Have you ever dreamed of becoming a rock star and locked out in your bedroom with a family broom? And if you’re like me, do you really lack the talent to be one? If so, you can now “slap those chords” in a rhythm game for LOUD, Nintendo Switch.
At LOUD, you play as Astrid, a teenage girl who embarks on a musical journey to become a real artist. She comes across as an edgy teen on the Disney Channel that focuses on only one thing, and it’s rocking! Whether it’s a broom at first or her own electric guitar in the end.
Go through 14 arcade-like levels as Astrid and get the best possible score by pressing a button at the right moment while doing your best to avoid 3 fatal errors. If not, it’s game over! Astrid is the stage in the center of the screen, with six guitar necks around her. There is a hollowed out star at the end of these necks. Your goal is to press, hold, or crush the corresponding button as the star moves into the area hollowed out from the neck. Timing is important and can be a bit difficult. As such, LOUD begins with calibration to practice and adjust the timing and response window. As you stack up the combos, your score will start to increase and Astrid will react with a loud voice, “Uhu!”. Or something similar.
I’m crazy about rhythm games and can get a real kick by stitching together crazy, long and complex combos. LOUD certainly stirs up that itch … some sort. The LOUD control method makes sense, but it’s awkward to chase after it. For the three guitar necks on the left side of the screen, use the up and down arrow keys to react to the up and down necks. On the other side, use the X, A, and B buttons on the other side. This may not seem so bad, but one way to improve your score is to shake the notes you’ve been holding for a long time. This is done by holding down the corresponding button and wiggle the joystick. This can cause the rhythm of the accessible buttons on the other side to shift from the default hand position.
LOUD has three levels of difficulty: Chilin’, Skillin’, and Grindin’. Grindin’is locked until Skillin’ is completed. This acts as a normal difficulty level. Skillin’is very rewarding, but frustrating. It almost sucks you in the wrong sense of security and then throws a string of random sequences in your way, but it doesn’t correlate exactly with the music being played. We play as guitarist Astrid, but when we press these buttons we suddenly find that drum beats are built in or there are no beats at all. On the contrary, Chillin’seems to be too easy and rewarding. I was burning each song with little or no error. It’s not fun if it’s too easy, but it’s also not fun to try awkwardly! I wish there was a happy medium between the two called Kickin’or something.
With 14 levels, you can easily complete the LOUD story at once. Value can be gained by going back and improving the score or by trying out Grindin’s difficulty level. This certainly tests your patience.
Unlock new guitars and costumes as you progress through each chapter of the LOUD story. These outfits aren’t just new dresses and hairstyles, they’re brand new figures (not literally, but they change every aspect of Astrid’s look). It’s still the same Astrid, but she takes on these new personas with a newly dyed hair color, and even tattoos at some point. New settings and Astrid will help bring chapters to life. This is definitely necessary. I noticed that I was moving in LOUD. I wasn’t interested in the story, I wasn’t impressed with the rock tunes offered, it felt like a royalty-free track, and I was a little bored with what was offered overall.
