It’s all the time particular when a studio breaks away from expectations and creates one thing that contrasts with its established gameography. Horizon and A Plague Story are strong franchises, however they’re barely extra exceptional understanding these groups beforehand made gritty first-person shooters and licensed youngsters video games, respectively. Hello-Fi Rush is one other entry in that elusive membership, because it’s a colourful character motion sport that comes from a developer that has solely solely launched spooky titles like The Evil Inside and Ghostwire: Tokyo. Hello-Fi Rush will not be solely contemporary throughout the context of Tango Gameworks’ prior work, but in addition character motion video games as an entire since this charismatic opener is among the greatest debuts the style has ever had.
It’s an opener that’s bursting with fashion with beautiful artwork route, animation, and syncopated cutscenes that every one come collectively in its intro to type a condensed pattern of why it’s so distinctive. Hello-Fi Rush’s cel-shading is, frankly, among the many greatest within the medium because it appears like a cartoon in a means that few video games do, evoking (and generally besting) Arc System Works’ unbelievable efforts within the combating style.
Not solely is it awash with all kinds of brilliant colours, however it additionally strikes in a means not like virtually another sport at a frequency that makes it all of the extra notable. Other than temporary dialogue exchanges on the hub, each scene is animated with the utmost element, offering extravagantly emotive characters that present such a palpable power to the entire sport. Every forged member strikes comedian book-like poses and runs by way of a gamut of cartoonish expressions at a tempo that makes it look like pure magic since animation of this high quality finished at this frequency should be sorcery. The way in which wherein it seamlessly strikes from gameplay to 3D animation to 2D animation and again to gameplay makes it all of the extra dazzling. The distinctive strategy and energy of its animation is harking back to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and, with a bit of luck, will probably be equally as influential.
Its energetic scenes are solely bolstered by how the characters and atmosphere transfer to the music. Solely large actions are timed to the music, whereas background gadgets bob to the rhythm, which means it avoids Mickey Mousing because it’s solely used simply sufficient to nonetheless be efficient. The music has extra of an influence on gameplay since gamers are inspired to dodge, soar, and assault on the beat. All of that is made simpler by way of numerous components within the heads-up show that present all kinds of helpful suggestions. Probably the most charming instance of that is how Chai, the protagonist, snaps his fingers and steps to the beat, which terribly syncs up irrespective of if he’s strolling or working.
Its musical wrapping is splendidly built-in since it isn’t all the time mandated, however rewards those that study its intricacies. Chai can nonetheless evade or assault off the rhythm, however he good points sure bonuses for accurately timed actions like additional injury or the power to chain a number of dashes. This tender encouragement pushes gamers to get higher with out harshly punishing those that are nonetheless enhancing. And at its core, it’s a system that incentivizes customers to play it shortly, effectively, and thoughtfully, rewarding those that put within the time with flashy combos which are like violent musical performances.
Chai has realized plenty of his combos from Satan Could Cry’s Dante since Hello-Fi Rush borrows liberally from Capcom’s basic (but inconsistent) franchise. Fight is all about performing juggles and bouncing from foe to foe as shortly and stylishly as attainable. It’s a easy premise others have unsuccessfully tried to emulate, however Hello-Fi Rush lives as much as these excessive requirements due to its responsive controls and the best way wherein it balances depth and accessibility. Because of a strong quantity of animation canceling, Chai assaults and evades with the fluidity one of the best character motion video games have and that nimbleness is the rock-solid bedrock of its total fight system.
This basis implies that it’s merely partaking to smack robots with a metallic membership, and it doesn’t have an exhaustive Bayonetta-esque record of hard-to-remember button mixtures. All of its assaults have totally different capabilities and diving into these distinctions is the place it derives its depth. Some strike a large space, whereas others ship a singular goal flying and utilizing this together with its nifty grappling hook, assists, enhanced accomplice assaults, and particular strikes means there are all the time some ways to maintain aerial juggles going for these dexterous sufficient.
Parrying additionally yields extra defensive choices, particularly if gamers go for directional parries, that are more durable to tug off however dish out higher advantages. Enemies all the time assault to the beat, making this a satisfying talent to grasp because it will get gamers to improvise throughout their musical beatdowns whereas nonetheless sticking to the rhythm. Parries additionally play a pivotal function in taking out harder foes since nailing the timing throughout these temporary mini-games can take out weakened mini-bosses in a single satisfying swoop.
Boss fights are the end result of lots of the fight’s greatest qualities since these musical showdowns synchronize to the observe that performs throughout them. The soundtrack builds because the boss readies up after which continues to escalate because the combat performs out, which means the tempo rises because the stakes do. These brawls aren’t the toughest checks of talent even on its more durable settings, however they’re nonetheless cinematic showpieces which are vastly improved by its unbelievable presentation. And regardless that it doesn’t have a lock-on button and front-loads most of its upgrades, Hello-Fi Rush’s fight is spectacularly gratifying from its small grunt skirmishes to its large bosses.
Hello-Fi Rush provides loads of replayability and causes for gamers to grasp its mechanics. Its Bloody Palace-like wave-based survival mode opens up after beating the marketing campaign and strips out the story in favor of one thing extra centered. It’s a real check of talent that even lets customers purchase gadgets and save their progress, providing a stage of flexibility Satan Could Cry by no means did. Hidden doorways additionally open up after rolling credit and trace at a secret ending for many who observe all of them down and conquer the challenges they maintain inside. There’s even a inventive Rhythm Grasp issue that, along with being a lot more durable, routinely kills the participant if they will’t maintain a beat. These additional choices all feed into its improve financial system and beauty unlockables, however they, extra importantly, give gamers extra methods to push themselves and expertise the sport’s quick and fulfilling gameplay.
Hello-Fi Rush‘s narrative can be fulfilling however otherwise. A lot of its qualities stem from its aforementioned sensational animation that offers every thing extra life. Its cutscenes are pleasing to observe due to this clean and exaggerated motion, and that is typically used to promote its jokes. A few of these bits rely and succeed virtually solely on the standard of the animation and timing, which is spectacular since video games are not often humorous on this means. The writing can be relatively humorous and by no means forces quips or annoying references down the participant’s throat or tries too onerous. Even the mouthy Chai comes off as likable as a result of he’s a constructive and endearing fool, relatively than a dork who thinks he’s too cool.
Hello-Fi Rush is a wildly shocking expertise for a lot of causes and unexpectedly means that Tango Gameworks, regardless of its pedigree, is healthier at making character motion video games than horror video games. Hello-Fi Rush’s fight is nuanced, responsive, and makes use of its musical conceit nicely to offer it its personal distinctive identification. The animation can be an enormous achievement that steals the present by offering a completely authentic visible fashion that strikes even higher than it appears. It excels in nearly each space, whereas The Evil Inside and Ghostwire: Tokyo got here with their share of caveats. It’s a radical shift in tone, however this new tone is a smash hit.
SCORE: 9.5/10
As ComingSoon’s overview coverage explains, a rating of 9.5 equates to “Wonderful.” Leisure that reaches this stage is on the prime of its kind. The gold commonplace that each creator goals to achieve.
Disclosure: The writer supplied a PC copy for our Hello-Fi Rush overview. Reviewed on model 4.27.2.0.