"Are you rushing or dragging?"
The striking visual style makes a great first impression. Despite being super linear, the game still creates a sense of exploration which I appreciate immensely. I detest games like Devil May Cry (and more recent example, FF16) and their corridor linking combat arena structure. The little platforming sections, light puzzles, secret rooms, sidescrolling sections, traversal setpieces that Hi-Fi Rush constantly threw at me made me forget I was playing a character action game. Pacing is fantastic, always introducing new mechanics, and the game ends right where it needs to be, just before the experience gets stale. The combat makes you feel like you have musical superpower when it works, but I was seldom able to make it work. I'm a hopeless dragger lol. I had some small problems with the protagonist, mainly how him being an idiot from a 90s anime. It didn't help that the last Japanese game I played was Xenoblade Chronicles 3, where the protagonist put up his best Socrates impression.
The striking visual style makes a great first impression. Despite being super linear, the game still creates a sense of exploration which I appreciate immensely. I detest games like Devil May Cry (and more recent example, FF16) and their corridor linking combat arena structure. The little platforming sections, light puzzles, secret rooms, sidescrolling sections, traversal setpieces that Hi-Fi Rush constantly threw at me made me forget I was playing a character action game. Pacing is fantastic, always introducing new mechanics, and the game ends right where it needs to be, just before the experience gets stale. The combat makes you feel like you have musical superpower when it works, but I was seldom able to make it work. I'm a hopeless dragger lol. I had some small problems with the protagonist, mainly how him being an idiot from a 90s anime. It didn't help that the last Japanese game I played was Xenoblade Chronicles 3, where the protagonist put up his best Socrates impression.