The Curse of the Low-Effort Minigame

There comes a time in every title where developers decide that adding gacha game rhythm minigames is a great idea. Unfortunately, it almost never is. Welcome to Critical Hit (formerly known as Soundtrack Sunday), where I celebrate and lament all things videogame music, audio design, and the ways our favourite games make our ears tingle.

These features are often introduced during limited-time events, meaning they receive about as much effort as a six-day event deserves. They are frequently clunky, barely responsive, and poorly charted. Rather than an earnest attempt at quality, they feel like a hollow idea of what a rhythm game should be.

I recently witnessed the Wuthering Waves rhythm minigame—a sickening cacophony of terrible, unreadable charts and low-quality note designs. It was particularly upsetting because they had actually included three Muse Dash tracks. And don't even get me started on whatever the Genshin Impact rhythm minigame was.

Why Nikke is Breaking the Trend

As a rhythm game enthusiast who spends far too much time and money in the arcade scene, I am hyper-critical of shoddily assembled secondary components. However, it makes me much more appreciative when a developer actually tries to make something playable.

I’ve been away from Nikke—the gacha title developed by Shift Up, the studio behind Stellar Blade—for a while. While the game is famous for its "come for the thighs, stay for the cries" energy (reminiscent of Nier: Automata), I returned because of a recommendation from a friend. The latest event features a rhythm game that is actually good.

This was a massive statement for two reasons:

  • We frequently lament how terrible gacha game rhythm minigames can be.
  • Nikke had a previous rhythm event earlier this year that was absolute dogwater.

But this time, the quality has shifted. While it isn't reinventing the wheel, the gameplay is a surprising amount of fun. It functions as a standard four-lane vertically scrolling rhythm game (VSRG) with responsive notes, careful charting, and a decent spread of difficulties to account for all skill levels.

Stellar Soundtracks and Permanent Play

The music remains a massive strength for the title. Nikke benefits from incredible composers like Cosmograph, who serves as the studio's in-house composer, alongside contributors like NieN and Feryquitious. Recent highlights include:

  • Yu-dachi's "We Begin": A poppy electronic bop.
  • Feryquitous's "Archemy": A beautiful blend of classical strings against harder, modern beats.

The mode will become permanent after the event concludes, which explains why so much effort was clearly invested. While it might not bring me back to the gacha train permanently, it is definitely enough to keep Nikke in my rotation whenever I am in dire need of a rhythm fix.