5/5 ★ – pinksteady's review of Sayonara Wild Hearts.

An absolute gem Sayonara Wild Hearts is without doubt the best game I’ve played this year. Which is quite an achievement given it is only about an hour long and I played it on a phone. This is one of those games where the whole is so much greater than the sum of its parts, although in this case the parts themselves are just awe-inspiring. When I first loaded the game, and the title screen loaded with a thumping electro-pop track, incredible art style, and the whole screen beating in time to the music, a smile grew across my face and I knew I was in for something special. I can’t actually quite imagine how it must feel to be a human being that had a hand in creating a game like this. Like, are these people really just normal people like me? Do they sleep and have breakfast, and then go to work and create a game like this? Mechnically-speaking, this is a lane runner, but like you’ve never experienced. The entire game is set to a thumping and beautiful synth-pop soundtrack that forms the basis for the whole experience. [The original soundtrack](https://open.spotify.com/album/5AZEO3XSBNcGyNHxcfmHQ7?si=q8PNpBN4Q0e-FNBi-cf7BA) combined with the levels tell a story (I think) of a girl dealing with heartache, and I presume the various bosses and characters encountered represent exes, insecurities and other metaphors. A lot of this is lost on me, but I didn’t care because just playing the game was such a wonderful experience. Each level is completely unique from the one before, and perfectly blends the music, the level design, the characters and the story to create a gripping thrill for the few minutes that the level last for. One moment you are riding a motorbike, battling acrobatic femme-fatales while somersaulting, jumping and frantically dodging and weaving, and the next minute you have turned into a deer racing through a forest, or a flying on a sword between skyscrapers. The game is endlessly replayable due to the pure fun of it, as well as the challenge set by achieving higher ranks by perfecting the runs. Plus I found myself returning to it just to hear the soundtrack as well. I could try and articulate the beauty of this game further but I don’t really think I can do it justice. Suffice to say, this was an incredible, emotional experience that everyone who values quality gaming should experience.