Hi-Fi Rush - Rhythm brawler (out now)

[Benny]

Something else to note is the number of film and game references is ridiculous. Some overt and some subtle. I spotted:

 

Spoiler

FF7

Resident evil

The Terminator

Leon

Jo Jo's Bizarre adventure

FLCL

Yakuza

Bloodborne

Doom

Street Fighter 2

Star Wars

 

And that's before you just consider the influences from Devil May Cry and Spiderverse and Space Channel 5 and stuff like that.

 

Just an incredible game.

[Unofficial Who]

I'm rubbish at rhythm games so I don't know why I bothered to play this. But I put it on easy.

 

And you know what? This game is joyous. It feels like the sequel to Sunset Overdrive I've been hankering for. It looks amazing, the writing and the editing is tight and...I can't believe this was just dropped in my lap via GamePass.

 

If you love timing based games this is for you. But if you're crap at them like I am still get it played. At the end of track 1 I'd scored 51% with a smattering of B's and you know what? Don't care. I loved every second.

 

Even the boss! Especially the boss! I hate bosses in most games, this was like a dance!

[HarryBizzle]

To think I nearly bought this on Steam for Deck. Thanks to OP for highlighting its on Game Pass. 
 

Started on hard but might have to dial it back. Just wonderful so far. Kids watching me play and it has proper Saturday morning cartoon vibes.

[Benny]

I played through this on Game Pass but I'm honestly thinking of buying it on Steam just to have it in my library now. And to just give the developers some more cash into the bargain. They deserve it.

[thesnwmn]

I would actually love it on Deck without cloud. But oh, I dunno.

[Benny]

While I was playing this yesterday, a weird point of comparison came to mind with another game: High on Life.

 

Why? Well I'll tell you...

 

The humour in Hi-Fi Rush is at times extremely referential to other video games: it pokes a lot of general light fun at them as well as pastiche them in all sorts of ways, while also celebrating their conventions and having fun with them. It's constantly joyful about being a videogame as well as not taking itself too seriously to have its cake an eat it, never attempting to make things less fun in the pursuit of a joke.

 

High on Life is the complete opposite of this: written like it has a poor grasp of what videogames actually are or can be, and seeming to demonstrate an ignorance of basically any videogames released in the last 20 years, with tired jokes that were well worn and even told better in other videogames about themselves for years. It also seems proud of its ignorance, and constantly wants to remind the player they are playing a videogame not out of the joy of knowing it, but almost as though they should be ashamed of what they're doing with their time. Any opportunity for a joke at the expense of fun is often taken, with deliberately annoying tropes ultimately being just that: annoying. It all felt so cynical and mean spirited, a feeling that Hi-Fi Rush just completely and utterly wipes away and has no time for.

 

It struck me really hard just how subtle and clever Hi-Fi Rush is with its humour, as it manages to strike an absolutely perfect balance of knowing winks and nods whilst also just revelling in having its own unique vibe and delightfully infectious wit. And it manages to do all this without being twee or overtly "anime".

 

It's honestly an absolute pleasure.

[womblingfree]

Considering how stylised this game is the main protagonist is woefully bland.

 

They could at least given him some big shades or a bobble hat, anything but the bog-standard MS Avatar look he’s got.

 

The game’s decent though.

[Benny]

I think that criticism would only hold partially if you were referring to static images. But as soon as you see the animation and the toe tapping, and the way he's like an endearingly thick version of Peter Parker, it absolutely makes sense what they went for aesthetically.

[womblingfree]

7 minutes ago, Benny said:

I think that criticism would only hold partially if you were referring to static images. But as soon as you see the animation and the toe tapping, and the way he's like an endearingly thick version of Peter Parker, it absolutely makes sense what they went for aesthetically.

God I hate him. But thanks anyway.

[Lorfarius]

Are the stages really long? The first one was good but seemed to just keep going and going. Wasn't sure if it was autosaving as I went.

[Benny]

Which is funny because

 

Spoiler

Hating him is part of the character arc of nearly every other character in the game, which I honestly found hilarious

 

[Benny]

Just now, Lorfarius said:

Are the stages really long? The first one was good but seemed to just keep going and going. Wasn't sure if it was autosaving as I went.

 

They can be very long, but it autosaves constantly.

[Majora]

The first stage is long but can also feel quite stop-start because of all the tutorials. I'd say the second stage is when the game really starts to get into a groove.

 

I watched some streams of this last night and found myself irrationally annoyed that a) they were so much better at the combat than me and b) that they didn't realise you could chain together dashes with a light attack to dash infinitely around the world.

[thesnwmn]

I'd say on average the stages are 40 minutes to an hour in length. But what isn't made clear is that if you quit back to your hideout or the menu you will reload at a checkpoint.

 

I think they're maybe a little longer than is ideal. Particularly now I'm running around them for collectables. Very linear. Although still having fun just smashing enemies around. Really getting into all the advanced combat stuff with my partner abilities and parries.

[thesnwmn]

Holy shit. Just beat Spectra Room 2. These are really interesting post game challenges.

 

Spoiler

In this one you can only harm am enemy for 12 beats after you parry them. You've got 1:30 (I think) to beat a wave of 3 and then a wave of one shielded enemy.

 

It was a complete mess but smashed through it on my 4th attempt once I understood how to do enough damage fast enough.

 

[thesnwmn]

Okay. I'll shut up soon. But I've legitimately just spent 5 minutes playing football in this game. Its got so many amusing and funny touches.

[Benny]

I read somewhere that this has files in the game specifically for GeForce Now which might explain why it works okay on streaming if they've put stuff in specifically to compensate for it on those versions. It's so smartly made!

[ph0rce]

Had to give up on this, which is disappointing, as it is completely unplayable using cloud gaming on my old Xbox.
 

I don’t mind not being able to hit the combo consistently, but it’s genuinely impossible to hit the beat finish, which means I can’t unlock this robot chest & more importantly the door that requires you to hit the beat finish to open it.
 

I checked the latency thing, and I have to move the cat face far to the right to make it sync up anywhere near correctly.
 

My TV has a sync / latency correction setting but it doesn’t seem to do anything at all. 
 

So annoyed. 

[footle]

15 minutes ago, Benny said:

I read somewhere that this has files in the game specifically for GeForce Now which might explain why it works okay on streaming if they've put stuff in specifically to compensate for it on those versions. It's so smartly made!

they’ve had a couple of years to realise that it was going to launch on the cloud, regardless of geforce now or not!

[Benny]

To be honest, a rhythm action game being expected to work properly if at all on cloud gaming is really not a criticism that can be levelled at this game in my opinion. Cloud gaming is a bit of a luxury when it works, but it's really really not at all suited to accurate timings, so for people to expect it to is just setting an unrealistic expectation which is very unfair to the game I think. It's full of accessibility options and easy modes to compensate for player ability at least.

 

But streaming it? You're just going to get an experience that's more duff than streaming games already is.

 

I was playing with Bluetooth headphones at one point and realised it wasn't good enough, so I... Just used wired ones.

[thesnwmn]

Its clearly something they need to consider. But the they is anyone providing the cloud service.

 

For me, right now it's enough for them to be open and clearly state on a title that it is a tight timing based experience and might not work optimally over streaming.

 

Whilst I'm sure they fear some idiots using it as a stick to beat streaming with I think honesty avoids any distaste. There are enough people using and raving about the convenience of XCloud (I'm one for Game Pass access on Steam Deck) to counter that bullshit.

 

But that upfront acknowledgement sets realistic expectations.

[MikeBeaver]

51 minutes ago, ph0rce said:

Had to give up on this, which is disappointing, as it is completely unplayable using cloud gaming on my old Xbox.
 

I don’t mind not being able to hit the combo consistently, but it’s genuinely impossible to hit the beat finish, which means I can’t unlock this robot chest & more importantly the door that requires you to hit the beat finish to open it.
 

I checked the latency thing, and I have to move the cat face far to the right to make it sync up anywhere near correctly.
 

My TV has a sync / latency correction setting but it doesn’t seem to do anything at all. 
 

So annoyed. 

Check the accesability options, there's one that makes all hits land .

 

This last boss is a prick though!

[ph0rce]

1 hour ago, Benny said:

To be honest, a rhythm action game being expected to work properly if at all on cloud gaming is really not a criticism that can be levelled at this game in my opinion. Cloud gaming is a bit of a luxury when it works, but it's really really not at all suited to accurate timings, so for people to expect it to is just setting an unrealistic expectation which is very unfair to the game I think. It's full of accessibility options and easy modes to compensate for player ability at least.

 

But streaming it? You're just going to get an experience that's more duff than streaming games already is.

 

I was playing with Bluetooth headphones at one point and realised it wasn't good enough, so I... Just used wired ones.

Oh sure, I get that, I’m just disappointed that’s all. 
 

It’s a X / S game, so I don’t even have the option to install it if I wanted, so it’s streaming or nothing. 

[spatular]

Is there any way to increase chip slots other than buying them?

 

i have a feeling the tutorial was trying to explain it but i didnt really understand it.

 

overall really enjoying the game, the graphics/presentation/style of the game is amazing, gameplay is great fun too mostly, although im crap at simon says style rhythm games (and fighting games) so had to turn the difficulty down on level 6.

[thesnwmn]

29 minutes ago, spatular said:

Is there any way to increase chip slots other than buying them?

 

i have a feeling the tutorial was trying to explain it but i didnt really understand it.

 

overall really enjoying the game, the graphics/presentation/style of the game is amazing, gameplay is great fun too mostly, although im crap at simon says style rhythm games (and fighting games) so had to turn the difficulty down on level 6.

 

No. You must buy each chip slot in the shop.

[spatular]

Thanks!

[Bucky]

I played it this weekend and got past the first major boss.  Here's my review before I never play it again.

 

"If you pretended to like Jet Set Radio or Viewtiful Joe, then HiFi Rush is just the game for you.

 

This joyful spontaneous rhythm game presents you with at least an hour of tutorials, training and voice overs as it continues to layer one indistinguishable combo device on top of another indeterminate combo effect.

 

Soon you'll be forced to save up and swap out one whirling special attack for another whirling special attack as you take moderate satisfaction that the game is awarding you "B grades" at the end of each level.  These grades are your only reward for battling robots that look just like the robots you've battled before.

 

Unfortunately this game is compatible with Steam Deck

 

4/10".

[pinholestar]

Utter bollocks.

 

Just finished and it was one of the most gloriously fun, beautifully designed and boldly confident games I’ve played in years. Sheer brilliance from beginning to end.
 

9/10

[Benny]

Had to buck the trend I guess.

[Bucky]

2 minutes ago, pinholestar said:

Utter bollocks.

 

Just finished and it was one of the most gloriously fun, beautifully designed and boldly confident games I’ve played in years. Sheer brilliance from beginning to end.
 

9/10

 

Other opinions are of course available.