Hi-Fi Rush is not a game one would expect from developer Tango Gameworks, the studio best known for the horror shooter The Evil Within. But it’s a fantastic take on the hack-and-slash genre – and comes with a unique twist. While the tone is much more lighthearted than staples of the genre (like Devil may Cry or Bayonetta), hack-and-slash fans will feel right at home… if they can embrace the rhythm.
Presentation and Story
The game opens with Chai, the protagonist and self-proclaimed future rock star, arriving at Vandelay Technologies as an applicant for Project Amstrong, where he’s supposed to receive a cybernetic arm to replace his disabled one. And he does – but not in the way he expected. Instead of becoming something special, he’s designated as a garbage collector… Not quite the glamorous future he imagined.
During the procedure, Chai’s music player lands on his chest and gets fused into him. This “foreign object” makes Chai a defect in the eyes of Vandelay, whose CEO has zero tolerance for anything imperfect. But it also powers up his new cybernetic limb, allowing it to pull magnetic objects and hence double down as a guitar-shaped melee weapon. The music player also synchronizes Chai’s attacks to a music beat – a perfect in-universe explanation for the game’s rhythm-based gameplay.
With the stage set, the plot unfolds naturally: Chai fights to escape Vandelay’s facilities, learns the truth about Project Armstrong’s goal, and eventually sets out to dismantle the company’s executive team and shut the whole project down.
The game strikes a strong balance between gameplay and story progression, keeping the player engaged the whole way through. The comic book art style and humorous dialogue go hand-in-hand perfectly. Hi-Fi Rush doesn’t take itself too seriously, and even regularly pokes fun at gaming tropes and clichés. Personally, the humor was one of my favorite aspects – on my first playthrough, I didn’t skip a single line of dialogue, often smiling or laughing out loud at Chai’s antics and the witty banter between characters.
Sound
Music is in Hi-Fi Rush’s DNA. For one, combat is rhythm-based, and the world itself pulses to the beat. But music is also a large part of the game’s presentation. Chai is a self-proclaimed Rockstar, a passionate guitar player, and he demonstrates this multiple times throughout the game. Even his magnetic weapon is literally shaped like an electric guitar, and many of his special attacks lean into guitar theatrics.
And the OST matches this perfectly. Guitar-heavy rock tracks with driving riffs and clear beats fuel combat encounters, while quieter tunes play during exploration and platforming, where keeping the rhythm is not quite as crucial.
The OST runs over three hours, featuring original music alongside licensed tracks from artists like The Prodigy and Nine Inch Nails. The one downside is that the heavy reliance on licensed songs raises the question: what happens when those licenses expire?We’ll just have to wait and see. Thankfully, the developers added a Streamer Mode that swaps out licensed tracks for equally energetic license-free alternatives.
Overall, the soundtrack is varied, energetic, and an ideal match for the game’s style and tone.
Gameplay
When it comes to gameplay, Hi-Fi Rush takes the traditional hack-and-slash formula, but injects rhythm into every part of it. Between battles, long traversal sections filled with light platforming and puzzles. Neither is particularly challenging – they’re not the game’s main focus – but they keep downtime from feeling empty. On a first playthrough, they are fun; on repeated runs, however… they can get a bit repetitive.
Cha isn’t fighting alone either. His allies, Peppermint, Macaron, and a third character (who I won’t spoil) join him not just in the story, but in gameplay too. Each can be summoned (thanks to technology developed by Peppermint… There is an explanation for everything!) to assist in both exploration and combat. Peppermint can shoot down shields blocking grapple points, while Macaron smashes (clearly marked) walls hiding secrets or paths forward. There is no complexity to these mechanics, but they do reinforce the feeling of being part of a team rather than a lone hero.
And then there is combat, where the game shines brightest. Like other hack-and-slash titles, battles are arena-based – you’re locked in until every enemy goes down. Your performance is scored based on your total score – influenced by your attack variety and combo length -, time taken, and your rhythm accuracy (on-beat inputs). Mash buttons and you’ll get penalized for repeating moves too often. Get hit and your combo breaks, resulting in a lower score. Mixing things up and keeping to the beat is rewarded with higher ranks.
Speaking of mashing… Here’s where the rhythm twist comes in: every action, whether from Chai or the enemies, happens to the beat. Press off-beat, and your attack will still land, but is delayed until the next beat. Your timing also does not only impact the overall rank – on-beat attacks also deal more damage! You are thus incentivized to stay on-beat, but battles are still winnable otherwise.
To make things accessible, the game offers tons of visual cues – pulsing objects, UI indicators, and more – so even players who aren’t rhythm pros can keep up.
Combat mechanics are simple but satisfying. Light and heavy attacks have a quarter note and half note timing, respectively. Then there are airborne combos, damaging finishers, special moves, and team assists. On the defensive side, enemy attacks can be either dodged, or better, parried – which requires a well timed on-beat input and can be executed airborne as well.
I did mention team assists… Your allies aren’t just flashy extras! Some enemies require them. Peppermint’s shots are the only way to break certain enemy shields, and Macaron’s punches can crack heavily armored foes. It’s a clever extension of exploration mechanics into combat, and it makes teamwork feel essential. Calling in your allies also helps extend your combo or distract a group of enemies, giving you some room to breath.
There’s a downtime to calling in your allies, too, preventing you from spamming them mindlessly.
Bosses offer true spectacle fights, and serve as true combat highlights. Each one comes with beautiful and stylish cutscenes and is a multi-phase fight. They also have unique mechanics, such as rhythm elements from other rhythm games. You’ll see quick-time button sequences reminiscent of Guitar Hero, or a one-on-one duel styled like a fighting game. There’s also Hatsune-Miku-style sequences. These fights are creative, they are fun, and some of the most memorable moments in the game.
The Trophy List
Chasing 100% in Hi-Fi Rush is quite the undertaking, and the trophy list is what you would expect from your typical rank-based hack-and-slash, such as Devil May Cry, for example.
The game has five difficulty levels, which vary the damage output and enemy health. On the hardest difficulty, Rhythm Master, dropping to a D-rank during combat results in an instant Game Over, and is thus a mode best reserved for players who’ve truly mastered the rhythmic combat.
The most time-consuming requirement for the platinum trophy is earning an S rank on every chapter, on every difficulty. Since difficulties don’t stack, that means playing through the game at least five different times, consistently scoring high across every fight in a level – dying even once means starting over, unless you manage to perfect all fights otherwise, which is highly unrealistic.
The repeated playthroughs is also where walking / platforming sequences and unskippable dialogue start to become a bit repetitive and frustrating. They do not influence your overall score for the chapter, and so an option to only play the score-relevant parts would have been appreciated.
On top of that, there are many more miscellaneous tasks that must be completed for the platinum. Many will come naturally during these five playthroughs, others may not. Some of the more notable ones are beating each of the main bosses without taking damage, or completing all bonus rooms (which can only be accessed after a first playthrough). You’ll also need to purchase every single item available, from attacks to cosmetics. Grinding the necessary resources could have been a slog, but the game’s pacing ensures you’ll have enough by the end of your five plus runs without grinding.
There’s also an additional game mode in the base game worth mentioning. The Rhythm Tower: Hi-Fi Rush’s take on DMC’s Bloody Palace – a gauntlet of fights where you climb as far as possible. This mode is tied to trophies as well, and also here, one clear is not enough… The challenges tied to this game mode will have you play through this gauntlet at least twice.
Then there is DLC, which introduces two additional modes to play!
- For starters, there is the Power Up! Tower Up! mode. This is a 20-floor roguelike mode where Chai starts with no upgrades and builds strength by choosing one from various upgrades after each completed floor.
- The second new mode is BPM Rush, a wave-based survival mode where you fight endless hordes of enemies to fill a bar and summon the waves boss… But there’s a catch. Enemies don’t drop health pick-ups or batteries, and deal more damage with each wave – up to double damage on the final wave.
On EX-Mode, the hardest difficulty, the BPM starts at 185, with the subsequent six waves featuring tracks of 200 BPM, the fastest in the game. Clearing BPM Rush on EX-Mode is undoubtedly the hardest challenge for completionists, as dashing, parrying, and stringing together combos at that speed while fencing off large groups of enemies can become quite chaotic quickly.
Both of these DLC modes come with various – often mutually exclusive – challenges that must be completed for the 100%, so expect multiple playthroughs of each if you’re aiming for full completion.
