Hi-Fi Rush

Hi-Fi Rush is like my dream game come true. It's got everything I love and want in a video game. A music based action game with some rhythm platforming, and amazing artstyle and great writing.

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.

You can pet the cat :D

This is without doubt the best shadow drop of all time. Shades of Jet Set Radio and Sunset Overdrive. We need more joyful games like this!

لعبة صنعت بشغف. جمعت بين ستايل هاك اند سلاش والإيقاع وطلع لنا منتج نهائي مصقول. العالم والشخصيات رهيبين بعد.

This game was made with passion. Combined Hack'n'Slash with Rythm genres and delivered a polished final product. Cool world and characters too.

Hi-Fi Rush feels like a long-lost Dreamcast game. They don't make games like this anymore, except I guess they do because here we are! Tango Gameworks continues to deliver with this weird rhythm brawler. It mixes Devil May Cry-like action, with the timed inputs and musical sensibilities of a rhythm game. Everything in the whole game abides by the beat, even your walk cycle. This means you gotta attack on the beat, and damn if it isn't infectious. Enemies also fight in tempo, which leads to insanely legible combat. I came to learn exactly how many beats certain combos used, and exactly when to dodge and parry solely based on musical cues. Some stronger enemies can become enraged and lock you into a Rhythm Parry, allowing you to mimic their beat through consecutive deflections for a chance at instakilling them (think Sekiro, but actually good). All this quickly became second nature, as I found myself even navigating the menus to the rhythm (call me Baby Driver). The bosses are also absolute standouts, with fantastic variety and unique mechanics. Partners add another layer to the game, allowing you to call in your friends to stun enemies, break shields, or even extend combos. They also keep things interesting outside of combat by letting you interact with the world in various ways. You also get a grappling hook (always good), and a super cool timed dash that lets you string bursts of movement together to zip around the levels. All this combined with incredible animation, awesome 2D sections, and rewarding collectibles to discover, the downtime between combat remained just as engaging. My biggest issue here is some of the writing. A lot of the exaggerated voice work just wasn't doing it for me, and seemed to get a little too juvenile at times. Like, there's literally a 'left shark' joke in here... But for every unfunny joke that falls completely flat, there's another that actually makes me laugh. It seems like another case of a Japanese developer trying to cater to a Western audience, but it isn't as egregious as other recent examples (see Forspoken). It's kind of a bummer, because I genuinely ended up liking the characters, and the storytelling was fun and self-aware—but I still prefer the writing style of Tango's previous outings. Regardless, Hi-Fi Rush is a breath of fresh air, and serves as an all-too-rare must-play Xbox game. I mean, c'mon, what other game has a final boss set to Nine Inch Nails? Also, there's SO MANY The Evil Within references, and I'm here for it.

PEPPERMINT IS BEST GIRL.

Pefect combination of rhythm and hack n slash game. Love the cartoony artstyle and the funny story and dialog. Even though the story having more of a lighter tone, it still have great character development.

The level design are great, each bosses have different battle mechanics and does not reuse the same mechanics too much, so it does not feel repetitive.

The game does not punish people with bad sense of rhythm, but rewards those who do.

And the final boss battle is epic