(Winner of the "A E S T H E T I C S Award" for best visual aesthetics, speech below)
In a huge departure from their previous grimdark titles, Tango Gameworks decided to go for a stylish cartoony look in their newest game. The cel-shading and character design bring back memories from classic games from the sixth gen, which probably isn't a coincidence since the soundtrack itself is blatantly nostalgic for the same era. A punk-rock response to the graphical arms race still going on to this day.
But even looking past the cel-shading, the one thing in which this game goes truly above and beyond is the animation. The game includes a metronome to help you stay in rhythm, but you won't even need it. When idling, Chai will snap his fingers to the rhythm of the soundtrack. All the attacks from both you and the enemies happen with the beat. And even props and background elements in the levels bump according to the rhythm. The whole world literally moves with the groove like one giant living music video.
And then there's the cutscenes. At key points they'll switch up from in-game animation to an actual 2D cartoon straight out of Saturday morning. And when you finally land the finishing blow on certain bossfights, the game will give you a stylized splashscreen in that same cartoony style. This really is the kind of game that, had it released on the PS2 back in 2005, would have been the 11-year-old you's favorite game of all time.
In a huge departure from their previous grimdark titles, Tango Gameworks decided to go for a stylish cartoony look in their newest game. The cel-shading and character design bring back memories from classic games from the sixth gen, which probably isn't a coincidence since the soundtrack itself is blatantly nostalgic for the same era. A punk-rock response to the graphical arms race still going on to this day.
But even looking past the cel-shading, the one thing in which this game goes truly above and beyond is the animation. The game includes a metronome to help you stay in rhythm, but you won't even need it. When idling, Chai will snap his fingers to the rhythm of the soundtrack. All the attacks from both you and the enemies happen with the beat. And even props and background elements in the levels bump according to the rhythm. The whole world literally moves with the groove like one giant living music video.
And then there's the cutscenes. At key points they'll switch up from in-game animation to an actual 2D cartoon straight out of Saturday morning. And when you finally land the finishing blow on certain bossfights, the game will give you a stylized splashscreen in that same cartoony style. This really is the kind of game that, had it released on the PS2 back in 2005, would have been the 11-year-old you's favorite game of all time.