RiME

Rime is puzzle/platformer mixed with this still unnamed genre that Journey or Abzu belong to. The closest comparison would be Inside and, while having a lot in common, Inside has very different atmosphere(and is overall a better game in my opinion). Pretty much everything in Rime is good except for the gameplay itself. Character movement is very basic and puzzles are too easy, while the game itself is a bit too long. But the last level and ending are so beautiful and moving, that they make the whole journey worth taking.

Compared to the other games of similar type I can say that this game could easily be much better. - Puzzles are too easy, maybe three times in the entire game I got stuck for longer than 5 minutes. There were couple of nice mechanics that could be used more often. Instead, game is 60% about jumping from edge to edge and all edges are brightly painted white and there are never more than necessary so you always see the route. - Graphics have low performance-quality ratio. There are games on GOG with similar quality that don't use so much resources (The Witness). Although my computer is not the fastest one, I think performance could be improved by removing things like day-night cycle (it has been used maybe twice, in very basic puzzles, and in 1/5 of worlds for graphics), this could allow to bake shadows. The style of graphics is quite nice, though. Has a potential for something more and seems little wasted. - Game is mostly linear, you are forced to visit locations in the open world in specific order. Only at the beginning you are given more freedom. At the end there are few moments where player is given what looks like a choice (cutscene waits for player input), but only accepts one response. - I haven't seen a single glitch. And since Unreal Engine is quite buggy, this only shows that creators have done an amazing job. Character always grabs edge when expected. - Music gets quite boring. There are violins and violins in various configurations, but locations vary enough to ask for more advanced instruments, especially since it has industrial theme in one place. - The story may not look amazing at the beginning, but once you reach the end, it makes you reinterpret places and objects you've seen and they suddenly make a lot more sense. You will remember this game longer. I got this game for free as a prize for spending enough on other games. I don't think I would buy it, though. Took me about 8 hours to complete in one go.

This is one of the best games I've ever played in my life and I've been gaming since the early 80's. Awesome art style and gameplay, with lots of exploration and very good puzzles. I've never been so engaged with a game since Portal 2.

Not quite what I was expecting, but a lovely adventure nonetheless. I went into it expecting something like Ico, and while there are some obvious similarities, Rime is a much more atmospheric, meditative affair. I enjoyed the middle sections best, as they were the most "gamey" with the most puzzles. The very middle stage, especially. The story is a real gut-punch by the end. Also not quite what I was expecting. Amazing what one can do with absolutely zero text or dialogue.

This game is one of storyless exploration. You wake up on an island and...that's it for the story. Then, you run around trying to find the gameplay. (My first ten minutes of the game consisted of running in different directions and finding nothing to do.) I'm afraid I had little patience for the game. It is lacking in every aspect except art direction, and it really lagged and skipped frames on my system despite the low-poly graphics. The devs seem to have used the standard move set that comes with the Unreal engine, including the goofy run (but with decent platforming). What the developers added to the standard character was complex, artful animations. Those look great, but this was not the game to use them, as it makes everything so slow. For example, if you bump into something because the camera has decided to swing wildly, the character will fall, lie stunned for a bit, then pick himself up and shake his head. This takes nearly three seconds and destroys all momentum of running around. And the game consists solely of running around, so it was important to get that right. They also were responsible for the camera, which seems to have its own agenda at times. The game is very pretty to look at, and all there is to the game is looking at everything. If you are a patient person with...a longing for an aesthetic experience?...you might like this? It's hard for me to say because I did NOT like it, so much. I can't help but compare it unfavorably to Brothers: Tale of Two Sons and Papo e Yo, two games with almost exactly the same gameplay and character model but which DO have a story and a sense of progression and have equally impressive visuals. You might also look into Zelda: Breath of the Wild as an alternative to this game.