Review: Sayonara Wild Hearts
I’ve always found it difficult to get into video games on a modern smartphone. Don’t get me wrong, I used to play a few mindless games here and there in the old days. Whether it was JAMDAT Bowling on my Motorola T720, or Brick Breaker on my BlackBerry Tour, those games were just simple time killers when I was stuck somewhere with nothing to do (read: when there were no customers at the pizzeria). I could never connect with mobile games on a level purely for entertainment, until now. The release of Apple Arcade broke down that barrier. Since Brian can’t review ALL of the games, he asked me to take a stab at this one.
Sayonara Wild Hearts was the first game I downloaded after activating my free trial of Apple Arcade. I was drawn to the art style and the rhythm centric gameplay. I played it for 5 minutes, closed it, and deleted it. It felt clunky and unresponsive; it was more like something I was watching rather than playing. A few days later, I started to hear some rave reviews from all of the outlets I follow. What was I missing? It wasn’t until a week later when I was listening to ATP (Accidental Tech Podcast) that I decided I had to give it another try. A member of the show suggested to only play with a console controller, or if you must use the touch inputs, to increase the sensitivity. Long story short, I almost missed out on an incredible experience, but thanks to ATP, I did not.
I didn’t have a controller handy at first, so I just re-downloaded the game and upped the sensitivity. I kicked off the next level (Thanks cloud saves!) and
I
WAS
HOOKED
Now that controlling the game felt natural, the device got out of my way and let me immerse myself. The music, the story, the art style, and fluidity… I’m blown away. If you consider yourself a gamer (even remotely) I implore you to take the time.
This Scott Pilgrim-esque techno fever-dream doesn’t get old, as it never repeats itself through the length of its campaign. I cannot comprehend how the game changes the way that it does, from level to level. No mechanic overstays it’s welcome, and no level is quite like another. With each stage, you have just enough time to understand the mechanic, get used to it, master it in conjunction with the rhythm, and then you’re on to the next one. This pattern has created an interesting multi-level form of replay-ability. I find myself going back to levels for different reasons, like a great song, wild story beat, or a satisfying rhythm mechanic.
I decided to take my experience a step further and leverage some of the other features Apple Arcade offers me. I’m fortunate enough to have an iPad as well as an iPhone. I grabbed a DualShock 4 and some headphones, propped up the iPad on its stand, and picked back up from where I left off on my phone. It’s the same game, but in the right setting, you can add another level of comfort and immersion.
Sayonara Wild Hearts has a lot going for it, but that first impression almost had me toss it aside. It’s incredible how one little tweak to the settings could make all the difference. 8/10
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