In an interesting change of pace from most games that employ rhythm-based elements, Hi-Fi Rush rewards you from staying on beat, but doesn’t punish you from straying away from it. Beating a horde of colourful robots for the first time is a truly exhilarating experience, and one that is made even better by the realisation that fighting sequences take place in the form of a real-time rhythm game that rewards players for performing actions to the levels soundtrack. The core element of the Hi-Fi Rush experience comes through its stellar combat offerings. Hi-Fi Rushing To The Rhythm (Combat + Sidekicks) They’re important to gameplay too of course, but more on that later. Each possess a fairly solid motivation for working alongside Chai, and a family dynamic quickly forms that endeared me to each member of my motley crew by the games conclusion. They’ve all got fairly decent character depth too, especially considering how whimsical Hi-Fi Rush is in pretty much every area. You’ll encounter a few more allies during your adventure, each bringing the same charismatic energy and charm that Chai does. Technically you meet her robot cat 808 first, 808s name is a brilliant reference to the Roland TR-808 drum machine, but more importantly she’s a useful ally who’ll accompany Chai across his whole journey. Environments pulse and bounce to the beat, you’ll realise pretty quickly that all of this movement around you acts as a metronome, it’s so clever and truly genius game design!Ĭhai’s journey starts as a solo trip, but you’ll quickly encounter the firey Peppermint. This is where you truly start to see the vision of Hi-Fi Rush, this entire adventure plays out alongside a solid catalogue of both licenced and original music tracks. The beauty of this musical mixup is that every element of the world that surrounds Chai is now synced to his MP3 player. I mean if someone had somehow turned my heart into a MP3 I’d probably be a little confused why they were so determined to kill me, but again belief is suspended. All good? Sure you’re ready? Ok, so Chai now has a music player inside him, and the people who botched this surgery, Vandelay Technologies, are determined to take him out because of his ‘defective’ status. The games main character, Chai, perfectly fits the world Tango Gameworks have created in Hi-Fi Rush, and even his most egregiously cheesy dialogue moments caught me chuckling to myself after an involuntary groan at what I’d just heard.Īfter a experimental augmentation goes wrong, Chai is left with a MP3 player for a heart and this is where I tell you to suspend all disbelief before continuing. Hi-Fi Rush is whimsical from the start, and that includes the overarching story that is definitely written primarily for laughs, although there are some genuinely heartwarming moments near the conclusion that stand out despite their comical surroundings. ![]() If we’re being pedantic Hi-Fi Rush isn’t technically a 3D-platformer really, but in a similar style to the aforementioned Ratchet & Clank series it combines platforming sections with frequent combat encounters resulting in a 3D action platformer I guess?! Ah, genres are a tough one anyway, all you need to know about Hi-Fi Rush is that you’ll do a lot of platforming and you’ll fight a lot of robotic enemies, 3D action/combat platformer anyone? Anyone For Chai Tea? Maybe it’s my nostalgia for this time, but this era of more care-free, laid-back, and vibrant games feels all too distant in 2023. My PS2 meant everything to me, in time I’d come to love many genres, characters, and series, but these foundations have stayed with me after all these years, and they definitely inform my tastes even to this day. ![]() Just missing out on the advent of 3D gaming, for the record I’m a 1998 baby, meant that my formative experiences in vidya games came through Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, and Spyro. Harkening back to the early period of 3D gaming that saw the mascot platformer dominate the major release cycles, Hi Fi Rush could be the start of something special if its success so far is anything to go by. In an age of expansive 50-100 hour adventures full of mind-numbingly dull side quests and bloated story beats it’s incredibly refreshing to experience something like Hi-Fi Rush. Hi-Fi Rush is by its own merits a brilliant game, delivering a punchy 10-12 hour experience that never overstays in welcome.
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