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Xbox X|SWe've documented 34 accessibility features for Hi-Fi Rush, including Environmental Captions, Large Subtitles, Large Text, Control Assists and Select Difficulty. Its accessibility is strongest in Controls and Reading but it also has features in Getting Started, Visual, Audio, Difficulty and Navigation to reduce unintended barriers.
This report is created with input from accessibility experts and the player community to help people find games that have the accessibility features they require. Once you have found potential games on the database, there are excellent specialist accessibility sites that offer in-depth reviews to guide your purchasing decisions.
Our accessibility examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Hi-Fi Rush accessibility 15 months ago. It was re-examined by Ben Kendall and updated 5 months ago.
Accessibility Notes
- Auto-Action Mode: Automatically selects the right kind of attack for different enemies. You also dodge, parry and grapple enemies automatically. When this is enabled you can still perform other attacks at will. (It's worth noting that other gameplay still requires specific button presses).
- Single Key Rhythm Game Mode: Maps all rhythm interactions to a single button rather than a sequence of button presses.
If you get stuck, you can ask for a hint which gives you a clue about how to progress. In terms of navigation, while there are no UI navigational tools, there are frequently arrows that point in the direction you need to go. However, these could be mistaken for decoration, can be low in contrast, and are not always present.
The game also includes two additional subtitle settings: Context Subtitles are optional subtitling for the environmental text that appears in events and cutscenes, while Action Voice subtitles can be enabled to display character banter during battle.
There are visual representations of the rhythm so you can play without sound. As well as the environment pulsing to the beat, your floating cat provides a glowing metronome. You can turn on Rhythm Assist which visualizes the beat across the bottom of the screen. This can be toggled on and off via the View button on the controller or the Tab button on the keyboard.
There are colourblind settings to adjust the colours of the UI, menus, and gameplay. Choose between settings for Protanopia, Deuteranopia and Tritanopia and adjust the strength of the chosen option.
Game Details
Release Date: 23/01/2023, updated in 2024
Out Now: PC, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox X|S
Skill Rating: 9+ year-olds
Players: 1
Genres: Fighting, Rhythm, Traversal (Action, Adventure, Collecting and Sequencing)
Accessibility: 34 features
Components: 3D Third-Person and Cartoon
Developer: Tango Gameworks (@TangoGameworks)
Costs: Purchase cost
Controls
We've documented 12 accessibility features for Controls in Hi-Fi Rush which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.
Gamepad
Can play with the following:
Multiple Buttons & Two Sticks: Can play with multiple buttons and two sticks.
Mouse And Keyboard
Can play with the following:
Mouse and Keys: Can play with mouse and multiple keys.
Mouse and Controller: Can play with mouse and controller simultaneously.
Remap Controls
Can customise the controls for the game as follows:
Select Preset Controller Mappings: You can select preset button layouts from options provided by the developer.
Remap Buttons: Can re-map all buttons so that you can use alternatives that better suit your play.
Remap Mouse and Keyboard: Can remap mouse and keyboard key bindings, on systems that support these controls.
Remap Extra Mouse Buttons: Can remap additional buttons on mice that provide more than the two standard buttons, on systems that support these controls.
Remap Mouse Wheel: Can remap the mouse wheel to control aspects of the game when you move it up/down, on systems that support these controls.
Invert X/Y Axis: Can invert the direction required to control looking and aiming. This enables you to match your instinctive orientation when looking.
Button Combinations
Specific button operation required to play
No Simultaneous Buttons: Only one button or key required at a time, in addition to direction stick(s).
Controller Vibration
Vibration Optional: Controller vibration not used in the game or you can disable it.
Sensitivity
You can adjust
Adjust Mouse/Stick/Touch Sensitivity, Deadzones and Thresholds: Adjust how sensitive touch/mouse/stick controls are and the related deadzones and thresholds.
Difficulty
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Difficulty in Hi-Fi Rush which deal with how you can adjust the challenge of play, and whether this is locked once chosen or can be adjusted as you play.
Difficulty Options
Select Difficulty: Select the level of difficulty from a range of presets. This not only offers a way to adjust the challenge of a game but enables you to do so without dealing with individual criteria.
Adjust After Setting
Adjustable Anytime: You can adjust the difficulty while playing, without having to restart the level you are on. This enables you to quickly adjust the game to suit your needs and see the difference immediately.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Difficulty
If you want to play Hi-Fi Rush, but it doesn't offer the Difficulty accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Difficulty accessibility:
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (3 Difficulty Features)
- Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory (3 Difficulty Features)
- Double Kick Heroes (3 Difficulty Features)
Getting Started
We've documented 6 accessibility features for Getting Started in Hi-Fi Rush which deal with what support is offered to get started with the game. This includes customising the experience when you first open the game via any onboarding processes it provides as well as tutorials and other assistance when you first start playing.
Assistance Getting Starting
These features aid your play of the game in terms of cognitive load on learning controls, dealing with pressure and coping with the environment and challenges.
Tutorials: There are helpful tutorials and instructions on how to play. Information is provided in a timely manner, with appropriate level of detail.
Practice Area: You can practice freely without opponents or time pressures. This can be a specific practice option, or the ability to play levels with the easiest opponents to improve understanding and skill.
View Control Mapping: You can view a map of controls during play. This clearly displays the mappings of actions to buttons/keys/mouse/keyboard without having to leave the game. This includes games that always display buttons to press during play.
Assistance With Controls: The game can automatically assist with aiming, steering, reloading, jumping, running etc. This reduces the challenge of certain aspects of play to remove barriers and make control of characters more accessible.
Assistance For Progressing
These features aid your progress through the game offering different ways of maintaining your progression.
Bank Progress With Frequent Checkpoints: If you fail you can retry that level or aspect of the game without losing a lot of progress (less than 5 minutes). This is often provided via Frequent Checkpoints combined with restarting without losing time, equipment or score.
Assisted Progress With Hints: The game notices if you get stuck (or you can press a button) and provides information to help you progress. This can offer hints or tutorials popping up during play. This includes hints after you have died, where it can suggest strategies or difficulty settings to adjust or offer to skip past problematic levels.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started
If you want to play Hi-Fi Rush, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (7 Getting Started Features)
- A Musical Story (7 Getting Started Features)
- Thirsty Suitors (7 Getting Started Features)
Reading
We've documented 7 accessibility features for Reading in Hi-Fi Rush which deal with how much reading or listening comprehension is required, how well the game provides visual and audible access to the text and whether subtitles and captions are a good fit for purpose.
Reading Level
How much reading is required to play the game's main path or story and how complex the language is. The presence of voiced characters doesn't reduce this requirement, as it's recorded as a separate datapoint.
Simple Minimal Reading: Minimal reading is required. The quantity and complexity of reading are at a level that a primary/elementary student (9-year-old) could understand.
Text Visibility
Large Clear Text: All essential text is large and clear or can be adjusted to be. The general text used throughout the game in menus, instructions and other key information (excluding subtitles that are assessed separately) is at least 1/20 (46 pixels on 1080 screen) the height on landscape screens and at least 1/40 height on portrait screens. We base this on the full line-height, including the space above and below the letters.
High Contrast Text: Text colour contrasts to the background or can be adjusted to be. The text in menus, instructions and other information is presented in high contrast with a solid background.
Subtitles
Large Clear Subtitles: Subtitles are large, clear and of good contrast. They are at least 1/20 (46 pixels on 1080 screen) the height of a landscape screen and at least 1/40 height on portrait screens, or can be adjusted to be. We base this on the full line-height, including the space above and below the letters. Considered separately from the general text of the game, the subtitles are large, clear and of good contrast.
All Speech Subtitled (Or No Speech In Game): All spoken content has subtitles, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to hear spoken dialogue or narrative to play the game.
Captions
Speaker Indicator, their Tone and Environment Sounds: Captions indicate who is speaking (or there is only ever one person speaking) and their tone, game sound and music. This can also be indicated visually in the game with character icons or character expressions with text in speech bubbles next to the person speaking. Environmental sounds are provided as extra text within the subtitles.
Voice Acted
Some Dialogue is Voice Acted: Some of the game dialogue and narrative is voice acted. This reduces the pressure on reading all the dialogue text, although not everything is provided audibly.
Navigation
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Navigation in Hi-Fi Rush which deal with how the game provides guidance and assistance to navigate its worlds. These are only for games that have traversal and exploration in 2D and 3D spaces.
Menu Navigation
Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.
Digital Menu Navigation: Menu choices with Gamepad can be made without using an analogue stick to guide a cursor to a selection. For example, using D-Pad, buttons or the Stick to change menu selection in a single action.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation
If you want to play Hi-Fi Rush, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (9 Navigation Features)
- Ghostwire Tokyo (7 Navigation Features)
- Thirsty Suitors (7 Navigation Features)
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (5 Navigation Features)
Visual
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Visual in Hi-Fi Rush which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.
Audio Cues for Visual Events
Audio Cues for Visual Events: Audio is provided to indicate visual events. Game events or progress highlighted by visual icons, effects or animations are also accompanied by audio to signify that progress. This is useful for blind players.
Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.
Colour Options
Colour Blind Friendly: Game doesn’t rely on colour or can switch to colour blind friendly mode with double coding or similar way to avoid colour dependance.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Visual
If you want to play Hi-Fi Rush, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (7 Visual Features)
- Secret Shuffle (7 Visual Features)
- En Garde (6 Visual Features)
- A Musical Story (6 Visual Features)
Audio
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Audio in Hi-Fi Rush which deal with how you can adjust the audio of the game and whether audio cues compensate for aspects of the game that are hard to see.
Adjustable Audio
Balance Audio Levels: Set music and game sound effects separately. This enables you to select your preference as well as ensure critical game sounds aren't obscured by other audio.
Audio Events
Visual Cues for Audio Events: Text or other visual indicators of audio events. This mirrors audio indicators of progress in the game with a corresponding visual indication.
Play Without Hearing
Play Without Hearing: No audio cues are necessary to play the game well.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Audio
If you want to play Hi-Fi Rush, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Audio accessibility:
- Ghostwire Tokyo (4 Audio Features)
System Accessibility Settings
In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:
PC
Windows has extensive accessibility features. Some, like colour correction, work with games. Lots of accessibility software can be used with PC games, from voice recognition to input device emulators.
PlayStation 5
PlayStation 5 has a range of system-wide accessibility settings.
Xbox One
Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games.
Xbox Series X|S
Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games.
Read more about system accessibility settings.
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Andy Robertson, @TylerBrinkman23 and Ben Kendall
