God, if this game isn’t janky as hell. I’d be remiss not to start out with that- and to give the game a higher rating, unfortunately- because the camera angles, depth perception, and the play itself can be so… off, let’s say, that it sometimes feels as though you’re fighting the game itself. That all said! I really, really do think that everyone should give this game a shot, because it really was one of my favorite games I completed this year. There’s so much passion behind it that you can really feel every step of the way. The art direction is fantastic, as are the characters. The story is charming and you’ll walk away from it still thinking about it weeks later, if you’re anything like me. Of course, the music is wonderful, too; at the very least listen to the soundtrack if you won’t play the game. It’s messy, to be sure, but it’s fun above all else, and I really can’t recommend it enough in spite of everything.

a tragedy this game isn't as well received as I want it to be but it stole my heart and fucked me in the ass at the same time youre all big meanies this is a masterpiece the god of videogames told me so I'm gonna trust them

you know me hot and sexy listening to VGM playlists on youtube stumbling onto the vs yinu mix track and I already got my attention at 100% I knew i had to check this game out and im so glad I did it blew me away the fuck

I'm slowly realising that I just love these types of flawed experiences that pour so much love into your heart you may be exploding any time soon and thats what I felt in the very first minutes of NSR

while I don't think the story is that much of a deal breaker its still pretty goofy and tight enough to make a 180 and actually being pretty great disclaimer promare is one of my favorite anime movies ever and I'm a big fan of studio trigger style over substance type of executive approach and that will make you a good idea of why I actually ended up loving this as much as I did

enter mayday and zuke an indie band trying to make a breakthrough in the mainstream music scene but are contrasted by the EDM capitalistic view of dictator tatiana trying to suppress rock music as much as possible so they go on this kind of purifying crusade to convert most of the districts of the cities to rock music instead of EDM

if you think this is a stupid synopsis it's because this is a stupid synopsis but they actually play with this kind of over the top narrative to their advantage the story just gets weirder and weirder to the very end but even though this could be argued as a low point what really carries on the back the entire game is the characters and art direction

don't get me started I'm in love with the character design of this game every single PG has some kind of quirks and that is reflected to how they present themselves in the story mayday is THE ADHD sunshine type of girl always happy and outgoing and therefore gets typically overexcited and stimulated and just loves loves loves chaotic environments (I relate to her I'm ENFP AND ADHD I just vibe with her too damn much) zuke at contrary is a laid back chill type of guy never gets too much words out of his mouth and tries to get the job right as much as possible (I want to fuck him)

these two have a synergy so tight I actually cannot think of one without thinking of the other one they're a duo that complements each other in so many aspects and just make a damn good pair of protagonists I gotta say

the other characters play it safe for their type of archetype and while this may ideally be a problem it is so much funny BECAUSE they over exaggerate their stereotypes and this culminates in another high point of the game: the comedy is pretty fucking funny and pretty fucking dope it actually has that weird mature ish cartoon esque type of comedy that I'm very fond of and I found myself going “chuckles I'm in danger*

adding to all that the art direction has such a distinct and coherent art style mayday and zuke have so many different expressions that personality and when you add the incredible voice acting (japanese one not english you already know I hate english voice acting) you're gonna get some characters that feel both goofy and real to a degree and even some side characters or even just people you talk in the town have a portrait or a 3d models that plays right into the l already established art style and this shines particularly in the bosses designs that are just so grand I'm not gonna lie eve the dj guy yinu they're absolutely incredible character designs they feel straight out of a masterclass in the subject not gonna lie

and this also reflects to the entire city every different district is brimming with personality that reflects the boss of the area every nook and cranny is detailed as shit and at times youre gonna be left just vibing with the booming movida of the entire place and even the boss pre stages and stages are just beautiful to look at

mind you the gameplay is probably the weakest part of the entire experience but that doesn't mean its not worth anything basically this is ideally a fighting game which moves to the sound of the music but you can basically just ignore the music and do whatever the fuck you want tackling the stages with either zuke or mayday but most of the time youre gonna switch between them now its pretty fun how both of them have fundamentally different battle movesets and while this is not incredibly deep its fun as it is you get combos projectiles stickers to put on your instruments (mayday has a sick guitar and zuke plays the drum I love me some drummer bf) to get bonuses upgrades using skill trees (I love skill trees) transform stage elements to your aid and special moves and finishers I genuinely enjoyed this stuff too fucking much my mind says this is mid but it's honestly so good I dont even care and this obviously cultimates in the boss battles now some are better than others due to different gimmicks here and there that may or may not break the entire battle yet I genuinely enjoyed most of them the mermaid one the yinu one and the eve one are just outstanding great great job

now this would not be as good as an experience without the powerful ost banging in your ears for the entire experience and i have this bad habit of putting 20 links to music that nobody listen so I'm gonna just link one later

since this is a tale about rock against edm most of the tunes are gonna surround these genres the town themes are edm tracks but the boss battles have these incredible segments of the song shifting to either more rock or more edm and genuinely augments the entire experience now one of my favorite one of the bunch is the vs yinu theme which is BEAUTIFUL classic rock and edm clashing and trying to shift the song to their favour its absolutely sensational and the last stretch of yinu going fucking crazy on the piano is emotional as shit but honestly all of them are bangers and dabble into different styles of edm so youre gonna find something of your liking in this soundtrack its just phenomenal

so whatever don't wanna bloat this because I'm trying to make some more straightforward reviews or else I'm never gonna log these games that being said this one absolutely stole my heart it's a deeply flawed experience theres probably more issues than praises to be made but I cannot overstate enough how much pure and unfiltered fun and love was poured into this product and it got me playing this with a smile on my face for the entire time playthrough and I'm definitely gonna come back to this one times and times again trust you will be dealt with period period

zuke I'm literally single if you wanna use me as a drum

No Straight Roads will proudly sit as another indie favorite of mine

This game has heart, love, and soul injected into it's veins. Its janky and not as polished as other indies I've played, but it didn't derail my enjoyment. I legit re-fought bosses because I really wanted to get higher ranks on them (managed to squeeze by with DJ Subatomic & Sayu). I was having a ton of fun.

The presentation was extraordinary, the characters were all bleeding with personality, and of course, the music was top notch. I loved the EDM & Rock music, and I REALLY loved how Mayday & Zuke's riffing/drumming were adaptive in every area as well. This game was super well thought out with the musical aspect and I have immense respect for the developers.

Again, the gameplay, while it was a twinge unpolished, I was having a ton of fun going out of my way to re-fight bosses for higher ranks. There's definitely some things I'd improve with the game (parry opportunities being increased & the shooting system being tweaked a little) but overall I had a blast!

This game was really really really fun! I had watched most of the boss fights like 2-3 years ago when it initially came out. I hadn't seen full gameplay or played it then so I decided to finally to now! This game was phenomenal. It looked great, sounded even greater, and the characters were all cool and charming. The only issue I had was the length, I really wish it was longer and had more stages to do that wasn't boss fight related. Overall, a must play game for music lovers.
BUNKA
JUNKA
SHAKALAKA
BAM!!!!!

i really enjoyed playing this game and i loved it. i feel like at some point when i was growing up as a kid, i had a thought that what if there was a game that played along with the music (and i don't mean rhythm games obviously), because i've always enjoyed listening to music from video games for so long so seeing this game take that concept, make it the central point of the game and do it really well makes me happy. this is not a perfect game but i still love and appreciate everything that it does here, and for the most part it's a solid execution!

first off, the OST is a fuckin banger, no question about it (i mean your game has GOT to have good music if its whole theming surrounds it) . they did a good job with the presentation of the world and its characters fitting into the theming. it's really cool to me how much they really tried to make music the identity of this world, with each boss being part of a different genre of music, the enemies and fights going along to the beat which also effects how you play, because you're going along with the rhythm in order to have a successful fight against them. not only just that but the music direction is really good too, the music dynamically changes as you keep fighting the bosses and it's just so well done.

i mentioned before though that this isn't a perfect game, i can see certain areas where there can be a little more fine tuning or could be developed further, mainly talking about the gameplay aspect. i personally feel that it's far from being bad, but there's definitely room for improvement to make the fights have a little bit more depth to make them a bit more fun and engaging. at the end of the day though i enjoyed my time with it, and i wish the game was a little longer. would def recommend NSR!

No Straight Roads is rhythm themed 3D beat em up that's like an indie band with heart and soul, but falls flat on stage because they lack fundamentals.

The biggest strengths of the game are the aesthetics.

The bosses have creative and vibrant designs. Boss encounters are typically grand in scale and are well characterized by their lively animations.

Each boss is themed around different a different music genre and attempt to capture the overall feel and aesthetic of that genre.

The story is a bit sloppy but tries to have a feel good message in the end.

Unfortunately, the gameplay surrounding the aesthetics needs more tuning up.

Enemies are supposed to attack you along the beat of the music but audio and visual cues aren't strong enough to properly anticipate attacks, leading to cheap shots that feel unfair to the player. Enemy variety leading up to boss encounters are also lacking. With essentially 3 basic enemies the entire game.

Player character attack animations lack impact and make all encounters feel unsatisfying to beat.

Player movesets also feel shallow and mostly devolves into mashing because of lack of moveset variety.

There are needless rpg mechanics added in the form of one time use stickers added to the characters' instruments that slightly improve stats but barely change how a characters feels to play.

There is however some replayability in trying to gain enough fans to unlock new abilities in a skill tree. Prioritizing the double jump and air dash early gives the player more defensive options but overwise doesn't add much combat depth.

Ultimately the game has a lot of style and heart, but fails to nail the basic elements of the beat em up genre and its ultimately unsatisfying to play.

The music is awesome which is to be expected for a game based around it. Combat is a bit too simple for my liking when it comes to combos, there is not much of a mix-up in attacks for both characters. Jumping feels stiff so when there are short platforming sections, a small part of me isn't too sure about my aim and where I'd land. The visuals are very colorful and the animation is good. The comedy of this game gives me the vibes of a Saturday morning cartoon. Overall it's a fun experience that could have its gameplay expanded further if they had a sequel.

To me, this game nailed the artistic side that video games have, I really liked the style, the music, the characters, the voice acting and even the story was enjoyable, although not incredible either.

However, I am really disappointed in the gameplay, the whole premise was to fight in sync with the music... but i never ONCE felt that, combat is extremely simplistic and boring, the "transformation" ability feels like a waste of a character mechanic and walking around the world felt very pointless. If the main content of the game is to fight bosses, I would very much prefer a more in-depth and interesting combat system instead of collecting items in the world and talking to character that don't add or matter to the gameplay or narrative. I enjoyed it the most during DK West boss fight, because I didn't have to fight him normally.

For all the jank this game has I still cannot deny the amount of charm and wit there is in its presentation. Right off the bat this game hits you with its stunning art direction and the reason why you keep going is to learn more about how this world works. Gameplay consists of beat-em up style rooms before entering the main boss fight, lather rinse repeat until you make it to the end. Upgrading and unlocking new skills to make each fight more easier and interesting to go through, to put it bluntly this game wants you to refight bosses. They want you to learn their rhythmic patterns and get better scores, if you're not about that, then you're looking at a very short runtime on your hands. There is worth in going back to the bosses because it nets you fans which can be used to spend on more skills and abilities to make things easier but that's the general gameplay loop here. The music is also great as there's many genre's and styles on display, but I mean if this is a game about music you need the actual music to be good so i'm glad they didn't mess that part up.
If you want a short but fun adventure with loveable characters and an interesting world I'd recommend picking this up, it's cheaper than most games but the amount of content in it will surely make it your moneys worth.

Después de haberme pasado este juego como 3 veces puedo decir que es buenisimo, tengo nomás 8 horas jugadas por el hecho de que lo jugué en la versión de epic anteriormente, pero me lo pasé una vez más ahora en el encore edition.

La ost es de las mejores que escuché en un juego, la combinación que hacen entre rock y edm es muy buena, la historia no es una obra maestra pero al final termina dejando una buena moraleja, bastante útil y le hace buena compania al juego.

La jugabilidad puede ser bastante genérica, pero en mi caso, después de jugarlo bastante se me hizo más divertida, el arte es bastante bueno, al menos los dibujos, junto con el diseño de personajes y la paleta de colores que es vivida.

Los gráficos son los típicos de un juego creado en unreal engine 4 y no están del todo mal, lo que me descoloca un poco es el tema de la sincronía de las voces en japonés, terminan el diálogo y las bocas de los personajes siguen moviendose por un tiempito después.

The game has pretty good art style and character designs. I don't really give a damn about the story, it kind of felt incomprehensible (Don't worry i comprehended it, but I really didn't care at all, did nothing for me.) The music wasnt bad.

The main gripe is that all the moments of actually playing the game feel empty. The actual gameplay is very simple, which isn't bad in another games with similar levels of simple, but in this game it's definitely a drawback. The parts where you do actual combat are these small levels leading up to bosses, and the actual bosses. The levels leading up to bosses feel like padding and aren't very well designed levels. While they look very good most of the time, they just feel like they place enemies places, and most normal enemies are lifeless. Like the enemies have a rhythym they attack in that is steady, but they don't match up to the music ? just feels weird. Most bosses are good, the Piano girl and Eve are super cool, the fish girl kind of sucks, and the 1010 really fucking suck.

Not a bad game, but it definitely didn't resonate with me super hard, mainly wanted to finish this before I played Hi-Hi RUSH since they seemed very similar at a glance.