So far 2023 has not been doing the best in terms of video games. For so long now games that have been getting released are unfinished, unpolished, or just simply downright bad. The main example of a game coming out in the worst state is one released back on January 24th, “Forspoken.” It received harsh criticism for its voice acting, story, and lackluster gameplay, making the initial sales of the game drop harshly. The game performed so badly that the people that produced it, Luminous Productions, were soon after absorbed into Square Enix. So to say the least the games we’ve been getting have not been worth the wait.

However, a day later a game was announced by Bethesda called Hi-Fi Rush that was released the same day. The game had no hype or advertising leading up to its release and because of that, the game didn’t have some sort of high standard to meet. The game itself was developed over a period of six years, made by the same people that gave us the Evil Within. Normally a game like this, especially one published by Bethesda, would normally have an announcement and then subsequent trailer after trailer over the period of a year but instead they released it the day it was released which gave a lot of people looking for a new game something to latch onto.

The game itself plays as such, you play as Chai, a wannabe rockstar, who through an accident had his music player implanted in his chest which controls his new robot arm and causes everything to move to the beat. So yes this is a rhythm game, but not in the sense that if you don’t keep the beat you lose and get punished no. The game has constant music playing in the background, if you dash, jump, or attack on the beat then you’re rewarded with some extra damage and a higher score but if you’re not the best then there is no punishment for not keeping the beat. The game plays beautifully with new combos and moves you can buy and use to build up Chai, the transition between a 3D rendered environment into a wonderfully animated 2D cutscene in the blink of an eye. The only real complaint people have about the gameplay is a lack of lock on for enemies as well as the camera not being locked. But other than that the game is an amazing experience to both play and listen to.

The art utilized for this game is known as cell-shading, giving it the Sunday morning cartoon vibe, and it feels like one! In a good way that is. The game’s story largely revolves around the evil corporation and Chai and his group of friends rebel against the company and its nefarious plans. The story, as simple as it is, has a great amount of love put into it. Every character is flushed out and amazing to both look at and listen to with how top-notch the voice acting is.

I said games need to be more like Hi-Fi Rush in the sense that games need to be released in a completed state. Any game should be released in a state that’s good and fun to play. No game should be released unfinished just to meet a deadline or meet a requirement. Games should just be fun again, that’s why games need to be more like Hi-Fi Rush.