If you know me, you know I'm obsessed with several things: boss rush games, dystopian fiction, and music. And while this game is far from perfect design-wise, it's a special game that checks all the right marks for me.
The story centers around Mayday and Zuke, two rockers shunned from society because of their love for the genre. Together, they take on the members of No Straight Roads, a government that powers cities on the backend of EDM. It's a short story about rock vs. EDM, as well as a satire for various sub-genres of the music (vocaloids, boy bands, etc.). And this is all backed by a really entertaining set of characters, some witty writing, and even some excellent art direction!
The trouble comes from the game's combat. Yes, the boss rush structure of the game works well, having the player traverse a course of enemies before facing one of the NSR bosses. Combat, however, is based around this weird rhythm-based action that is "easy to learn, hard to master"...and I mean that in a way of them really not explaining how the combat system works. Luckily, I did manage to learn more as I went through the game, but it's no surprise how confused I was towards the earlier hours of the game. It's a system that'll either hook you as you parry attacks based on the background music, or frustrate you as you can't land a single hit on the enemy.
No Straight Roads is a unique title, and something I've been craving for quite a while now. It's like the love child of Psychonauts and Rhythm Heaven, and it hooked me from beginning to end. The pay-off of the story is quite inspirational, too. I cannot recommend this game enough, especially since it can be finished in around 5-6 hours.
(Worth noting that I played the Switch version, and it is unfortunately full of bugs right now. If you're interesting in checking this game out, I recommend trying the PS4/XB1/PC versions instead.)
The story centers around Mayday and Zuke, two rockers shunned from society because of their love for the genre. Together, they take on the members of No Straight Roads, a government that powers cities on the backend of EDM. It's a short story about rock vs. EDM, as well as a satire for various sub-genres of the music (vocaloids, boy bands, etc.). And this is all backed by a really entertaining set of characters, some witty writing, and even some excellent art direction!
The trouble comes from the game's combat. Yes, the boss rush structure of the game works well, having the player traverse a course of enemies before facing one of the NSR bosses. Combat, however, is based around this weird rhythm-based action that is "easy to learn, hard to master"...and I mean that in a way of them really not explaining how the combat system works. Luckily, I did manage to learn more as I went through the game, but it's no surprise how confused I was towards the earlier hours of the game. It's a system that'll either hook you as you parry attacks based on the background music, or frustrate you as you can't land a single hit on the enemy.
No Straight Roads is a unique title, and something I've been craving for quite a while now. It's like the love child of Psychonauts and Rhythm Heaven, and it hooked me from beginning to end. The pay-off of the story is quite inspirational, too. I cannot recommend this game enough, especially since it can be finished in around 5-6 hours.
(Worth noting that I played the Switch version, and it is unfortunately full of bugs right now. If you're interesting in checking this game out, I recommend trying the PS4/XB1/PC versions instead.)
veroppi
1 year ago