VOEZ is the cool music teacher in 80s and 90s movies; the one that doesn’t just teach you how to play the song, it teaches you how to own the song, and does it with so much charm that it’s no longer just a class, it’s a duet of student and teacher. VOEZ grants the player the privilege to play music, not just play on top of it.
VOEZ adds flavor to the Guitar Hero design. The game is the usual note-scrolling rhythm game, but the bars which notes scroll down take center stage. They move around, change color, disappear and reappear to the song; it’s like a UI ballet, the game is dancing with your fingers. It’s a spectacle with more nuance than I can describe; video does it justice.
This is what makes VOEZ so magical. Its high points are those jaw-dropping moments where the player goes into an audiovisual trance, in sync with both song and stage. The tracklist runs 116 songs long, written by artists from Taiwan, Japan and China, spanning a diverse range of genres, from classical to Vocaloid. Of course, there’s a couple tracks I’m not crazy over, but with the care put into each level, VOEZ makes even mediocre tracks hypnotizing.
Every track can be played in three difficulties: easy, hard, and special. Players are allowed to jump into the hardest difficulty they desire from second one, and I haven’t turned back. Tracks truly come to life on the harder difficulties. The stage always works with the rhythm of the track, giving the player that feeling of really nailing the notes.
I’ve been learning piano recently, and I’ve caught myself wondering how I managed to ace certain parts of songs; VOEZ captures that same cathartic feeling of pulling off crazy rhythms without even realizing it. Along with seamless input transitions from the base rhythm to individual instruments, VOEZ gamifies the feeling of “holy shit, I’m really playing a song I love,” which is an experience I hold dear to my heart, and I’m glad that it can be shared with others. The fact that players have the ability to experience that with entire productions rather than a single instrument is incredible.
One of my favorite games of all time is Rez, a game that syncs player, gameplay, and music into one incredible journey. VOEZ was made with that spirit, an absolute passion for music and the experience of playing to the rhythm. It’s for all the jazz-driven finger-tappers, the ones who always have rhythm in them and are waiting for the chance to let it flow.
The joy of truly playing a song on a stage bursting with color, dancing around my fingers, and putting the goofiest grin on my face is one of my most memorable gaming moments this year. For all current Switch owners, do not pass this one up; VOEZ is something truly special.
(P.S: my personal favorite tracks are Kimi to mita sora no uta, Like Asian Spirit, and Silent Voice. When you’ve got a grasp on VOEZ, let these songs take hold of you.)
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