History VideoGame / SayonaraWildHearts

''Sayonara Wild Hearts'' is a story-driven [[MusicalGameplay Music Game]][=/=]EndlessRunningGame hybrid, developed by three-person Swedish independent studio Simogo, and published by Creator/AnnapurnaInteractive. It was released on September 19th, 2019, for UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and for [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS devices]] and [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PCs]] through UsefulNotes/AppleArcade.

* HurtingHero: The prologue narration describes the hero as someone whose heart had been broken so profoundly that it echoed throughout time and space. [[spoiler:The ending narration says she spent some time since spiraling into stages of depression before the events of the game helped bring her out of it.]]

''Sayonara Wild Hearts'' is a story-driven [[MusicalGameplay Music Game]][=/=]EndlessRunningGame hybrid, developed by three-person Swedish independent studio Simogo, and published by Creator/AnnapurnaInteractive. It was released on September 19th, 2019, for UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and for [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS devices]] and [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PCs]] through the Apple Arcade.

* BalefulPolymorph: The fight with [=Hermit64=] involves her transforming The Fool into a game card and loading it into her VR headset.

''Sayonara Wild Hearts'' is a story-driven RhythmGame[=/=]EndlessRunningGame hybrid, developed by three-person Swedish independent studio Simogo, and published by Creator/AnnapurnaInteractive. It was released on September 19th, 2019, for UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and for [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS devices]] and [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PCs]] through the Apple Arcade.

* {{BFS}}: Taken UpToEleven with the Stereo Lovers, whose swords progressively get bigger as the fight goes on, before turning into a gliding plane during the final part.

--> ''[[spoiler:From the shards of your broken heart, the real heroine has risen. You have restored the lost harmony of our world, now you must go and find harmony in your own. [[TileDrop Sayonara, Wild Heart]].]]''

* DifficultySpike: The game is quite gentle about leading you into concepts... until "Parallel Universes". While generally one of the favored mechanics, it's a short course, meaning you don't have long to both get acquainted with the reality-jumping ''and'' getting a fairly high score for the level's length. "Mine" presents a similar situation, being a fairly short level with a high score goal, and basically mark the stage where the game takes the gloves off.

* OminousLatinChanting: During the confrontation with [[spoiler:the Eye of Death]], a choir of deep voices punctuates the action.

* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler:After beating what's left of Little Death, the protagonist separates from The Fool, which fuses with the five Arcana to fight against in a BossRush style. After kissing it several times, it turns into a dragon that the player take control of. After the protagonist kisses it again, it turns into [[BookEnds the butterfly from the first stage,]] which the protagonist captures and fuses with. After all of that, the Fool turns back to normal, but older and with a guitar. Cue credits.]]

''Sayonara Wild Hearts'' is a story-driven RhythmGame[=/=]EndlessRunningGame hybrid, developed by three-person Swedish independent studio Simogo, and published by Annapurna Interactive. It was released on September 19th, 2019, for UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/Playstation4 and for [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS devices]] and [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PCs]] through the Apple Arcade.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: With the game framing [[ArcWords "wild hearts"]] as synecdoche for [[LoveHurts the turbulent cycle of love and heartbreak]], perhaps the most easily-recognizable meaning of ''Sayonara Wild Hearts'' -- especially when combined with the narrative of fighting evils representing heartbreak -- is [[NeverBeHurtAgain "goodbye, heartbreak!"]] However, while [[GratuitousJapanese "sayonara"]] is colloquially used to say "goodbye", [[BilingualBonus it more literally translates]] to "that's the way it is", [[spoiler:which in turn coincides with the game ''actually'' being about accepting heartbreak as a part of life, but [[HealTheCutie learning and growing stronger from it]].]]

* ShoutOut:

* {{Bifauxnen}}: All of the characters save for Little Death (who still looks pretty androgynous): the Fool wears a blazer, the Dancing Devils have pink varsity jackets, the Howling Moons dress in leather jackets and jeans, the Stereo Lovers wear a dress shirt with suspenders and [=Hermit64=] sports a waistcoat.

* EnemyWithout: [[spoiler:After Little Death is truly defeated in her final form, her and all the other arcana cards pull The Fool card, which manifested from her broken heart, out of the heroine and fuse with it. This causes it to manifest its own form which is a clone of her that recreates all their battles against her.]]

* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler:After beating what's left of Little Death, the protagonist separates from The Fool, which fuses with the five Arcanum to fight against in a BossRush style. After kissing it several times, it turns into a dragon that the player take control of. After the protagonist kisses it again, it turns into [[BookEnds the butterfly from the first stage,]] which the protagonist captures and fuses with. After all of that, the Fool turns back to normal, but older and with a guitar. Cue credits.]]

* MushroomSamba: In "Forest Dub" one of the Howling Moon's tosses glittering powder at The Fool that makes her hallucinate the usual chase sequence through a psychedelic landscape involving actual mushrooms.
* TheNarrator: Done by Music/QueenLatifah, of all people. According to WordOfGod, her inclusion was both very last minute (i.e. a ''week'' before release) and only half-seriously considered until it turned out she had an opening. That lateness is why the marketing made no mention of her. The credits even lampshade this: before her name shows up onscreen theres a textbox that says "Oh!" as if the devs are saying "Oh yeah, we did get Queen Latifah on this!"

* TrueFinalBoss: [[spoiler:The last battle isn't with Little Death but with the manifestation of The Fool's own broken heart fused with the five arcanum that have been fought before. Instead of punching her, she instead has to kiss her in each of her forms.]]

* {{Antepiece}}: Excepting the Heartbreak levels, which involve the Fool traveling between locations, and a few one off levels like "Night Drift", each area features one or two short levels that introduce the mechanics unique to that Arcana, before a longer boss level where the Fool fights them.

* OneWingedAngel: Instead of disappearing, the fragments of Little Death's heart liquefy into black slime and regenerate into a monstrous winged form.

** "Forest Dub" has two, as the psychadelic, unsteady terrain is a reference to [[VideoGame/YoshisIsland Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy]] while the end of the level has [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros mushrooms that increase the protagonist's size.]]