Ease is a skill that can easily be overcome. One might seem easy to make a game like Journey where the landscapes are empty, mechanics reduced to two actions, a story told without any words. However, today’s RiME adventure puzzle is an example of how simplicity itself is not a recipe for success. Sometimes the simplicity of a game-giving substance never leaves a lazy impression during gameplay.

However, when I say RiME is lukewarm compared to the competition, it should be stressed that competition is not always available on all platforms, so if you play this game on a PC or Xbox, you may not have used anything better than it. In this case RiME could be a very enjoyable experience, provided you go through some minor minuses.

Starting from the start, the game sets an intriguing premise. You play as a boy who is found on an island with a strange architecture and even more strange creatures. You slowly discover that this island is somehow connected, but at the same time it helps you to break these links and escape from that place. His adventure is an adventure of survival, permeated by reminiscence and exploration of the magical background of the island. It is said mostly visually – without narrative and any other verbal or written communication. Most of the time, it works pretty well and allows you to unleash a kind of “game language”.

“The mere visual narrative story tells you to discover a kind of game language.”

However, one thing in this narrative is completely left to the player, which is not the luckiest narrative method. In story interpreting, you can more easily help with the thumbnails you gather as optional additions hidden across the entire island, rather than tracking the action itself. It’s easy for them to miss, and also lose the key story details. Since moving around the island linearly, once you miss them no longer has a return to them.

Such a decision has obviously been made to increase the durability of the game, or to give the game a chance to re-play. RiME, for about six hours, is not ideal for a game that costs thirty euros at a regular price. Durability, however, is entirely beyond the context of price because the game lasts so long that you do not get bored. Puzzles are generally not repeated and all run at a pleasant pace from start to finish.

“The durability of the game for six hours is quite decent, outside the context of a price of thirty euros.”

There are stocks that contain unnecessary irritation, although you can not see the game over screen technically in the game. The only punishment you have is a few steps backwards, but it can be a bit hard when you get sick without being able to correct your mistake or get rid of it. Fortunately, at the end of the game, this is still improving and more interesting threats and challenges appear.

What does not change throughout the game is a pretty awkward control over the main character. The situation is not as chaotic as in Shadow of the Colossus, but is far from the convenience that games with a focus on platforming elements should have. Often so, the movement controls are too sensitive and the character does not stop when you release the analogue mushroom.

On the other hand, sometimes it is a challenge to control his running when the camera is fixed, or to determine the angle at which you should hold the stick on the controller to move it while hanging at the edge of a wall. Such things throw a stain on otherwise very solid gameplay mechanics.

“RiME is not like games that look more beautiful on promotional materials. In this case, the live game looks better than in the pictures.”

It is more than a solid audiovisual side that does not tell how this is about independent production. Do you know the case when the game looks more beautiful on promotional material than in reality? So, RiME’s is just the opposite – that game looks better than on static screenshots.

Unfortunately, the consoles do not run very well, and the PC is more demanding than it really should be. But provided that you have honest hardware and that by some chance you can spin it even in 4K resolution, believe it is worth it. If nothing, orchestral music lovers could find the new best soundtrack to the game after Wintory’s Journey.

When we draw a line below all, RiME is one of those games that definitely deserve to play at least once if you’re a fan of reflexive experiences. I do not believe that anyone will be mentioned for a few years as a cult title in the genre of adventure games, but the recommendation will probably be deserved in spite of some technical problems in performance.

It is only a matter of patience – how long to wait for the price reduction and in which moment to accept it.