Following the lukewarm reception to its newest horror sport Ghostwire: Tokyo, few might need anticipated the following sport from the Shinji Mikami led-Tango Gameworks to be a brightly coloured, rhythm-based character-action sport. Hello-Fi Rush noticed a shock launch early in 2023, arguably kicking off the stellar yr of surprising brilliance with its tightly designed fight, extremely likable solid of rebels, and standout boss fights. Every considered one of Hello-Fi Rush’s quite a few boss fights is memorable for one cause or one other (the size and complexity of the ultimate struggle towards Kale is as awe-inspiring as the primary fast-paced duel with antagonist-turned-ally Korsica), however none come near evaluating with what is likely to be essentially the most adrenaline-fuelled three-phase struggle of the yr: Roquefort.
Like a lot of Hello-Fi Rush, Roquefort is not memorable due to his outright problem. The character-action offered in Tango Gameworks’ newest pairs rhythm-based sensibilities with the stream of conventional character-action, outfitted with a fascinating scoring system that judges your aptitude at balancing each. Sensible touches round every stage persistently remind you of the beat it’s essential to preserve when inputting presses for combos, whereas enemy assaults (largely) adhere to the identical beat, solely breaking out in half-steps when making an attempt to journey you up. Roquefort is the fruits of all the pieces you’ve got learnt about this mix of genres to that time, appearing because the penultimate boss that’s meant to gatekeep your progress from the sport’s eventual most-challenging foe, each figuratively and actually.
