It's like this game was engineered specifically to my tastes. I love visual albums. I love good pop music. I love games. If you love these things too, do yourself a favor and get this game ASAP.

You've probably already gathered it's an interactive pop-album. More specifically it's part rhythm game, part Bayonetta-like cinematic QTE sections. It's visuals are impeccable, pure fireworks. This game had it's hooks within seconds, and my excitement held all the way through to end. I don't think this happened to me before. Granted, it's a rather short game, but that's how it's able to achieve being this flawless. Plus, replaying this game is like relistening to an album, with the added bonus of trying to get a high score. And there's also something to unlock for getting a gold rank on every chapter. I blasted through the whole game on christmas eve 2019. My eyes got a bit watery at the end, that's how gobsmacked I was.

The creativity on display here is unmatched. Every level is so unique, and stylish in a way I haven't seen before. This is the kind of game that reminds me why I love this medium so fucking much. Games forever!

on a sidenote: go play this stoned

A friend gifted this game to me after my childhood pet passed away, and I actually downloaded and played it immediately, when I'm usually more likely to let games sit in my library for years upon years. My favorite and least favorite thing about this game is its brevity—I'll always want more but I also appreciate its short stay in my mind. I love this approach to a rhythm game, where instead of trying to match a beat one-for-one or make you feel overwhelmed with floating notes on a screen, it really makes me feel the music and become immersed in a story that I have few details on.
Even if you end up and don't fall for the magic, it's an experience you can get in a single sitting and I recommend for anyone to try it.

I have been falling for so long I have forgotten what the ground looks like.
This was a digital euphoria I genuinely needed to help me float, at least for a short while.

An audio-visual feast, bite sized tabs of purple acid for my way too sober mind, hungry for a meaningful stimulation. Loose, soothing and forgiving.

I'll have to admit, the synth pop OST was hit or miss for me. I caught myself nodding along only three seperate times, but maybe I was just too enthralled in the whole experience to notice all the other times and nothing overstayed it's welcome anyway. It also reminded me that Debussy fucks hard.

Also crazy they got Queen Latifah in this to tell me I got a bronze rank.

Play this if you want a short but warm hug from a person rubbing some LSD onto your skin.

Talvez uma review não devesse ser pessoal como o que eu estou prestes a escrever, eu nem sequer acho justo validar esse jogo com esse sistema de estrelas, não vou me aprofunda em termos técnicos nem nada do tipo, exemplo como o ritmo funciona, como as musicas são sensacionais e o visual deslumbrante.
Eu joguei esse jogo pela primeira vez em uma madrugada aleatória, em uma fase da minha vida onde tudo estava mudando, havia desfeito amizades de muito tempo, feito novas, conheci novos amores, perdi esses amores, todas essa mudanças não fizeram bem para minha cabeça de adolescente, pra ser mais direto, eu estava em uma fase depressiva da minha vida, fazia constantes mudanças de casa, mas sempre na mesma cidade, não sorria com tanta frequência como sempre foi, me distanciei da minha mãe, que era com quem eu morava na época, via meu pai com menos frequência ainda por conta do divorcio de alguns anos atrás, eu acho que só era coisa demais para minha cabeça na época...
Os jogos sempre foram uma fuga para mim, mas quando eu entrei nesse jogo e entrei na primeira fase, eu senti algo que nunca havia sentido antes jogando algo, eu não sei explicar o que era, mas o sorriso no rosto não saiu de lá em nenhum momento, desde que eu comecei a jogar, ate quando eu zerei ele, ele eh um jogo rápido, eu precisava me concentra, não podia fica pensando em todos os problemas da minha vida se eu quisesse aproveita a trilha sonora perfeita desse jogo, e então, por 2 horas em uma madrugada aleatória, todos os problemas haviam sumidos, minha ansiedade, me tristeza haviam sumido, e eu conheci pega no sono e segui em frente no dia seguinte.
Desde então, esse jogo foi o meu meio de fuga, quanto meu coração apertava e eu não conseguia respira direito, quando eu sentia que nada se resolveria, e principalmente quando eu me sentia sozinho, esse jogo representa muita coisa para mim, e eu finalmente consegui ele de forma legal, eu recomendo esse jogo para qualquer pessoa que queira se desprender um pouco da realidade, ele é fantástico.

I’m one of those who doesn’t get it unfortunately. Yes, it looks stylish and sounds nice but that’s about it. Even though it looks nice it’s not good for the gameplay. The game is often so busy with flashes and lights and weird colour combinations, that it feels like it was made by a team on drugs. It was sometimes hard to see certain collectibles or obstacles on time. The gameplay itself feels like a mess. A lot of it is very random with no rhyme or order. There’s a lot of trial and error, especially if you want to go for the high scores and collect everything. The controls themselves are also not great on a DualShock 4 at least. It’s not precise at all, it’s easy to go too far to the left or the other way. It’s hard to see where you are on the roads sometimes. I also don’t like the riddles at all. They’re the game’s achievements. They’re very obscure if you’re trying to figure them out on your own. I looked up some of them out of curiosity and the things you need to do are bullshit. They’re way too precise and silly. There are over 20 songs which are luckily very easy to clear. But you can extend the replay value by going for high scores, collectibles and arcade mode. I don’t recommend it though. Both the highscores and collectibles look like the irritating type. I just tried to finish the game asap and wanted to be quickly done with it. The game has many fans, so don’t take my opinion as a universal truth. I’d just be cautious if you’re not certain about the game and are not big on artsy ones, to the point of them being enough even if the gameplay is not so good. I’d do some proper research or try a demo if possible. I just played it because it’s part of Apple Arcade and I got curious.

By far my most replayed game. Super relaxing and a big hit whenever I show people this game. It is also beautiful to look at if you arent sensitive or have bad reactions to flashing lights. If that is you though this is probably not your game

It cane be hard if you wanna do a challenge run (play through the whole game in continous without dying and/or getting every pelled which is what me and spouse do from time to time)

It is also pretty easy if you want it to be I showed my niece when she was four and now that she is five she is able to do every level without getting frustrated and handing me the controller. I'm super proud of my niece the only games she plays are this, mario kart, and devil may cry.

I expected Sayonara Wild Hearts to grab me instantly and pull me along through every level with fast, reactive gameplay. Instead the game is more like the experience of listening to a new album. At first it's a little grating and there were multiple sections I didn't really like and had to force myself through. It's through memorisation of every little detail that I found myself enjoying the game much more after repeated playthroughs.

Chasing top ranks and completing the in-game challenges provides enough of an excuse to keep playing the game past the first hour. I've doubled my playtime since 100%ing the game and I'll probably return to it as well.