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!🙏