Hi-Fi Rush Review
From the moment I saw they trailer, I knew Hi-Fi Rush was going to be one of my favorites. For background, I love rhythm games. I've taken lessons for a few instruments in the past (trombone and piano) and grew up playing drums on Rock Band -- and that has culminated in me trying any rhythm game I can get my hands on in my adult years.
Hi-Fi rush is no exception. Between the extremely catchy rock beats and the comic book visual style, I was hooked from the start.
Chai on the operating table
In this game, you play as Chai, who signed up for an ethically-questionable surgery to replace his broken arm with a robot arm. This is, of course, a logical step on his quest to become a "rock star". After something goes terribly wrong with the machine-performed surgery, Chai ends up with an MP3 player implanted in his chest as well as a magnetic robot arm. This results in him being labeled as a defect and pursued relentlessly by robots from the megacorp who performed the surgery -- because "defects will be recalled".
Because of this, Chai embarks on a quest to topple the corrupt department heads of Vandelay Technologies. Each level is a new section of the corporation, with 2D and 3D platforming sections broken up by "Choruses", or rhythm-based fights against robots. At the end of each level, there's a boss fight or a difficult Chorus to overcome. Each one of these fights is extremely unique with its own mechanics and story beats.
I was extremely impressed with the variety in this game. I initially thought the platforming sections would get repetitive, but each level has a fresh set of challenges and unique visual tones. Whether I was riding on a rail while dodging obstacles, getting burned by lasers, timing jumps, or inputting combos to the rhythm, there was always plenty to keep my interest. There are also a TON of collectables and lore tidbits hidden throughout the world.
The fights are not pushovers either. I played on "Hard" difficulty due to my experience with rhythm games, and I found that I'd die multiple times per level -- especially on the latter portion. The fights were fair, but I sometimes had a hard time listening for the audio telegraphs while thinking about my next combo. I died 40 times on the last boss fight alone.
However, there's help if you need it -- and if you're not stubborn like I am. You can change the difficulty at any time (from easy to rhythm master). In retrospect, I probably should have done that for some of the harder fights instead of nearly damaging my controller in rage.
The music is delightful. There are songs from Nine Inch Nails, The Black Keys, and even Mozart. I was constantly tapping my feet to the stage tracks. I'm definitely adding some of these songs to my daily playlists.
The visual style is almost as captivating as the music. I'm a sucker for the comic-book style and had been hoping for a video game with a similar look it since Spiderverse came out. Hi-Fi Rush truly delivers on that.
Finally, a note about the endgame. I'm truly impressed by the number of endgame options that open up when you beat the final boss for the first time. Level selection is enabled, and you can try and get and "S" rating with your new abilities. Speaking of abilities, there are areas in early levels that aren't accessible unless you have later-game abilities -- so there is plenty of exploration to be done. The game also gives you a a roguelike mode called "Power Up, Tower Up". Finally, a new difficulty called "Rhythm Master" gets enabled. It's safe to say that I'll be revisiting this game, if just to listen to the music again.
Verdict
4.3/5. Great! A game I'll be playing well into the future.
I played this one with a controller on PC and found the controls extremely fluid. I have not tried on mouse+keyboard.