A joyous miraculous bundle of fun, I don't even wanna hear or read about people that don't like this game because even though opinions are subjective... you're wrong! Do you even play video games for enjoyment if you don't like this??
I'm a guy who watched a ton of cartoons and played a ton of beat-em-up and platformers in the 90s/2000s and has played drums for 20-ish years. Hi-Fi Rush was made for me. The unabashed style that practically bursts through the screen and shakes you silly is impossible to resist. The quirky loveable cast, the colors and effects, the jokes and emotional beats, the goddamn zig and zag of this thing - come on!
As a big fan of 'guitar music' or general rock & roll/alternative/punk/indie/what have you, the soundtrack could've been make or break for me here. So many games have been a total miss when it came to the soundtrack - whether it's all stuff that just isn't my style or comes across as a little cringe-y or try hard (and I'm really trying my best not to sound like a total music snob here... I just like what I like! I have my own tastes! Sorry not sorry!!!).
Hi-Fi Rush has a shit ton of original music that just throbs, bounces and shreds, and as a major gameplay/design point, it fucking rules. There's stuff here that sounds like Sonic Youth and Blonde Redhead, surf-y and punk-y, jazz fusion and noise rock, I don't use this word often but the shit slaps. And on top of that you have actual good licensed music from Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy, Number Girl (who I wasn't aware of before but that song rules), and more. I'm not a big Black Keys fan but the song used works here as a playful introduction to Chai. But man... the end credits with "Honestly" by Zwan, that one got me. A song I hadn't really heard since I originally saw the music video on TV, and despite being a Smashing Pumpkins fan, didn't really like. But goddamn what a tune, and the way it's used here, perfect.
If you sometimes play games with headphones, which for me is usually rare, this is the one to play with the music pumping into your ears. It makes everything GO that much more.
Combat and action, just rules. Not gonna go into it too much but of course it rules, read any review or watch a ten second clip of it and you'll see why this game has won over so many. The hop in and assist nature of Chai's buddies + incorporating them into combos and special attacks looks so fucking cool every time that it never gets old. I'm sorry for sounding like a tryhard cool guy and saying fuck all the time here but I do it when I'm really feeling what I'm typing. Fucking good SHIT
The only little thing stopping a 5 star rating for me, and honestly I could really ignore this gripe and go 5 stars easily, but the exploration/corridor/platforming stuff sometimes is a little stiff, too easy, and barren. I love collectathons and exploring nooks and crannies for stuff and hopping and bopping around on platforms, and I really wish this went fully there and did that stuff. If there were some full-on open levels with wall jumping and big structures to manually climb and find little treasures as well as linear stages and combat, this would've been perfect. Something like what Tinykin did. But that's a little nitpick, I still had an absolute blast of a time in every moment I spent in this world.
I'm so happy this came to PS5 as I felt total FOMO when I saw everyone enjoying this last year on Xbox. It feels amazing with the Dualsense too. Play this fucking game y'all. Play it!!!
I'm a guy who watched a ton of cartoons and played a ton of beat-em-up and platformers in the 90s/2000s and has played drums for 20-ish years. Hi-Fi Rush was made for me. The unabashed style that practically bursts through the screen and shakes you silly is impossible to resist. The quirky loveable cast, the colors and effects, the jokes and emotional beats, the goddamn zig and zag of this thing - come on!
As a big fan of 'guitar music' or general rock & roll/alternative/punk/indie/what have you, the soundtrack could've been make or break for me here. So many games have been a total miss when it came to the soundtrack - whether it's all stuff that just isn't my style or comes across as a little cringe-y or try hard (and I'm really trying my best not to sound like a total music snob here... I just like what I like! I have my own tastes! Sorry not sorry!!!).
Hi-Fi Rush has a shit ton of original music that just throbs, bounces and shreds, and as a major gameplay/design point, it fucking rules. There's stuff here that sounds like Sonic Youth and Blonde Redhead, surf-y and punk-y, jazz fusion and noise rock, I don't use this word often but the shit slaps. And on top of that you have actual good licensed music from Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy, Number Girl (who I wasn't aware of before but that song rules), and more. I'm not a big Black Keys fan but the song used works here as a playful introduction to Chai. But man... the end credits with "Honestly" by Zwan, that one got me. A song I hadn't really heard since I originally saw the music video on TV, and despite being a Smashing Pumpkins fan, didn't really like. But goddamn what a tune, and the way it's used here, perfect.
If you sometimes play games with headphones, which for me is usually rare, this is the one to play with the music pumping into your ears. It makes everything GO that much more.
Combat and action, just rules. Not gonna go into it too much but of course it rules, read any review or watch a ten second clip of it and you'll see why this game has won over so many. The hop in and assist nature of Chai's buddies + incorporating them into combos and special attacks looks so fucking cool every time that it never gets old. I'm sorry for sounding like a tryhard cool guy and saying fuck all the time here but I do it when I'm really feeling what I'm typing. Fucking good SHIT
The only little thing stopping a 5 star rating for me, and honestly I could really ignore this gripe and go 5 stars easily, but the exploration/corridor/platforming stuff sometimes is a little stiff, too easy, and barren. I love collectathons and exploring nooks and crannies for stuff and hopping and bopping around on platforms, and I really wish this went fully there and did that stuff. If there were some full-on open levels with wall jumping and big structures to manually climb and find little treasures as well as linear stages and combat, this would've been perfect. Something like what Tinykin did. But that's a little nitpick, I still had an absolute blast of a time in every moment I spent in this world.
I'm so happy this came to PS5 as I felt total FOMO when I saw everyone enjoying this last year on Xbox. It feels amazing with the Dualsense too. Play this fucking game y'all. Play it!!!