Really neat gameplay concept brought down by aggressively bland writing. There are some bright spots (everyone loves the screensaver joke), but the game would benefit tremendously by cutting 75% of the script. It suffers from every character annoying you on the radio at all times as well as unskippable cutscenes where the boring writing just can't be ignored.
As for the core rhythm-action gameplay, I enjoyed it enough but I think the Devil May Crys and Bayonettas of the world might not be for me. I'm pretty slow at picking up their combo cues and feel myself button mashing more than anything, and that paired with the precision of a rhythm game meant my timing always felt inadequate (plus the reality of modern HD TV's introducing a noticable amount of input lag). And then the score judgements after every fight just make me feel like shit, even if I was getting A-ranks for the majority of my normal-difficulty playthrough. The combat also gets pretty hard to read in the late game, with loads of characters blocking your view on-screen and getting little info on enemy attack patterns amongst all the overstimulation. It's definitely something I could get better at (Kamiya always says the first playthrough is the tutorial), but I just didn't really feel the motivation to get better. I wonder if this was structured more like a typical rhythm game (just pick a song from a menu, no continue points, no sweat if you fail just try again) if I'd get more invested into it.
So after all the hype this received earlier this year, I'd still temper expectations for people who are rhythm fans but not stylish action fans. It really commits to its core concept which is why I respect the game so much, and at the end of it all I was left wanting more. Although just like my reaction to Edgar Wright's Baby Driver, I'm not sure if I wanted the same thing but with faster, more intense music, or the same thing but with a more compelling narrative.
As for the core rhythm-action gameplay, I enjoyed it enough but I think the Devil May Crys and Bayonettas of the world might not be for me. I'm pretty slow at picking up their combo cues and feel myself button mashing more than anything, and that paired with the precision of a rhythm game meant my timing always felt inadequate (plus the reality of modern HD TV's introducing a noticable amount of input lag). And then the score judgements after every fight just make me feel like shit, even if I was getting A-ranks for the majority of my normal-difficulty playthrough. The combat also gets pretty hard to read in the late game, with loads of characters blocking your view on-screen and getting little info on enemy attack patterns amongst all the overstimulation. It's definitely something I could get better at (Kamiya always says the first playthrough is the tutorial), but I just didn't really feel the motivation to get better. I wonder if this was structured more like a typical rhythm game (just pick a song from a menu, no continue points, no sweat if you fail just try again) if I'd get more invested into it.
So after all the hype this received earlier this year, I'd still temper expectations for people who are rhythm fans but not stylish action fans. It really commits to its core concept which is why I respect the game so much, and at the end of it all I was left wanting more. Although just like my reaction to Edgar Wright's Baby Driver, I'm not sure if I wanted the same thing but with faster, more intense music, or the same thing but with a more compelling narrative.