Hi-Fi Rush: Roboto Review

Wow. What a game. That’s the review!

Seriously though, thanks for taking time out of your day to check out my review of this awesome sleeper hit of a game.

Anyways let’s get to it!

The moment I booted up Hi-Fi Rush I was teleported to an older time in games when creative cartoonish games like Sly Cooper, Jet Set Radio were a thing. A time when weird wacky worlds were where it was at.

— Holy alliteration batman.

For real though. This game whisked me away to a time when these kinds of games were dime a dozen, and being a kid/pre-teen meant lame alt-rock and punkish comic book visuals were the coolest thing I could enjoy.

The Premise!

Hi-Fi Rush doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to throwing you into the action. Our hero Chai signs up to have his arm replaced with a robotic prosthetic by Vandelay Industries in hopes of becoming a rockstar. However is accidently fused with his MP3 player and now, all he knows is the rhythm of the world around him. Labeled a defect, it’s up to him to escape the Vandelay campus and take down corporate in the process.

The setup is pretty wacky, and at times the dialogue can land on the cringey side of things… but the entire affair doesn’t take itself all that seriously. The voice cast do a great job, and the story plays out in a lot of unexpected ways.

In most ways this game operates similar to your Bayonetta’s and your Devil May Cry’s in that the meat of the game is its gameplay and set design. Less so its story. That said I feel the story does an okay job of setting us up in a world where we care enough to keep playing.

THE GAMEPLAY

This is where the game truly shines. The entire game is a character action game (similar to DMC, and Bayonetta) but with a rhythm game attatched to the base of it. While the games marketing (what little there was) wasn’t too great at explaining what this means I’ll do my best.

Like it’s contemporaries Hi-Fi Rush has a high skill ceiling but a low skill floor. This means you can have a blast and enjoy the game without being amazing at it. The set pieces and boss fights can be enjoyed without adhering strictly to the rhythm…

You do not need to have rhythm to have fun in this game or even do combos. You don’t need it to do the platforming either really.

This game at it’s core operates just like any other action game. You can juggle enemies in the air infinitely, and you can string together crazy stylish combos. Similarly the game has a lot of platforming sections though I feel they are on the better side as far as action games though, they are still not the best part of the game.

What differentiates this game then? That’s where the rhythm aspect comes in. Chai’s moves will always land on the beat, however your button presses being on time with the beat will elevate your damage, and score in each skirmish. Imagine Devil May Cry’s scoring system where the variety in which you execute your combos lends to a higher score at the end of an encounter. In this game most of your “stylish” score is attatched to your ability to stay on rhythm. Of course being stylish is still a blast, but you’re meant to blend the two.

Aerial raves abound, you can stylishly juggle enemies for what seems like eternity, and doing so to the rhythm is deeply satisfying.

Just like you can play better on the beat, your enemies are tied to the rhythm too. This means they will always attack on the beat. Their wind up animations happening every beat, and then landing on another.

The combat doesn’t really get super spicy until you’ve reached the midway point in the game though. The game does a very solid job of layering each piece of the puzzle into action. By midway you have access to a parry, and assist attacks that you can throw into your combos or use to defeat certain enemies.

Everything in this game operates on this rhythm. That means the platforming elements and while they are serviceble I didn’t find them as engaging as the combat. I often found myself craving another combat encounter each time the game would set me off on another platforming segment.

The Visuals.

This game is very pretty. I’ve played it on PC and Steam Deck and on both it operates smooth as butter. How Tango Gameworks was able to blend together 2D animation and 3D animation (very similar in vibe to Arc System Works recent fighting games) blows my mind. The entire experience is something to behold.

Super colorful, and very cyberpunk the whole game has a very goofy comic book vibe. It’s not easy to explain just how gorgeous this game can look.

The entire experience reminded me heavily of Sly Cooper games, or Jet Set Radio. Cel shading abound it’s a cartoony aesthetic through and through. Enemy design while relatively samey, is still pretty appealing… and the character designs look like something out of your typical early 2000’s Saturday evening Cartoon Network show.

The Sound…

The soundtrack to Hi-Fi Rush isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste. It is comprised of licensed music you’d hear around the early 2010’s particularly of the alt-rock genre. Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy, The Black Keys… The music gives the game an older feel due to how old some of it is. The original music gives this exact same kind of vibe.

That said I couldn’t help but vibe to its jams. Each stage seems designed specifically for the music within that stage. All of the aspects of each level will bounce and bob to the rhythm of the song for that stage.

While there exists a streamer mode which removes the licensed music in place of original tracks, I did not try it out — though I can only assume it’s music of a similar vibe.

POST GAME

Like any good action game, there exists a post game. Where you can buy costumes, music, 3D character models etc. There is a lot of content after you “beat” the game which seems interesting. New difficulty modes unlock, and you gain access to a challenge mode of sorts to grind currency, and play with your full kit you gained access to over the course of the game.

I can see myself playing this a bit with out addictive the gameplay and combat are. The costumes, jukebox and model viewer give me a nice goal towards!

VERDICT!

Honestly? I love this game. I had an absolute blast playing through it’s roughly 11 hour campaign. I had to do a few retries, particularly on the final boss — but overall it was a fantastic experience. One I wish I could experience for the first time again. I say if you like rhythm OR action games give this a go. It’s endearing, and the gameplay is very good. Easily recommended.