Although brimming with creativity, it's such a shame that this falls short of being an excellent action game. The primary combat sections often feel overwhelming in the latter half being flooded with enemies often with separate gimmicks requiring me to split my attention onto too many things at once. This is further exacerbated by the lack of a lockon feature resulting in assist attacks not hitting the correct enemies or Chai changing an enemy target mid-combo.

Losing in these circumstances is very punishing as most often combat sequences are structured in 2 to 3 waves of enemies sometimes preceded by unskippable dialogue, which made losing at the end of these combat sections very frustrating.

Platforming/exploration sections outside of combat fare somewhat better, however Chai's slow movement and overly vertical jump arcs serve as a constant reminder that this is not the environment he is designed for.

A major highlight of this game are the boss battles as they strike a perfect balance of difficulty and engaging gameplay that make each one unique.

While the presentation of Hi-Fi Rush is absolutely gorgeous and it's rhythm/action hybrid gameplay is incredibly inventive, cracks slowly start to show as it goes on, and it becomes very clear that is far from the likes of a Capcom or Platinum title.