Ever since its 2013 first-reveal trailer, Rime has stood out like a game with intriguing style. The cell-shaded art invited curious players to hope to have an adventure that matches in nicely with modern indie gaming sensibilities-where a general pleasant experience is cherished much more than an objective-filled challenge quest. Thankfully, that hope becomes a reality within the first couple of moments of Rime.
Of course, due to its cel-shaded approach and fantastical setting, this single-player puzzle adventure can easily be likened to past titles such as Journey, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and the games by Team Ico. However, the game's developer, Tequila Works, were able to honor what's come before without feeling just like a complete retread. What Rime does with its hero's expedition steps from defined objectives and trophy hunting, and instead passionately entices the player to search far and wide for that answers to the questions they find most interesting. Exploration is abundant, danger lurks just around the corner, and also the only tools provided to travel this island setting are in both your hands of a young lad.
Enu, the character players manage, is really as much of a mystery as the world extended before him. Aside from his striking red cape and scrawny stature, the only discernible fact known from the beginning is the fact that he's alone. After a violent storm, Enu finds himself shipwrecked, washed ashore with an island without any one else around. Rather than an extended prologue describing Enu's life or even the good reputation for the area, we're greeted with multiple questions. Was Enu alone on the boat? Where's he now? Did he want to be here? With this particular, the vulnerability which comes together with watching a young child wander on the seemingly deserted island is felt strongly, it introduces the game's other core emotion: discovery. Accompanying the boy around the island is a small fox, which can guide players on a more streamlined path to the end of the storyline, yet his movements don't lock us in. We're liberated to move anywhere we want, allowing for chances to peruse every corner from the beaches and underwater caves.
Just around we'd like to locate comfort and safety for Enu, it's tough not receiving obsessed with going through the world around him-from discovering jellyfish lining the ocean floors, to peeking into dark caverns housing questionably friendly shadow people. The gameplay pulls the astonishing trick of not just incorporating Enu's personality, but the game's themes and emotions, into how the player handles him. For instance, the majority of the gameplay is dependant on puzzles and exploration, which inserts well with Enu and his questionable battle skills. However, despite his skinny frame and young age, Enu is quite durable and can roll, jump, climb, and swim to traverse various obstacles we encounter, giving us confidence that when you want to make an effort to create a leap of faith, there won't be any hiccups in his animation. However, we learn Enu is cautious as he needs to be, then when we push him toward a ledge that could result in ultimate doom, he instinctively pushes back, visually reminding us to think before we make that deadly choice. Players can continue to go for the dangerous feats, but it would be a nice touch to provide us the fast reminder to assess the problem first, like a majority of the game is about trying multiple paths.
The only real form of punishment the sport offers originates from the puzzles, which increase with difficulty because the story moves forward. Most involve Enu pushing heavy objects to align with statues, sunlight, and shadows, and Rime does a nice job of easing players into new mechanics before throwing the greater thought-provoking challenges our way. There are a few rare puzzles which use mechanics that feel foreign to the gameplay we've been taught, though, which adds some frustration to the experience. However, these moments are brief by time it feels overwhelming, it's already time to move on to the next.
What becomes extremely clear from the beginning can there be is no dialogue hanging around to provide any character a voice, or even prompt players with on-screen text regarding how to play. This leaves us with the game's most fascinating component: the ability to yell and hum. Apart from Enu's button commands just to walk, jump, grab, and roll, also, he allow out sounds, including low hums and angry yells you can use to activate puzzles or scare away roaming beasts. It is a simple mechanic that escalates into the most used ability for puzzles that Enu possesses, whilst adding that complexity towards the narrative that unfolds towards the finale.
For a game without words, Tequila Works ensured to create sound and the human voice a powerful component. Because the puzzles increase in difficulty, the number that depend on vocal commands also rise, inserting the idea that Enu may hold a power that no one else does for the reason that world. On top of that, the score for the game ranges from swelling orchestra to non-existent based on in which the player is in the journey. In the silent moments, it allows to have an easy exploration with no repetitive tune trying to clarify adventure, but in the orchestral moments it matches the extremity from the situation and gives a musical nod to the player that they're headed within the right direction. Keeping in line with subtlety, among the great development choices was to use color like a guide for that player, as red rarely turns up in the environmental pallets and only appears on essential things (like Enu himself). White and gold ledges can be climbed, orange light hovers over movable objects, and blue items can be effected by Enu's voice, giving visual cues towards the player regarding how to approach each situation.
Finishing your way may be the ultimate goal, but there are collectibles strewn over the game that further get the plot. The entirety from the narrative is told through the visuals of the adventure, in addition to painted artifacts hinting at Enu's life-including if he has a household and what his connection would be to the island. The gamer can go through the entire game without collecting a single artifact but still feel a tale was told, however the additional answers given in the collectibles adds replay value to the game. Sadly, there is no difficulty setting to change puzzles around or produce a varied experienc,e leaving Rime's largest flaw as truly being a lack of replayability. At least the puzzles rely on the environment enough to allow for the slightest of change-ups during each attempt, though.
Rime isn't just an event filled with beautiful style as well as an intriguing story, it also subverts its technical aspects into not only button commands. Much like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, another indie adventure, the controls, sound design, color usage, and gameplay mechanics feel one with the story unfolding before me. I was given zero explanation in regards to what to complete or why it had been happening, however the more I explored, tried different movements and talents, and focused on searching for the colour and sound cues, I had been completely impressed with how I was coerced into appreciating detail and subtlety. While Rime has the external appearance of other indie adventures which have come before it, once delved into it's pay off the vision it possesses makes for an unique adventure dying available.
