Hi-Fi Rush Review

It is common that when a game arrives by surprise, they generally do not exceed 7 as an average rating. Namely, either the publishing house does not trust the product, or they directly know that they have a game slop. However, we welcome Hi Fi Rush of Tango Gamesworks, the parents of The Evil Within with Shinji Mikami in the lead.

Hi Fi Rush is a rhythm action game, a very fashionable sub-genre with representatives like the cool Metal: Hellsinger and older ones like Patapon. However, I who complain about the lack of Xbox weight exclusives, have kept my mouth shut with such a game. It not only stands out in its execution, but also for its sublime and impressive graphic section, something that has not been seen since the launch of Jet Set Radio that surprised locals and strangers.

1, 2, 3

Hi Fi Rush is the story of Chai, an optimistic, music-loving and good-natured young man who has the desire to be a rock singer. However, he has one of his arms useless and decides to undergo an experiment to fix this problem with a mechanical arm provided by the Vandely Corporation. Since he could not pass without setbacks, an accident causes a portable player to fall on the operating table and implant itself in his chest.

This is how Chai gets special powers, but not before realizing that the Vandelay corporation wants to eliminate him as a flawed experiment. After a first attempt at elimination with robots, Chai realizes that the player allows him to create a guitar out of nothing that he will use to attack to the rhythm of the music.

Broadly speaking, it is a story that could well appear in a cartoon on Saturday morning, without any scriptural fanfare that will surprise anyone. However, its protagonists and the dubbing work have given the title a lot of personality. It’s a fun story with a lot of nods to popular culture, which means that the game doesn’t even take itself seriously.

To the rhythm of the music

Playably, you can include Hi Fi Rush within various genres such as Hack and Slash, platform and rhythm game. We must advance through what seems to be the entire Vanderly conglomerate that is in the form of an automated factory in order to escape. The factory will be full of traps, sections on rails and combat in which, I repeat, rhythm is the key.

To start we have a weak attack, a strong one and a jump and dodge button, much like Devil May Cry. But not only in its execution it resembles the Capcom game, but also in the premise of melee attacks. We will have a combo marker that goes from the letter D to S, the better we do it, the better our final score will be. For this we must make use of each attack, know how to dodge, make a counterattack and use special abilities. In addition, we can make a series of combinations to make the confrontations more spectacular, although the repertoire really feels limited.

However, the big difference is that everything is synchronized with the music from the stage, characters and even position markers, which tells us what rhythm to follow. This is important because they serve to perform spectacular combos by synchronizing our attacks with the tone of the music, which means doing more damage to enemies. To get the rhythm right, both Chi and the environment tell us when to perform the action. It is not something imperative, but it is recommended, although the game is quite intuitive in that section.

But we will not be alone in this undertaking, since we have the presence of colleagues who will help us on the journey. We can ask our friends for support that we will meet throughout the adventure and these are useful to deal with specific enemies. On the other hand, Hi-Fi Rush, is a very accessible game, it has a number of options to help the player enjoy the game. For example, if you don’t have a sense of rhythm, you can activate a visual option that activates a bar on the screen when you press a button.

a unique game

Hi-Fi Rush stands out for its incredible artistic section, which is one of the best uses of Cel-Shading in any game, without exaggeration. The game makes use of vibrant color palettes with seamless transitions from cinematic cutscenes to gameplay that you’ll hardly notice. It is a full-fledged interactive cartoon, that any position that the characters adopt will seem taken from a comic. It is a delight to see the game run at 60fps without any cracking. The animations of the characters also stand out, although the environments become repetitive.

As for its sound section, obviously the game had to stand out yes or yes. It has unpublished themes, made for the occasion like others with a license. They have taken this section so seriously, that there is an option for Streamers, which replaces licensed songs with other generic ones so as not to receive warnings from copyright. About the voice acting work, it’s just great. The characters convey that enthusiasm as they have their conversations, which is another reason why I say it feels like a Saturday morning cartoon.

Verdict

Hi-Fi Rush is by all accounts a candidate for sleeper of the year. Really, a pleasant surprise that will not leave anyone indifferent. A story with many winks, references and whose dubbing work is to be admired. A rhythm-based gameplay that is quite fun and intuitive. It is a game that invites you to replay it and whose visual section leaves more than one confused.

Note: This review was made thanks to the copy provided by Bethesda.