Sayonara Wild Hearts does not care about being a video game. It has interactive elements, but they are purely in the service of making its audio and visual experience cooler and more meaningful. Gameplay loops between an auto-runner format, a flight simulator, and various timing based quick-time events without any warning, as it's unnecessary for what Sayonara Wild Hearts is trying to accomplish. The only thing that matters is that you follow the line that makes you part of the music video that is its world and get to act out some truly breathtaking visuals in an artistic representation of finding yourself, your heart, and your muse in life again. As a creative endeavor and a passion project, it is a sublime use of video games as a medium.

It's also kind of a bad rhythm game. While SWH appears to be on tracks, all movement is done via a very slow and gentle drift, meaning that the occasional QTE is the only real 'on the beat' action a player has to perform. Enemy patterns are rendered trivial as long as you follow the trail of breadcrumbs that give you points, levels that don't end in a boss fight are pitifully short, and each of the game's gimmicks only really provides a difference to movement, with no real meaningful 'feel' changes outside of one level where the enemy you're pursuing snaps on the beat, warping between two realities with each snap. Sayonara Wild Hearts is at its best as a video game when it manages to marry its music with the thrust of its levels, and it does this... I dunno, maybe three times, and only for parts of its longer 'boss' levels that serve to be the game's showpiece moments?

If it's your favorite game ever and an unforgettable experience, I get it. The use of the visuals with the music alone and how you naturally feel like you're brought along for the ride in an incredibly intimate way is an almost wholly unique experience. But the game ranks you, it has points, it asks to be treated as a rhythm game, and as such... I just don't think it uses its gameplay in service of its music very well. Conceptually, absolutely, but the feel isn't there. When the timing of your QTE's is off, the music fades and pauses and sort of just wrecks the vibe. And yeah, messing up the QTE is your fault, but it's the first time you're hearing the song and the prompt for the proper timing has a weird visual indicator! It's consistent stumbles like that which keep Wild Hearts from being an all-time favorite and more an incredibly novelty.

A beautiful and funky little interactive music album. Simogo clearly put so much love and passion into making fun levels to match the amazing music by Daniel Olsén and Jonathan Eng. This is a soundtrack that I’ll always love with its great use of synths taking influence from various classical pieces. Queen Latifah was also a really fun choice for a narrator, apparently only being gotten last minute, she suits the vibe of the game perfectly. I really recommend this game, it doesn’t take too long to beat and is very replayable, perfect for someone wanting some good vibes.

Here's my Steam review, verbatim:

Every original idea this game has is a good one. Gameplay-wise, you're looking forward to a highly replayable and deeply innovative experience. It's fast-paced action tied to some pretty decent music. I'd describe its raw appeal as being not too dissimilar to Rayman Legends' music stages with lane runner elements similar to modern Sonic the Hedgehog games. Don't let the comparisons fool you though; its gameplay is truly a creative marvel to behold.

Thematically, however? You're looking forward to a lot of tropes from the past decade reused without bringing much to the table. In a lot of ways, it feels very regressive, and I fear that the game will struggle to age well. The tarot cards, the zodiac, the naming schemes, the Japanese onomatopoeia... No matter how tired a trope is, it can always be utilised cleverly. You just won't find that here.

The story is also sort of wishy-washy and vague, but I think there's some amount of intention to its vagueness, and I can sort of appreciate it. The game's most interesting "narrative" is really the way its gameplay evolves and changes, rather than its story.

If the trailer and description has you interested, it'll be absolutely worth your time. If you're on the fence, then you'll still get SOMETHING from it, but I can't say it'll be the intended experience. Still probably worth it, though. Just don't expect more than an hour or so of game content before the credits roll.

If you like Queen Latifah, however, you should buy this game.

This is an incredibly unique rhythm game that creates the feeling that you're actively participating in a pop album audio-visual laser show of sorts. The gameplay itself is varied, creative, and it's a pleasure to navigate the auto-run courses with the gorgeous neon art and fantastic musical notes giving all sorts of sensual pleasure. There are some sections that reminded me of the great movement/sound experience in The Pathless, but this is certainly not a 1 for 1 comp to that game. As for the story, it seems to be about love, acceptance, and healing, but I wasn't really completely following it as it is definitely a little abstract. I'm not the kind of gamer to care about perfecting these levels or getting high scores, and in fact it frustrated me when I would crash and the music briefly got interrupted while the game reset me back into the level (even though to the credit of the devs this happens in a flash). It's a brief, very enjoyable experience that I'm glad I had, and I come away from it loving the music and wanting to listen to the soundtrack straight through as soon as I can get the chance.

So passionate, confident, and uncompromising in its pop-album vision that it's hard not to immediately fall in love (THAT MAIN MENU THEME ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?).

Just like Game Score Fanfare explains in his wonderful video, the entire game is designed around the conventions of pop music, not just copying but integrating what makes pop so darn infectious into the very fabric of the game.

A short but infinitely re-playable joyride that I don't think I will ever get enough of.