Paul RobertsSeptember 14, 2020Maxi Geek Review, No Straight Roads, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PCComment

No Straight Roads - Review

Paul RobertsSeptember 14, 2020Maxi Geek Review, No Straight Roads, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PCComment

One way to easily get my attention about a new game is to mention it’s music or rhythm based. This is despite the fact my sense of rhythm is average at best. No Straight Roads (NSR) is an interesting use of music/rhythm based combat with a big emphasis on Rock and EDM, so I had to check this game out. Can NSR provide the rock revolution the people of Vinyl City so rightfully deserve?

NSR is set in a world where music is power, literal energy. Vinyl City uses technology called Qwasa that converts music into energy to provide power. NSR is the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) label that controls the power and therefore the city. Using their authority and power, they have ensured that EDM is the only music in Vinyl City. Rockers Mayday and Zuke make up the band Bunkbed Junction. They have come to show the NSR that they can’t control music and that rock can power the city too. Quickly shut down by the NSR, Bunkbed Junction are going to have to bring down the key members of the NSR and take back the city for the people, it’s time to rock!

NSR takes the form of a third person action platformer with a big focus on dungeons and boss battles. While you can explore Vinyl City and the reclaimed areas, you are mostly picking up collectables and using energy you find to help repower items you find around the place. There are items around the world that supply you with more information on the city and the NSR, and you can also talk to the towns’ citizens. You can avoid both if you really want to, but it’s nice to get to know more about the world.

The rest of the game is played in the NSR arenas. If Bunkbed Junction wants to retake the city they need to have a showdown with each artist and claim their record. The arena is split into two parts, the first being more like a traditional dungeon. You must navigate through each boss's uniquely designed building, with each dungeon needing to be approached differently. Here you’ll beat up enemies and turrets as you collect more power to help revitalise the city. It’s the enemies attacks where the rhythm really matters. Before the enemy launches their attack they’ll telegraph it with a rhythm, time it right and you can dodge it. Some attacks can also be parried that requires precise timing. The other part of the Arena is the boss battle itself, a big showdown with the NSR. These battles are tough multi-tiered fights that will test your mettle as well as your timing. This is where a sense of rhythm comes in handy. Your best chance at survival is to pay attention to the sounds enemies make or their pattern of attack. It’s important to keep attacks from quickly eating up your health. While you have two health bars, the boss encounters will make short work of them.

I found myself having difficulty getting the controls to respond at important times, particularly when I needed to swap between Mayday and Zuke. If one gets knocked out, it’s game over which makes it vital that it is responsive.

The boss battles are the most enjoyable part of the game. They are over the top and unique in a way that makes you wish there were more of these encounters in place of the dungeon sections. Even the Vinyl City sections feel like it fills in the time to build up to these grand encounters, and I liked the City. I just wish the other parts of the games didn’t feel empty. I enjoyed seeing the different districts as they are unlocked, I didn’t even mind so much trying to get all the collectibles. It’s when you’re running through those areas over and over to progress, it’s just filling in time before the big moments.

I loved the visual style of NSR, the characters; especially Mayday and Zuke and Vinyl City itself. It’s a vibrant world full of colourful characters and environments. It’s brought even more into contrast as you restore more power to the areas and unlock new districts. The boss battles start off on a smaller scale, only for the encounter to turn it up to 11. These fights are exciting.

The music is also a delight, for both fans of Rock and EDM. While the initial battles have a bigger focus on EDM, when you beat a boss you get access to the rock version too. NSR is all about music, it gets you to care about it and while it is played as Rock VS EDM, it is really about enjoying music. If they revisit this world I would love to see them do more with the music and how it’s used in the game, even more of the rap battle to mix it up.

NSR is a conflicting game. I love its style, the music, the characters and the whole implementation of music and rhythm, but the controls weren’t reliable and the difficulty curve can feel too steep when there's no checkpoints for a boss. The combat never feels deep, in the dungeon portion of the arena there isn’t much of a challenge once you’ve mastered the timing of attacks and how to dodge them. You can decide to go for a Melee attack, if you have the ammo try a ranged attack, or if there is an attack you can parry. You also unlock special attacks to unleash, but I rarely found the opportunity to use these. The boss battles are often so fast paced the time it takes to use a special move also exposes you to damage. It often became a hitting attack, dodge and ranged attacks, so over time the combat feels too simple compared to the energetic boss battles.

There is some text in the game that is just too unclear to read. The small font doesn’t help, it’s an issue when viewing on a TV so even less ideal for handheld or Switch Lite users. While NSR has made an appearance on the other big platforms, the Switch has had to understandably make some graphical compromises to get up and running. This is mostly visible as a case of ‘the jaggies’. It may not look as nice, but it’s perfectly fine. The game runs smoothly most of the time, I never got caught on slowdown or framerates.

I really enjoyed a lot of aspects of No Straight Roads. I genuinely look forward to seeing what Mayasian developers Metronomik have in store. NSR has a style that is very much my thing, characters, story and music that drew me in. It is a shame that the combat and free roaming sections don’t live up to the exciting boss battles. If you enjoy games that make an excellent use of music and don’t mind some less excellent quibbles, No Straight Roads is worth tuning into.