Hi-Fi Rush doesn’t let up on the gas from start to finish, but it still finds plenty of time for quiet character development amidst all the bombast and rock. The massive surprise shadow-drop from Xbox and Bethesda brilliantly blends rhythm and action games and has a genuinely heartfelt story to boot.
Warning: spoilers ahead for the end of Hi-Fi Rush.
What Happened to Kale?
Every one of the main characters gets their time to shine in the final hours, leading right up to the climactic final battle with Kale, who launched a literal hostile takeover of Vandelay before the game started. Hi-Fi Rush’s ending is clear-cut, but there’s still important context to dig into —especially if you take the time to do some of the post-game content.
Just before the final battle, we learned that Kale was only able to take over Vandelay by using SPECTRA on his own mother, thus handing the reigns over to him. We also learn that SPECTRA’s ultimate goal is to control the minds of consumers and get them to purchase more products, as Vandelay’s sales were starting to decline.
After a lengthy battle, and some help from the others, Chai manages to defeat Kale. Hilariously Kale goes out in the most pathetic way possible, by exclaiming “this is just too much work,” before his suit explodes.
Now Kale is actually dead, but there’s a bit more to the story if you go back through the game after the credits and find all the hidden SPECTRA doors. When Chai enters the final door a “Backup SPECTRA Protocol” kicks in, and it’s revealed that the SPECTRA AI is a backup of none other than Kale himself. Going into the SPECTRA rooms had all been a part of Kale’s master plan, but in the middle of his monologue, a janitor robot accidentally pulls the power plug out of SPECTRA. Chai says he improvised a way to stop Kale, and in his infinite wisdom puts a sticky note on the plug saying “Do not touch.” So Kale is gone, at least for now.
Where Do Chai and Friends Go From Here?
Separate from all the stuff about Kale, after the final battle Peppermint gets to reconnect with her mother and everyone gets their jobs back, even CNMN who’s alive and well but without legs. Chai even gets offered a job as Vandelay’s resident “rockstar,” or essentially an ambassador to spread the word and represent the company.
Some scenes during the credits give us a little bit of extra context on the party. Korsica is back at work as the head of security. Macaron is fulfilling his promise by giving CNMN some new body parts. Peppermint seems to be separating herself from Vandelay and is working on fixing up an old truck from the museum. Finally, Chai and 808 are just enjoying their freedom, and it seems like Chai still retains all of the power he’s had throughout the game. He’s also learning how to ACTUALLY play guitar.
Will There Be a Hi-Fi Rush 2?
The ending of Hi-Fi Rush certainly seems to leave things open for a sequel, and with the gang heading out on a truck a road trip story might be the perfect theme. However, we currently don’t have any idea if there are plans for a sequel. That’s not surprising considering Hi-Fi Rush has only been out a week, and it was released in an unconventional way.
Both critics and fans have been flocking to Hi-Fi Rush. The game currently sits at an 89 on Metacritic and even outsold Forspoken on Steam, Square Enix’s brand new IP that’s had a lengthy marketing campaign. It wouldn’t be surprising at all to see Chai and the gang pop up again, and in our review, we even said we “can’t imagine” not seeing the character again, whether it’s in a game or animated series.
Hi-Fi Rush is currently available on Xbox Series X|S and PC.
