Hi-Fi Rush was a wonderful surprise when it was first released and quickly won over the hearts of players everyone. A stylish action game that mixed in rhythm gameplay and a beautiful cartoon art style, there was so much to love about the game, and it soon became a must-play game of 2023, especially considering it was so different from the rest of Tango Gameworks’ previous games. The game has been receiving updates since launch, with new features such as Photo Mode and new outfits, but now has received the most anticipated update yet with the Arcade Challenge updates.
The new update brings two new gameplay modes to Hi-Fi Rush, BPM RUSH, and Power-up Tower-Up, along with more unlockable cosmetics, collectibles, attacks, stickers, challenges, and rewards. Both modes have a lot to offer fans of the game, but which one is best may depend on what kind of gameplay you like.
BPM RUSH is very action focused and sees you face off against hordes of enemies with an ever-increasing BPM, with a very straightforward design. The more you hit your enemies to the beat, the more you increase your meter, but if you get hit then your meter will decrease, Once the meter is full, a RUSH is activated which will send you to a boss fight, that once completed, repeats the cycle with a higher BPM.
You will want to get through the horde as fast as you can, but the further along you go, the more challenging it becomes. That said, the use of the music and the way the game adapts the songs to the tempo increases, actually makes things very exciting to play rather than frustrating. This mode comes with three difficulty settings, where the Easy track sees you start at a low BPM and then increase to 185, while Normal starts at 150 BPM and increases to 200 BPM, and the EX difficulty starts at 185 BPM and then sees the highest increase of all. In addition, the EX difficulty will only be unlocked by getting an S Rank in Normal mode, so you will need to work your way up before you can take on this challenge.
While BPM RUSH is a great addition, it is Power-Up Tower-Up that stands out. This mode sees Chai be stripped of all his upgrades and take on a new rhythm tower climb. This is set across 25 randomly generated floors, with each floor introducing a new system that lets you select either upgrades or use bugged versions of the upgrade to increase your score multiplier and gradually regain Chai’s upgrades. This makes for a neat risk and reward system and ends up creating some of the most unique gameplay in Hi-Fi Rush so far.
The bugged versions of the upgrades all have some neat aspects attached to them, for instance, one may give you a better version of the upgrade, but you will also get a nerf of some kind. For instance, you may find a bugged version of the upgrade that not only increases your damage output but will also increase the amount of damage you will take, to keep things interesting. Other bugged versions can interfere with the visuals or music and it is these challenges that make this a great mode to play, full of replayable experiences.
Of course, if you want to have a real challenge, you can play without any upgrades for a very high multiplier, but you will be in for a hard time. You will need a lot of skill, and determination to take the floors filled with new enemies from the main game and new enemy types only found in BPM RUSH and Power-Up Tower-Up. It can be done though, so just keep at it.
A Roguelike mode may not have been the mode everyone was wanting for Hi-Fi Rush, and indeed, it can be off-putting to some at first, but the amount of care and attention put into this mode, along with the way you can tailor the experience to your liking, this mode will be a great introduction to this style of gameplay. Dying does not cost you everything here, but does take away from your Multiplier, which can affect the outcome. This is still very forgiving, plus the way you choose the challenges makes this a unique take on Roguelikes.
Hi-Fi Rush was already a great game, but The Arcade Challenge update adds much to make it even better. It may not be the DLC expansion so many wanted, but it might be better for what it is. Check this out, and if you have not played Hi-Fi Rush yet, the new modes may even entice you to try the game. All in all, a potential game-of-the-year contender, has made its claims to that title far stronger.
Disclaimer: Review access was provided
