Heartbreak, subsistence, and resurgence are typical emotive beats to plot with for many a narrative, and Sayonara Wild Hearts uses an interactive visual album in the style of endless runners and vertical scrollers to develop a queer protagonist's turn from heartbreak to resurgence into the world she once knew. Brevity befits the experience (replayability enhances it, albeit the riddles and Arcade modes do not interest me) as wonderful pop tracks from Simogo mainstays Daniel Olsén and Jonathan Eng back dreamlike, neon sequences of travel through cities and forests and seas in search of what is lost. This reminds me now of Pop. Love. Panic! (a.k.a. We Are OFK) in a significant improvement of flow and use of these music video-esque levels, but the necessary attachment to the story requires both a love of the music and the ability to attach meaning to the chaotic events happening onscreen as the player dodges obstacles, projectiles, and checkpoint-restarting QTEs. If all that sounds good, this is another example of why Simogo (and Annapurna Interactive) are among the best in the business.

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.

On first play-through, this game feels like a pretty short, maybe forgettable romp. Go back for the gold medals though, and soon enough, like listening to an album over and over, it grows on you. Before you know it, you'll be singing all the tunes in the shower.

I would never have picked this up if it wasn't gifted to me, but I'm so glad I did. The feeling of nailing a run after a bunch of tries using muscle-memory and rhythm is super satisfying. Weirdly, the gameplay sometimes feels like a more refined and deeper take on 3D-era Sonic the Hedgehog. Sega should take some inspiration from this.

Sayonara: Wild Hearts is a musical action game by Simogo that puts the player in control of a woman with a broken heart as she explores the surreal world inside her mind. It's also the source of the prettiest migraine I have ever had.

Speaking purely in terms of presentation, Sayonara is an achievement on its own. Using the familiar motifs of tarot arcanas, the game establishes its protagonist and the antagonists in gorgeously animated 3D scenes that seamlessly merge into the gameplay. Tension builds up and releases along with the beats, which in themselves are a treat for the synthwave enjoyers out there. There are also some fantastic ideas that mesh concepts related to sound and music to the level design in unexpected and mindblowing ways, the Stereo Lovers stage being my uncontested favorite.

But there is such a thing as too much color, too much flashing and too much motion. Having finished the game in a single sitting just over an hour long, I walked away with a headache so bad, the mere thought of playing the game again to attempt high scores or solve the riddles felt terrifying. I shiver to think of someone with actual epilepsy trying this game out, as even for me, as beautiful as the motorcycle ride through the Heartbreak Subspace was, it's hard to tell if it was worth it in the end.

Plus, as wondrous as the sights are, the gameplay lacks the mechanical precision that one would expect from a game tagged as rhythm. Controls feel floaty and the intense use of perspective and unusual framing leads to lots of avoidable mistakes when dodging or swaying. Plus, the intended movement rarely matches the beat, which means this is less of a musical game and more a game with music playing along the action. These are all intentional design decisions, mind you, and they work very well for what the game is trying to achieve, but it bears saying that this won't scratch the rhythm game itch nor does it have that extensive, satisfying replayability those games tend to have.

All in all, Sayonara: Wild Hearts merits a recommendation, but a very cautious one. You have to know what you’re getting into, and you should have some aspirin nearby just in case.

I played this game because a new podcast I watched on Friday is doing it for their second episode. You can find the channel here.

I don’t know when this game showed up in my wishlist or why it even did. It must have been popular at some point but I was curious about it when I looked at screenshots after that first podcast episode and realized it was $7 and thought it wouldn’t hurt to try it. Man I’m glad I gave this game a try because omg it’s so awesome!

This game is a visual trip, the screenshots may have given me confidence I’d like it, playing it in action is even better. The game’s visual style is really nice and I especially love the color choice used for the environments. Almost all of the environment is a visual treat to look at and the music and setpieces compliment it very well too. I especially love how much this game uses the camera for so many different shots giving the levels many different ways to stand out. Again none of it is jarring or bad and it’s impressive how much the game aces at it.

The gameplay is also just amazing as well, trying to get a high score on each stage is addicting as you try to ace these stages. The progression through them flows so well and the music compliments it all perfectly and while IDK if the music is as good listening to it on its own compared to playing, it’s addicting to hear and I can’t get enough of it. I’m not even sure if I have any issues with the gameplay outside of maybe a nitpick or two.

If I had to address any personal issues I had, the one that comes to mind immediately was the visuals for the beginning of I think it was Forest Ghost, it kind of hurts my eyes especially on replays for gold rank. It’s why I said almost all of the environment is great. I also didn’t like when the game puts one of those diamond items on a split path where you do those hard turns because I didn’t notice anything that made it obvious to go that way but maybe I’m blind. Still it says a lot about how good this game is that these are my only issues.

The ranks are really fun to achieve gold for if you’re good enough. I don’t know if people find this game hard or not. Just getting through is pretty easy and the game even lets you skip sections if you die too much and thank you devs for putting an option to just have it never show up again. I really like giving options to like 3 different types of people. I think I had about 5 gold ranks when I beat the game. As of writing right now, I have 15 gold ranks and 8 silver ranks. I might update that before Friday but idk yet. Still being able to get all of the points and bonuses just to get that gold rank is so satisfying and strives me to perfect all of these. Getting risky for bonus points, timing button presses, getting all of the items all while enjoying the music with no stopping is a huge win in itself. Beating the level is one thing but gold ranking is another level of excitement for me.

There is another unlockable for getting all gold and I may try to get it along with the extra you unlock that lets you do every level in a row. There’s just so much of this game that has me excited and I wanna scream in excitement, it makes me wanna show people how engaging it is! Though I’m sure that isn’t necessary haha. Even the story that’s there is pretty nice. If you haven’t played this game yet, go do it sometime soon then because this is one of the best games I’ve played this year. I’m really happy I got to try it and find a game that I found so appealing and addicting. Maybe sometime I’ll get all the golds, I think I could do it!

Sayonara Wild Hearts is a musical action-rhythm game that's maybe an hour long. That said, it's one of the best hours you can spend gaming.

A very abstract queer adventure in very creative levels revolving around collecting various hearts to boost your score while jamming to pop music. Every level feels unique and interesting with a lot of them introducing new mechanics for the player.

This game is an absolute joy. Its visuals are low-poly yet stylish, the color scheme is fantastic, and the story, as minimal as it is, made me cry.

The replay value is also there if you're up for it with 24 hidden achievements for which the game gives hints and a few collectibles per level (which also give a boost to your score!)

It's a fun time reminiscent of games like Space Channel and should not be missed.

Sayonara Wild Hearts não é só um jogo.
É uma mídia que proporciona uma experiência musical. É um jogo e um álbum de música ao mesmo tempo.
E, como uma boa música, te traz algo a mais do que só uma melodia.
O jogo traz consigo a mensagem de que você não precisa ser algo que você não é pelos outros. Não é porque as coisas dão errado, que as coisas falham, que tem algo errado com você. Seja gentil com você mesmo.
Jogue o jogo, tenha sua própria experiência e aprecie tudo que o jogo tem a oferecer.

Me lo pasé al 100% en PC y lo rejugué en la Switch, es actualmente mi juego favorito, las canciones son preciosas y combinan perfecto con la mecánica de cada nivel, si estas en un estado emocional bajo y sin ganas de jugar nada, este juego es la solución, no sabia que hacer con mi estado anímico, llegó este juego a mi vida y sin exagerar me hizo llorar más de una vez, tiene muchas ideas pero poco tiempo para usarlas ya que el juego dura solo una hora y te lo puedes pasar en una noche (depresiva).

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.