Hi-Fi Rush

Background

Hi-Fi Rush is a single-player rhythm action game developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks that was announced and subsequently released on January 25, 2023 on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Game Pass, and PC via Steam, Windows, and Epic Games Store worldwide.

Hi-Fi Rush stars Chai as a wannabe rockstar that fights against the forces of Vandelay Technologies alongside his allies. While participating as one of the volunteers for Project Armstrong, during the procedure, Chai receives a robotic arm, but also unintentionally becomes fused with his music player. This causes him to be labeled as a "defect", making him a target for deactivation by the company. Now with the corporation designating him as a prime target, Chai must defend himself alongside the help of his allies to take the bosses down.

The game revolves around Chai traversing and between the different departments of Vandelay Technologies, fighting against the respective bosses at the end of the respective level. Everything in the game, from the environment to the enemies to Chai himself is synced up with the music. This is most notable with combat, with attacks and dodges matching the beat of the current track. The game isn't locked to the music track however, but timing attacks to the beat grant different bonuses. Chai can differentiate using Light and Heavy attacks having different outcomes depending if the player delays the moves or not.

Chai can also collect Batteries to utilize his Reverb Gauge, functioning as a super meter of sort. Chai is capable of performing Special Attacks once the gauge accumulates (every Special Attack has different Gauge requirements), which then can be used in battle. Supers can vary between damaging blows to healing himself, but generally the gauge can be saved up until the stage ends. Chai is capable of having two supers at a time, being able to swap them out at either before the stage begins or at certain points in the stage.

Chai is also capable of summoning Assists to interact with the surrounding environment throughout the stages. This interaction is required to either remove an obstacle is Chai's path or access areas normally blocked off or unreachable without their help. They can also be summoned in battle too, being able to break through certain barriers or aid him with combos. Not every Assist is available initially however, with some parts of the stage requiring a replay to access them.

Some parts of the stage include Chai riding on rails. Depending on the obstacle, Chai will have to either move, attack or change lanes.

Power of the Verse

The verse is pretty powerful, reaching City Block levels of power and Superhuman speeds. The abilities are also pretty powerful, mainly the ones from Chai, which includes the likes of, Reality Warping, Broadway Force, Plot Manipulation, Velocity Manipulation, Sound Manipulation, Durability Negation, etcetera.