{"id":101280,"date":"2019-10-04T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/hexagroove_tactical_dj"},"modified":"2019-10-04T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T15:00:00","slug":"review-hexagroove-tactical-dj-the-thinking-mans-rhythm-action-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/10\/04\/review-hexagroove-tactical-dj-the-thinking-mans-rhythm-action-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Hexagroove: Tactical DJ &#8211; The Thinking Man\u2019s Rhythm Action Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/9e484834c0bf9\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/9e484834c0bf9\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Hexagroove: Tactical DJ Review - Screenshot 1 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99781\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99781\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Hexagroove: Tactical DJ Review - Screenshot 1 of 5\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>If you\u2019ve ever had the desire to stand before a baying crowd on the sun-kissed beaches of Ayia Napa and spin them into a state of unimaginable euphoria through the power of your DJ skills, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/hexagroove_tactical_dj\">Hexagroove: Tactical DJ<\/a><\/strong> from Swedish-based developers Ichigoichie might just be <em>exactly<\/em> what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n<p>The key word in the title is \u2018Tactical\u2019. Whilst music maker games of yesteryear have focused primarily on the rhythm mechanics that we\u2019ve become so accustomed to, Hexagroove challenges that premise by combining strategic elements, forcing you to think quickly on your feet whilst keeping your rhythm and ensuring the beat is king. It\u2019s a thinking man\u2019s rhythm experience that eschews traditional genre traits and instead sidelines them into action-based minigames that work to serve the overall performance.<\/p>\n<p>The primary goal in each performance is to keep the crowd moving and impressed with your skills. In each &#8216;song&#8217;, the main screen is a circle that features musical loops within it, each based on a different instrument. The crowd \u2013 little more than 3D blocks bouncing up and down to your silky smooth transitions \u2013 will make it clear which instrument they desire to be introduced into the music, and it\u2019s up to you to place said instrument seamlessly, without missing a beat. If timed correctly, your overall score will increase and a cheer from the crowd signifies you\u2019re keeping up with their demands. You can keep track of the beat via the outline of the main circle which is split into four sections, keeping time with the overall track. As the outline hits the top centre, that\u2019s where you want to be throwing in new loops for maximum impact.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Hexagroove: Tactical DJ Review - Screenshot 2 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99779\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99779\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Hexagroove: Tactical DJ Review - Screenshot 2 of 5\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Each instrument has four loop options that you can choose between throughout the song. These are selected through your A, B, X and Y buttons, and it\u2019s really up to you what you want to hear. So long as the track is moving at a steady pace and you\u2019re keeping up with the timing, you\u2019re free to choose whichever loop you like the most. The feeling of artistic expression is front and centre in Hexagroove, and the 420 included instrumental loops suggest you\u2019re welcome to perform as creatively as you wish.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a genuine feeling of excitement that rushes over you as you find a loop within each instrument that connects not only with the crowd, but with you as a player. The further you progress, you\u2019ll begin to unlock various sound effects and audio filters to tinker with the loops, allowing you to mix and create at will. The game&#8217;s core mechanic encourages you to find that collective sound which gives the crowd that amazing feeling of hearing when their favourite song begins playing in a nightclub; when everything clicks, it\u2019s <em>joyous.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Of course, you can just as easily disappoint the crowd, so it\u2019s important to keep an eye on the colours. Available instruments that aren\u2019t currently being utilised are greyed out, so timing them into the overall track is <em>key<\/em>. The primary colour you\u2019re aiming for is blue for each instrument icon. If the crowd is becoming restless with a particular loop, you\u2019ll see an icon turn green and you&#8217;ll have a small window of time to switch over to a fresh sound which will automatically be timed into the track. If the track is working like it\u2019s supposed to, you\u2019ll notice a ball enter the crowd which you\u2019ll need to control to the rhythm of the beat by bouncing it between crowd members \u2013 a fun distraction which adds another layer of keeping the crowd entertained. If you miss a bounce on the beat, the combo is over and you\u2019ll have to return focus to switching your loops around.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Hexagroove: Tactical DJ Review - Screenshot 3 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99780\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99780\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Hexagroove: Tactical DJ Review - Screenshot 3 of 5\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Your score can rack up exponentially if you\u2019re keeping all of your plates spinning at once, and the quick-fire minigames are just as frenetic and important as your primary gameplay screen. Upon finding a solid base which the crowd is responding to positively, you\u2019ll need to throw in some fill-ins to transition the leap between one loop and another. This is where the more traditional rhythm game mechanics come into play with a <strong>Guitar Hero<\/strong>-esque progressive drum roll sequence, though seemingly for time purposes it\u2019s scaled down to two buttons which you have to hit in corresponding order. These segments will last no longer than five seconds and are individually ranked, so if you\u2019ve done particularly badly it\u2019ll cut out your entire song and you\u2019ll have to start over again. It&#8217;s here the calibration at times felt a bit off-centre, as missing certain button presses by milliseconds affects your overall score dramatically. It&#8217;s rare, but certainly frustrating.<\/p>\n<p>The other \u2018action\u2019 aspect is the wavelength, which tasks you with keeping your track \u2013 represented here as a hexagonal outline \u2013 on a fast-moving road as it twists and turns to the rhythm of your track. This mode, as you might expect, is rather straightforward to begin with before the difficulty spikes. Your movement is highly sensitive, with the crowd&#8217;s \u2018Euphoria\u2019 represented in the lower part of the screen. If you move off course it can have a drastic effect on the crowd&#8217;s enjoyment, though you\u2019re not punished all that severely if you veer off course just once or twice. Similar to the drum roll sequence, it\u2019s fast and frenetic and over before you know it. It\u2019s not terribly difficult to follow the track as it\u2019s laid out before you; it\u2019s the speed that may catch you unawares. This segment is also used to close out your tracks, and you can decide whether to fade out the song or offer up an explosive ending. Either choice directs you to a new wavelength which adds notes you need to hit as you progress to finish with a flourish.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Hexagroove: Tactical DJ Review - Screenshot 4 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99774\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99774\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Hexagroove: Tactical DJ Review - Screenshot 4 of 5\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Away from the primary loop screen, the most important feature is the Queue Mode, where you select loops to play in the next section following the minigame fill-ins. It\u2019s here you\u2019ll decide what instruments to tinker with and what to leave out. As ever, you\u2019re against the clock so you\u2019ll need to choose quickly the ones you want to use. At first, it doesn\u2019t really feel like your choices are making all that much difference to the overall track, but it\u2019s here you can easily make or break the crowd&#8217;s enjoyment. In the top left of the screen is a slider; certain combinations will produce higher slider positions which will result in better scores, while adding too many loops will negatively affect the score. You\u2019re encouraged to only select a couple of loops to ensure the slider stays above halfway, allowing a more seamless transition back into the track once you\u2019ve cracked the drum roll and the wavelength.<\/p>\n<p>Taking your skills on the road is the crux of the all-too-brief Hexagroove campaign. You\u2019ll begin at a pool party entertaining students before moving into nightclubs and private parties. Each venue has a specific music style or two that fits the crowd&#8217;s taste. House, techno, trance, synthwave, psytrance, electro, chill-out and more unlocked as you progress, so you&#8217;ve always got the chance to explore the game&#8217;s vast loop selection and it&#8217;s enjoyable to have to pick and choose what works best for the crowds in each venue. You\u2019re able to practice with each genre before you jump into the showcase proper, which can prove invaluable when you\u2019re wanting to figure out your loops before you begin. It\u2019s never particularly easy, but pulling off a high rank once your gig is done and dusted is <em>immensely<\/em> satisfying, and makes the practice runs absolutely worth it. They\u2019re entirely optional, but definitely encouraged.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Hexagroove: Tactical DJ Review - Screenshot 5 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99776\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99776\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Hexagroove: Tactical DJ Review - Screenshot 5 of 5\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Away from the campaign, there\u2019s the \u2018Freestyle\u2019 mode which will allow you to simply play with every genre of music in the game to your heart&#8217;s content. There\u2019s very little in gaming at the moment that creates the state of absolute zen quite like freestyling the \u2018chill-out\u2019 genre and bouncing a ball around a crowd in an infinite loop.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s the multiplayer, where up to four players can join locally and either DJ together or split off as \u2018Superfans\u2019, which amounts to little more than shooting off some fancy effects with the SR button. The co-op DJ-ing is certainly beneficial though, allowing one person to focus on the loops and the beat whilst another takes on the &#8216;Bounce&#8217; and the minigames. It\u2019s up to you and your team how you divide the jobs before the show begins, and this mode certainly has its merits \u2013 but it doesn\u2019t really feel particularly essential to the overall package.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Chalk down Hexagroove: Tactical DJ as one of the year&#8217;s biggest surprises. A wholly unique take on the rhythm genre, it\u2019s challenging and enormously rewarding. The feeling of creating your own music for a virtual crowd to respond to is addicting, and while the multiplayer ultimately offers very little to the package, the single-player and the seemingly endless Freestyle mode will have you coming back to best those scores again and again. This is definitely one for headphones or a very loudspeaker system, and a must for rhythm action fans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve ever had the desire to stand before a baying crowd on the sun-kissed beaches of Ayia Napa and spin them into a state of unimaginable euphoria through the power of your DJ skills, Hexagroove: Tactical DJ from Swedish-based developers Ichigoichie might just be exactly what you\u2019re looking for. The key word in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}