Chai’s movement, the way the environment pulses and interacts, cutscene pacing, and even dialogue are just some of the ways music is in everything you see and do. We’ve seen rhythm games before, but the way it incorporates music into literally every aspect of it feels unique.

With killer records acting as the backing track to thrilling and intense gameplay, Hi-Fi Rush becomes a wonderous piece of gaming history. It feels like a personal playlist of songs loved by the developers, proved in part by the inclusion of Zwan’s track, “Honestly, as few rock fans are familiar with Billy Corgan’s fantastic yet short-lived side project (and it’s not available on streaming services). The original tracks from Tango Gameworks are utter bops, but when you throw in tracks from huge bands like The Black Keys and Nine Inch Nails, you’ve got something special. From there, Chai becomes a wanted man, and it’s up to his love of rock music and the help of his friends to take down the evil corporation.īefore we get into the combat, which quite frankly, is some of the most enjoyable I’ve seen in recent times, the soundtrack is excellent. The story follows a guy called Chai who goes to get augmented by a shady company known as Vanderlay Technologies, only to be labelled a defect when his music player is accidentally fused with his heart.

It’s filled with cheesy dialogue and characters that relish being silly and encompass the familiar anime tropes we’ve seen from similar properties, but it never holds it back. Part of the appeal comes from how Hi-Fi Rush doesn’t take itself seriously.

Coming from the team behind The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo, it’s also a different beast entirely, but Tango Softworks has nailed it, potentially releasing the biggest and best surprise of 2023. It’s gorgeous to look at and plays like a dream. It’s a weird position to be writing a review that many have probably already played, but at the same time, it’s been wonderful seeing how much love it has been getting and rightly so. When Hi-Fi Rush was shadow-dropped out of nowhere at the Developer_Direct from Xbox and Bethesda, it has been all over social media.

Hi-fi rush merch