Hi-Fi RUSH review – an unexpected hit

Studio Tango Gameworks is certainly not new to the gaming field. After all, it was founded by the legendary Shinji Mikami, the father of the Resident Evil series, although after the release of a somewhat spiritual successor to this series, The Evil Within, he retreated a bit and made room for other talents. In 2017, a sequel was released, the development of which was already led by John Yohanas, and finally, last year, the ghostly GhostWire: Tokyo. In the meantime, Johanas is working on another game that was featured at the recent Xbox presentation and, what’s more, released right away. However, Hi-Fi RUSH, as the new idea of ​​the Japanese team is called, is almost the exact opposite of what talented developers have created so far. But it is not harmful at all, on the contrary.

• Platform: PC, Xbox Series X|S (Verified)
• Publication date: 01/25/2023
• Developer: Tango Gameworks
• Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
• Genre: Rhythm action
• Czech localization: Not
• Multiplayer: Not
• Data to download: 15 GB
• Game time: 10+ hours
• Price: €29.99 (Steam)

In the game, we take on the role of a boy named Chai who wants to become a rock star. Therefore, due to a hand injury, he turns to Vandelay, which is currently launching a robotic prosthesis project called Armstrong. Chai volunteers, but an error occurs and a music player enters his body, causing the entire world to move to the beat of the music. Tea is considered a defective product, so an entire mega-corporation opposes it to stop it. However, he is determined to confront them and also discovers that something nefarious is going on within the company.

From the description itself, it’s actually quite obvious that Japanese developers worked on it, because it has the right “Japanese madness” in it. The concept is also very unique, Hi-Fi RUSH is Devil May Cry style action but your goal is to dance to the beat of the music. In this direction, I remembered, for example, my favorite indie roguelite game Crypt of the Necrodancer.

This mechanic makes combat really fun and incredibly enjoyable. It may take you a while to fully immerse yourself in the gameplay, but once you do, it’s worth it. Of course, pitch-perfect people have an advantage, but the game also offers several help options, especially rhythm visualization, so you can understand it better. If it does not work out in either case, in no case do not despair. The game will not punish you for this and you will still enjoy the fights. I only have reservations about the difficulty, which felt a little unbalanced in places.

The variability of enemies is very solid and each of them has something of its own, especially with bosses, they are all significantly different, and of course not only externally. Fights with them often turn into interesting duels and various mini-games. In general, in fights, it is important to combine types of attacks, create combos, dodge or parry at the right time. You need to really hone your time for this, but you get even more enjoyment when you successfully fend off enemy attacks. By the way, even the parry is sometimes covered by a mini-game where you need to repeat the rhythm of the attacking enemy, which pleasantly refreshes the fight.

In addition to all this, you also have at your disposal the special abilities of your partners, because cooperation is one of the important themes of the whole game. Their skills are used not only in fights, but also outside of them as you progress through individual levels. This was the part I feared the most, but the developers did it really well. Jumping on the platforms does not bother, and most importantly, it does not irritate, as in some other titles. Progression is fairly linear, however along the way you can collect parts to upgrade Chai’s abilities, as well as find Easter eggs, secrets, or text entries about Vandelay’s backstory.

And speaking of the story, I found it to be a very pleasant mix of humor and a few more serious themes, though nothing groundbreaking about it. In essence, the whole game is a paraphrase of how corporations work in the modern world. So most of the villains are more caricature than actual characters with a deeper history, but it definitely works for the genre. The dialogue is well written, funny and above all well played by English dubbers. You may know some of them, for example from the Persona series.

The levels are quite diverse and you look into different corners of Vandelay, whether it’s marketing, development or even finance, each has its own specifics. In addition, the surroundings seem very alive, literally. Furniture, cars, plants and everything else moves to the beat of the music, which makes it really cool. Venza gives a beautiful visual style reminiscent of animated series, especially in the cutscenes, which are deliberately rendered at a lower frame rate, and the gameplay itself is very smooth.

Of course, a rhythm game can’t work without the right music, but don’t worry about it. Already in the trailer, the developers boasted licensed songs from artists such as The Prodigy or Nine Inch Nails, but you will hear these songs almost exclusively in boss battles. The rest of the time, music is played, created specifically for this title, and I must say that it pleased me, perhaps even more than licensed. You definitely have a lot to look forward to in this regard and some tunes just won’t get out of your head.

I was able to finish the title in 12 hours, which I think is about right for the genre, although the pacing was a little wobbly and is one of the weak points. The beginning is a little slower, then everything goes on, then the medium slows down again and goes into a relatively fast finale. In any case, it does not end there, after beating the game you will find even more additional content in the form of mysterious rooms on individual levels. And, of course, you can always try to improve your score in battles. In a word, you won’t be bored.

Hi-Fi RUSH is a unique experience you won’t want to miss. Thanks to good accessibility, the game will appeal to almost everyone, regardless of musical ear, and you are guaranteed to have fun. The developers at Tango Gameworks have proven they have no problem venturing into uncharted waters and creating something vastly different and riskier. Such projects are definitely not lost in the modern world, full of continuations of famous brands, and I will only be glad if there are more of them. But I won’t lie, I still liked the third part of The Evil Within. I hope we see each other sometime.