Sayonara Wild Hearts
Year: 2019
Rating: E10+
Time Played: 1+ hour
Another game I picked up during an “indie game” sale on the Switch, Sayonara Wild Hearts looked interesting mostly on the strength of its visuals. When I actually sat down to play it, I found an experience I wasn’t expecting. Sayonara Wild Hearts manages to be many different games, all covered by the low-poly style and catchy soundtrack that drives its action. At its base, Sayonara Wild Hearts is mostly a rhythm game. However, its multi-genre approach made it feel like a rail-shooter more often than not.
Unlike the normal music-rhythm games out there (like Guitar Hero or Rock Band), Sayonara Wild Hearts allows for some mistakes but brings the action to a halt unless the player performs certain actions needed for quick-time events. Even if it’s forgiving in allowing the player to eventually memorize what needs to happen, the result is that the player’s ranking for the level suffers. That being said, I couldn’t discern what the point of the ranking system was, as it didn’t tie to any gameplay element other than to say how well I had matched beats or hit the necessary quick-time events.
Aligning with a trend I’m not wild about, Sayonara Wild Hearts is an incredibly short game. I played through all 23 levels in about an hour. I could have continued to re-play levels for higher scores, but I didn’t see the point. Sure, maybe I missed out on some unlockables, but I don’t think they would have made any additional playthroughs any different. After all, games like this rely heavily on how well the player can memorize what to do. Once that’s achieved, there’s nothing else to do. Still, this game is worth at least an hour of your time for the visuals and soundtrack alone.
Incredibly short but flashy and catchy, I give Sayonara Wild Hearts 3.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
