How Hi-Fi Rush made fighting on beat fun for people who have no rhythm

I’ve had one major problem in my life that has prevented me from fully experiencing rhythm games. That hasn’t stopped me from giving it the old college try, though. For years, I’ve suffered through subpar Guitar Hero performances and B-rank scores on Dance Dance Revolution games. Get involved Hi-Fi RushThe game is a combination of rhythmic fighting and 3D hacking. Hi-Fi RushFun is great regardless of your ability to tune in to the inner metronome. I was able to sit down and discussHi-Fi RushDirector John Johanas asked him to answer the following question: How do you create a rhythm for people who don’t have a rhythm?

Johanas explained to me that Tango Gameworks team has always believed in it.Hi-Fi RushAs a rhythm game. You play the role of Chai, a young, plucky man who hopes to become a rock star. An iPod is implanted into his chest by Chai after a lab accident. He becomes more in tune with the music around him. It’s up to Chai to fight his way out of the surrounding world of Vandelay Technologies. The fights pulse to the rhythm of music by artists such as Nine Inch Nails and The Black Keys.

When I asked Johanas how the idea came to be, he said, “Surprisingly, it was relatively unchanged from the original pitch. There were many team members who were the same as Johanas. This really works? they were supportive in at least giving it a try.”

Photo: Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

The challenge became how to blend the two genres — rhythm game and action-adventure — and keep it playable. “The first thing that we did was make a system where no matter what you did, everything would sync up so it would land on the beat,” Johanas said. From there, the team implemented a system where failing to hit everything perfectly wouldn’t punish you — even if you don’t time your attacks correctly, Chai will still perform the movements to the beat — but landing hits to the beat of the song gives you an extra bonus.

“You’re not restricted by the music, you know, you can do whatever you want. You can do whatever combos you want,” he said. “The enemies will move just like a regular game. It’s just that everything is synced like a music video.”

They were very careful with how they used rhythm mechanics. If you have difficulty tuning in to a particular song, the game has a visual visualizer which clearly displays the beat. The game’s world is also full of other visual cues, like the puffing steam around Chai or the pace he snaps his fingers.

The team cut certain features as development was progressing to keep it easy and usable. The In Hi-Fi RushPartner players can be called in to attack your enemies on the field. In the middle of development, the team tried out a feature which allowed for you to change your characters and move the game in a completely different way.

Image: Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks

“No one could get it because it was so complicated to switch from one character who had a certain rhythm style to another one, like on the fly with the chaos of battle. So we’re like, OK, we’re gonna make this as simple as possible. So now it’s literally one button that you don’t have to worry about the timing of calling in your partners, they’ll do it for you.”

Hi-Fi Rush isn’t just an approachable rhythm game. Tango Gameworks was a good starting point for anyone looking to explore the 3D action genre. You can jump right into any game, such as “Tango Gameworks”, and you will feel the excitement. BayonettaYou have a wide range of combinations to choose from. In Hi-Fi RushYou will be guided through each beat button by button in the game.

“The game was made with accessibility in mind, with the idea that these are normally genres that people tend to turn away from, because it’s not their type of genre, and we wanted to make something that was accessible and fun, and that even people who have difficulty with [it] can probably play to the end.”