Review: Rime

With Rime, you play as a young boy who wakes up on an island beach, not knowing how he got there. The sun is shining as you wobble gently to your feet, and this is where you the player takes control as you try to piece together how you got there, and how to get off the island. All the while, you trail a mysterious red cloaked individual, and are gently guided along by a trusty and friendly fox.

As you go, you are presented with many puzzles to solve, mainly involving pulling and pushing objects, manouvering them into the right place at the right time to enable you to move forward in your adventure. The puzzles themselves aren’t overly difficult, and while you will scratch your head form time to time, the path will always become clear with how to solve each one as you go.

It has to be said, the game is absolutely beautiful. There were more times than I care to remember that I simply had to stop and admire the vistas and the surroundings that Tequila Works, the developers of Rime have managed to create. From standing atop a tower admiring the view ahead, to set pieces within the game, that simply take your breath away.

Now I need to bring your attention to the soundtrack, composed by the talented David García Díaz, who has created a soundscape to rival some of the bests, like Journey, Virginia and Abzu before it. It is beautifully evocative in its tone and feeling, almost leading you by the hand from area to area, while simultaneously hugging you in parts. The soundtrack really does elevate the game to something rather special at times as you play.

In game, you control as ever with the left stick, right moving the camera as you explore each of the distinct five different areas, hunting and collecting secrets as you go. Where Rime differs from most is the buttons, you have three basic commands, shout, pull and interact/throw/jump. While this seems like very little, it works perfectly. Some people have had issue with some occasionally sluggish and unresponsive controls, where your character might flail grabbing a ledge, but for me this was certainly not an issue at all.

All in all, Rime was a wonderous experience in the short time you get to inhabit its world, and something that really should be experienced.