okay if you were around recently, you probably saw that I've been raving about the Cassette Beasts OST. and while I like music in general, a good rhythm game always hits the spot
so here are 3 rhythm games with their own takes on the genre!
Soundfall
I played Soundfall by Drastic Games a while ago, in July actually, and I had some pretty good times with it. it's a solid game, with good mechanics, soundtrack, story, and graphics.
it also helps when you can crack jokes about Discord and Discordia.
the uniqueness of the game comes from its gacha mechanic for its equipment and the incentive to attack on-beat (and sometimes off-beat too). because of the on-beat attacks, Soundfall feels really satisfying to play.
music-wise, it's pretty cool. particularly liked the cityscape and ice world music!
though I never adventured into playing character other than the main girl, I liked that the narrative really dives into each of the characters and also aligns them with a genre of music as well as a biome. it was a steady through line that helped make a very cohesive experience
for me, Soundfall creates a pretty good bar for a good action rhythm game
No Straight Roads: Encore Edition
No Straight Roads (NSR) might be the most disappointing of the three, with the highest highs and lowest lows, and the most recently played of the three.
that's to say, I have mixed feelings about this game. the design and the art and the music are all so, so good. but the voice acting and the gameplay just sub-par.
unlike Soundfall, only the enemies attack to the beat of the music. and, in my experience, it wasn't even easy to tell when they were going to attack either. the biggest downfall of this is that I'd always try to act in beat with the song and the game more often punishes you for doing so and calls into question if it could be qualified as a rhythm game in that sense (would it be more accurate to call a music-centric game?)
while the rhythm mechanics were weird, I liked what they were trying to do with each boss's gimmick, such as 1010's one vs many or Eve's weird illusion world, and I feel like that saved the experience a bit
the music, by the way, was outstanding, even when I was too focused on the gameplay to fully appreciate it. especially liked Sayu's and 1010's tracks
as a game, NSR has its flaws, but the music and world/character design provide a mostly enjoyable experience
RHYTHM SPROUT
so I've played Turnip Boy and now I've played Rhythm Sprout
of the three, the food-themed Rhythm Sprout probably has the most conventional mechanics: pink/yellow/blue bars you hit in beat with the music.
with the most conventional mechanics comes the most standard experience: it was pretty good.
my only gripe with it was the trap notes and their proximity to actual notes (cause I honestly couldn't tell if I was hitting the note, the trap, or in between, and therefore couldn't fix my play)
this cutesy game's humour had a few good moments and the writing was good enough to keep me through the story, despite the concepts being pretty standard.
I think the game provides a pretty satisfying experience, though the music mostly wasn't my jam.
from the precise shooting of Soundfall to jamming with each of No Straight Road's artists to chopping sweets in Rhythm Sprout, all three games have great things going for them, so I think they're all worth a play!
Environment concepts done for the rhythm based dungeon crawler "Soundfall". I was approached by Drastic Games way back in 2016 and given the opportunity to do some early worldbuilding exploration for the environments and monolithic architecture found within the game's world!
A new trailer has been released for Soundfall. No release date was specified.
Soundfall is a dungeon crawler that combines looter-shooter action with rhythm-based gameplay. Venture out solo or with up to 4 friends locally or online. Collect loot and time your actions to the beat to become all powerful.
