GAME CLEAR No. 148 -- Hi-Fi Rush

Hi-Fi Rush (2023, Xbox/PC)

Developer: Tango Gameworks
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Clear Platform: Xbox Series X
Clear Date: 11/20/23

Take your time (do it right)

What a wonderful surprise this game was. In a year full of high-profile releases and sequels that I haven’t played yet (and may not for some time), this was new IP shadow drop that appealed to me instantly.

The quick description of Hi-Fi Rush would be “DMC as a rhythm game.” If that’s not immediately tantalizing to you, you can probably just stop reading. If it is, you can stop reading and buy Hi-Fi Rush, as I assure you its execution of that concept is top notch.

If you need more convincing, I’ll try.

Hi-Fi Rush is a game in which you control a guy named Chai who swings a guitar-shaped mass of scrap metal at robots operated by an evil megacorp in an attempt to stop said megacorp’s plans to mind-control the world’s population. You’ve got a few moves: light attack, heavy attack, jump, dodge, and parry. A little later you get some ally assist stuff to spice things up, and then that’s your kit. All of your combos will be formed from those options. You’ll navigate discrete and fairly linear levels fighting bad guys, doing light platforming, and maybe fighting a boss at the end. Pretty standard stuff.

It does get interesting, though. In the game’s world, Chai and everyone he meets move to the beat of the song that’s currently playing. This means any attack your enemies do will be on beat. It also means any moves you do will be on beat as well, regardless of when you input them. This means it feels kinda muddy when you mistime your button presses but especially good when you do not! This is doubly encouraged by increasing the power of well-timed attacks, the height of well-timed jumps, etc.

It’s such a perfect marriage. Character action and rhythm are already genres whose appeal largely lies in perfecting challenges and doing them just right. Why not make the player do both systems right at the same time?

Like so many action games, I felt I only really was getting the hang of everything pretty late in the game. Of course, the games are meant to be played through multiple times, but I don’t know if I’ll be doing that anytime soon. Nevertheless, I can attest to the fact that it was fun to get better at the game, and especially to get better at doing my combos in time with the music. It’s a thoroughly satisfying system, and maybe one I’ll return to at least for a bit.

I like this game, but there’s enough glowing praise about this game for you to find out there, so I’m gonna leave it at that. I have some criticisms, too, but I don’t feel like typing them out either. I’m a bit sick and just want to get this one out.

The next GAME CLEAR is gonna be about something a bit less heralded, though, so look forward to it.