Hi-Fi Rush Q&A With Director John Johanas on Reception, Working With Mikami, and More

wccftech.com:

Once again, we find ourselves rockin' out to the echoing sound made by Hi-Fi Rush. Ever since its release, the game has become one of Xbox's smash hits. The game has also retained its audience through updates that added fun features such as Photo Mode and new costumes for the main cast. Today, Wccftech had the opportunity to talk with game director John Johanas about his experiences during the development of the game and his thoughts on the extremely warm reception it got.

Let's start right away!

Wccftech: What was the inspiration behind the creation of Hi-Fi Rush? Were there any other games that inspired your vision?

John Johanas: There are a number of inspirations but looking back, I think it just comes from my love of music and me growing up and playing in bands with my friends. I loved the feeling of playing a live show and even though we weren’t the best at our instruments, it’s a moment where you get a certain rush that is hard to describe.

But that feeling is something that I always feel when actions are coordinated to music, whether it’s walking in step or when trailers/movies/music videos do coordinated sequences to music. There’s that intensity when an action just works with the music. And so, in that way, I wanted to see if we could make an action game that doesn’t tell you what to do but makes it feel like YOU are the one pulling off those cool actions to the music, even if you aren’t perfect. 

As for other games, there is a clear influence in the character action genre in the way battles play out, but I wanted something that combined it with the music, and while there are other rhythm action games or music-oriented games, none of them gave me the feeling I was looking for, which was being in control of all