HYPERBEAT

This game is very cool.

I played this on Steam.

I don't usually play games like this and I initially hadn't planned on writing anything about it, but the more I reflect on my time with this game the more I realize I really liked it.

If you aren't aware, HYPERBEAT is a rhythm game somewhat in the vein of an Osu! or Rez where you pilot a low-poly figure down a tunnel and need to move them into various rings and hit targets. It has both mouse and controller support (though I played with a mouse) and it feels fantastic. It's incredibly intuitive and satisfying to play, so much so that even though I was doing pretty poorly I kept at it because I wanted to be better at it.

One of the other main things keeping me going was its narrative. Yes, despite largely being a gameplay-focused thing first and foremost, there was some surprisingly compelling writing that made me want to see this through to its end. There isn't much of a plot, per se, but there are some memorable characters and some throughlines that genuinely made me stop and think about some stuff. It's also pretty funny.

If I had to nitpick, one of my friends tested for this game and wasn't listed in the credits and that still rubs me the wrong way. I know it's just an oversight and that these kinds of things happen sometimes, but with how many updates the game has had (and the fact that adjusting the credits seems like it should be a simple enough fix, to me as an outsider at least) it feels like something that should've been corrected by the time I got to the game. Oh well.

This is much shorter than most of the blog posts I put up here, but that's only because I don't feel particularly adept at explaining these sorts of games (or playing them, even). Despite all that, this was one of the best games I've played this year and I highly recommend you seek it out. More people should play this. 

I'll leave you with some gameplay, so you can see (and hear) it in action.