A young boy washes ashore on a deserted island.
The ruins of an ancient society dot the lush landscape while rivers carve paths in the
stone and wild animals feast of the fruits growing on bushes.
With a red cape fashioned around his neck and a song in his heart, the boy explores
the beautiful wasteland and solves puzzles to progress deeper into this mysterious world
all in the hopes of finding out who he is and why he’s all alone.
That description sounds pretty familiar, doesn’t it?
Rime is a combat-free adventure pulls from a plethora of games ranging from the unspoken
narrative of Journey to the puzzle solving of Ico and the ingenuity of The Unfinished
Swan.
Pick your favorite recent puzzle-heavy indie darling and there’s probably some nod to
it in Rime.
But Rime proves that it’s not always a bad thing when a game feels familiar.
The first chapter of Rime has you climbing up ledges and swimming in the deep blue sea
as you try to figure out what your purpose is.
There’s little in the way of a guiding hand in Rime and I found these early moments enthralling.
Unsure what I was supposed to do, I traipsed down every winding path just to see the beautiful
views that awaited me.
I picked giant orange fruits from bushes to befriend animals and hunted for out-of-the-way
pedestals where the odd collectible was placed.
It was aimless in all the right ways, an entire world with no rules just waiting to be explored.
Before long, momentum and more confined level design push you from one puzzle to the next.
Gone was the time spent lonely trekking down unknown paths.
I missed that carefree beginning but was soon engrossed in the myriad puzzles.
Early ones have you sing to glowing orbs to releasing their hidden energy.
Although figuring out how to progress was easy enough, it was still a joy because of
how lovely the boy’s voice is and the accompanying orchestral score set a somber mood that kept
me pushing onward.
Rime often used its excellent artistic design and soundtrack to keep me engaged even when
the puzzles were rather simple.
An early section had me finding lights to illuminate an invisible bridge.
Without a song in which a woman sings while my boy hero hummed along, I might have grown
bored by its simplicity, but I was completely invested because the audio/visual experience
is so great.
Unfortunately, Rime often undercuts its best aspect.
There is a ton of slowdown in Rime.
I don’t care when games run at a consistent, low framerate, but big drops can give me a
headache.
Rime never got that bad, but there were dozens of section marred by slowdown.
It’s a real shame, too, because there’s such strong visual design throughout the adventure.
If you prefer playing handheld style, Rime performs about the same as it does when running
on a television.
This is a great game to lay down on the couch while playing because it’s such a relaxing
adventure.
And the environmental clues that point you toward solutions are easy to see even on a
smaller screen.
Just try not to get too down about that pesky slowdown.
Thankfully, the technical hit doesn’t undermine the joy of exploring this unknown world.
There are long stretches when you’re figuring out a series of small puzzles that ties into
one large one.
These are some of my favorite moments in Rime.
During one such case, a maniacal bird is out hunting this poor boy.
He strikes from above whenever you step out into the sunlight and every time I was caught
by my unstoppable pursuer, I jumped in my seat.
These encounters were the one time during the course of the ten-hour adventure that
the relaxing mood gave way to tension and fear.
It took a few hours to complete this portion.
As I triggered a lightning strike to give the bird a jolt, unearthed hidden passageways
beneath the waters, and jumped between ledges just beyond the reach of his beak, I felt
a thrill that was a welcome shift in tone.
There are achievements in Rime.
I’m not ashamed to admit that the one thing I would change about the Switch is a built-in
achievement system, so I was glad that my small triumphs were documented.
The optional collectibles also helped draw me deeper into this journey.
I unlocked small toys, alternate clothing, and pictures that detailed my adventures and
hinted at untold stories.
These are the collectibles I most enjoy hunting for, items that flesh out the story, characters,
and world but don’t burden you with the daunting prospect of finding everyone.
I was fine finding only a handful of the many scattered across the varied landscape and
was more than fulfilled with how the story played out.
I won’t spoil anything but the ending was moving in ways that are all-too-rare in gaming.
Despite having so many positive things to say about Rime, I wasn’t captivating like
I was by its more accomplished peers.
The puzzles were unique and well-thought out but lacked that bit of creativity that makes
me mutter in amazement when I finally figure out a solution.
With only so many possible options, getting past a blockade was more or less a guessing
game, a tiny roadblock that usually required no more than a few minutes of thought to complete.
I also wish Rime wasn’t so on-the-nose in its references to other games.
There’s a figure cloaked in red who appears at random points who might as well be one
of the nameless heroes from Journey.
It’s not a bad thing to see a nod to a beloved game but I wish Rime had more of an identity
of its own.
The way you can hum and shout felt like Wander calling for his horse in Shadow of the Colossus
and the interior sections could have been deleted scenes from Ico.
Again, if you’re going to make homages to other games, the team at Tequila Works couldn’t
have picked better inspirations, I just wish there was more here that was purely Rime.
I admit I have a soft spot for quiet adventures.
There are few things more exciting to me than being lost in a digital world where I have
to figure out the rules, objectives, and the story by poking and prodding until the game
reveals its secrets.
Rime has so much joy in its discovery, beauty in its visuals, and serenity in its music
that I was hooked the entire time.
Even though I may struggle to remember the finer details in Rime years from now, I still
liked it a lot, and am glad it made its way to Nintendo’s platform.