One early level sees you chasing after preppy sports ladies on a motorcycle through crowded downtown streets, avoiding fireballs of rejection, before literally taking flight as a gentle ethereal pop soundtrack swells, singing about how this is definitely the last time the female singer is going to pine after someone she barely knows.Ī later level sees the world warp visually in response to dubstep beats, as you pursue some hippy raccoon furries through the woods on the back of a forest stag, before a rock layer to the soundtrack kicks in and you're suddenly fighting off a mech with machine guns, pining about how you worry you're the only one who feels the way you do. Narrated by Queen Latifah, who adds a beautifully powerful yet comforting tone to the story, Sayonara Wild Hearts tells a story about a set of tarot card-themed goddesses in space whose hearts have been broken, and a woman down on Earth with a broken heart summoned to help heal and fix the hearts of the heavens.Įach of these distinct tarot card goddesses features in a few back-to-back levels, with their own musical genre, queer girl archetype, and gameplay gimmicks involved. This is an exercise in interacting with music and visuals, and it undeniably succeeds at that. You're basically getting to play an active role in a well-made pop album, with your actions paced incredibly well to the music, which in turn matches up with the emotional beats of the story. Players move left and right, as well as other actions like jumping over projectiles, all in time with the beat, attempting to collect gems in the non-stop scrolling levels for points, and trying to avoid head-on collisions which will break the flow of your run. Taking between 60-90 minutes per playthrough, the game is comprised of approximately three-minute-long music rhythm action levels, from bubblegum aspirational romance ballads to more dramatic and slow percussion-based tracks. Sayonara Wild Hearts is a recently released video game, which was pitched as a playable, female-focused, pop album. That's a big part of what made playing through the superb Sayonara Wild Hearts feel so special. I'm a lesbian, and as much as I love the sound of some Gaga or Adele, it's rare for any of those pop artists to set my hopeless romantic side alight with their tracks. Much of that comes down to the fact that romance so often plays a core role in pop music lyricism, and so often those romantic lyrics are explicitly written to be from a straight perspective. Although heartbreak is rarely discussed this explicitly in video games, its depiction here is certainly welcome, providing a fresh topic for a video game and bringing with it a humane charm that most players can relate to.As much as I love the sound of pop music, a lot of pop artists never really connected with me in a meaningful way when I was growing up. In retrospect, Sayonara Wild Hearts is a story of healing and acceptance in which players confront memories of past lovers and learn to move on. Interestingly the young woman at the beginning of the journey has short hair while in the end, she gains longer hair which could hint at transgender themes which wouldn't be surprising since the game regularly alludes to LGBTQ+ topics. It is important to note that Simogo did not provide canon lore, meaning that the story is open to interpretation. Until she fell right into her groove." This ending acknowledges all the exes and past pain, proving the protagonist has accepted these emotions and mended her broken heart. The game concludes by stating that "for years fell through spirals of sadness and anger until she could not fall any deeper. RELATED: Tunic's Port Will Bring One of 2022's Best Games to PlayStation This is where the meat of Sayonara Wild Hearts' representation of heartbreak takes place. Due to the presentation of the game, fans have theorized that these bosses are past lovers of the main character, each signifying a unique experience in the young woman's life. Each one can be found at their respective boss: the Dancing devils, the Howling Moons, the Stereo Lovers, and the Hermit64. In total, there are four harmonies that need to be taken back. Thus, the young woman is chosen by the divine arcana to restore these stolen harmonies. However, one day the Death arcana and its allies (The Devil, The Moon, The Lovers, and The Hermit) stole harmony from the world and hid it in their hearts. Additionally, the three divine arcana (The High Priestess, The Hierophant, and The Empress) look over the universe and protect it. Sayonara Wild Hearts introduces its main character as a "young woman who was very happy until one day her heart broke so violently that her sorrows echoed through space and time." It never discloses what led to this violent heartbreak, leaving players to wonder.
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