RiME

I was recommended this game due to its similarity to the PS2 classic, ICO. Well, that wasn't wrong--there are _definitely_ many dimilarities. A young boy alone on an island with a (basically) mute companion, creepy shadow monsters, inscrutible architecture...yeah, I can see the resemeblance. Much to my disappointment, though, that's about where the resemblance ends. The gameplay is _similar_, but fundamentally different. There's really nothing but light puzzle-solving and quasi-platforming here. To Rime's credit, a couple of rooms definitely had me stumped for a little while, but I never had any real "Aha!" moments, which is disappointing for what's primarily a puzzle game. The story, while good solid and unique, tries to be deeper than it actually is, I think. Most of the allegory comes in real hard at the very end and the earlier parts are only, ah, loosely and retrospectively related. It kind of feels like the early bits of the game got built out, and then someone asked "OK, but what's it all actually about?" Still, Rime has a lot of heart! It has genuinely moving sequences, and some of the allegory is actually well done, overall assessment notwithstanding. You might not expect to sympathize with weird bipedal robot (I think?) things, but Rime will prove you wrong! The opening section is definitely my favorite, prompting a good measure of intrigue and magic that you just don't see that often these days, and that persists to some degree or another throughout. My take: if the marketing material appeals to you, you'll likely have a good time, like I did. Just don't expect some great allegorical masterwork, and approach it as a calm, short experience to take in between other games, and I think you'll walk away glad to have played it. =)

First off Devs thanks for releasing on GOG ! - Pro Great atmosphere and the score is also fantastic. The ending was surprising as well. -Con The controls are a bit on the heavy side and 21:9 support is a bit lacking. But aside from that it’s great. Gameplay : Great but could use some tweaking Narrative : Fun and never gets too old Overall : No more DRM and if you loved journey you’ll love this too!

After the 1st hour I was absolutely in love with this game. Exploring a wonderful island full of little details and solving riddles without any time pressure or enemies was a totally relaxing experience. Well, I was a little annoyed by the game's tendency to force a perspective (i.e. overriding mouse look) on you in the most unwelcome moments .. but that was my only complaint. Then I entered the 2nd area and the idea of freely exploring the island was shattered by a giant bird that attacks every time you leave cover for a few seconds. Which means that also large parts of the world take place indoors with much less eye candy. So my enthusiasm had waned somewhat but I still liked the game a lot. Now unfortunately, the next area is totally indoor and starts with one of the most stupid game design ideas: impossible architecture. Even worse, suddenly the "ghosts" attack you and respawn immediately. Still, there are some OK riddles and nice graphics, so yeah, well. The forth and last area is totally dark and rainy without actual riddles (apart from some switches) and leads to a somewhat disappointing epilogue. It took me less than 7h to get there and given that only 11% of the GOG Galaxy players got there shows that I'm not the only one disappointed about the direction the game takes after the first chapter. It's still very nice with one of the most beautiful cell shading implementations I ever saw but it could have been the perfect game if they kept up the quality of the 1st chapter and evolved the game into an open word exploration adventure instead of burying the fun in symbolism and bad design ideas.

RiME is a repeat of about every other exploration puzzle game you've played, if you want easy and mundane this is the game for you. You run, jump and climb to various puzzles that seem like they were taken right out of Zelda 64 minus the creatures and everything else that made the puzzle solving genre playable and exciting. This game lacks replayability, but at very least has a crisp and beautiful environment. There was a story to it, but it really wasn't enticing enough for me to stay hooked. It was a great concept, but lacked anything original to make it unique. I originally recieved RiME as a Playstation Plus giveaway, now I have the GOG giveaway; either way it'll sit unused and doesn't feel like a reward at all.

Rating: 5 out of 10 RiME is like Zelda without enemies and less lore. Pros: + big world + nice art style + exploration and puzzle mix Cons: - too easy puzzles - too few secrets to explore - hardly any story - clunky controls - needs a good gamer GPU