History VideoGame / HiFiRush

''Hi-Fi RUSH'' is a StylishAction RhythmGame developed by Tango Gameworks, the studio behind ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'' and ''VideoGame/GhostwireTokyo'', and published by Creator/{{Bethesda}}. It was announced for UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, Xbox Game Pass, and PC via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and the UsefulNotes/EpicGamesStore on January 25, 2023 during the Xbox and Bethseda Developer_Direct, [[SurpriseRelease and subsequently released later that day.]]

** The game has a "[[StreamerFriendlyMode Streamer Mode]]" which replaces all licensed songs with original music, allowing streamers to play the game without fear of getting a copyright claim.

** During mid-fight cutscenes, your score meter will freeze so that you aren't penalized for something outside of your control.

** The fight with Korsica doesn't allow you to call in assist characters, since Korsica just uses blocking and dodging to beat her with VictoryByEndurance. [[spoiler:This also means you can't summon Korsica to fight against herself after her HeelFaceTurn, because the fight's mechanics don't allow the use of any assist characters.]]

* FacialRecognitionSoftware: Korsica's office is secured by a facial recognition scanner that will only let her in. Chai gets around it first by taking a ventilation shaft to get in, [[spoiler:and then by ungraciously smushing Korsica's face against the scanner to get out]].

** Though only visible by using Photo Mode, [[spoiler:Korsica]]'s brand of drink that falls from the vending machines has the tagline "A calm mind makes the right choice", [[spoiler:hinting at her increasing displeasure with the company; her anger only gets her kidnapped by Chai and almost killed by Kale, but afterwards she indeed makes the right choice to take down the latter.]]

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Aside from its cinematic nature, [[spoiler:the fight with Korsica in subsequent playthroughs also brilliantly circumvents the issue of summoning Korsica against herself, with her fight's mechanics not allowing use of any of the three assist characters.]]

* InterfaceSpoiler: Looking at the controls early on will not only give away the fact that [[spoiler:you can call in an ally to help you in battle]], but also [[spoiler:there are multiple allies]].

* LoreCodex: All of the Vlogs you find in the levels are collected and can be read in the hideout.

* MindControl: [[spoiler:Kale's plan is to use Project Armstron] to make people vulnerable to being controlled by an artificial intelligence called SPECTRA. Essentially, mind-controlling the populace into buying even more Vandelay products.]]

* {{Slapstick}}: While Chai, being our protagonist, receives the most slapstick abuse of the entire cast combined, Korsica gets her fair share. After she gets defeated, Kai can fail to catch her and she falls to the ground. As he's carrying her back to the hideout for interrogation, he squishes her face against a scanner, then proceeds to bump her head against several doors.

** Using the "Steal the Show" SuperMove has 808 distract the enemies with her cuteness, briefly stunning them. Should you use it in the boss fight against Mimosa, she'll comment about how not even she can top 808's showmanship.

-->'''CNMN''': Mister Chai, Sir Macaron has yet to join you. This is cheating!

* BreakThemByTalking: Effectively how the boss fight with Korsica goes. [[spoiler:Early scenes suggest Chai, even with his powers, can't physically compete with Korsica, and even if he could, they need her alive and verbal for her password. His battle with her thus instead revolves around wearing her out by trying to talk sense into her - when that fails, Chai settles for aggravating Korsica so she burns herself out trying to beat him to a pulp. Wounding her pride and insulting her intelligence ''especially'' needle her to the point she's knocked out with nothing but counter-attacks and a verbal beatdown.]]

** Much is made about how Chai can't simply strongarm Korsica for her SPECTRA password because she memorizes all of Vandelay's passwords rather than keeping them stored on a passkey like every other boss. [[spoiler:Much later on, the end of the game briefly shows that her password is literally just "Password"]].

* CatchAFallingStar: Chai can perform this on [[spoiler:Korsica]] after their boss fight. [[spoiler:It's also a last-second QTE, so you can actually ''fail'' before moving on; she's still unconscious either way.]]

* DefeatEqualsExplosion: [=QA-1MIL=], Rekka, Mimosa, and [[spoiler:Kale]] all explode upon defeat.

* ExactWords: Peppermint rebutes Chai's accusation about being endangered by Project Armstrong by saying that her leg isn't Armstrong tech. [[spoiler:Notice she didn't say it wasn't Vandelay tech.]]
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The entire game seems to take place over about two days at most. Chai {{lampshades}} this in Security Wing 2, when Macaron gives him a YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre speech, Chai responds that they've only known each other for about 5 hours.
** It could possibly be even shorter than two days; as the game starts in early day, goes through night stages, then dawn and daytime again, but several levels take place entirely indoors. The only time an hour is mentioned is in a FreezeFrameBonus at the end of Track 6 where the station displays 21:45; but it's unclear how much time passed after [[spoiler:Chai is knocked unconscious and captured by Korisca, and the time they took to finish her surgery after saving her at the end of Track 7.]]

* GenderEqualEnsemble: The four human heroes are split between two men (Chai and Macaron) and two women (Peppermint [[spoiler:and Korsica]]).
** Even the robot sidekicks fit, as 808 and CNMN are referred to as "her" and "he," respectively.

-->'''Game Director John Johanas:''' ''It wasn't meant to be this biting criticism. While very real issues, it was more of a light-hearted jab at the idea of these large corporations being the masterminds behind everything, but the gears don't really align. [...] You’d think that the larger a company gets, the more professional it would be, but it instead gets more chaotic. We’re lampooning that more than anything, but it's something that is very relatable to a lot of people no matter what industry you are in. A lot of people deal with how work feels like a comedy because of how things don't work out.''

** Korsica is the head of Security, but [[spoiler:Chai makes it all the way to her locked-down office through [[AirVentPassageway a glaring security hole]]. She's also the only boss to keep her password in her head, but it's just "PASSWORD". [[ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish Which is one of the most popular-and therefore insecure-passwords you can have]]. All caps makes it ''slightly'' harder to brute force, but not by much.]]

* KaizoTrap: A lighthearted example: Right after [[spoiler:Korsica's boss battle]], there is a surprise button prompt to [[spoiler:catch her after she flies into the air]]. Failing this prompt doesn't affect the story, but it is required to get an S-rank on [[spoiler:her fight]].

* LighterAndSofter: To Tango's other works beforehand. Previously, they were known for dark horror games with plenty of intense violence and gore. This one, though? A far more lighthearted and fun adventure with no blood whatsoever.

* MindControl: [[spoiler:Kale's]] plan is to use [[spoiler:Project Armstrong]] to make people vulnerable to being controlled by [[spoiler:an artificial intelligence called SPECTRA]].

* GuideDangIt: One of the achievements needed for 100% completion involves breaking QA-1 MIL's faceplate. You'd think you'd accomplish this by hitting him in the face, yes? No! You hit his ''hands'' and then do a quick-time event to force him to punch himself in the face. Peppermint does give you a hint that his hands are weak points, but beyond that, there's no indication that the path to get this achievemnt is hitting his hands.

* RankInflation: Ranks for individual fights or "choruses" during a Track range from D to S, and adds a shiny '''*''' if you complete a chorus without taking any damage. The rank you get for the track overall can go an extra step higher, S-''Crown'', if you get an S rank on every single fight and avoid continues.

** Chai's entrance onto Mimosa's stage is a homage to Music/MichaelJackson's stage entrance in Bucharest at the start of his ''Music/{{Dangerous}}'' World Tour.

* PositionOfLiteralPower: In the city the game takes place in, just about everything is under the purvey of MegaCorp Vandelay Technologies, and with it the quality of cybernetics provided. As such, the higher you get in the hierarchy of the company, the better the quality of your parts. Naturally, this means all of the execeutives of the company, with the exception of Zanzo, who relies on manufactured robots to do the fighting [[spoiler:and immediately folds in a cutscene when he tries to attack Chai directly]], possess top-of-the-line enhancements that make them into formidable combatants much more powerful than even the strongest EliteMook.

* RankScalesWithAsskicking: With the exception of Zanzo, who relies on manufactured robots to do the fighting [[spoiler:and immediately folds in a cutscene when he tries to attack Chai directly]], every other one of Vandelay's directors are formidable combatants much more powerful than even the strongest EliteMook.

* PositionOfLiteralPower: With the exception of Zanzo, who relies on manufactured robots to do the fighting [[spoiler:and immediately folds in a cutscene when he tries to attack Chai directly]], every other one of Vandelay's directors are formidable combatants much more powerful than even the strongest EliteMook.

* AuthorityGrantsAsskicking: With the exception of Zanzo, who relies on manufactured robots to do the fighting [[spoiler:and immediately folds in a cutscene when he tries to attack Chai directly]], every other one of Vandelay's directors are formidable combatants much more powerful than even the strongest EliteMook.

** The tutorial robot "Smidge": a refrigerator that makes flirtatious comments to Chai's discomfort is essentially a PG-rated version of NORA from ''VideoGame/AtomicHeart''.

* SecretLevel: Beating the game allows you to access the numbered locked doors that you could previous see throughout the game. [[spoiler:These are 'SPECTRA Rooms', housing transmitters that would enable its mind-control to be activated after Kale's defeat. There are eight doors in total, with each door having both a standard and hard version for a total of 16 challenges. Completing everything leads to a SequelHook, where Chai prevents SPECTRA's activation by simply unplugging it and leaving it alone, with an obvious hint that someone could just return and reactivate it]].

Players control Chai, a wannabe rock star who signs up to get a new robotic arm as a volunteer for Project Armstrong, a cybernetics project run by the MegaCorp Vandelay Technologies, which ends up going awry when his music player accidentally gets fused to his heart. Soon, he finds himself the ace of a resistance movement out to expose the dark secret behind Project Armstrong, and now able to feel the rhythm of battle and attack to the beat, sets out to take down the directors of Vandelay that want him "[[DeadlyEuphemism recalled]]".

''Hi-Fi RUSH'' is a StylishAction RhythmGame developed by Tango Gameworks, the studio behind ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'' and ''VideoGame/GhostwireTokyo'', and published by Creator/{{Bethesda}}. It was announced for UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, its version of Xbox Game Pass, and PC via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and the UsefulNotes/EpicGamesStore on January 25, 2023 during the Xbox and Bethseda Developer_Direct, [[SurpriseRelease and subsequently released later that day.]]

''Hi-Fi RUSH'' is a StylishAction RhythmGame developed by Tango Gameworks, the studio behind ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'' and ''VideoGame/GhostwireTokyo'', and published by Creator/{{Bethesda}}. It was announced for UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, its version of Xbox Game Pass, and PC via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and the UsefulNotes/EpicGamesStore on January 25, 2023 during the Xbox and Bethseda Developer_Direct, and subsequently released later that day.

Everything in ''Hi-Fi RUSH'' moves to the beat of the music, and that means ''everything.'' That includes cutscenes, obstacles, the scenery, and most importantly, the combat. Players are rewarded with high damage and high scores by attacking, dodging, and parrying in time to the rhythm of the game's rock soundtrack, which consists of both original music and licensed songs from the likes of Music/NineInchNails and Music/TheBlackKeys.

* BossOnlyLevel: Mimosa and the final boss are the only two bosses that have a stage all to themselves without any grunts to fight first(though you have to do some light platforming before fighting Mimosa).

* ArtificialLimbs: "Project Armstrong" is named as such for how its stated goal was to give free access to robotic limb replacements for those unable to afford high-quality cybernetic enhancements, something Chai readily took up thanks to him quite clearly [[DreamCrushingHandicap having a disable arm that prevented him from becoming the rockstar he wanted to be]]. There are other characters with only their limbs being cybernetically enhanced, such as Rekka's arms or Peppermint's leg.