The game sets out to be kind to players, and it never feels like you 're really being punished for messing up. They come at a pace that doesn 't overwhelm players but also mixes things up enough to keep them fresh and exciting at every step.Įventually, the game adds segments where you may fail, but thanks to frequent checkpoints, one false step simply sends you back a few seconds to try again (and again, and again). Then, the game slowly starts introducing new movements-whether that 's 360° loop-de-loops, or timed button presses, or freer movement around a 2D plane in certain sections. All of the collectibles are optional, and the fun comes from following the trail of hearts closely as possible in time with the catchy music. At the beginning of the game, success is guaranteed. While some video games can have steep learning curves, Sayonara Wild Hearts eases players in and is about the journey rather than the challenge. Publishers Annapurna Interactive were kind enough to provide me with a review key for the game on Nintendo Switch, and after completing it, I can finally say it was well worth the wait.

( Sayonara Wild Hearts via Annapurna Interactive) The game is essentially a playable pop album with a story that only truly comes together where the aesthetic, music and interactivity meet, and I 've never played anything else quite like it.

From top-note to drydown, vividly here and then vividly gone.Ever since I got the chance to play the first few chapters of the vibrant and visually stunning Sayonara Wild Hearts at E3 this year, I 've been itching to see the rest of the game. Maybe this is perfume, following the shape of the breeze.

But then I think back to its atomiser bursts of transitions, one idea gusting into another, and I wonder if it's all more ephemeral that that. It can reference Panzer Dragoon, Jet Set Radio, Dyad and Thumper while remaining entirely coherent, entirely itself.Īnd as for the shape, I would say it's more of a playlist than the standard video game movie pastiche. And so dense! Its exuberance is precision, its chaos is sheer choreography. Sayonara Wild Hearts is such a simple thing but also such a complex thing, such a heartfelt thing. All of this is the work of Simogo, a studio whose games I love, and whose forthcoming projects I always worry about slightly, worrying because the team seems to have such confidence and such taste that I am forever waiting for things to be over-worked, over-considered, to become too stylish, sharp-edged and chilly.

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