Hi-Fi Rush

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Alright, seriously, this game has me obsessed at this point. Like, it's obvious that I love it, but it's the kind of obsession that I haven't had in a while where I literally can't stop thinking about it. It may be just me and my absolute love and adoration of traditional style action games like Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden among others, but this is one of the best things to drop in years. If DMC5 (and potentially Super Mario Odyssey may tie with it) is my favorite game of the previous console generation, then this is easily my favorite one of this generation so far. I like it more than Elden Ring, will probably like it more than Wo-Long (even though I'm sure I'll like Wo-Long if it's as good as Nioh), and if I'm being honest, I like it more than Bayonetta 3 (which I like well enough and will go back to, but it is a bit of a disappointment for certain gameplay choices).

The hard part of selling people on this is if the artstyle and/or music doesn't work for you. I personally kind of enjoy the fusion of Eastern and Western animation styles, and the Saturday morning cartoon vibe that the story has going for it, but I get that it's not for everyone. Likewise, I'm not a music guy, but I found the music choices to be largely appropriate for this game which is pretty important to the action since you are supposed to try and fight in rhythm to the music. And the thing is, I absolutely suck and rhythm games (I have absolutely terrible affinity with my music comprehension), and even I managed to start getting the hang of it after some practice with the game. It really does give this game's combat it's own identity and it feels incredibly satisfying the better that you get at it, while not having to worry about it to be able to play the game at a base level or perform well enough on the standard difficulty settings. I'm currently playing on Very Hard right now, and the timing windows get tighter but I'm still managing to improve each time I play the game.

I also love the humor in the game and the charming attention to detail from the devs. There are tons of miss-able jokes and character interactions, such as if you quit in the middle of a level and restart later and talk to the characters in the hub area before jumping back in. There will be bits about trying to cover up holes in logic like how this scenario would even be possible. Likewise there are unique bits of dialogue that you can get from bosses when trying to use certain special attacks or performing certain actions on them. There are also mini NPC side-stories throughout the levels that you can totally pass by without a paying attention to the finer details. And there's a pretty hilarious joke on replays when you use abilities that you aren't supposed to have yet within the context of the story.

Of course, it's the gameplay that I have fallen in love with, and I can't begin to tell you how refreshing it is to have a game that understands that old-school, PS2-era level design is fucking great if it's designed by people who know what they are doing. there is tons of replay value with areas you can't access until repeat visits, there is of course the incentive to improve your rank and increase the challenge on harder difficulty settings, and it just feels super satisfying to traverse levels a second or third time through and do it in a much quicker and smoother fashion when you know exactly what you need to be doing. I'll take this over an empty open world or needlessly oversized arena levels anyday (those things can absolutely work, but so few games pull them off well, IMO).

If anybody here has access to an XBOX or Steam, I absolutely implore you to give this game a shot. It's my favorite thing in quite a while and I desperately want it to do well. It's so goddamn refreshing to see a game that just gets announced and dropped on the same day and is complete and polished without any hiccups from the start to the finish. We don't need to drag out a lofty hype cycle for years. This reminds me of decades ago when you would try out new games that looked cool on a whim and be completely blown away, not knowing what to expect going into it. I really want more games like this, and I'm hoping that this one gets the support that it deserves.

This is a game that I ended up downloading off Game Pass and then ended up buying simply because I want to support Tango in endeavors like this. It just makes me so happy that something like this exists.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Sorry. Still not going to shut up about this game. It really does improve the more I play it. I notice so many new details and Easter Eggs each time. More importantly, though, my playstyle is constantly evolving. I have now gotten so much better at parrying, to the point where I opt to do that over dodging most attacks. It's always super satisfying to pull off. I've also started playing with headphones on to help me listen to the music in better detail which helps me match the beat and stay on rhythm.

I'm utterly obsessed with this game.