Stumbling backward

To its credit, Retro/Grade does a really good job of not looking like a rhythm game. Even though the game is clearly described as a "rhythm game," even though it can be played with a guitar controller, the visual appearance of a shoot-em-up is just way too convincing to not believe.

Until you start playing it, and then it's crystal clear that Retro/Grade is really, purely, a rhythm game.

It could be worse; the mechanics are at least more nuanced than a bog-standard Guitar Hero-alike, with some notes shots you have to avoid, and some things that involve holding or multiple presses. And the time-rewind feature makes it eminently more playable than other rhythm games that just can't understand the idea of making a mistake. But at its heart, it's still just another rhythm game, running you through the paces of following a button-pressing script as it's laid out in front of you.

The visual bombast also gets in the way of the gameplay way too easily, making it difficult to tell the difference between real game elements and meaningless explosions. But it's hard to get legitimately upset about the game attempting to make itself more interesting, as ineffective as it ultimately is.

Progress: Finished the tutorial level.