The popo are way too aggressive and you gain wanted stars too fast. 2 tags = 2 wanted stars, in a game where tagging is the main activity. You get a baby run at the level before the cops are introduced each time, but after that, each tag is likely to get you another wanted star. So if you hit 3-4 tags in a row, expect the entire army to be mobilizing on your ass. Since nothing is marked on your map (not taxi stations, porta-johns or character selection stations,) you're gonna be frantically squinting your eyes, looking for that crescent moon sign (bismillah) so you can drop your heat level.
Second point, the game needs custom soundtracks. The chapter mixtapes are great and it's cool you can unlock them. But tastes being what they are, some people are gonna like some songs more than others. Although the soundtrack is overall phenomenal, there will always be that one song, that "Birthday Cake" that most people are going to hate. For me, both "operator" and "Hair dun nails dun" are that song. There's one other I'm not too fond of. And if any of those songs are in a chapter's mixtape, they're gonna come up in the rotation about every 3-4 songs. It seems like a lot more than it is, when a song you don't like keeps coming up. Custom soundtracks would fix this. Just let us mix all the music we've unlocked. That one dude can replay Get Enuf a hundred times if he wants, or whatever. Everyone is happy.
Third point, some completion tracking is definitely required. The game currently doesn't track anything. I mean, if you have the map, it'll show you on the map where the graffiti spots you didn't hit are at. And if you're in the story, then it will show you the next story location. Anything else though? You don't get shit. No taxi markers, no character changing stations, no porta-johns, no missing music cds, no missing graffiti styles or pieces of gear (bikes etc.) None of that. So you have no idea how far along you are in your playthrough, how many secrets you have, hell not even how many characters you've unlocked out of the total in the game. The game doesn't even give you a five second lingering camera shot of recruitable characters when you enter a zone. You gotta find everything yourself and there are multiple stages to recruiting a character, some of which are kinda obscure. Characters will tell you to go to a location using vague language, and when you finally figure out what the hell they're talking about and how to get there, they're usually not there and they text you with another vague location you gotta figure out.
I'm not saying to have Skyrim map markers for everything, but maybe give us a toggle for some hints or something? Or some fucking completion percentage? Like, percentage of unlocked songs. The pause menu don't give you shit for information.
I'm bitching so much because I fucking love this game. I haven't said anything about gameplay other than the cops thing, because gameplay is perfect. It's as big an improvement on the gameplay of JSRF as JSRF was over Jet Set Radio OG. The addition of the jet double boost, manuals and freerun swapping completely opens the gameplay up. There are a hundreds ways to accomplish any objective in this game. It's all about if you've got the style and creativity to think of it. If you can see something, you can get there. I'm struggling to think of any other game with more satisfying movement than Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. The game revels in the pure joy of movement like very few other titles. I think Mario 64 or Sunshine was the last time I felt this way about just moving around in a game. It's easy to lose myself dicking around, chaining, doing combos, even though there's no reason for me to doing them.
Hunting for secrets, in a way, is almost just an excuse to get out into the levels and play with the physics. Every level is a massive playground and it's such a joyful experience. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is exactly the kind of game that reminds me why I play games. Like Jet Set Radio, BRC shares in the joy of music, movement and style. It's just there having fun, doing its thing, and hoping you'll be a part of that and do your thing too. The graffiti system is great. I love that it's not a QTE, but more like a small options menu that lets you select what tag you want based on if you remember the pattern. But if you don't care, you can mash it out and there's no foul. The Switch port is solid. I uncapped my framerate, so it's definitely noticeable on area transitions when you're loading in part of the level. Framerate drops for that, but it's mostly stable otherwise. Although not locked out obvs, because I wanted 60fps where possible. Switch port doesn't have the DLC yet, but it's just character DLC from Team Reptile's other game.
The story is good, but I kinda wish it was a little less prominent than it is. Only because the game has a habit of moving the player around during cutscenes, and movement is the most fun part of the game. The dream sequences are fun though. Pure creativity, unfettered from logic. Very similar to the Mario Sunshine challenge sections without the FLUDD.
I already think the game is probably brushing up on the high 9s, low 10s if we're talking about score. So I'm hyped to see if this does well, if Team Reptile decide to make another of these. Only one 2mello track got in this time (it slaps,) so there's definitely more soundtrack material out there if a Bomb Rush Cyberfunk 2 got made. Oh yeah, and the 3 vehicle system. It works well, except when you need a vehicle for something and can't find the character change station. Map markers would fix a lot of shit. Not markers for *objectives,* mind you. Markers for services, so you can swap your character or lose your heat before progressing to the next challenge.
.
Is unnatural.