratories. The computer servers do not contrast with the very dark tones of the environments, making them rather tiring to traverse. On the contrary, the explosion of vibrant colours in Chapter 8 is very effective, with bright details that catch the eye. One of the first scenes in the game, when Chai escapes from the lab, is a view of the city, showing a chaotic and busy cityscape. It is a shame that the game does not take full advantage of this setting, which is far less common than it should be. Similarly, while the voice acting is generally convincing, the decision to have American actors imitate foreign accents seems unfortunate. Perhaps this reinforces the Saturday cartoon episode aspect, but some of them clearly struggle and fail to be consistent in their performance. These issues highlight some of the game's occasional inconsistencies and some noticeable pitfalls that detract from the atmosphere the title is trying to create.

     On the topic of replayability

Hi-Fi Rush moves away from what Devil May Cry 5 (2019) did, which was to limit traversal sequences to creating a series of combat sequences – this was a way of addressing criticism of the replayability of Devil May Cry 4 (2008), whose levels were very frustrating to revisit. In Hi-Fi Rush, having to repeat entire levels and their platforming sequences is still tolerable if the goal is to improve the rank of each Chorus – the repetition of some unskippable dialogue is unfortunate – but this situation is much more frustrating when the player is simply trying to open the SPECTRA Doors in each level, which make up the post-game content. Having to go through half an hour of gameplay before reaching the relevant section – which only lasts a few minutes – is tiring, and suggests that Hi-Fi Rush was primarily designed a one-off novelty experience, but does not lend itself very well to a second playthrough.

The title has chosen to focus its entire design around the original idea of a rhythm game. Both combat and movement through the levels are anchored in this mechanic, which imposes a very specific rhythm on the gameplay experience. At first glance, this may not seem like a problem, as the title is fast-paced and driven by a truly endearing cast. However, this uncompromising approach can be alienating: while Hi-Fi Rush offers accessibility options to make the pace as readable as possible, it cannot undo its overall design. Any sequences outside of what the game considers to be the main adventure risk exhausting the player's attention and patience. For the ten hours that make up a first playthrough, this is not a critical issue, but it certainly becomes so after that mark. Hi-Fi Rush is a solidly conceived title that offers a coherent and effective implementation of the rhythm-based character-action concept that has been in vogue in recent years. Nevertheless, it also suggests a whole field of new possibilities that have yet to be explored; hopefully, Hi-Fi Rush is only the first attempt.

Turn the dial on my words

Playing video games for a long time, you already know the spiel about how the modern AAA video game industry is. It's easy to understand why considering making video games keep getting more expensive the more ambitious they get to the point that taking a risk feels like a waste of money to the corporate entities of the world. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the hobby and whatever new comes out for the most part but it all what makes Hi-Fi Rush even more special in this regard. The comparison to it with titles from the sixth generation has been done ad nauseam and in a completely positive light and for good reason. Out of left field, a pure passion project inspired by the games of almost twenty years ago with unique graphical design and heart.

We're introduced to our less than bright protagonist, Chai at the very start of the game entering a campus in hopes of getting an easy way into accomplishing his dream of being a rockstar. Things somehow go wrong and now labeled as a defect, must fight his way through in hopes of keeping that dream alive and eventually with the help of his friends, find out what's really going on with Project Armstrong. The game does an amazing job bringing into this colorful and vibrant world where you can hear and see the beat of the soundtrack of your life. Trees vibrate, your own steps fall into the beat along even standing feels synchronized to the world. The overall tale that's told is one that doesn't make you think hard but it's one with a lot of meaningful messages and a heartwarming penultimate track that really brings it all together that made me tear up at that point, Hi-Fi Rush truly earned that moment then and there as one of the best games of the year for me but there's so much to unpack. The characters themselves bring something unique and charming to the table not just in the gameplay sense but how the dynamic between them works and how even weak by themselves but together are worth more than the sum of its parts. The writing comes off as something from a very mature Cartoon Network show to a really mild Adult Swim 15 minute run bordering on the TV-PG rating mostly due to the language as it is. It doesn't take itself seriously and ironically that's how I feel I can take the game seriously in everything else, it feels intentional because it was intentional.


Chai by definition is a "loser with nothing going for him" but his true calling is hitting things with a guitar and he's really good at it. The combat will feel immediately recognizable to fans of the character action genre with exploratory segments followed by arenas where it's time to fight it out. The rule of the game, more like rule of the world really is everything is on the beat and they really mean it. Chai attacks on the beat regardless of the timing of the button press and enemies act accordingly to the beat too creating this predictable ebb and flow that makes combat surprisingly more easy to understand compared to a lot more complex character action games. The best thing is you don't even need to attack on the beat to do damage as Chai will just attack when the beat comes but attacking on beat is more of a want than a need here. I think this is great as it makes the game a bit easier to get into and doesn't punish people for not hitting the beat. There is reason to hit on beat though as you'll do more damage and it's one of the requirements for getting a good rank. You can totally beat the game playing it like a regular action game but don't expect to get a high score which I think is a fair compromise. Another facet of combat is the assist system, Chai can go solo but he's nothing with his bandmates. Each one provides a solution and a unique element to Chai's moveset. The only annoying thing is when enemies have armor or shields that are only able to be destroyed with the assists and sometimes you'll need multiple summons to be able to finally attack, these moments can kill the pacing of fighting a bit but it's not that bad. The few moments where the action stops in a 1v1 scenario having to do a mini rhythm minigame in the form of parrying is actually fun too especially just feeling the beat. It took me a bit to get into the literal rhythm but once it clicks, it's like vintage video games at its best. Exploratory segments between the arenas feel right at home with me due to the games from the era in where you can try to find secrets in the level right before a big fight. There's also platforming that I think is just average and you can jump and dash to the beat too if you find yourself in that zone but it's never that huge of a focus despite doing it a fair bit throughout the game. The platforming is okay at best and you can jump and air dash to the beat as well but it's never really required here. I do wish there was a few more fights in the game but I think all things considered, they probably ran out of budget at some point and wanted to make the most polished experience they can and they really succeeded.


Some might find the art style ugly but I think it hits the era perfectly. The art style reminds me of mid 2000's Cartoon Network era cartoon shows bordering on those also found during an early Saturday morning. It gives more credence to the fact it tries to really hone in on that specific time in video game history where people wanted to experiment more and purely thought about how fun an experience is before meeting some quota for content. The intended soundtrack (including the licensed tracks) are extremely amazing and used almost perfectly especially during the penultimate track, I won't even link the music because experiencing it for yourself is the one of the best parts of the game. You gotta earn that shit because Hi-Fi Rush did. Mixing regular rock and fortunately changing things up with a little bit of Jazz, electronic, and even a bit of classical makes you feel surprised what you can do with a guitar.


There's always something seeing someone with self worth issues fixing everyone's and their own problems with a guitar. There's no easy way to achieving your dreams and there's nothing you can't do as long as you got people that care for you in your corner. Hi-Fi Rush is truly a pleasant surprise in every meaning of the word and priced perfectly that it feels much more compelling to try it out for yourself. It's a nice change of pace from seriousness of adult life and going back to when watching cartoons after finishing your math homework was a luxury. I hope the positive reception of the game sends a message that the market for experimental small scale titles in the AAA space never truly left, companies and publishers just felt so risk averse to the point this title should have never came out but it did and I'm grateful for that. You can always go solo and make some decent music but if you team up and make a cool ass band, you can change the world.

I’m late to the party because it ended up taking me over a month to finish after getting distracted with real life, but I gotta say… if this is how Shinji Mikami chooses to go out, then what a way to go out indeed.

The easiest way for me to describe Hi-Fi Rush is that simply put, it just works. Melding rhythm game and character action game/spectacle fighter mechanics clicked right away for me due to the natural process of acclimating to the classic push and pull of combat; figuring out enemy behavior and deciding how to best exploit that is often linked to cycles after all, so why not pair that with choruses and motifs of classic song structure to turn the whole experience into a musical symphony? The level of detail that Tango Gameworks instills to immerse the player and keep them on beat is admirable; pulsing LED walls, bouncing hedges and trees, synced-up lasers and retractable platforms to keep the player accountable, even Chai’s audible footsteps when romping about or his idle animation of swaying and snapping his fingers to the beat are all there to make sure you never lose track of the flow of the gameplay.

The linkages between the main “chorus” engagements are a bit more of a mixed bag admittingly, not necessarily because they’re “bad” but rather because these sections feel quite simple when compared to the flashy combat. During the lowest points of this level traversal, Chai gets to wander about these mostly deserted linear corridors (sometimes with hidden offshoots for collectibles) and occasionally wack a couple of crates for health or gears. There’s also a good chunk of platforming involved, but it’s definitely a bit awkward at first and never quite fluid. Chai doesn’t have a lot of standard horizontal momentum but can very quickly double jump, so classic platforming feels a little more precarious than it needs to be and often requires the quick forward dash to snag that extra distance. The result is an interesting conundrum, in that it’s super easy to undershoot without the dash but also surprisingly easy to overshoot while using the dash, never quite hitting that sweet spot.

Fortunately, the difficulty does scale up as you progress further into the story, and it’s much more enjoyable once the designers get to let loose by inserting more and more specialized elements. Shoot a barrier here, smash a wall over there, grapple through a series of skyhooks or chain rocket jumps to the beat to gain height, and so on, so forth. This is all is more or less a series of scripted action sequences that could just be thought of as a more complex 3D version of Bit Trip Runner, so while I’m clearly nitpicking, I do feel like these sections could be spiced up by scattering in some overworld enemies as obstacles that could also serve as anchor points to quickly grapple towards for skilled players to retain momentum. Regardless, the best of these segments will keep you moving forward and actively tapping your foot to the beat like a playable music video, and who’s really going to complain when you get to zipline and dodge hanging containers to Inazawa Chainsaw?

If there’s any real complaints that I have, it’s that Hi-Fi Rush's combat almost feels a bit too straightforward. There are two main components to this, and I’ll be deferring to a few other reviews I’ve read because I am more or less a noob at character action games (though I did still clear story mode on Hard difficulty despite this being the first character action game that I have ever beat, whatever that might be worth) and I think their perspectives added a lot to what I think could be touched upon in future works.

Firstly, Hi-Fi Rush has a few too many fail-safes in my opinion. The easiest way to explain this one is that positioning is unfortunately not very important in the grand scheme of combat. I’m going to agree with GoufyGoggs here to some degree: because enemy attacks are tied to the beat, and parrying actually cancels any of Chai’s attacks regardless of animation length or exact timing during the animation length, it’s fairly doable for players to auto-pilot by mashing attacks to wail on enemies (since the game doesn’t really punish you for attacking off beat as is) and correctly parry in time according to the given audio/visual cues as hinted by the background tracks to avoid taking damage at all. If this isn’t up your avenue though, it’s also pretty easy to cheese combat. Since enemy attacks lock-on and are telegraphed with quite a generous window, it’s pretty simple to continually dodge attacks by mashing the fast and high double jump or dashing to the beat in a circle around enemies, and then spamming your buddies’ assists to soften up opponents/tear through their super armor gauge because as CheesyChip has brought up, there’s not much of a cooldown, even without using the relevant support cooldown chips. It then becomes pretty trivial to lock onto enemies to go for the kill, by using the quick Magnet Grab to close distance as long as Chai’s looking in the proper direction, or if they’re close enough, abusing the generous attack magnetism (as pointed out by ProudLittleSeal here) to segue into a combo. I think these gaps could have been somewhat closed up if your attacks were more committal and couldn’t instantly be cancelled by parry (at least making the first few frames of the animation non-cancellable), if more enemy attacks were homing/adjustable so you couldn’t dodge everything by just mashing jump and dash, and if the support character cooldown was lengthened just a tad. To sum this up, Hi-Fi Rush’s combat is very honest about what it is and what to expect, which is why streamlining the combat to this degree makes it that much more basic when you’re willing to actively break and exploit the systems.

Secondly, while Hi-Fi Rush certainly provides a lot of room for creativity regarding combo potential, I’m not sure if the circumstances necessitate experimentation or for that matter, really encourage it. There are a lot of purchasable flashy standard combos that can be quite helpful with all different types of range and animations, but you don’t really need most of these combos when the grapple and dash will help you close distances and chain most combos as is and your standard bread and butter combos will get you through anyways if you’re not actively chasing high scores; even Rhythm Master difficulty of dropping below a C with the rhythm gauge shouldn’t be an issue as long as you’re landing all your hits and parrying/dodging most attacks. As pointed out by CheesyChip, these purchases are often pretty pricey and those gears can instead be used to purchase permanent upgrades like increased life gauge capacity, a health tank to revive Chai if he runs out of health, or Reverb Gauge increases to allow for stronger Special Attacks (which also will rack up a pretty penny). The actual levels will give you just enough gears for the necessities or to swap/try out a few attacks, and you can sell unused attacks if you need money in a pinch, though optimal level scrounging usually won’t provide enough to tackle both causes at once and you can’t grind levels with replays during the first run of story mode. That said, this concern is at least alleviated if you clear challenges on the Rewards board for gears (and this was in fact my main income during the latter half of the game), though it’s rather annoying that you can’t check up on your task progress in-between levels without exiting to the main menu and loading back into the hideout before returning to checkpoints. I also freely admit that my money was most likely not well spent on upgrading the chips and buying additional chip slots, which I found rather underwhelming since most of the chip upgrades were simple 10%/20%/30% stat upgrades (depending on the level the chip was upgraded to and however many slots it took up) and it was often more fruitful trying out new special attacks or focusing on the other permanent upgrades.

Nevertheless, I found that these areas of improvement were ultimately minor blemishes during my overall time spent; while I’ve spent a good chunk of time nitpicking systems and sections that could be even better with some touchups here and there, the core concepts and general execution absolutely kept me hooked. Aside from a strange glitch where my dodges failed to register during specific defense sequences of the final boss (forcing me to have to complete the ending segment of the final boss on Normal mode, where the glitch was inexplicably missing), Hi-Fi Rush was a thrill ride that I didn’t want to get off. The vibrant cel-shaded visuals, the clean and easy to grasp combat alongside rocking tunes that are more than happy to reward you for paying attention to the underlying rhythm, and a colorful and focused cast of characters with plenty of dad jokes, jovial banter, and layers upon layers of development and personality… I could go on and on about why this was such a memorable experience for me. Kudos to Tango for having the balls to shadow drop the game within the first month of the year, because as I see it, most major releases of 2023 will have trouble matching up to this.

Hi-Fi Rush is a game that feels so alive, and it feels damn good to have been alive taking in this breath of fresh air. As usual, I look forward to Shinji Mikami’s future endeavors if this is the level of creativity and cohesion that can be expected from him simply producing. And even if there is no next time, here’s hoping that Hi-Fi Rush will encourage many more greats to come with its unabashed charm and unapologetic sincerity.

Maybe, only maybe, after all said and done, I got rhythm after all...

I did feel a bit nervous going into Hi Fi Rush, because even tho I’m not hesitant to show my love and appreciation for the rhythm genre, that doesn’t change the reality that is the fact I’m complete ass at them, so when mixing that with a 3D beat ‘em up combat style which, wouldn’t you know, I usually suck balls at too, then I was scared I’d be facing a doom or gloom situation. Either it all clicked, or I failed to catch its drift and begin to even enjoy it, I only saw those two possibilities and was really scared of the latter. I really wanted to love it, I really wanted to enjoy what seemed like a game made from sheer love and passion for the craft, and the prospect of not ‘’getting it’’ felt like some sort of looming threat over my head... Only now after beating it I realize that, even if that were to be the case, it wouldn’t change my feelings about any other aspect.

There’s so much to enjoy in and about Hi Fi Rush that I don’t really know where to start with; perhaps I could (and will) begin by praising the outstanding visual style, a wonderful mixture of colors and design that made me reminisce of the kind of futuristic punk seen in games like Jet Set Radio or even deBlob, with the difference being that the Vandelay campus doesn't hold back when it comes to being stylish. The corporation may be rotten, but fuck man, whoever oversees decorations needs a raise! Everything pops up with the beautiful cel shading that made me feel like I was playing through a moving comic book at times; seeing cinematics flow together into and after gameplay was a mastery of transition I was not expecting to witness, and how in it to its entirely dances to the rhythm in such a satisfying way.

I could (and will) also gush about the characters; the crew of Chai, Peppermint, Macaron and the rest of the gang with is hunger inducing names is a set of characters I really, REALLY wasn’t expecting to be so fond of, and hey, it’s nice to see a main character I can relate to... a complete idiot! I say that, but Chai manages to walk in the fine line that its between being lovably cocky and completely insufferable and coming out positively from it, and for such a simple and free of conflict narrative, it still manages to give him and the rest some incredibly impactful moments. Hi Fi Rush strays away for what I thought would be predictable plot points and instead tales a relatively simple tale with the perfect cast of goofballs, to the point I found myself wishing to see a little bit more or Peppermint’s struggles, more of Macaron’s character wise in general or that CNMN had more stuff to do ‘cause holy hell I love that fact spitting metal head so much (tho he gets the single best most surprising moment in the game so hey, you lose some you win some!). The villains are also a home run, never mind this game’s whole plot is about defeating dastardly suits — I’ve always wanted to bash a cybernetic CEO’s hed with a guitar!— but they are all so into being the specific trope or character they are going for that it’s impossible to not love to hate them, and honestly the big bad ends up being a bit boring personality wise compared to the rest of them (tho now that I think about, that was the intent, in which case it’d be pretty fitting to be completely honest), because they really are a riot.

Tho the funny factor isn’t limited to the big bads. There are so many jokes and gags that and that I feel like I’m watching an airport; whether it’s just the energy that the characters interactions ooze or simply the way they act between each other, Chais’ stupidity at the beginning (seriously I was laughing my ass off during that dream sequence), the way not just the main villains but the damn normal enemies are introduced and how you can discover that NONE of them were originally designed for combat despite being literal killing machines, or just incredibly funny moments like finding a random log of a disgruntled employee that decided to mess the coffee machine firmware, and for that to be a recurring joke THROUGH THE ENTIRE ADVENTURE, that, that right there, and I don’t use this word lightly (or use it in general for that matter), is PEAK humor. And what’s this? Very spaced use and references to memes that actually work as jokes in the moment and aren’t recent??? Hi Fi Rush, if you wanted my heart, you just had to ask!

Even if you think you know what you are getting yourself into, Hi Fi Rush always finds ways to surprise you. When you think you got this game nailed and it’s just combat sections between platforming and exploration zones then BAM!, it hits you with a new idea, a new enemy that introduces a new design, a new boss fight that completely changes how you approach combat, a new partner, a new cool moment, spaced perfectly between each other so they don’t grow tiring while close enough to keep you engaged. It never presents you with never seen before ideas, but it always finds ways to create jaw-dropping situations and mix and match concepts to create something that feels new, a sort of ‘’yoink and twist’’, if you will. There’s a never-ending feeling of ‘’wholeness’’ in this game, where everything works incredibly well when looked independently, but also as whole; it’s hard to not notice how much the game’s systems and ideas sip into one another and some things wouldn’t hit as hard if there wasn’t te other, like the music! It sounds good, they are fantastic tunes, but something is missing from them in re-listens, even the licensed ones... it misses the ASS-WHOOPING!

Seeing so many accessibility options calmed me down quite a bit when I started, but after a while, after playing and beginning the fights and the dance of combat... I was getting it! Not because I was good, oh no, my tempo is still very much far from perfect, and yet, I was getting it. The music began to flow through the sounds of fight and diging, the enemies attacking with the music the same you do, hitting the right times as well as dancing, it was a slow dance at first, but by the half-way point, I wasn’t going along the music, it felt as if I was making it through fighting alone. The new moves you get, the special attacks and interactions of your partners (which also make for some extremely fun platforming challenges) and upgrades nudge little by little, they compel you to be more daring, to dance faster, to be more aggressive, to know where to defend, to dodge and parry through your riffs and hits. Failing is part of the process in a way, it’s still really hard to get a perfect or even high rhythm score at first, and yet it’s fun, it made me want to keep trying, to be a rockstar.

It’s like a story or battle you’d imagine while listening to an intense rock song, only made into a 10-hour game full dream-like joy, and even beyond that thanks to the meaty post-game and incredibly fun side modes. An adventure with so many things to love that I even at this point in the review I wonder if was truly able to express them fully, Hi Fi Rus is a simple game in theory, but in practice is a wonderful, beautiful and funny odyssey, always hopeful and excited to keep going even when facing the clear dangers of such a conglomerate, always finding ways to surprise, to be welcoming, to make you feel like you got rhythm indeed. I know that many couldn't get into it even with the extra help, and I totally get it, it’s still a game that might reject you simply because it’s combat system is not fun or doesn’t click, that makes sense and I’m happy you at least gave it a go, but if you still haven’t, I implore you to give it a try, and even if you don’t jam with its battle system, who knows, you might find something else to adore about it...

Moral of the story? Finances are cringe, lesbians always win, Deemon can’t parry and 808 is best cat, that adorable (goof)ball is so precious...

Hi-Fi Rush is absolutely fucking wild. I can’t believe how high this game shot up for me from the word go all the way through till the end. Legit seeing the trailer it looked like a fun time but I wasn’t sure if I would adore it or not like a lot of people were but I’m totally all the fuck on board with every single thing this game is going for on every single solitary level that it possibly could be operating at. This was tailor made for me in ways I seriously wasn’t even expecting.

I’m a firm believer in the connection between rhythm games and action games and how in sync they really are. Action games like Devil May Cry and Sekiro have a kind of natural rhythm to how they work and generally operate. More than just pattern recognition it’s about the rhythm of enemies, their patterns, learning their moves, learning timing and opportunities for attack with them. It’s a kind of flow that when you really get into something you may or may not even fully think about as it's happening. I remember playing DMC3 years and years ago at this point and even though I was struggling, I still was managing every now and again to get into a flow state in some encounters. I was getting openings right and maneuvering where needed, I was switching up what I needed to and trying a bunch of weapons and ideas in combat, it was hitting just right, I was feeling the games beat.

Hi-Fi Rush brings this idea completely to the forefront of its gameplay and helps you better visualize it. EVERYTHING is on beat, EVERYTHING is set to that rhythm and EVERYTHING around you is there to help you better visualize and understand the timings you are trying to get down. Enemies attack on the beat of the very excellent music that’s always bumping along, you get movement boosts and damage boosts if you hit to the rhythm, things around you groove and gyrate to the beat as the songs blast away. There’s just constantly so much energy going on. What they manage to do with sound and syncing it up with the animations is genuinely impressive ass shit to me and they find really fun and creative ways to keep using it and manages to keep surprising you as the game goes well along its merry rebellious journey. Like I totally get why people are more directly comparing this to rhythm games but honestly I feel like action games inherently have this kinda stuff within them! This one just makes it more obvious in a way that’s both fun and honestly fairly easy to understand!

I absolutely adore dynamic music systems in games but especially within action games like DMC5 and its vocals coming out the higher your style rankings go up and things like that. Or the way Metal Gear Rising’s vocals come in and out depending on how a fight is going or depending on what is happening within that fight. I eat that shit up and this game is a bit like that but all the time everywhere with everything and I just think that kicks major fucking ass.

Combat feels so fucking great too! While I do wish there was weapon variety it more than makes up for it with good enemy variety, assists, chips, special moves and just the range of attacks and ways you can really fuck a robot up. Hitting enemies on beat and dodging within the right timings feels so fucking good too. It encourages you to time everything to the best of your abilities along the beat but it’s not forced if you’re struggling with it at all! It feels very forgiving in that regard which I found to be really nice even if I felt like I breezed through it a bit cause of that. But honestly I could totally see this being an action game that helps get someone into action games because of that ease of understanding and forgiveness! I think it could definitely help someone understand that natural rhythm and flow of action games and their general designs if they may be struggling with the concepts or mechanical ideas of them.

Everything surrounding that wonderful mechanical package is also just as wonderfully put together and considered. The story is like a lost 2005 Cartoon Network show that never hit the air until Tango Gameworks, those brave heroes, leaked it online for all of us to see. Except you have to buy it, or pay for game pass, whatever the point is, it's a fun time. It’s got goofy doofy ass vibes, Chai is a loveable dumbass wannabe rockstar who basically had me cackling almost anytime he opened his mouth, the rest of the gang perfectly plays off of his shenanigans and helps seriously elevate some goofy ass bits. They’re not the deepest characters but like who fucking cares they’re fun and they all fit the vibe and tone of the kind of story and vibe that this is. The villains are much the same, goofy ass jokes and all, who absolutely wanna fuck shit up and the way most of the licensed music is saved for fighting against a good chunk of them is absolutely perfecto. When Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy and fuckin The Joy Formidable started playing I lost it. This game’s OST is sick as fuck. The original tracks made for the game also rock absolute shit. The art direction is absolutely gorgeous and pops so perfectly, the fun transitions to the 2D animated cutscenes and back again is masterful, the little notes you end up finding everywhere make me laugh my ass off pretty much every time.

This is a game with so much personality, so much pure soul within every fiber of its being. Everything about this game radiates love and genuine joy, I basically couldn’t stop smiling while playing it. Every time I would leave for work I’d wanna come back and play more Hi-Fi Rush, every new level I would try my best to get the base metronome/beat down, I wanted to learn more about this game and delve deeper into its vibes, mechanics and fun ass characters. It’s just so fucking excellently done. Tango Gameworks have absofuckinglutely outdone themselves with this one like holy shit. This is at bare minimum going into my top 10 action games of all time most likely. I fucking a d o r e this shit what a banger. Absolutely going to try to play this again in between something to try to get the combat down even better and better as time goes on. What a wonderful fuckin surprise.

I’m also just incredibly biased towards it because anything that uses music like this and dedicates itself this hard to its concept straight up will win my heart pretty much forever.

Hi-Fi Rush is a new addition to Xbox's franchises. After years without a significant console exclusive, Microsoft released this game out of nowhere and caught everyone off guard. Is it good enough to achieve everything the fans dreamed?

Hi-Fi Rush is a rhythm-focused game, a hack n' slash that encourages players to attack, jump, and perform in sync with the beat constantly playing. To be honest, the concept is cool, but in my opinion, it didn't work. You can perform actions out of rhythm, and it won't impact your gameplay.

Analyzing it as a pure hack n' slash, it's fun to play. Not outstanding, but it has its moments. The combat is enjoyable, but it's the only significant activity during gameplay.

One remarkable aspect of the game is its ambiance. The art is beautiful and colorful. It's impressive how they synchronized all objects on the screen with the beat mentioned earlier.

The downside of the game, for me, is the soundtrack. As a game focused on music, it should feature an unforgettable soundtrack. Unfortunately, the music in this game is disappointing.

The story is not that compelling, but the characters are charismatic. There is room for more development for them, and I'm excited to see what they could do in a sequel.

In conclusion, Hi-Fi Rush is a valuable addition to the Game Pass catalog. It may not be the blockbuster Microsoft needed, but overall, it's a good game.

As someone who isn’t a fan of rhythm games, Hi-Fi Rush single-handedly and after playing one level made me appreciate a rhythm game. Where the beat of the rhythm is interconnected in the level design, combat, tutorials, soundtrack, plot and more. Creating a weird mash-up I didn’t expect to play so well. And yet Hi-Fi Rush surpassed all my expectations to do so.

Level design is neither too complex nor too simple, and while it does conform to a linear fashion, it doesn’t overstay its welcome by injecting fresh level changes that work organically and don’t feel forced. This coupled with the combat to the beat makes it so fights don’t become fatigue battles, but genuinely work in favor to complement the rhythm to give off an extra dose of damage. And yet it is not strictly required to go in sync with the music at all. I primarily played off-sync and scored decently well in my rankings. There are even very tutorial-friendly and accessible options in the settings to help players like me who are extremely garbage at rhythm games. And it does work!

Gameplay isn’t just full of battles either. Platforming is here that isn’t too difficult nor too easy. As you progress further in the game, these sections evolve along with the combat to enhance the gameplay formula into something new and fresh. And I found the experience very enjoyable since it complemented the level design very well.

Hi-Fi Rush emulates colorful and stylish visuals reminiscent of one of my all-time favorite games: Jet Set Radio Future. And it works to its favor a great deal, making the setting come alive and vibrant with every color in the rainbow you can think of. Enhancing every corridor, cutscenes, and during boss stages. But not to the point of oversaturation or adding new colors to cross off a checklist. It is balanced equally, to create a varied amount of levels here. And thereby eliminating copy-and-paste design.

I liked the main cast and all of them integrated well into the plot with enough screen time to be relative and not used as a character for the sake of having them to induce a plot device. They feel human, developing alongside Chai(The protagonist) to make the game become something more than just a “videogame.” Also, I adore the references upon references here from so many other games and media. I won’t say any here, but it's best to experience that for yourself. It’s not as plentiful as ready player one does. Where it stacks references and references for the sake of doing so. Here it is integrated fluidly and makes the writing and dialogue great.

Storywise, I feel it was executed wonderfully. It doesn’t win any awards for most wacky or playing it too safe. But the story beats were enough to hold my interest and continue playing more and more. And I think at the end of the day that is what’s most important. To keep players invested in not just the gameplay, music, world, story, and characters. But, the act of playing on and on and holding your interest is a major design philosophy developers keep in mind.

The whole world and NPCs are fascinating to learn about and provide interesting dialogue to flesh out the background of the corporate work structure for new and old Vandelay robots. And as I continued further into the game, it is not all set in one point of view either, there are multiple stances each bot has to say about their job, unsavory practices, or just general gossip here and there. It enhances the game to the point I wanted to learn more about the Vandelay corporation.

Overall there is a lot of care and thought here by the developers of Tango Gameworks, and I am very interested in the next game they’ll release moving forward. I genuinely believe this is a very strong GOTY contender for 2023. And in my honest opinion a must-play for anyone who desires to see an idiot try to take down a big corporation. Watch how that turns out.

9.5/10

Even though I'm not the best at rhythm games, Hi-fi Rush still manages to make you feel like you know what you're doing (most of the time).

Was not a fan of the record-scratch introduction from the trailer but the humor, style really ended up working in the context of the game. Always great to see unique, colorful art styles being used.

All in all a great surprise drop that makes a great use of gamepass.

Merece todo hype que ganhou. Hi-Fi Rush mistura de forma sólida um divertido hack-n-slash e algo tão unânime como a música que realmente me deixou curioso como ninguém pensou antes como receita óbvia pro sucesso, quem não joga com o headset no talo é maluco. 🎧😎🎸

Confesso que demorei um pouco pra pegar o jeito de alguns combos (os de bloqueio contra os mini boss), mas depois que se mergulha totalmente na vibe do “batidão” e as notas S começam a aparecer, se torna um dos games mais satisfatórios e divertidos que existe.
Também gostei bastante da dublagem, direção de arte, e dos personagens. A história não é nada demais, mas está totalmente alinhada com a proposta do joguinho.

Uma grata surpresa, 2023 abriu com chave de ouro pra mim.

Ok, estou chegando um pouco atrasado pra festa mas enfim zerei o aclamado Hi-Fi Rush, jogo que veio pro mundo do nada e gerou um hype imediato. As vezes eu simplesmente não sei esperar quando começo algum jogo. Não sei se vou buscar um gameplay que me divirta, uma história que me prenda ou algo diferente, as vezes você apenas zera algo e vai pro próximo jogo sem saber bem o que esperar, e com o passar dos anos, seus gostos podem mudar drasticamente. Hi-Fi na verdade me trouxe o sentimento mais puro possível, algo que eu não sentia faz algum tempo: a pura felicidade que sinto jogando jogos.

Cel shading lembram jogos de PlayStation 2, onde existem muitos jogos com a tecnologia. Hoje esse estilo visual é algo nostálgico, algo cartunesco, que se parece com desenho que provalvemente é o que muitos falavam na época quando se jogava algum jogo assim, e claro que desenhos lembram a infância, e eu igual muitos simplesmente amava. A identidade visual de Hi-Fi é algo nostálgico dessa forma, algo que remete a tempos dourados de quando se jogava jogos na infância/adolêscencia. O simples fato de achar algo ''legal!'' quando se ve a capa, e depois aquela euforia de ficar encantado enquanto se joga, Hi-Fi me trouxe tudo isso. E já que estou falando do visual, Hi-Fi é estupendamente (nem sei se existe essa palavra) maravilhoso. As cores, o design dos cenários, personagens, inimigos, chefes, tudo é simplesmente maravilhoso com um tremendo capricho, e ainda tem algumas cutscenes em animação cartoon mesmo, doidera. Espero que com seu sucesso jogos AAA cel shading voltem a ser uma tendência na indústria, pois se muitos jogos antigos continuam lindos até hoje, com a tecnologia atual ainda é possível fazer algo maravilhoso, como foi mostrado aqui.

O gameplay do jogo é absurdo. É um hack'n slash frenético e divertido, cada batidão é um extâse diferente e cada vez que se vê um ''S'' ali em cima é uma empolgação absurda. A variedade de inimigos é boa e a possibildiade de chamar companheiros pro combate traz um diferencial bacana pro jogo. Tudo é no ritmo, até o cenário, coisa de louco, toda vez eu me pegava torcendo pra aparecer mais inimigos de tão divetido que esse jogo é. E a parte sonora como fica? Efeitos sonoros durante o combate deliciosos de ouvir e a trilha sonora é simplesmente espetacular, como amante de rock era simplesmente impossível não gostar. A história é básica e clichê, mas na moral? Até isso se casa o clima nostálgico que o jogo passa, é como se você estivesse acompanhando uma aventura de algum cartoon ou filme de animação que amava na infância, a aventura por si só vale mais que qualquer roteiro ou trama mirabolante, e claro que seus personagens são divetidíssimos pra acompanhar tudo isso, com uma dublagem em PT-BR absurda.

Hi-Fi Rush veio pra fazer história, é um dos fortes candidatos a jogo do ano num ano que a concorrência vai estar pesada, um jogo simplesmente inesquecível que me faz lembrar porque eu gosto de jogos em primeiro lugar, o importante é se divertir, e acabar sentindo aquela alegria de jogar jogos eletrônicos como se fosse uma criança de novo foi só a cereja do bolo.

As this is an Xbox-exclusive, my partner has no means of playing it, and therefore it's truly awful. Honestly dogshit and she'd definitely hate it fr fr. Not missing out at all :)

Jokes aside, holy shit this game has charisma! This was a game that would keep coming up in conversation but that I'd always just forget about. - If it's not Resident Evil 4 or Final Fantasy 16 then it's not on my radar, sorry - Needless to say, I didn't really know what this was or what to expect from it.

I recently re-subbed to Gamepass in an attempt to use my PC more and play some new games without having to pay full price. So one day I'm going through the library and naming off anything I recognise as new, until I mention this... If you've heard any of the reception to this game, you can probably guess that I was then held at gunpoint and told that I "absolutely have to play it" on behalf of my gf , and that's exactly what happened. (dramatised)

Starting out, admittedly the on-beat gameplay would grow kinda tiresome after a while. I was only doing a level at a time for about half the game, eventually even wishing that it was half the length because always doing the same tempo was getting monotonous. To my surprise, this would go on to be pretty much my only complaint about the title, and enough mechanics are added as the game goes on that at least the latter half of the game didn't suffer from it.

The characters in Hi-Fi Rush are so easy to love, almost the whole cast have their own quirks and watching the gang all grow closer together is really hype. The entire game has such a charm to it that's complimented endlessly by the art and writing styles, all culminating together into a vibe that's just, fun! There's such a feelgood energy behind everything and the more I got into it, it only seemed to get better.

The story is noticeably derivative of things that we've seen before, but as with everything else the personality of the game shines through and makes it feel like it's own thing. There are some twists and developments that you may see coming for sure, but even if you do it's just really quite hard to hate on the game thanks to it's presentation and the performances of the cast.
[There are also a few beats/elements that remind me of my all-time fave game, so I may be a little biased. But I can't stop the influence of that improving my experiences with other games, nor am I sorry for it!😤]

All in all, Hi-Fi Rush is excellent! If you have an XBOX or PC then definitely check it out, even moreso if you have Gamepass anyway. You're in for a super great time, adorable mascot and of course, Peppermint😌
[If you don't have access to it then it's actually a total snoozefest and I was paid to say all that don't worry :)]

That's all from me folks, if this review reads weird it's because I'd actually written the whole thing (longer than this even) but then closed the tab and lost it all, so this is a somewhat abridged / 'from memory' version lol
Hope you're having a great week!🙏

Where were you when Tango Gameworks reminded everyone else how it was done?

Hi-Fi Rush is a masterpiece, and it's a shining beacon to let the world know that the dying genre it occupies still has some juice. Character action games were always niche, but they've been on life support for the better part of a decade now. Devil May Cry burst onto the scene all the way back in 2001, and its copycats were few; PlatinumGames ended up taking the mantle for themselves for a solid streak, but began fumbling hard around the time of The Legend of Korra, and were never again able to reach the heights of their earlier work. 2019's Devil May Cry 5 helped to remind the people what was up, but an entire genre of games only being able to claim one or two titles to their name every few years is a genre that's one company-going-out-of-business away from going extinct.

Enter Hi-Fi Rush.

Character action games are always described as musical in one way or another by people (like me) who push them onto an unsuspecting public who haven't yet tasted the ambrosia of their first SSS rank. You'll often hear words like "flow" or "like a dance" or "finding the rhythm" to describe the many acts of combat open to the player. Games like Bayonetta have combos that rely on intentionally delaying inputs in the string, forcing you to get a feel for the timing; Devil May Cry's famous royal guard requires the player to parry an enemy attack with near-perfect timing, usually relying on an audio cue to help them get it right.

Hi-Fi Rush takes the above concept to its logical extreme: everything in the game is based around the music. Enemies swing and shoot at the end of each measure. Your light and heavy attacks connect on every beat and every other beat, respectively. Even the shrubs and trees in the background will squash and stretch in time. You can call in partner assists to damage, stun, and knock up enemies, and this philosophy extends to them, too; Macaron — a huge, slow brawler — takes an extra measure to come off cooldown relative to your faster, more lithe allies. It doesn't take long before you start feeling the rhythm game highs of landing a combo in perfect sync with the music, unloading every tool in your kit at once, and then finishing off the enemies just in time for the song to end. It's an immensely satisfying gameplay loop, broken up a bit by platforming sections that are aggressively fine.

Chai is an exceptionally charming character, and the rest of the cast are no slouches, either. There's something about the kind of character who looks to camera and says "that just happened" that really only works if you make sure that guy is treated like the dumbest motherfucker in the room by everyone else. Chai gets away with it because he has a soul. He's a quippy loudmouth, but he never undercuts the emotions of his friends with a badly-timed riff. Every bit of development he gets is absolutely earned, and his constant, stubborn earnestness does a lot to attach you to his character. He's a stupid loser, but he's your stupid loser.

While I do have my complaints about the platforming, I don't care enough to go into them. I'm willing to pave over all of that and give the game a perfect score regardless. I want more games like this to come out. It feels like a title from the Xbox 360 days, plucked out of time and released today after twelve years of being considered lost media. This shit is Jurassic Park. I'm seeing ephemera brought back to life. It's a middle-budget AA title that was made as a passion project and dropped without any marketing. When was the last time you played something like that? Really, think about it. When was the last time? In an era so inundated with hype cycles and live service titles that rely on studios dumping a potentially-bankrupting amount of money into The One Big Game that they can milk for years after, how often do you get to see shit like this?

This is only thirty dollars? And it's on Game Pass, day one? What's your excuse for not playing it?

I think this is the first game since Simpsons Hit & Run which encourages you to hit all the NPCs to hear unique dialogue. I'm probably wrong so don't embarrass me in the comments. Thanks.

Going to be honest, I didn't even look at what this game was when I bought it, I just saw it had Nine Inch Nails and Number Girl. Wtf kinda game has Number Girl. All the licensed music was used perfectly, and the combat was shaping up to be something really special if it didn't turn into pure LT RT LT RT chaos. But that's the fun of proudly showing your rough edges. And that particular mechanic getting stronger over the course of the game was something something themes of the game yadda yadda ludonarrative etc

Though the writing did irritate me for a good chunk of the game, but I came back round to it in the final stretch which is done really well. It revels in some very predictable humour but the odd line still got me and it just feels like so much creativity was squeezed into this regardless, that I'd have to be trying not to enjoy this. Especially loved it committing to its rhythm thing so hard that a lot of the cutscenes were satisfyingly choreographed and the levels themselves pulsated and everything. I got another Necrodancer sequel in the weirdest way possible

It's fun. It's just a fun fucking game. Now to go back into my cave and await whatever indie stuff is slated for 2023 because we sure aren't seeing shit like this from AAA again any time soon. Call me if some shit like this gets dropped out of nowhere again like a headfirst bumbling Chai

Nossa, de verdade que jogo maravilhoso! Eu realmente não esperava a emoção que esse jogo trás e a diversão que ele proporciona. Fui de cabeça nesse jogo sem nem pensar muito, pois tinha ouvido falar muito bem dele, mesmo sendo o primeiro jogo de ritmo que eu jogo. Por isso acabei estranhando um pouco no começo, mas com o tempo esse jogo me prendeu de uma forma inexplicável. A gameplay é muito bem pensada e gostosa, os gráficos são lindos demais, o estilo do jogo me cativou muito, as músicas, os ritmos, absolutamente tudo nesse jogo é incrível! De verdade, eu super recomendo!