Hi-Fi Rush

Hi-Fi Rush is one of those games that I wanted to love a lot more than I actually did. The concept is clever; the world is lively; the art is vibrant. Just as importantly, it serves to begin plugging the Japan-sized hole in Microsoft’s first-party lineup. The shadow-drop release created instant hype and I was as eager as anyone to ride the wave.

But the game itself didn’t connect with me as strongly as I’d hoped it would. The first issue is the story. Though the character designs are excellent, the writing supporting them is not. The clichéd plot is forgettable but forgivable; the bigger problem is that the writing itself reads like what happens when a writer with a word count to hit churns out streams of pointless banter to meet it. The worst offenders in this regard are the corporate emails scattered throughout the game and the between-stage conversations between Chai and his pals.

The next issue is pacing. The levels in this game feel like they go on forever. While I appreciate that you can save anywhere, I still wish there were a greater number of natural breaks in the level design. The game also struggles to find the right balance between cutscenes, exploration, and combat. Combat sequences tend to be brief, and are usually surrounded on both sides by heavy servings of platforming and exploration. Though the game’s environments overflow with visual creativity and look downright stunning, traversing doesn’t feel as thrilling as it could. Chai’s movement speed is on the slower end, more of a saunter than a jog, and feels at odds with the pulsating energy of the graphics and soundtrack. Sure, there are grapple points to hook onto and rails to ride on, but these actions are handled semi-automatically rather than being fully integrated into the standard platforming flow. Jet Set Radio [ジェットセットラジオ] this is not.

Then there’s the combat, which I’d rate somewhere between good and excellent. When you internalize the beat and get in the zone, it feels amazing. Swinging between enemies and summoning your buddies to extend combos is pure controlled chaos and a hell of a lot of fun. I did struggle with the timing in a few of the forced parry sections, however, and I was frustrated with how the final boss forced me to abruptly abandon my free-wheeling playstyle in favor of a more conservative strategy. Making me change up my tactics is fine, but couldn’t the developers have done this in other late-game battles instead of springing it on me at the very end?

One more sour note before I sign off: It’s the music. It never felt as visceral as I hoped it would. Compared to other rhythm games like Crypt of the NecroDancer, or even non-rhythm action games like Doom and its 2020 sequel, Hi-Fi Rush doesn’t quite hit the mark. The beat is always there but it was something I heard more than felt, an element I had to keep track of rather than one that I felt immersed in.

When it comes down to it, Hi-Fi Rush is a good game. Maybe even a great one. But the hype wave it’s been riding on is immense, and though I really wish I could let it sweep me away, I find myself gently pushing back against it instead. That being said, the foundation of an incredible game is here. If Hi-Fi Rush 2 comes along with stronger writing and nimbler platforming, it could absolutely be an all-time classic.

The protagonist of the game Chai has an overload of confidence, but so did Tango/Bethesda/Xbox with this surprise shadow drop. A pretty big project (apparently 5 years in the making) and none of it was ever revealed, no review codes or anything like that. Just boom here's the game and by the way it's available today. Pretty wild in today's gaming landscape where we have to wait for years for stuff to actually come out, but they pulled it here and the critics and fans are both loving the product too.

The concept of the game is not too complicated, it's just an action brawler but with a rhythm game concept where you have to hit "on beat" to get the proper combos rolling. Pair this was a comic book artstyle and a pretty over the top story, and you've got a winning formula. While I don't think this is the greatest game ever, I did enjoy my time with it and it's a fun linear experience... the stages are well designed and it's pretty entertaining to go through the story. The characters are memorable and already people are considering Chai and 808 (the cat) to be iconic.

I think this does hit people with nostalgia cause aside from the rhythm mechanic, it just feels like games I've already played before. However the combination of these elements is so well structured, that it makes for a very good experience. It's not mindblowing but at the same time it doesn't really have any flaws, although I did find the mandatory parrying mechanic to be quite annoying sometimes but eventually I got the hang of it. I don't consider myself very good at the game so I think normal difficulty was enough for me, but the game does offer you hard, very hard and even a 5th difficulty level once you finish it... definitely not in my intentions to tackle those, but it's nice to have for people that are really fans of the game and the mechanics.

Overall a fun title and a nice start for Game Pass in 2023, definitely something you'd want to play if you are a subscriber as Day One titles from AAA studios is pretty much as good as it gets. This was my first game from Tango, but now I'm definitely interesting in trying their other ones even if I know this one is radically different.