25 Jan 2023
25 Jan 2023 - PC (Microsoft Windows)
25 Jan 2023 - Xbox Series X|S
19 Mar 2024 - PlayStation 5
Main story
Main story + extras
100% completion
As wannabe rockstar Chai, you’ll fight back against a sinister robotics enhancement conglomerate using rhythm-amplified combat where everything – from the motion in the environment to the blows of combat – is synced to the music.
Audio | Subtitles | Interface | |
---|---|---|---|
Arabic | ✓ | ✓ | |
Chinese (Simplified) | ✓ | ✓ | |
Chinese (Traditional) | ✓ | ✓ | |
English | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Spanish (Spain) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Spanish (Mexico) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
French | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Italian | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Japanese | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Korean | ✓ | ✓ | |
Polish | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Portuguese (Brazil) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Russian | ✓ | ✓ | |
German | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Back in 2022, I reviewed a game called No Straight Roads. That game had potential to be one of my favourites, but there were a lot of flaws due to the budget of the game, and the very janky gameplay and somewhat cringe writing. Hi-Fi rush is like if someone listened to the complaints I had about No Straight Roads and made a perfect game.
One of my favourite things in the world outside of gaming is music, and when you meld those two together, it's like a personal treat for me. This is why I love rhythm games. But also one of my favourite video game genres are action platformers. Now what Tango softworks have done here is meld a rhythm game with an action platformer, but also went above and beyond with making a AAA tile with a superb art style and humorous writing.
What blows my mind is everything in this game is tied to the metronome beat. Your jumps, your attacks, enemy attacks, the environment. You need to absolutely play this with headphones as you will be bopping your head all the way through.
The setting is inspired by Astro boy, one of my favourite settings ever. And the premise of the game is a parody of modern corporations, which is very Ratchet and Clank and humor that I can relate to. The cell shaded artstyle makes these environments POP and it is a crime we don't have more games looking like this.
The combat is like a high level action game. Something akin to Devil May Cry, but not as complex obviously. There are lots of complex combos here but the meat of the combat is tied to presses to the beat. If timed well, you will be rewarded with bonus combos and more damage + points. It's one of those systems that are easy to pick up, but hard to master. And once you do master the combat, it just flows so perfectly.
In between combat are exploration platforming sections, which is just as fun as the combat itself. If you time your jumps and dashes to the beat, you are awarded with further travel which gives you access to more rewards. Everything about the gameplay is perfect.
The story is really good and takes you through the different departments of a corporation. All being parodied. The game never failed to make me laugh when it intended to. The characters are oozing with personality, and they're all lovable.
The game itself is just overflowing with personality. It was made with love and passion, rather than having profit in mind and you can easily tell.
Hi-Fi Rush is the first game I can say feels like you are actually playing a musical. The best way to put it is this is exactly the video game equivilant of the movie Baby Driver or one of those musical scenes in an Edgar Wright movie. Every action in custcene and gameplay matches the best the whole way through. It is one of the most impressive games I have ever played and one of my favourite games of all time.