RiME

Graphics 9/10 - beautiful, even on lower settings Audio 9/10 - really really good Controls 3/10 - crap (i played with keyboard + mouse) Fun 4/10 - much (slow) running; some easy puzzles; annoying bird mechanics; decent collectables, but bad controls and run speed keep me from chasing after them Story 2/10 - basically non existant until the last chapter; some of the inbetween stuff seems stupid (sentient robots that have to die to open doors ... what?) Value for money 4/10 - i received it for free during the summer sale something, but 35 euros (even factoring in the 10.70 euro wallet funds) is too much imo

This is a beautiful game. I thought the minimal graphics would be a turn off but the immersion level is immediate and intense. The soundscape is perfect, waves lapping, winds blowing thru caverns, the sound of nightfall all invite you into this world. Its very reminiscent of Myst. the music adds to the ambiance, at times sad and mournful, others joyous. The story is very intriguing, you find glimpses and clues to what happened, each clue spurring you on to find more. Puzzles are somewhat intuitive, if you look closely you can see markers for where your char is to go and there is no long back tracking to see what effects happened if you did an action. Why 3 stars? well, the camera takes over on many puzzles, limiting your view drastically which is unforgivable in a platformer. ex, there is a bridge arcing over the ocean into another island. For a long time I thought it was a hidden barrier and forgo trying to cross as the camera would take over your char halfway across the bridge to the point that you couldnt even turn it around to backtrack or move the char forward. result was the char falls and restart. finally was I able to deduce that you had to wiggle the char left/right along the bridge, blindly until you reached the other side. many instances of this, I think they were going for cinematic experience, with epic music rips and an eagles eye on the action but what it translates to is irritation as you just cant see what the heck you are doing. In their favor the devs are super generous with respawns, often just seconds away from where you died. Last and what drove me to stop playing the game (for now) is its extremely headache inducing. I managed to fiddle with the UI enough to stop full on nausea but I cant play any length of time without hours of massive headache later. I think its due to the camera not being locked on the point of view, its continually scewing around with mouse look vs movement keys.

RiME doesn't really have anything that sets it apart in the Adventure Puzzle genre. It isn't bad, it's just not unique, and for me that makes it boring. RiME sticks to the tried and true open exploration, parkour climbing, moving blocks onto switches, hidden collectibles, and dramatic music. Several settings and scenes in the game reminded me of ICO, Zelda, Journey, and Never Alone. There isn't really a story, and what little story there is doesn't really flow from level to level. I explored much of the earlier worlds and found most of the collectibles, but I stopped doing this halfway through the game when I realized I was just arbitrarily lengthening game time, and not in any way that was enjoyable. RiME just doesn't make it fun to go find these items. I experienced several graphical glitches of clipping and framerate drops. After reading a few reviews, it turns out this is a common problem even with high-end graphics cards. Essentially, RiME is just a pretty game you've already experienced elsewhere.

I was looking forward to this game for the longest time. The art direction is amazing. The gameplay, story, and music - not so much. At every turn I just wanted something more, a combat system, a gripping in-depth story, a multi-dimensional score - anything that would make it feel bigger and more interesting than it actually is. Rime boils down to one word - precious. Any potential dynamism tonally has been sucked out in service of this one word. The score never goes through any range of emotions. The story is so thread-bare you'll have to lean forward to figure out what's going on and even then you'll likely not care as you shotgun your way through to the next puzzle. There's no levity, no humor - just a cutesy fox to follow and some puzzles to do. Had this game taken a slightly larger scope (while maybe remaining short). Had it been more Zelda like or story focused (e.g. Portal 2) it could have been a classic. As is, the puzzles and asethetic are simply not compelling or enchanting enough on their own to allow the game to be called anything but mediocre.

The game is beautiful, but the poor performance really lets it down.