No Straight Roads Review (PS4/Switch)

Game: No Straight Roads
Genre: Adventure, Music, Action, Role-Playing
System: Playstation 4 (also available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PC via Epic Games Store)
Developer | Publisher: Metronomik | Sold Out
Age Rating: US E10+ | EU 12+
Price: USD $39.99 | UK £34.99 | EU €39,99
Release Date: August 25th (US) and September 15th (EU) 2020

Review copy provided by Koch Media Benelux with the help of Sold Out! I also purchased a copy of the game on Nintendo Switch so I added some additional details surrounding the Switch version!

No Straight Roads is a Rhythm Action-adventure indie game from the minds of Wan Hazmer(who has previously worked on Final Fantasy XV as a Lead Game Designer) and Daim Dziauddin(who has worked on Street Fighter V‘s concept art) who formed the studio Metronomik and it’s published by Sold Out.
This was one of the games I had been looking forward to all year in terms of Indie titles. Is No Straight Roads a successful musical adventure? Let’s find out!

Smooth and Stylish!

No Straight Roads has a very charming and stylish visual aesthetic going on in terms of graphics which I like a lot. The character artwork is really well done and the various locations of Vinyl City having their own distinct themes definitely adds a lot of charm to it. I will also note that the game runs at 60FPS on PS4 and even on the Switch the game runs at a stable 60FPS albeit with a bit of a hit in the visual department but the Switch version still looks really good and in addition it running at 60FPS is worthy of praise!

When it comes to sound. I fell in love with the soundtrack that features Rock, Rap and various other genres such as Cutecore, Deep Disco/Synthwave, Funky House and Psydub that are related to EDM. I already enjoy the variety of music genres provided but on top of that the soundtrack is dynamic so in some instances, the genre could shift to Rock or EDM during the various boss fights depending on the situation. The voice acting in English and Japanese is also really well done but in addition to that, you also have Spanish and French dub options so there are a good few options to experience the game with!

A Rockin’ Rebellion!

No Straight Roads follows the story of Mayday and Zuke that formed the Indie Rock band known as Bunk Bed Junction who audition to be signed on to the label of NSR, a mega music corporation that has a monopoly over music and energy in Vinyl City. However, they fail their audition despite them actually succeeding all parts of it and soon after the leader of NSR, Tatiana bans the practice of Rock music from future auditions and tells prospective artists to stick with EDM since Rock is Irrelevant according to her. Soon after Mayday and Zuke find out that NSR only supply the back-up energy of Vinyl City to their musical elites. It’s up to Bunk Bed Junction to hijack the concerts of NSR’s elite performers and defeat them to bring back the energy and Rock back to Vinyl City!

I really love the set up for this story a lot. The little guys wanting to stand up and rebel against the bigger monopolistic mega corporation that has a stranglehold on both music and the energy that they produce in the city. It makes for a very fun and over the top story with a lot of fun and emotional moments and cool and colourful characters with their own personality and over the top style.
The campaign is rather short however the game offers a lot of replayability with boss rematches and additional difficulties to test your skills in!

Rockin’ to the Rhythm!

No Straight Roads is a very experimental game that combines action-adventure gameplay with Rhythm gameplay where enemies attack on the beat of the music. Enemy attacks are well telegraphed due to this factor and it helps out with timing. You can also parry purple-colored attacks on the beat if you time it right though this is optional and not required (until one of the higher difficulty modes). Mayday and Zuke’s repertoire are distinct from one another since Mayday has heavy attacks that you can charge up and her metronome transformations are often offensive whereas Zuke is a combo-focused character who can easily cancel out of attacks and his metronome transformation are support-based.

Both of them can learn various skills with the many fans that you can get by beating the bosses and other various feats such as recharging Vinyl City’s energy with the mini-qwasas you find in the hub-world as you move from district to district.

The boss battles are one of the most standout things about this game. Every music artist that appears as a boss fight have their own vibe, gimmicks and feel and they can also be really challenging if you don’t know what you are doing at first and one of them even flip the script and turn the game from a Rhythmic action game to a full-on Rhythm game which is just as challenging even on the normal difficulty setting.

You can of course experience the game on your own or you can also participate in couch co-op with your friend and on the Switch version, you also have an additional three-player assist mode which allows your third friend to assist you and your friend during the various levels and boss fights along with Touchscreen controls and single joy-con controls!

Conclusion!

I am going to be 100% honest here as a gamer and a music lover. I have absolutely fallen in love with No Straight Roads. The sheer diversity of style and inspiration and even the music at play here and the experimental mix of rhythm and action works out in it’s favor as it may help out with learning people how to time parries and dodges. Also the Switch version running at 60FPS is something I really praise.

I am 100% recommending this to people who enjoy stylish indie games and music be it Rock, Rap or one of the various EDM genres the game has on offer.

Final Rating: Two Thumbs up!