Aiyana Hunter

Staff Writer

You are not as good at rhythm games as you think you are.   

Welcome to another entry in Games for the Broke College Student. This time we’re looking at Hi-Fi RUSH, a game where a nerd tries to live out his dreams of becoming a rock star and stumbles his way through the big boss that is capitalism.  

This game is another that’s free on Xbox Game Pass (but $30 for the standard edition on most other platforms), and unlike the previous game I reviewed, it’s not a 60-hour-long venture just to beat the game. This one’s short, sweet, and really leans into the colorful comic-book aesthetic. Here’s my review of it, with as few spoilers as I can possibly use. 

The world of Hi-Fi RUSH just breathes music and brims with detail. It’s a cool combination of rock themes (and rock bangers), heavily saturated colors, and a futuristic tech-y atmosphere—you’re in a factory of sorts, and each stage is a different sector of the factory. 

You see robots everywhere; they’re funny and even human-like in some situations. They provide their own banter, complain about their greedy, self-centered bosses, and some have short and funny side quests that you can do. The narrative is fun, and it’s easy to become invested in the goofy story of Chai and the ragtag group of rebels he bands together with (who all have more brain cells than he does). 

The story is a take on a capitalist dystopia that’s somehow foiled in a bright “power of friendship” way. As mentioned before, you’re in a factory of sorts, and you’re one of the only actual flesh-and-blood people in the majority of the area. The antagonist is a corporation who exploits their robot workers to the limits and then beyond in the name of profit. 

 Their conditions are all the same you’d see in a typical big corporation, but pushed to comedic extremes (think 30-minute breaks shortened to a 30-second break, paired with played-up propaganda HR marketing throughout, or bots diverting movement power from their legs to keep up with their boss and his demands to keep programming more robots).  

As you are one of the only people, most enemies in the game are machines. Once you get past the harsher gameplay, it’s a bit satisfying to get combos and see gears fly. 

Everything in the game (mostly) is rhythm-based, and you must stay on beat in every situation. If you’re even the slightest bit offbeat (or god forbid you’re just plain lacking in rhythm like I am), you’ll struggle. A lot.  

To give the game credit, it does hold your hand a bit, and you can toggle certain settings to make the rhythm part easier. I am still very bad at it even with a handicap, I fear, and not even the great characters can save the game from my ire at the annoying gameplay.  

It’s not just the combat that’s on beat, either; the movement of the overworld itself, any puzzles, and even getting through those puzzles (you can see where my ire comes from, because the puzzles aren’t even that hard) are all to the beat of the soundtrack. 

The story is great, though, and if you want to try it or see if you’re better than me at rhythm games, I recommend you give it a go. I give the story a 7/10 (the game’s one saving grace, for me), and the gameplay a 4/10. Combined, the game is an average of 5/10. 

(Don’t take any of my ratings as the end-all, be-all, though. If you’re interested in colorful gameplay and music, you should play it.)