New gameplay details shared for Sayonara Wild Hearts

Sayonara Wild Hearts was revealed for Switch at the Game Awards 2018. We got a debut trailer, and that was about it! Looking for more details on what this game is all about? We finally have some new information to share, which you can find below.

- the game originally started out as an endless runner
- the game had three lanes and had players picking up hearts while avoiding crashing into obstacles
- things evolved into an interactive pop album in which the beats sync and de-sync from on-screen action
- the game now includes short gameplay vignettes akin to beat-em-up, shooter, skateboarder, romance, derby racer and more
- includes a lane-running meter that divides one verse from another
- uses a neon color palette
- the music aims to evoke mood, while the on-screen action creates an emotive mix-tape of nostalgia, excitement, and story
- if you miss a cue, the song and game blur into a short rewind-pause
- in the first stage, acharacter named Little Death tries to knock you off your motorcycle as you’re speeding through a city
- tap the shoulder buttons at the right time to stay on your bike
- the music is all original, custom-written to match the gameplay
- the gameplay is generated to match the music soundtrack
- Simogo cofounder Simon Flesser set up a scenario for a gameplay sections, then Daniel Olsén Olsén wrote the music
- Flesser would create the gameplay for that section of the game, timing parts of the music to jumps or button pushes
- it took about a year and a half before the team felt like it had something that it could build the game around
- characters are based on a cast drawn from tarot cards
- runs at 1080p and 60 frames per second while docked, and 720p and 60 frames per second when handheld
- the game has 'virtually no loading time'
- gameplay length is 'about the length of one album'