Friends, loved ones, we gather here today to remember our good friend Hi-Fi Rush

The cliche saying "life comes at you fast" is apt to describe Hi-Fi Rush. It simultaneously announced and released at the end of what I would generously describe as a very mid Xbox game presentation in January 2023 to the delight of half-asleep gamers watching everywhere.

Hi-Fi Rush is rhythm-based character action game that had unique gameplay. It was forgiving to casual audiences so as to acclimate them to rhythm aspects of the game, but had aspects about it that made it the most hardcore character action game out there if you wanted it to be. If you wanted the highest ranking. If you wanted Chai to be holding a real guitar, you had to earn that shit in blood.

The game embraced a fun cast of characters. Embraced a saturday morning cartoon setting and story. It made Xenogears references when half-jokingly describing running out of budget for the last act of the game. It had licensed music from bands like Nine Inch Nails. Hi-Fi Rush was truly a hi-fi rush that made thousands of people think the game was tailor-made for them. Simply by being more in line with what people actually like. It was nice to see as such cases of personality and life being that it was rare to see such on a major publisher level.

Hi-Fi Rush was pushed out into the world to be loved, and to help boost a rapidly dying gaming platform, but actually mostly that first thing...

But mostly that second thing, actually.

The cancer of corporate consolidation and power, a time when optimal financialization is the only language those unrightfully holding the reigns of the industry speak. That is what killed a moderately successful game studio. Lack of passion or enthusiasm didn't kill Hi-Fi Rush. A financial officer running numbers and determining a sequel would make X amount of dollars less than a Call of Duty skin killed Hi-Fi Rush.

So as we lay them down to rest, we celebrate Hi-Fi Rush as it reminded gamers of a time when all games both big and small were released to be enjoyed unconditionally; with the upfront price tag of exceptional games were the beginning, middle and end of what was asked to own it.

Sadly, those days are snuffed out. You must now rent and subscribe to begin to be pumped with complicit, tedious gameplay trends that feel more diluted with every repackaging. Will we die with capitalism? Probably. Shit crazy out here, b.

Whether or not you cherished the life of Tango, or it's products like Evil Within or Hi-Fi Rush, you must understand that gaming on consoles is dead. Dead until the console platform holders release their own Steam Deck and it's probably going to be lame as fuck compared to a Steam Deck if your name is not Nintendo, but whatever.

Rest in peace, Hi-Fi Rush.

It has been like pulling teeth trying to complete this game for the past 5(?) years. I was a day one purchaser, big fan of Gearbox’s only good franchise, and on paper Borderlands 3 should be great - but Ive been just so impossibly bored. Ive spent a long time wondering why… and I think I figured it out: for a game thats called “Borderlands 3”, it sure doesnt feel like its really about The Borderlands anymore, does it?

Maybe its strayed too far from home. It seems the bigger Gearbox makes the bottle, the more they let the lightning out. As much as I hate Pandoras sometimes monotonous beige desert feel, I think Borderlands used to represent a specific kind of space-western vibe. The harsh trappings of the desperado wasteland, mixed with the exotic qualities of alien wildlife, made into a comically deranged satire of a Mad Maxian society. Without that, what is it a satire of? What satire is happening when you plug the Ice-T teddy bear into the navigation of your colony ship?

The game calls you Vault Hunter alot but did it ever feel like you were hunting or searching for anything? What were you, then?

I played about 20 hours and it was a good time. It’s a unique block falling puzzle game where matching blocks rockets them off screen. Each level is a new “planet” with different ideas, gimmicks, and even gravities so it’s always throwing new things at you to keep it exciting.

While I enjoyed the game I kind of feel like neither control system is really perfect. Maybe I’m just bad and there is really high level play out there. However, it felt to me like the dpad was too slow to keep up with the chaos on screen and using the stylus was too inaccurate. shrugs

It doesn’t matter because the real joy of this game is vibes. Each level has unique art and music that blend together well with the game mechanics. You can feel Mizuguchi’s influence every time you clear blocks and the blast joins harmoniously with the music. And you can see Sakurai’s influence with the clean menus and fun sprites and animations. Just a fun game to play when you have some downtime because you can fit a few rounds in.

I feel really conflicted on this game. On one hand it´s amazing, a phenomenal and truly magical experience with a sense of wonder that is unmatched in relation to most games. But on the other hand, it feels kinda underwhelming.
I was one of those people that wanted this game to carve his own identity , and fixing botws problems , but it´s botw 2, which is fine, but not exactly what i wanted. It fixed some of botw problems by expanding on the gameplay loops, but the combat is basically the same, which isn´t great. The enemy variety is barely improved, because they use it soo much across the game, that it ends up feeling samey. The sky and the depths at first were a joy to explore, with everything i wanted, but as the game went on , those became less interesting, since the same things started being reused again and again.But they were still fun, as for the overworld, it´s ok, i rushed botw so i don´t really know if they did a good job remixing it or not, i did like seeing the changes, but in some places it felt like there was less there than in botw, like the shrine of resurrection or the forgotten temple. Most of this games problems stem from the fact that it´s too reliant on botw, like the story structure, that doesn´t work at all for this game, or the doubled down , handholding of the story in regards to the dungeons. It becomes kinda predictable knowing that korok seeds and shrines are the only thing that mostly ocupies the world. Shrines are much better this time around, even if repetitive , they are very fun. Speaking of which the abilities and the physic system are awesome, but the drawback is that it makes designing complex dungeons or puzzles very complicated.
Building vehicles is fun but very restrictive due to the piece requirement. The dungeons are ok for the most part, the fire temple was very good , even though it was easily cheesable (but it is a guilty pleasure to cheat ) , the desert temple was fun as well , the others were ok ( the water temple kinda sucks).
I love this game, even though it has many flaws , the intro and the end are the highlights of the game, and it made me appreciate this game much more, It also made me appreciate botw a lot more. It´s hard to strike a balance between criticizing and praising, in order to express your thoughts and feelings , but ultimately , despite it all it´s manages to be one of my favorite games of all time.

"One day you will find a hole in your heart"

Fatum Betula is a dreamy "PSX" exploration game with a big focus on ambiance. The levels are small, the content is not much and the endings are based on repeating content and using the same tools you get at the start of an area to do something slightly different and get a 2 minute cutscene. I don't say this as a critique, but as a PSA for anyone that expect this to be the next Yume Nikki or Dream game, or The Forge and the Crucible

Fatum Betula is Fatum Betula and it is worth to experience on it's own when all you want to do is explore a world at 2 AM, chilling and vibing with the lack of sound in the real space. Fatum Betula has it's moments of absolute beauty and mystery, but all in a comfy way. It does not try to be creepy, it's just how the world is built, it's how ambiance and the lack of life can feel.

I haven't found much "meaning" in the game aside of being made for the pleasure of making something and talking about different things in a way that words are filled with fog, but not too much to be somewhat coherent, as a way to practice the developer's skills in creating art.

I like to see exploration games as some kind of a "toured museum" because even if the game let's you explore and experiment, you're still walking through the developer's level that was designed for the player. If you are expecting to make theories and get a compelling story, you're welcome, but you might be dissapointed to see this game is not like that.

In short; Fatum Betula is like a flower. It's pretty, it's delicate, but once you recognize it's patterns, there's not much more to it. You can still appreciate it's beautyness, but the lack of depth in it's structure (visually speaking) will make it so you will eventually move on unless you're an artist, a designer, or someone that holds a flower with a delicate but firm grip as to not let it go even when the interest was lost because the idea of letting a beautiful thing rot or get lost is unbearable.