Hi-Fi Rush is a stylish, loud and messy first album full of potential

videogameschronicle.com:

Hi-Fi Rush feels like a remaster of a game from the PlayStation 2 era that never existed.

Every inch of the game, from the style, the combat, the dialogue, the dodgy platforming, and the somewhat vacuous levels, all feel plucked from the golden era of whacky, colourful and experimental action games. It’s like something you rented from Blockbuster, rinsed through, and then didn’t find a single other soul on earth that had played it until years later.

Hi-Fi Rush, a surprise drop from Tango Gameworks is an action game wherein you travel through a bright and colourful, rock-infused world, swinging your guitar at enemies to the beat. Simple at first, Hi-Fi Rush will quickly become a formative moment in your life where you realise whether or not you have any rhythm whatsoever.

You play as Chai, a guy who goes in for a routine operation and comes out with a Swiss Army… arm. Using this, and a fancy guitar-come-sword, you’re tasked with taking down a series of bosses that run the mega-corp that landed you with your unwanted accessory.

The combat is naturally the star here. At times it’s so good that it makes you actively furious when you’re not good at it. Combos are performed by hitting the correct button on the beat, and the rhythm of said button presses gets more complicated the further you progress into the game. There’s also a parry system, which once again rewards perfect timing.

Some fights will also break down into a sort of duel, where your enemy will perform a rhythm, and you have to match it in order to parry a powerful attack. This Simon Says element never outstays its welcome because it’s genuinely challenging, and forces the player to focus if they’ve mostly mashed their way through the rest of the game up to that point.