MUSYNX Review

Rhythm games can be somewhat of an acquired taste. Despite the obvious popularity of the genre, the very nature of the games and their limited soundtrack can easily turn away a potential player base. Despite this, fans of the genre are beyond loyal, and I can say from personal experience that there are very few gaming experiences that are as infuriatingly addictive as a great rhythm game.

Now, the Nintendo Switch is home to some incredible rhythm games, be that the unique Lanota or the incredible Deemo. While this makes the Nintendo Switch a great one-stop-shop for staple rhythm games, it also makes it difficult for newer or less well-known titles to shine.

Enter MUSYNX, a rhythm game developed by Chinese developers I-Inferno. This is a title that’s been on my radar for a while, and with its 50+ roster of tracks, there seems to be a lot to digest with this game. So, without further ado, let’s see how MUSYNX holds up against the incredible rhythm game roster of the Nintendo Switch.

There’s one thing that immediately stands out when booting up the game – MUSYNX is a stripped-back, no-nonsense experience. There are no menus, no distractions, just a simple layout that gets players straight into the main event, that being the music. The controls are hidden in the only menu available in the game – a menu that I HIGHLY recommend checking out. While the basic controls are very simple to get to grips with, the advanced options MUSYNX throws at you when starting a song can be a little confusing, particularly the option called sound enhancer.

This option controls whether the music will continue playing or not when you miss a note and also how the music syncs up with your button inputs. If you want to enjoy the music fully without having the it unexpectedly cut out mid-song as you miss a note or get the timing a little off, then I recommend setting this option to Auto. There’s no fail state in MUSYNX, meaning no matter how many notes you miss, the song won’t just stop, and this way you can enjoy the music even if the game is a hellscape of notes flying at you!

The promise of 50+ songs was one that had me a little worried at first, as in more than a few rhythm games I’ve played in the past, the music selection quickly tapers off in quality, with only a small selection of absolutely stellar tracks followed by a mass of filler tracks whose inclusion is simply to bloat the overall game experience. However, I’m glad to report that MUSYNX more than delivers with an expansive repertoire that can appeal to a wide array of tastes. You won’t find every track to your taste, but with music choices ranging from chiptune to dubstep to a surprising selection of classical music, you’ll surely find something here to enjoy.

Visually, the experience is yet again a dialled-back experience. The tracks in MUSYNX are grouped into different categories, with each category having a unique visual aesthetic to them, each executed to varying degrees of success. While some are more minimalist, allowing players to enjoy MUSYNX musical selection, others are vibrant, colourful and busy, making for some frenzied moments.

My biggest issue with this visual design in MUSYNX, however, is the fact that only some of these visual themes are executed. In any rhythm game, it’s always exhilarating to play through and get “Perfect” and “Great” ratings on every note while desperately avoiding the dreaded “Miss”. Catch is, as a large number of tracks in MUSYNX use an untranslated visual theme, players like myself will find it difficult until the end to know how well they’ve played. It’s a very minor issue, but one that stands out regardless, as it slightly detracts from the overall experience and could easily have been rectified.

Overall, MUSYNX is a decent if somewhat unremarkable rhythm game. It boasts an impressive roster of catchy tunes, has a unique aesthetic that, on the whole, works well and will definitely scratch that rhythm game itch for fans of the genre on the hunt for something new with its streamlined experience. Is it the best rhythm game on the Nintendo Switch? No, but it definitely has its own unique charm that will appeal to fans of the genre and definitely deserves to be checked out.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Switch code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.