It’s rare for me to fall so in love with a game that the second I finish it, I start it over to do it all again. Sayonara Wild Hearts is one of those rare games to hit all the right notes that keeps me coming back for more.
Sayonara Wild Hearts is a tough game to describe. It’s one that you understand better when you see it, so bear with me as I try my best to explain what it is. As the creators say, Sayonara Wild Hearts is a pop music video game. You play as a girl who suffers a major heartbreak causing her to end up in a different universe where she’s a hero that has to defeat five different groups of enemies. How do you do this? By chasing after them on a vehicle of some sort to the sound and beat of pop music and EDM before knocking them out and destroying their hearts. If that sounds weird to you, that’s because the game’s story is weird. It’s difficult to understand just what exactly is happening and what everything is supposed to mean on an initial playthrough. Honestly though, none of that matters with this game.
The story that’s there serves as a vehicle for you to play through some fun levels while listening to great music and looking at some really eye-popping visuals. I finished the game and didn’t know what exactly had happened throughout the game, but I didn’t care because I loved every second of the game. After playing through the game more times though I started to understand things better and found the deeper meaning that the game was trying to convey. If you don’t care to understand it though, you aren’t missing anything or doing yourself a disservice.
The way that you play the game is real simple. Each level has you on rails and constantly moving forward. You can collect hearts and glowing squares to rack up your score for each level. Most levels also have multiple points where you have to press a button in time with the music to perform an action. These on beat button presses are very lenient with how in time you actually need to be. Because of all this, the game is very easy to complete. Some of the levels may pose some difficulty, but they’re far from being actually hard. Crashing or getting hit by an enemy causes the game to quickly reset you back to shortly before you messed up, allowing you to get back into the action as fast as possible.
On top of all this, many of the game’s levels are incredibly short. Each level is the length of whatever song is playing, so there are some levels that are only a minute long. This is nice since it allows you to get on to the next idea that the game is going to introduce. Every time I finished one level, I was looking forward to what the next one was going to have in store for me. My favorite level is called Parallel Universes. I won’t say why because I feel like the entire game is best experienced without any prior knowledge of what awaits you, but the idea this level introduced was really cool and creative. The short length of the majority of the levels also means that the game takes about an hour to complete. This combined with the desire to get a better score rank and find collectibles makes the game very replayable.
At the heart of this entire game though is the music. Boy I can go on and on about the music all day long. Let me preface this by saying that if you don’t like pop music or EDM then it’s very unlikely that you’ll enjoy the game. The game is literally built around the music. Everything from the level design to the actions that you have to perform are built around the music. If you do like this type of music though, then you are in for one hell of a treat.
When I got to the main menu I sat and listened to the whole track that plays there. From that moment I just knew I was going to love this game and it’s music. I’m so happy to say that the game didn’t disappoint at all. Like I said before, the level design is built around the music. Because of this, a lot of the levels are elevated because of the music that’s playing as well. It feels great when you let yourself go to the music and just feel it inside you, causing your actions to be totally in sync with the song. I’ve downloaded the game’s soundtrack onto my phone, so when I listen to the songs I just picture what happens in the actual level and remember just how cool it all was to be hit visually and aurally. If I had to pick a favorite song, it would be “Begin Again.” It’s such a beautiful song that I find myself constantly playing over and over again. It also helps that its level is really fun to play through.
Side note: If you’re playing the game on Switch in handheld mode, I highly recommend using headphones to properly enjoy the music. It just doesn’t sound as good hearing it come out of the Switch’s speakers.
Visually the game is very unique. It has a really cool art style that sucks you in and doesn’t let go. Everything about it just oozes style. It’s psychedelic, colorful, and full of life. The menus bump and light up to the beat of the music that’s playing and it gets you bumping along with it. From start to finish, I was consistently in awe of everything that was happening on screen and how it all looked. Even now, after having played the game for multiple hours and on two systems (Switch and PS4 Pro) I’m still mesmerized by this game’s look. The game is also available on Apple Arcade, but I feel like consoles is the best place to play the game.
Completing the game unlocks Album Arcade mode which allows you to play through the entire game start to finish without being pulled out to the menu. This is a fun mode to play if you want to go from one level and song to the next without any interruption. There’s also a second extra mode that you can unlock, but I haven’t gotten it yet. The game also has secret Zodiac Riddles for you to complete. These are essentially the game’s version of trophies. The riddles can be tough to figure out what exactly they mean and how to complete them. Thankfully they aren’t necessary for anything aside from trophies, so if you aren’t capable of figuring them out you and aren’t a trophy hunter, you aren’t having anything withheld from you.
I’ve never played a game quite like Sayonara Wild Hearts. It’s unique in regards to its visuals, gameplay, and music, making it one of the best experiences I’ve had with a video game period. I keep thinking about it and playing it day after day, not just to try and get a better score on levels, but also so I can simply experience the joy that this game gives me when I play it. It’s rare that a game overwhelms me like this, but somehow Sayonara Wild Hearts managed to worm its way inside and become an obsession for me.
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