Hi-Fi Rush

Date Started

Jan 27, 2023

Progress

complete

Console

seriesx

Genre

character action

Date Finished

Feb 07, 2023

I first played Hi-Fi rush in February of 2023. I would have played it sooner but I was firmly implanted in the middle of Okami. January would see me travel to help my family with a rather serious surgery and once I returned home I start Hi-Fi Rush. This quick review was a series of tweets originally and I’m porting them over here for prosperity.

Jul 2, 2023

Back on my bullshit! Could I pass this up? A rhythm based Hack & Slash on Game Pass? Sign me up jerks! If you thought I would gush over ‘Hi-Fi Rush’ because of its colorful art style, cartoonish sense of humor, unique combat & puzzles… you’d be right, this game fucking rules 🧵

yo!
yo!
Jul 2, 2023

I really liked it. I thought the length was great (it is NOT 6 hours long, more like 10-12) plus there is a very meaty post-game. The post game is so engrossing that I really wish this was on the Switch. I’ve tried the remote play but the latency was too much to stay on rhythm.

hfr 1
Jul 2, 2023

At first I thought this game was going to be annoying. But it turns out… its basically Futurama! You could replace Chai & Peppermint with Fry & Leela and it would work perfectly. It also has a splash of Monkey Island 1/2 thrown in there. It can be very funny!

Jul 2, 2023

As a Hack & Slash, it checks all the boxes! It has an elevator sequence, a motorcycle-sequence style zipline, great bosses & air juggling combos! There’s a store to buy more moves and expansions as well. Its very well thought out! It even plays with scale and goes side-scrolling!

Jul 2, 2023

Plus your sidekick is a black cat! 808 IS A BLACK CAT!!! Just go ahead and play this game, its awesome. Chai might retroactively get tossed onto the Year of the Hack & Slash mural.

Thoughts from 2025

I’ve dipped back into Hi-Fi Rush only a couple of times, both very briefly, since I wrote these posts. I enjoyed my initial play-through and should have more time for it to explore more of the postgame. To be perfectly honest, and this is going to sound privelaged and whiny, this game should have released on the Switch if they wanted me to grind things out. It could have been the perfect vehicle for this game. It’s currently on steam but I didn’t have a steamdeck at the time.

The writing was fun, the character designs are great, it really sticks with the conceit of “character action but rhythm” and never wavers. Plus, seriously don’t make me say it again, 808 is a black cat!!!!!