When a server decides to pay three full years of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate It is because he expects releases as essential as Hi-Fi Rush. It caught us all Tango Gameworks with our guard down in January 2023 when it launched a new video game without warning, especially considering that we had received Ghostwire: Tokyo less than a year ago.
A cel-shading style hack & slash with the same amount of humor as slaps? It sounded great and even more so that Microsoft allowed it to be played as soon as the Xbox Developer Direct was over. The good marks, the praise and the applause began to accumulate to confirm the title as one of last year’s revelations, so I wrote it down on my endless list of pending games.
It took me a year to decide to take the controller to see to what extent the general enthusiasm is justified and, although I have not been excited at the same level as the rest of the public, it is clear that Hi-Fi Rush is a major shake up to the nostalgia factor that we each have inside us.
Like any other child, many of the afternoons after coming home from school were filled mainly by eating a snack that included a sandwich. Between bites of a dish that could vary from the delicacy of ham to the less appetizing chopped meat, the PS2 would spend as many hours of entertainment as it wanted. Playing games like Like 3, Ratchet & Clank 3, Spider-Man 2, ATV Quad Power Racing 2 and a good handful more of works that I consumed non-stop.
Hi-Fi Rush It is nourished by that sensation or, at least, it evokes those memories of yesteryear. It exudes from every pore the simplicity that many games from the mid-2000s demonstrated, which were a perfect combination of perfectly integrated platforms, humor and doses of action. Chai is the sly protagonist, with an excess of confidence that in real life would play tricks on him, but in his universe it serves to make us laugh at his blunders.
He’s a crazy teenager who’s had a music player embedded in his heart, so the meaning of it all is quickly sent flying. Peppermint, 808, Macaron and the whole group couldn’t like you better while Chai simply snaps his fingers to the tunes constantly. Vandelay’s bosses are flashy and navigating their territories is an old-school task.
Jumping everywhere, rounds of combat against security robots and asking colleagues for help to make your way through the stage. All this sprinkled with gears, boxes to break and some other secrets if we explore more than necessary. This combination of elements only reminds me of traditional video games, the ones that told you to collect the most apples or the ones that rewarded you when you destroyed objects. Classic, no-fuss formula that still works today.
What I did not expect in any way to gel so well with me is the synchronization with the music. I live in fear every time I have to face a hack & slash and face the score that the game gives me, which usually tells me that I have not been diverse enough in battle. The original Devil May Cry trilogy caused me the trauma, but Soulstice made it possible for me to relax and enjoy the fights. Now, Hi-Fi Rush has managed to become part of that group.
It is impressive the enormous amount of visual stimuli that the game brings to the table so that there is no way for you to miss a beat. The lights turn on and off, the chimneys spit smoke and even 808 emits flashes that are linked to the notes. So it’s a pleasure to play with the guitar made of scrap metal, along with the fact that the songs themselves are usually easy to follow. Of course, I expected a selection of more recognizable songs and not such a powerful presence of original songs.
Lonely Boy de The Black Keys At first it’s a great success, although perhaps the problem is my lack of knowledge of the world of music and that’s why I haven’t enjoyed as much simply listening to what sounds like. In any case, I really wanted to start destroying robots without mercy, since there are so many possibilities of combos to perform that it is very fun to hit the metal. Reaching an S rating is not difficult at all, so I simply got carried away in the fights trying to be creative, remember the best attacks and flow dodging, blocking and performing the cool animations it offers Hi-Fi Rush.
It is now its first anniversary, which has meant the arrival of more content along with a tremendous postgame that offers many more hours of play. I won’t enjoy them because I have to focus on other works, but The dedication of the entire development team is worthy of applause. It’s not going to go down as one of my great titles of the year or of the past, but I’m glad that something like what Tango Gameworks created exists and has been so well received by the public. In an era where budgets are directed towards long-term macro projects, an 8-hour title shows that it has as many things to say as the most ambitious game as a service. Ode to Chi and his band.
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