Hi-Fi Rush - Rhythm brawler (out now)

[pinholestar]

1 minute ago, Bucky said:

 

Other opinions are of course available.

Of course. 😉

 

The first section of the game is pretty tutorial heavy and quite stop/start, but once all the mechanics are introduced and it settles into its groove it just barrels along at a relentless pace and builds towards a fantastic crescendo at the end. Track 8 onwards is just magnificent. The pacing is so well done and must have been honed and iterated to within an inch of its life to enable those beats to hit at just the right moment. 
 

There’s a wealth of post-game content too.

[HarryBizzle]

Finished stage 1 on Hard and managed quite a few S ranks. Love it. The boss was brilliant. 

[David Kenny]

16 hours ago, Benny said:

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

 

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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.

There was also a reference to 

 

Spoiler

Twin Peaks. When Chai was dreaming and the cat did the same weird dance as the Twin Peaks backwards speaking dwarf and everyone else was clicking their fingers.

 

I've got mixed feelings about this one. I love the story and the characters and find it genuinely funny, but I'm not sure the actual game is that great. I find the fights a bit of a chore, and while I've opened up loads of combos I'm never sure if I'm actually pulling them off. I'll persevere to see where it goes but I suspect if I hit any frustration I'll probably just walk away.

[Benny]

The actual fighting mechanics of it are extremely solid. I've struggled at times on normal but I've seen streams of fighting game people hitting all the beats and just timing dead on and mixing things up and it looks great. When you do pull that stuff off it feels amazing. The inner mechanics are definitely up there with the polish and exacting as a Devil May Cry game. The environmental hazards in some stages are the only bits that seem a bit messy.

[metallicfrodo]

Just beaten the boss on track 9. Glorious, so much fun.

 

Just a wonderful wonderful game. 

[Benny]

It does annoy me the number of people on the internet who keep comparing it to Jet Set Radio for some reason. It's absolutely nothing like Jet Set Radio apart from the fact that it has a cartoony art style - which is nothing like Jet Set Radio's art style apart from the cell shading . And the music is also a completely different vibe and general set of genres.

 

But other than that, yeah sure, all the rollerblading around and doing graffiti while running away from the police is similar.

[Boothjan]

Up to track 5 - this is a special game, it's fucking glorious. 

 

So much fun, insanely pretty and perfect sounds throughout.

 

And I think the combat gets better with each level, combining all the different moves is amazing, especially when they come off perfectly.

 

If this doesn't make it onto my GOTY shortlist then 2023 will be a very special year for gaming.

 

And to think we knew nothing about this whatsoever this time last week!

[Kayin Amoh]

My only real issue is that I can't feel the beat. I'm usually okay at rhythm games, but I can't catch the flow of this one at all, so in my selfish way I'm now wondering about how a freeform combo approach would work if it was just everything else in the game that moved to the beat.

 

Not great, probably, but it'd save seeing all these 50% beat hit ranks after a fight.

[thesnwmn]

Encountered a terrible memory leak whilst trying one of the post game rooms. I'm not doing very well so many attempts in. The game has turned into a slide show. Having to restart entirely.

[thesnwmn]

4 minutes ago, thesnwmn said:

Encountered a terrible memory leak whilst trying one of the post game rooms. I'm not doing very well so many attempts in. The game has turned into a slide show. Having to restart entirely.

 

Worth it though. After about 15/20 minutes of attempts I've nailed it. Christ, a rush to get it done even if it is literally 14 accurate button presses 🤣

[monkeydog]

I was having a lovely time and now its asking me to parry to the beat. I'll give it another go when I've not been on the wine, but it feels like my time with the game is over.

[thesnwmn]

At least on easy the basic parry timings are very loose. I basically ignore the best and just do it by reacting to the visual and audio ques.

[Boothjan]

You definitely get better at the parries with practise. I try to incorporate them with other moves in general combat to get the hang of them. 

[pinholestar]

 

I wrote up my final thoughts in the 'Games You Completed' thread:

 

 

Suffice to say I loved it and I'll be amazed if it doesn't feature in the end of year lists, even with 2023 looking to be packed full of great games.

 

The initial wow factor obviously won't be there but I'd totally be down for a sequel, and considering how well this has been received I'd be very surprised if we didn't get one.

 

The music throughout is brilliant but the highlights in this for me are when the squelchy 303's sneak in, and although it probably belies my own personal musical preferences I'd love for a second game to lean more into electronic music. The suitability of beat-driven tunes speaks for itself although they did a great job of utilising the main character's desire to be a rockstar by fusing guitar-led tunes with a thumping beat in this one, so just more of the same would do the trick.

 

[Benny]

Playing through the levels again after finishing it and seeking out all the secrets, including track 3:

 

Spoiler

A lovely little Easter egg awaits 

 

[thesnwmn]

5 hours ago, Benny said:

Playing through the levels again after finishing it and seeking out all the secrets, including track 3:

 

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A lovely little Easter egg awaits 

 

 

What was that? I didn't. Price anything specific in Track 3 that I remember?

[MikeBeaver]

6 hours ago, pinholestar said:

 

I wrote up my final thoughts in the 'Games You Completed' thread:

 

 

Suffice to say I loved it and I'll be amazed if it doesn't feature in the end of year lists, even with 2023 looking to be packed full of great games.

 

The initial wow factor obviously won't be there but I'd totally be down for a sequel, and considering how well this has been received I'd be very surprised if we didn't get one.

 

The music throughout is brilliant but the highlights in this for me are when the squelchy 303's sneak in, and although it probably belies my own personal musical preferences I'd love for a second game to lean more into electronic music. The suitability of beat-driven tunes speaks for itself although they did a great job of utilising the main character's desire to be a rockstar by fusing guitar-led tunes with a thumping beat in this one, so just more of the same would do the trick.

 

When " Invaders mustt Die " kicked in, I got actual chills! ( and considering I've had a water leak and the room is full of heaters and dehumidifiers, tht took ome doing!! ) , instantly hit pause, turned the amp WAY up, and proceeded into battle with the biggest grin on my face

 

Moe eletronic would suit me perfectly  

[fattakin]

Bah, im also struggling with the Parry.  Samurai robot is more or less one-shotting me.  Don't want to have to drop to easy!!  

[Benny]

1 hour ago, thesnwmn said:

 

What was that? I didn't. Price anything specific in Track 3 that I remember?

 

Spoiler

Just some bonus dialogue at the very end of the track that can only happen on a second playthrough.

 

[Uncle Nasty]

This is like playing all of your favourite Dreamcast games at once. Magnificent. Really reminds me of those days and the sheer joy that gaming can deliver. I've been playing Fallout 4 solidly this year so you can imagine how it feels to be in front of this.

 

Love that it wants you to have a great time, even if you're initially rubbish at it. It encourages you and carries you until you get it but scales up accordingly if you want the challenge. Very clever design and mechanics.

 

I just think it's amazing how the entire levels are moving to the beat, everything has so much personality and care put into it. Incredible stuff.

[dave7g]

Not a fan of the main character. just annoying. Should have used Tanahashi and called the game Hi Fi Flow

[HarryBizzle]

Just beat the second boss and I’m inclined to say that this is a masterpiece. Can’t think of a thing I’d change about it at the moment. Love all the characters and I adore the humour. So wholesome and yet hilarious. The style is just brilliant. I loved the bit where Rekka appears in like a comic bubble but then leans out of it. 
 

I can see why it reminds people of JSRF, but it also reminds me of Sunset Overdrive except it’s not trying too hard and therefore completely unfunny. 
 

Does anyone know where I can find all of these sorts of images so I don’t have to worry about screenshotting them all?:

 

[PeteJ]

Yep, this is absolutely glorious. Love the description from @Uncle Nastyabove that this is all of your favourite Dreamcast games at once

 

I'm on track 4 now, the combat has really surprised me. It keeps adding in more layers and each new layer fits really well. I didn't know it needed a parry system until it introduced it, and suddenly it made the world a better place. I admit that for the most part I'm just tapping X, despite buying as many of the combos I can get, so hardly the best player in the world 

 

I hope they patch in a calibration setting soon. I prefer playing on a bluetooth headset (the official Xbox one), which is great but it appears to introduce lag. I'm definitely playing better with just the TV sound.

 

Advice on the scoring system - in a battle it suggests in the top right I'm at S rank, then suddenly I get scored at the end of the battle and I get a B or C?! Also at the end of the level each of my battles could score a B or C yet my overall ranking is a D?

[thesnwmn]

3 minutes ago, PeteJ said:

Advice on the scoring system - in a battle it suggests in the top right I'm at S rank, then suddenly I get scored at the end of the battle and I get a B or C?! Also at the end of the level each of my battles could score a B or C yet my overall ranking is a D?

 

Top I think is basically about your score (i.e. reward for how many points you're getting for doing damage and pulling off combos).

 

Two other factors are then applied...

 

1. "Just timing". How well did you match the beat

2. "Time". How long did I take to beat the fight.

 

[PeteJ]

1 minute ago, thesnwmn said:

 

Top I think is basically about your score (i.e. reward for how many points you're getting for doing damage and pulling off combos).

 

But overall rank is then scaled by things like your "just timing". So an S top right but a "D" just timing will get moved down a lot.

Ah ok, as simple as that

[thesnwmn]

(I tweaked my answer slightly but same applies)

[Benny]

4 minutes ago, PeteJ said:

Ah ok, as simple as that

 

Yeah basically you have three performance measures: the style rank goes up by not messing up and mixing up attacks and using specific attacks that improve your score multiplier.

 

The just timing rank is specifically measuring how many of those little red and green circles you initiate and hit, as well as specific parry timing moments. Basically normal attacks don't have to be to the beat but the ones with prompts do for that score.

 

And then finally beating enemies quickly for the time score.

[AK Bell]

Ah, I'm kind of ruling myself out of this one. It may well be GOTY but I hate games that take the time out to point out how shit I am at it. 

[Boothjan]

I get S rank for time taken to finish the round pretty much every time, but it's rare to score above B in the others, which means I need to stop rushing the fights and try to fight with the rhythm and take my time.  Still not got an S rank for an overall score yet.

 

Problem is that it's so goddamn fun and I get carried away!

[Benny]

Yeah the key to high ranks a lot of the time can actually be to hold back, wait for the beat/attacks, then bam bam bam - flourish. The fact the entire game is to the same global clock means once it clicks you realise it's more about waiting for your "cue".

 

It's really enormously clever, and evolves the Devil May Cry formula in an interesting direction quite distinct from say, Bayonetta.