Track 1: A Fresh Start

**NOTE**: This page contains spoilers for the game, so caution is advised.

**Track 1: A Fresh Start** is the first Track of Hi-Fi Rush.

## Video

Track 1- A Fresh Start - Hi Fi Rush - 4K HDR
## Summary

The track begins with Chai waking up from surgery. After being smacked against a wall by the surgery table, and checking out his new arm, he makes his way to the checkpoint to put on his normal clothes. The door to the campus opens, and he leaves. Chai gets stopped by 3 SBR-001's claiming that he's a defect. They approach him and Chai backs away nervously. His arm opens up, and a grabber comes out. The robots take this as him resisting, hitting him in the torso with their saber. The music player in Chai's chest activates, causing metal debris to be attracted to his new tool. Emergency walls activate, containing the area. He fights off the guards, figuring out that everything is synching up to the music.

***--Chorus 1--***

The game enters a tutorial segment in the form of a music stage to give the player a feeling for using light and heavy attacks on the beat. The crowd goes wild and chants Chai's name. However, the stage is but an illusion, and 2 more SBR-001's look on in confusion. They get Chai's attention and another fight breaks out, though this time, Chai has a newfound confidence.

***--Chorus 2--***

With the walls deactivated, Chai is able to leave the area. The production boss, Rekka, appears on the projectors around the greens, demanding for everyone to destroy the defect. The door in front of Chai closes, forcing him to go a different route. Here he will meet Smidge, who will give him extra practice with what he just learned (With a dose of creepiness). Chai makes his way through the corridors, coming across another group of SBR-001's and 808. Chai distracts the robots, allowing 808 to escape.

***--Chorus 3--***

After finishing them off and realizing he has nowhere to go, Peppermint's voice calls out to Chai from an area above, thanking him for saving her cat. Chai asks for them to speed things up since yelling is awkward, and Peppermint begrudgingly tells him how to get out. Smidge can once again be encountered. He can teach the player about dodging and combining attacks with a dodge.

Chai reaches where the voice was coming from, confused by the fact that the cat he saw is talking. Peppermint says that they may be able to help each other, but Chai refuses, saying he might be better on his own. He places his hand on 808's head, accidentally synching them and making Chai her host. Peppermint says 808 isn't responding to her, asking Chai angrily what he did. Chai says he felt a beat and another tutorial sequence activates. Here, the player will learn about beat hits.

Chai reconsiders Peppermint's offer, but says he'll need to borrow 808. Smidge can be found once more for beat hit practice. Chai rides an elevator upwards, launching him into the air, giving a nice view of the Vandelay campus. When he lands, he enters another fight.

***--Chorus 4--***

Peppermint tells Chai to remember how he fought like he did, to which Chai answers that he doesn't know. He muses about getting off of Vandelay campus, and Peppermint tells him that the way out is through the QA center. The two of them begin to bicker about Chai's carelessness. After hitting a button to activate a bridge, Smidge once again appears. He will give advice about enemies attacking on the beat. (If you ignore him twice and then try to talk to him, he will refuse to give you his hint.) Just a little further, and yet another Smidge will be present. This one will tell the player about rest combos.

Chai will then fall into a 2D platforming section. He tells Peppermint his name, but she decides not to tell him hers. Once the 2D section is over, Chai drops into a room made for making batteries with lasers. Upon touching the battery, Chai feels powered up, gaining the ability to perform Special Attacks. Exiting the room, Smidge makes another swift appearance, offering advice on specials. Once Chai leaves that room, he encounters GNR-020's.

***--Chorus 5--***

Traveling upward, Chai will enter the production floor. After smashing a couple of buttons, the generator will give out. Instead of finding any tools, Chai hits it until it starts working again, introducing the player to the mini QTE events. Continuing on, Chai will enter a fight with a BA-B00.

***--Chorus 6--***

After doing a little platforming, Chai will go through a vent and drop into another room that has 2 illuminated holes in the floor. These are mini tutorial sections for combining attack types for more combos and beat hits. These are optional to do. Crossing more floating platforms and landing in a new area, Chai gets attacked by a combination of SBR-001's, GNR-020's, and another BA-B00.

***--Chorus 7--***

Defeating the enemies will open the doors to the QA center lobby. When he enters the main chamber, Rekka makes a grand entrance. She shouts at Chai for messing with production and tainting her no-defect record. Chai says that security tried to kill him, to which Rekka responds that defects getting recalled is in the fine print in the Project Armstrong EULA. Rekka thanks them for being dumb enough to enter the chamber, triggering the QA-1MIL boss fight.

--Chorus 8--

Once, QA-1MIL is defeated, both of them fall as the platform collapses. QA-1MIL self-destructs, sending Chai flying in the blast.

## Songs

* **The Rush** - Shuichi Kobori
* **I Got This** - Shuichi Kobori feat. John Johannas
* **1,000,000** - Nine Inch Nails
* **Too Big To Fail** - The Glass Pyramids

## Collectibles

* **Life Gauge Piece #1** - The room to the right of Smidge after the beat hit tutorial.
* **Broken Armstrong Circuit #1** - The platform directly above the second Smidge and talking to the HR investigator. *Note: you can only reach this with Peppermint upon a subsequent playthrough)*
* **PDA #1** - Near some crates next to 2 robots after Chorus 4.
* **Life Gauge Piece #2** - On top of the water tower after Chorus 4.
* **Spectra Door #1** - After Chorus 4 and encountering the Smidge that tells you about the world's rhythm, there is a ledge behind him that can be dropped down onto. *Note: This can only be accessed after the first playthrough*
	+ **Broken Armstrong Circuit #2** - Complete the first Spectra room.
* **PDA #2** - After the 2D section, near an illuminated hole in the ground, on the computer.
* **PDA #3** - On the floor of the adjacent room directly after the first fight with the GNR-020's.
* **Broken Piece of Health Tank #1** - Inside the treasure chest robot in the area above the third PDA.
* **Electric Reverb Core Piece #1** - On the far end of the first conveyor belt in the production building after Chorus 5.
* **Broken Armstrong Circuit #3** - Through the Z-shielding door on a catwalk in the area to the right after reactivating the generator. *Note: You will need both Macaron and Korsica to reach it*
	+ **Graffiti #1** - On a high ledge above the treasure chest robot in the same area.
* **PDA #4** - In a tucked away area behind directly behind the fight with the BA-B00.
* **PDA #5** - On a computer in front of the entrance to the QA center.
* **Life Gauge Piece #3** - In the same room as PDA #5, on the upper level.
* **Broken Armstrong Circuit #4** - On the opposite side of the QA lobby, on the upper level *Note: You will need Korsica to reach it*.
	+ **Graffiti #2** - Exiting the chamber, on the upper level, on the opposite wall.

## Trivia

* In the opening cutscene, Chai's jacket has 2 sleeves. The right sleeve is no longer there after Chai puts his clothes on after surgery. This means he ripped it off himself.
	+ This is also supported by the fact that he tore his sling and turned it into his scarf.
* Chai's implant, LX-DUST75, was originally for “magnetic waste management”.

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/johnjohanas/status/1642751730353057793