Mizuguchi particularly wanted to create a non-violent shooter appealing to many people. A key element was allowing for mistakes and fluffs from the player—penalised in other titles within the genre—to be incorporated into the score of Rez. The musical gameplay was developed following a call and response approach (the audience responds to something from a singer or performer), similar to that of what a disc jockey would do to get reaction from the crowd. In parallel with the development of the game's narrative and aesthetic, the team developed its mechanic of quantizing the notes, so that regardless of the player's imprecision that they would play out on the beat, which they "felt like magic" to players of any skill level. The decision to use a rail shooter template for gameplay originated from the number of staff who were veterans of both Sega Rally and the Panzer Dragoon series.
Mizuguchi particularly wanted to create a non-violent shooter appealing to many people. A key element was allowing for mistakes and fluffs from the player—penalised in other titles within the genre—to be incorporated into the score of Rez. The musical gameplay was developed following a call and response approach (the audience responds to something from a singer or performer), similar to that of what a disc jockey would do to get reaction from the crowd In parallel with the development of the game's narrative and aesthetic, the team developed its mechanic of quantizing the notes, so that regardless of the player's imprecision that they would play out on the beat, which they "felt like magic" to players of any skill level. The decision to use a rail shooter template for gameplay originated from the number of staff who were veterans of both Sega Rally and the Panzer Dragoon series.