Following the lukewarm reception to its newest horror recreation Ghostwire: Tokyo, few might need anticipated the subsequent recreation from the Shinji Mikami led-Tango Gameworks to be a brightly coloured, rhythm-based character-action recreation. Hi-Fi Rush noticed a shock launch early in 2023, arguably kicking off the stellar 12 months of surprising brilliance with its tightly designed fight, extremely likable forged of rebels, and standout boss fights. Every one in every of Hi-Fi Rush’s quite a few boss fights is memorable for one purpose or one other (the size and complexity of the ultimate combat 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 combat of the 12 months: Roquefort.
Like a lot of Hi-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 circulate of conventional character-action, geared up 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 good to preserve when inputting presses for combos, whereas enemy assaults (principally) adhere to the identical beat, solely breaking out in half-steps when attempting to journey you up. Roquefort is the fruits of all the things you have 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.
Given the imposing stature of the bosses earlier than him, Roquefort is an outlier in that he would not come throughout as menacing or bodily imposing, a truth protagonist Chai tries to leverage earlier than the combat with some misplaced trash discuss. It isn’t lengthy earlier than Roquefort’s nickname, a wolf in sheep’s clothes, bears out in essentially the most literal sense. The brief, plump accountant transforms into an enormous mechanical wolf, adorned in chrome and brimming with sharp, pointy ends to do harm with. This alone is an thrilling revelation that tees up a grueling three-phase combat, and the temper is straight away set with an improvised model of Wolfgang Mozart’s fifth Symphony produced by Wolfgang Gartner, and additional edited to tightly adhere to the tempo of the combat.
The combat performs out in Roquefort’s opulent and gold-laden workplace, finally transferring to a vault overflowing with a comical quantity of gold cash, with the music blaring within the background as his hulking wolf type strikes with a surprisingly magnificence in line with the soothing and generally erratic beat. This makes his actions surprisingly tough to trace, with the beat shifting in stunning methods till you nail down its looping sample. Studying this rhythm makes you respect how a lot care was clearly given to sync up with the beat in a way way more devoted than the bosses beforehand. As a direct consequence, this combat feels extra like a dance than every other. It isn’t lengthy earlier than your inputs are being instantly extra by musical intuition than reflexes, letting you total a zen-like circulate regardless of the extremely chaotic duel you are engaged in. As Roquefort begins revealing increasingly of his repertoire, this satisfying back-and-forth forces you to keenly adapt, additional engrossing you within the enveloping music to get the higher hand. It is a gradual escalation that does not cease till the ultimate blow is struck, probably leaving you with an aching foot from tapping and an elevated coronary heart fee that punctuates the adrenaline excessive skilled all through.
To say that I’ve had Hi-Fi Rush’s licensed soundtrack on repeat for a lot of the 12 months could be an understatement, however it will be a fair higher one to confess that I have not listened to Wolfgang Garter’s unbelievable observe extra occasions than every other on the tracklist. Every time, I am transported again to the fun of this unbelievable combat towards Roquefort and reminded of the immense rush a meticulously designed encounter like this may invoke, subsequently leaving a strong impression that is gradual to fade. Hi-Fi Rush may not be as effectively remembered after a 12 months of stellar releases, however it’s a recreation with moments like these which are sturdy reminders {that a} good old school boss combat is not a dying pattern in an trade laden with extra grounded approaches to setpieces. Generally simply bringing it again to fundamentals, and taking care to nail all of the little particulars, can lead to some of the memorable moments of the 12 months.