Scoring has zero impact on progress-in fact, very little does.

Scattered about are objects worth varying points, from tiny hearts (a few points) to big hearts (more points) and crystals (lots of points). The controls are simple and never require more than basic movement and tapping a single button. What all this literally translates to is moving across the screen-sometimes on the ground, sometimes in the sky-as the camera whizzes around and the world morphs from one dreamy state to the next, giving players little time to compose themselves. The soundtrack hasn’t been released anywhere (yet), but the launch trailer has a great song: It’s clearly been recorded with the gameplay beats in mind, but if it works fine without them. It’s full of synths and distant, echo-y vocals that’d be perfect in the car as you head towards the beach.

If it were released as its own pop soundtrack, nobody would blink. Nothing in Sayonara Wild Hearts works without the music, and to that end, the music is spectacular. Or if you’ve been to a live concert where there’s been a strong visual accompaniment alongside the music, Sayonara Wild Hearts is what’d happen if they then handed everyone a controller. Have you ever listened to a favorite album and let your imagination wander? That’s what playing Sayonara Wild Hearts is like, except someone took that dream and let you play it. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call playing Sayonara Wild Hearts a religious experience, but at times…it felt close. It’s an experience that’s Carly Rae Jepsen by way of Anamanaguchi, an infectious album of music that, on its own, would be excellent, but the journey of flying through its pulsing beats and wavy vocals is inexorably enhanced through play. It’s an interactive pop album, a fusion of game and music, a shooter and a rhythm game.

Sayonara Wild Hearts, the latest from the visionaries behind Year Walk and Device 6, is my Rez.

Sayonara wild hearts album arcade mode