Shinji Mikami demonstrates again that he can make a very competent action game. Kamiya should take a course from him on implementing gimmicks seamlessly. Seriously.
I do have some gripes though. The licensed music is 30x better than the filler tracks, having no lock on is painful(especially when trying to grapple) and enemies that can't be touched without first calling in assists are annoying and borderline colorcode design which I hate. I also really wish one of these "rhythm-action" games would let you attack on more variable timings than just quarter and half notes to a 4/4 beat.
But overall... it's a good time. The visual style puts many recent AAA releases to shame while asking a FRACTION of their required computing power. Animations look impressively natural despite the contraints of having to be tied to a certain cadence. While not landing often for me in terms of comedy the character dynamics are quite charming in a way that isn't really seen often nowadays, especially at a higher budget. Also the licensed songs are stellar.
I doubt many releases this year will be able to match the care and SOUL put into Hi-Fi Rush.


Xbox can finally claim they have a game now lol