Can't believe Microsoft/Bethesda lowkey dropped a GOTY contender on us out of nowhere.
The weird thing about this game is that, on the surface, it probably wouldn't be the top of game I'd enjoy. I'm not very good at rhythm games out of the ones I've played, and beat-em-up/hack-and-slash games... well, I don't really have any experience with outside of a certain playstyle in a certain hedgehog game that admittedly kind of gave me a bad first impression of the genre.
Hi-Fi Rush sort of ties those two genres together, mixing the core gameplay of beat-em-ups/hack-and-slashes with a sense of 'rhythm' to your actions as there's a consistent beat throughout the game, and by playing along to it, you're able to deal more damage through combos, or in case of the platforming sections add some variety to your movement (in addition to occasional QTEs and whatnot). It's a really creative form of this type of game and frankly I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would.
The mechanics first of all are really fun to play with - adding a lot of variety both with the enemies you face and the combos you can unlock especially as you try to master the 'beat' and whatnot. In addition you unlock partner attacks and the ability to parry as you play through the game, which only adds to the game's vast moveset and feel really good to pull off. The enemy variety is also good, and I like how the game occassionally has enemies and hazards related to the 'environment' you're in that adds a bit more challenge to the fight.
This all adds up to the game doing a good job incentivizing replayability through all the upgrades, attacks, combos and abilities you can unlock and in some cases change out at will, especially with the addition of a ranking system where you can try and rack up your score particularly during enemy battles. I won't deny that I'm... not the best at these types of games still and Hi-Fi Rush only proved that, but at the same time, the mechanics being really fun to use and full of variety definitely made me want to continue on and experiment with the combos I could pull off. Plus I liked being able to explore off the main path here and there and look for collectibles.
On top of all that the presentation of this game is really good. I really like the comic book plus anime art style, and the characters and environments look really good. On top of that, the environments themselves are full of elements that move or change to a beat, even stuff in the background that you can't really interact with, which is frankly pretty neat and nice attention to detail. Plus I really enjoyed the characters and watching the story unfold - seeing the characters develop and all the events and major plot points take place really made me feel invested in the story, which like the gameplay itself, really helped me want to keep going.
My only real criticisms I can think of is that the platforming is a bit wonky in my opinion. Chai's movement feels a bit weird in places - particularly his double jump feels weirdly 'heavy' and his Dash having a tendency to overshoot platforms at time without much control.
I guess also the game doesn't really a good job incentivizing the player to change out and experiment with the various special attacks. The 'Rip and Tear' move was one that I outright felt wasn't really that useful or powerful despite taking up more Reverb Charge compared to the 'Double Riff' which you get fairly early in the game and just felt more accurate and powerful with where you're targeting. Granted if I go back and decide to play for some of the higher ranks, I may experiment with that a bit more, especially with the potential to upgrade my Reverb Charge, but after experimenting with a few different attacks I purchased I didn't really feel encouraged enough to keep trying out different special attacks.
Otherwise, this game is really damn good, and would probably even go as far as to say it's my Game of the Year so far (at least until Super Mario Wonder and Sonic Superstars come out) and would definitely recommend playing it.
also peppermint is a gender ngl
The weird thing about this game is that, on the surface, it probably wouldn't be the top of game I'd enjoy. I'm not very good at rhythm games out of the ones I've played, and beat-em-up/hack-and-slash games... well, I don't really have any experience with outside of a certain playstyle in a certain hedgehog game that admittedly kind of gave me a bad first impression of the genre.
Hi-Fi Rush sort of ties those two genres together, mixing the core gameplay of beat-em-ups/hack-and-slashes with a sense of 'rhythm' to your actions as there's a consistent beat throughout the game, and by playing along to it, you're able to deal more damage through combos, or in case of the platforming sections add some variety to your movement (in addition to occasional QTEs and whatnot). It's a really creative form of this type of game and frankly I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would.
The mechanics first of all are really fun to play with - adding a lot of variety both with the enemies you face and the combos you can unlock especially as you try to master the 'beat' and whatnot. In addition you unlock partner attacks and the ability to parry as you play through the game, which only adds to the game's vast moveset and feel really good to pull off. The enemy variety is also good, and I like how the game occassionally has enemies and hazards related to the 'environment' you're in that adds a bit more challenge to the fight.
This all adds up to the game doing a good job incentivizing replayability through all the upgrades, attacks, combos and abilities you can unlock and in some cases change out at will, especially with the addition of a ranking system where you can try and rack up your score particularly during enemy battles. I won't deny that I'm... not the best at these types of games still and Hi-Fi Rush only proved that, but at the same time, the mechanics being really fun to use and full of variety definitely made me want to continue on and experiment with the combos I could pull off. Plus I liked being able to explore off the main path here and there and look for collectibles.
On top of all that the presentation of this game is really good. I really like the comic book plus anime art style, and the characters and environments look really good. On top of that, the environments themselves are full of elements that move or change to a beat, even stuff in the background that you can't really interact with, which is frankly pretty neat and nice attention to detail. Plus I really enjoyed the characters and watching the story unfold - seeing the characters develop and all the events and major plot points take place really made me feel invested in the story, which like the gameplay itself, really helped me want to keep going.
My only real criticisms I can think of is that the platforming is a bit wonky in my opinion. Chai's movement feels a bit weird in places - particularly his double jump feels weirdly 'heavy' and his Dash having a tendency to overshoot platforms at time without much control.
I guess also the game doesn't really a good job incentivizing the player to change out and experiment with the various special attacks. The 'Rip and Tear' move was one that I outright felt wasn't really that useful or powerful despite taking up more Reverb Charge compared to the 'Double Riff' which you get fairly early in the game and just felt more accurate and powerful with where you're targeting. Granted if I go back and decide to play for some of the higher ranks, I may experiment with that a bit more, especially with the potential to upgrade my Reverb Charge, but after experimenting with a few different attacks I purchased I didn't really feel encouraged enough to keep trying out different special attacks.
Otherwise, this game is really damn good, and would probably even go as far as to say it's my Game of the Year so far (at least until Super Mario Wonder and Sonic Superstars come out) and would definitely recommend playing it.
also peppermint is a gender ngl
2 Comments
of course
LoneSpeedsterDX
10 months ago