Sayonara Wild Hearts Preview
Aesthetics are a big part of games for me. They don’t need to be cutting edge graphics, but they do need to be cool and/or beautiful. Sayonara Wild Hearts hits that target with a magical flourish and a starlit wink. I played the demo for maybe 15 or 20 minutes and I’m utterly in love. Simogo has drummed up a fabulous pop album that will bury its sparkling hooks in you when it’s eventually released.
The gameplay is something like an endless runner. You rocket through a series of songs, collecting points and battling stylish villains, all while avoiding an untimely death by sudden collision. The lean color palette makes every new stage easy to grasp, even as you’re zipping about in starstruck awe. New mechanics are thrown your way with little warning, but you’re never left feeling all that confused. What I encountered simply clicked, like glittering shards of stained glass.
I played through three songs within the course of the demo. Every track felt built for the stage, and vice-versa. I can’t overstate how seamless the game’s various elements feel when put together. Every new obstacle and idea fell into place like a dance. No stumbles but the ones I made, no cracks in the facade to mar my vision. This is to say nothing of the music itself. I don’t know if we’re getting a separate soundtrack release at any point, but I sincerely hope so. These songs need to be in regular rotation, post-haste.
Neon Starlight Jams
I had plenty of failures, mind you. Missed quicktime prompts, poor reflexes, and wrong moves all led me to my doom more than once. The only real setback I suffered was the song being interrupted. This threw me off, but it also pushed me to do better. These gorgeous tunes wouldn’t be tangled up on my account, no sir. I was going to hit those notes with surgical precision.
My only major complaint would be about length, but that’s hardly fair. I wanted the demo to be longer, and I’m sure I’ll want the game to be longer when it comes out later this year. There’s no solid release date beyond 2019 at the moment, but you’d better believe I’ll let you know when that date comes out.
