Rime
PlayStation 4
Most of the time I am unhappy with the games that the PlayStation Network offers for free. I want big blockbuster titles, not indie games that I have never heard of before. But this means every once in a while I will stumble across a fun little title that I never would have even thought to play otherwise. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and Journey are a few examples. I can now add Rime to that list as well. Which is funny because this game has a lot in common with both Brothers and Journey. Sprinkle a little ICO in there too, and you can clearly see from where this game drew its inspiration.
Rime's story does not offer much in the way of an explanation. You play as a young boy who wakes up on the shore of a mysterious beach. Where you want to go is up to you. Immediately the game's art and graphical style caught my attention. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker came to the forefront of my mind. The world of the game is beautiful. Bright colors, cartoon like characters. Cell shaded graphics. It is like you are walking into a living, breathing animated world. I have always loved that graphical look.
The world of the game is seemingly very big and expansive too. Seeing as how they don't give an explanation of who you are or where you are supposed to go, I didn't really know what I was supposed to be doing. So I just picked a direction and started walking. The more you explore, the more of the game's breathtaking graphics you get to take in. You can only see so much from the rocky beach area where you wash up. Once you get higher, you can see big white towers, sweeping green landscapes, crystal clear waters, and some very climbable looking cliffs.
It didn't take long to discover that there was indeed a destination that the game wanted to direct you to. You can see several beams of blue light shooting into the sky. When you arrive at the source of the first beam, you free a mystical energy source that activates part of a statue in front of a locked, out of reach area. If you have ever played a video game in your life, it becomes clear that you must find and activate the remaining energy sources to unlock the area and advance the game.
Once you do this, the statue comes to life in the form of a mysterious barking fox. From this point on, the fox acts as a guide of sorts. If you are ever stuck and unsure of where you are supposed to go next, you can listen for the fox and once you find it, it will point you in the right direction.
The controls of this game are extremely basic. You run. You jump. You climb. You can pick up things and throw them. You can push blocks around. You can activate switches. You use the triangle button to shout with your voice, which at times will activate items and help you solve puzzles. There is no attacking in this game, however. There are enemies, but the best way, or in some cases the only way to deal with them is by running away. Everyone once in a while the game will allow you to shine light on your enemies, which will kill them. Or you can pick up light orbs and chuck them at your enemies. But there is no real combat in this game.
Which is cool, because that is not what Rime is all about. What is the game about then? Exploration and puzzle solving! Yaaaaay! Don't worry, the game is not dull by any means. Simply exploring the world of the game is a joy in and of itself. Magical creatures, mysterious ruins. A wonderful feeling of mystery and wonder fills the air. It is incredibly atmospheric. I felt like I was exploring a fantasy wonderland ripe with its own history and dark past. I'd advise putting on headphones and playing this in a dark room. This game will pull you right in and make you forget about your real life.
The game is not very challenging at all. Rime doesn't necessarily hold your hand through its puzzles, but it always makes it pretty clear what you are supposed to do and where your next destination is. The game is not only pretty easy, but it is short too. You can probably beat it in a small handful of two or three hour playing sessions. I don't remember my exact total, but I would be surprised if I spent more than six or seven hours with this.
One criticism of the game that I have read online is that it borrows too heavily from other similar games like Journey and Ico, but that it is not as good as either of them. I agree with the borrowing thing, but I would say that it is just as good as them, if not better.
There is a big, emotional twist at the end of the game. It didn't make me cry, but I have a feeling that it did for a lot of gamers. If you don't want to be spoiled, skip the rest of this paragraph and begin reading down below. If you do want to be spoiled, continue on by all means! The game ends with the boy's father having a flashback. He is on board a boat with his son (your character) in the middle of the ocean. A storm is raging all around them. The boy goes overboard and the man tries to save him, but he just ends up ripping a piece of red cloth from the boy's outfit instead. The boy is lost in the storm. I think the ending is open to interpretation. Both of them pretty much point to the boy being dead, as is evidenced by the titles of each of the game's chapters being the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance). One idea is that the journey of the game is the boy as he makes his way to the afterlife and accepts his fate. Another theory is that the father is imagining these events in order to process the death of his son. Many items you discover in the game, like the child's toys, can be seen in his room during the epilogue with the father. Normally I hate open ended endings, but it actually seemed quite appropriate here with Rime. I approve.
Now that you have been properly spoiled, or not spoiled if you skipped over the last paragraph, I can tell you that this game is definitely worth checking out. I got it for free since it was featured as one of the free games on the PlayStation Network. If you are looking to buy the game, though, I would say don't spend more than five to ten dollars on it, if only for the very short length of the game. The game doesn't seem to have a lot of replay value either. I replayed a few areas in order to mop up some trophies I missed, but I had no desire to play the game over again. Maybe I will someday, though.
All in all I thought Rime was terrific. Is it flawless? Of course not. But considering it was free and that I came in with little to no expectations, I would say that my experience with the game was a major win. It is a fun, engaging, deep, and gorgeous little roller coaster of a video game. Check it out! If you don't like it you are a soulless, heartless, terrible monster of a human being. Just kidding, except for the part where I am not.
Overall:
A-
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