Last year, indie game No Man’s Sky got hyped into oblivion and then delivered a mediocre experience.
This year’s most hyped indie game is RiME, a beautiful looking action adventure thing which had many mouths agape and has been in development for bloody years. Now it’s here! Hurray! We got our grubby mitts on it immediately.
RiME
It was released on the 26th May and has had a divisive response.
Some critics have loved it and handed it a high score, others have found it disappointing and handed it a mediocre score.
Although pretty much every gamer is in agreement the Wind Waker style, cell shaded graphics are a thing to behold, but should you fork out for this thing or not? Let’s have a gander.
This is an action adventure and puzzle game, then, which has been inspired rather overtly by The Legend of Zelda series, amongst other adventure games such as Ico on the PlayStation 2.
The island the boy washes up on even looks a bit like the one from Wind Waker – not that we’re criticising.
If you’re going to take inspiration from somewhere, Zelda is the place to turn!
Despite the island world of RiME hinting at a sweeping open world, this isn’t remotely on the grand scale of the dauntingly brilliant Breath of the Wild.
Indeed, some gamers have already been complaining this is quite a linear experience, with a traditional setup of puzzle solving and advancing through to new areas.
Whilst this is pretty much the case, this doesn’t mean RiME disappoints. Exploration is a central element, with the beautiful island offering some impressive architecture, and there’s also a cute fox to befriend on your adventure.
With a lovely soundtrack and those gorgeous graphics, it’s an atmospheric experience which does make you feel as if you’re stranded on some beautiful desert island somewhere and it all makes for quite the introspective, enjoyable romp.
Divvy Divisive
As a recap, the critical assessment of RiME to date has been middling.
Whilst some have hurled praise at it and given it a near perfect score, there are also a lot of mid-way point scores, such as 6.5 from IGN and 6 from GameSpot (who also gave the genius Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze 6/10, so what does it know?).
Two of the most reputable sources should be considered here – Destructoid handed the title the very fair 7/10. Meanwhile, the legendary Edge magazine dumped a big old 4.5/5 on it: “It’s clear from the outset RiME is special” the reviewer enthuses.
So some people are really getting into the experience, whilst others have been dismissive of some of the familiar gaming tropes developer Tequlia Works has relied on.
We have to state we’ve thoroughly enjoyed RiME so far and can recommend it, although it’s not quite the sweeping masterpiece many in the games industry had hoped it would be when we first clamped eyes on it.
RiME is, however, another inspiring indie gem, despite its flaws – it’s well worth your time.
RiME Going to Get This
It’s out now and you can pick it up on the PS4, Xbox One, Steam, and it’ll hit the Nintendo Switch in Q3 2017 (the latter will be a real treat – we want pretty much every game ever to be brought to the Switch! Handheld glory awaits).
It’s not the cheapest indie game ever at £30, which has made some people baulk. However, if this type of game is your thing then you should find RiME an enchanting experience.
Professional Moron 
Very cool! I wasn’t sure what to think about this myself, not particularly a huge fan of the aesthetic. That being said though, I’m intrigued by the reviews and I’d probably pick it up on a sale – which is much more likely to happen for Steam than Switch unfortunately!
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If you’re unsure, definitely wait. It’ll hit the Steam sales fairly quickly I think – £30 is a bit much of an ask. Hopefully Tequila Works can fix a few of the issues along the way for the Switch release so it’s a more definitive game. Top marks for effort from them, though. I’ve enjoyed it a lot.
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We need more Zelda-like games in the world – Okami was a great series that I hope gets revisited in the future.
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Oh, I bloody love Okami. A shame it wasn’t a hit. 10th anniversary rolled on by recently with most people not giving a damn. For shame!!
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I was wondering about this one. Thanks for sating my curiosity!
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So far so good, from me. Perhaps a bit pricey at launch, though.
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Yeah, I’m good on this one, in particular. Doesn’t look like my jam.
And, I’d like to say that prices don’t matter as much to me, knowing a bit more about how incredibly hard dev teams work on their games, but money… and the market is saturated with games, games that take hours and hours and hours. It’s a strange market really…
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More of a peanut butter sort, are you? I’m reviewing an early access Metroidvania title called Dead Cells this weekend. On Steam. Have a gander, I’ve found it very addictive, crunchy, and enjoyable.
It is a strange industry, you’re right, but in an endearing way (most of the time – *ahem* microtransactions).
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I think I may be a bit particular, yeah, if that’s what you mean. I saw Dead Cells is in alpha on Steam, and it does look interesting, …like a metroidvania rogue-lite, with procedurally generated maps and RPG elements? Seems like a fair bet. I’m mainly just gearing up for Tekken 7 now that it finally is coming out.
By strange I mean that many commercial games take so much time to play and there are so many out there. Its begging to be over saturated, at least from my crude understanding. What’s up with that trend of video games becoming like slot machines? Loot boxes and micro-transactions.
I have put in quite a lot of quarters into arcade machines though.
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Well we all have specific tastes and interests – I can’t stand beat-em-ups, for instance. I’ve never been able to understand the appeal: “When, oh when, will the N64 get a good fighting game?!” was all the complaining back in the day. I really couldn’t give a damn.
Dead Cells is a Metroidvania/Rogue-like romp along. It’s proving very addictive. Indie games are cheap, anyway, and usually free from microtransactions! So if it’s wasted cash it’s only about £10 ultimately.
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One kind of game that I could never get into are the point and click adventures. I just cannot understand the appeal, not in a judgy way, they just don’t do anything for me. Dunno why.
You make a strong argument with Dead Cells. I might have to get it. You play Rain World yet?
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I’m very fond of the Curse of Monkey Island, but many other point and clicks don’t get the formula quite right. LucasArts were the masters there.
I was going to try Rain World but saw some dodgy reviews – would you recommend?
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I have it but haven’t gotten a chance to play it yet. Will let you know what I think of it when I can.
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Ta very much!
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