GordonJAGReview Denshattack! Review

With Hi-Fi Rush, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and now Denshattack!, game developers have to just stop casually dropping Game of the Year contenders with no hype or fanfare. Seriously, I don’t know why this keeps happening, but 3 of the past 4 years have had some of their absolute top-tier games drop seemingly out of nowhere. I know Hi-Fi Rush was literally shadowdropped, and both Expedition 33 and Denshattack! had trailers before launch, but these games didn’t get even the most minuscule fraction of marketing attention that a standard AAA release does. Something like GTA VI will have 800 times the marketing budget of Denshattack!, but it'll only end up being a fraction as good. There must be something in the water with these teams just putting out banger after banger with minimal hype. But yeah, it’s one of the best games I’ve played this year so far, and the year is running out of time to have something that tops Denshattack!. It’s excellently crafted on every level of gameplay design, making it entertaining and engaging from the moment the game starts. It’s exceptionally confident—and deservedly so—in its presentation and execution, and its light story is well-paced and perfect for the type of game it is, but it doesn’t sacrifice any of its endearing characters or charm to keep it light. I’ve seen people compare it to things like Jet Set Radio and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and I know those games have gotten a lot of love in their time, but I believe Denshattack! is on a level of its own that goes beyond the game’s obvious inspirations. Like some of those outstanding aforementioned games, knowing exactly what you want the game to be, and being able to develop within your scope, is how you knock it out of the park with games that can pull people in. The game starts by saying that an environmental crisis has forced large chunks of Japan’s population into domed cities, all connected by an underground train network, though it admits the story isn’t really about that. It focuses on a girl named Emi, who starts out delivering ramen using a train car on tracks repurposed for Denshattack, which is essentially extreme sports for train cars. She delivers ramen to Fernando, a photographer who also authors a zine, and he convinces her to take part in Denshattack to set up the story's context. This is the kind of game where the story isn’t necessarily what you’re buying and playing it for. The story is still very fun and full of enjoyable characters, don’t get me wrong, but it’s definitely the type of game that most people are going in for the gameplay loop over the narrative, and then they realize that the story is also good. Because of that, I appreciate that the game basically starts with Emi having no idea what Denshattack is, and then, in the next sentence, wants to give it a try with only the tiniest amount of prompting. The developers knew what they were doing by throwing you right into the good stuff, and I can get behind that kind of quick pacing in a game like Denshattack!. The whole thing moves at a solid clip, and it wastes no time. From there, it really kicks off. It’s a level-based game that takes you on a tour of Japan through chapters. The gameplay is all about you doing sick stunts, tricks, and aerial maneuvers in your train car. Denshattack! starts nice and simple with basic gameplay concepts to ease you in, but each chapter adds something new you have to learn to progress through each level. While the overall learning curve is solid, those new skills you have to figure out are thrown at you pretty quickly. I always felt like it would take me a while to get used to them, but I would end up having them down just as quickly as they were thrown at me, which reflects good design and progression, and one of the core video game design principles of continued learning being key in a fun game. Eventually, each new move became another cool tool in my arsenal for pulling off awesome tricks. Each level has specific goals and challenges, with many of the challenges being completely optional ones you have to watch for on alternate, branching pathways. I lost count of how many times I completed a level without even realizing I had missed an optional path, each with its own unique visuals, item pickups, and spots to do tricks. Denshattack! is a game that’s all about mastery through repetition, and including multiple objectives and paths that will likely take more than one attempt is a good way to help players who want to do everything really iron out those skills without making the difficulty curve unbearable. All the levels are very fun, but most of the real joy comes from the excellent boss fights. Each one is a colorful, unique display of the player’s skills and the enjoyable, quirky cast of characters you meet and befriend throughout the whole game. There’s also a banger track playing in the background of each boss stage, and the Lotus Juice jumpscare I got during one of the boss fights in the middle of the game really solidified the fact that I was playing one of the year’s best, and I was only partially through it. When the game can seamlessly blend its mechanics into fighting a boss that also feels like you’re playing Guitar Hero, and it doesn’t feel like any substantial change took place in its core mechanics, it’s doing something right. A wonderful, colorful cast of endearing characters Emi meets along the way holds the great gameplay together contextually. It’s great fun to see their personalities come alive during gameplay, but I also like their interactions with each other and with Emi herself in downtime moments. They don’t have the world’s deepest writing, and they aren’t filled with exceptionally deep lore you could make 10-hour video essays on, but they’re fun and likable, which is too much of a rarity in video games today. Plus, Denshattack! might be the first game I’ve seen where the boys and girls use a hot spring at the same time, and there isn’t any weird perving going on. It’s a small thing, but it was genuinely nice to see some normal, human interaction between the characters. And, without getting into major spoiler territory for later story elements, everything wraps up neatly with all the friends Emi made along the way. Again, the later story parts and the ending aren’t going to bring about deep reflections and thoughts that shatter your sense of self, but when I got to see how everything played out, I felt happy to be along for the journey. It’s all just so enjoyable, and I found myself smiling and happy as the game progressed and everything unfolded in front of me. By the end, I was fully on board with Emi as a character, and she didn’t have to mope and wallow in melodrama or angst for it to happen. I loved all of her friends, and I think I’m at the point where I’m comfortable saying that the “Power of Friendship” trope is one of my favorites. Simply put, it’s just nice. I think that’s a good way to put it, actually. If you just want to play a game that will make you smile, both because of the sheer joy of its gameplay and characters, play Denshattack!. It oozes irresistible charm, life, confidence, and energy out of every pore. Packaging that with a fun, lovable group of characters, some tight, well-paced gameplay, and a home run of a soundtrack Denshattack! is the kind of game that you’ll want to keep playing for years. The developers clearly put a lot of love and heart into making it, and that’s on full display in the excellent product they delivered. I can’t say it's my Game of the Year just yet, but as an underappreciated hit, Denshattack! has easily earned its place among the year's very best.