Rez Infinite Review (newwave275)
Imagine if you went to your dentist for some kind of surgery, something light but big enough that you need to be knocked out.
The anesthetist is a chemist, filling in for a friend. The two of you chat for a bit and you convince them to give you a couple of extra drugs. Along with the sleepy juice, they put in a bit of raw dopamine and a couple of hallucinogens, just enough to give you a really cool dream while you're out.
Your dentist and their assistant were part of a touring DJ crew that got stranded in Japan in the 90s and played everything from D&B to Eurodance. They spend the entire surgery blasting their old cuts through a custom built sound system. Every now and then, one of them walks over and lays another beat or track over the music just for fun.
The people at the front desk are artists, one is super into 19th century abstract art and color theory and the other one makes graphical programs for late 90s-era computers with a retro sort of flair.
Everyone who works in the dentistry hangs out every night after work, listens to Ken Ishii and 808 State all night, and talks about all of the stuff they're into. They decide to make a video game that has a bit of everything in it. It's made in a couple years on a cracked PS2 and a few Dells running XP in an office cubicle in some concrete jungle, and all 200 people that play it think it's the coolest shit ever.
Then they rebuild it with newer hardware, optimize it, make about 3 major changes that improve the game and 1 minor one that barely matters. They port it to everything, sell millions of copies, win 5 awards, and then do the same thing over again but with Tetris.
That's kind of what the main part of Rez Infinite is like.
Then imagine that the dentist's office is actually in space. When you wake up and leave, there's just a straight-up 2014 style EDM/trance festival going on and you have to float your way through it to get back home.
That's kind of what Area X part of the game is like.
Rez Infinite is a work of art. A shoot 'em up disguised under layers of other, really cool shit. I don't have a reason not to recommend this to anyone, just know that 70% of this game's worth is in the visuals, music, and experience. Don't get me wrong, it can be really fun, even somewhat hectic at the end and on some of the boss battles, but the design team's focus both on the OG and this remaster was on making an accessible and enjoyable experience inspired by abstract art, synesthesia and 90's techno.