Rime Game Review: Get ready for some epic feels (teary eyes)

<p>We gamers are an emotional bunch&comma; aren’t we&quest; I have found myself tearing up at some of gaming’s most famous polygons dealing with loss and endearing situations&period; <em>Brothers&colon; A Tale of Two Sons<&sol;em> had me tearing up at the heartbreaking finale and I can’t be the only one as more games like it have arrived&period; From the same guys who brought you <em>Deadlight<&sol;em> and <em>The Sexy Brutale<&sol;em> have developed a beautiful looking game that’s emotionally driven with a compelling narrative&period; Can <em>Rime<&sol;em> be this year’s biggest heartbreaker for all the right reasons&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;126050" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-126050" style&equals;"width&colon; 1920px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-126050 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;06&sol;02164930&sol;RimeBagogames2017image2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-126050" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Rime&comma; Tequila Works<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Rime centers on the tale of a young boy who’s been washed up on a strange island&period; We have no time&comma; location or even a name for our young protagonist and <em>Rime<&sol;em> does well to keep its many secrets alluring&period; Playing as the young boy&comma; you’ll have to explore the island which leads to venturing into strange new worlds that center on different emotional states&period; Within these beautifully crafted worlds are vastly engrossing challenges both lateral and physical&comma; progressing higher in complexity while revealing more on what brings our young hero to this strange&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Rime<&sol;em> is simple in nature making it easy to understand how the world functions and what purpose the core mechanics have in play&period; Everything is communicated visually with very little information presented in text form&comma; so feedback such as guides or tips are absent allowing players to figure out for themselves what to do and how to do it in total freedom&period; Everything from exploration and puzzle solving is encouraged through visual aids such as color variation&comma; sound and framing various focal points&period; It’s really up to players to go and explore&comma; figuring out the complexity to each world and understand what makes them tick&period; This could be from discovering statues that can be interacted with by signing or being alerted to the attack of a giant flying creature from its roar getting louder and louder before the attack&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;126051" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-126051" style&equals;"width&colon; 1920px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-126051 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;06&sol;02164939&sol;RimeBagogames2017image3&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-126051" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Rime&comma; Tequila Works<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>This is what impressed me most about <em>Rime<&sol;em>&comma; it’s compelling nature and how well the game teaches you everything you need to know without forceful guides or annoying tips&period; It’s very rare to see a game genuinely never hold your hand but at the same time guide you without you really knowing it&period; This can be both extremely beneficial to Rime’s intelligent nature but also what breaks it down in some respects when it comes to the lateral gameplay&period; In early stages of <em>Rime<&sol;em>&comma; puzzles can be rather simplistic&comma; to a degree where it’s slightly annoying&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Not to say there’s no creativity behind their designs as they can be visually interesting&period; But rather they feel shallow&comma; more of a brief interruption to a beautiful journey&period; It’s only until much later where the puzzles start to form more structure and actually require more brain power to solve than just turn a dial and wait for a reaction and a result&period; There are some truly staggering moments of platforming that incorporates intensity&comma; danger and lateral elements fluently well&period; The second act provided the most variation in gameplay styles including the main focus of avoiding a giant griffin helps set up a tension-filled segment of cat and mouse&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;126052" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-126052" style&equals;"width&colon; 1920px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-126052 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;06&sol;02164946&sol;RimeBagogames2017image4&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-126052" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Rime&comma; Tequila Works<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><em>Rime<&sol;em> hosts beautiful worlds&comma; each with a distinct theme and visual style that grabs your attention and engrosses you completely&period; Each world not only presents its own form of beauty but also introduces new elements to the story&comma; with many discoveries adding to a wonderful lore&period; There’s a haunting and lonesome vibe to the worlds you explore&comma; each with a tale to tell&period; Through visual aids and small encounters&comma; you gather a sense of a complex universe that’s rich in history and substance&period; From viewing a broken landscape of decaying ruins to escaping a labyrinth covered in black rain&comma; everything about each world you visit copulates your attention from the get-go&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>There’s more to <em>Rime<&sol;em> than just exploring as players will indeed confront antagonizing forces that’ll do everything to stop your journey&period; The most sinister being the shadowy figures that’ll drain the very life from you&period; These foes can be combated with a neat trick involving smashing orbs of light that burn away the darkness&period; This aspect of gameplay blends into both lateral and combat aspects of the game&comma; changing the pace and breaking away from the plentiful walking you’ll be doing&period; Plus it creates a great moment of satisfaction when you see these freaky cloaked figures vanish within the bright light&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;126053" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-126053" style&equals;"width&colon; 1920px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-126053 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;06&sol;02164954&sol;RimeBagogames2017image5&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-126053" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Rime&comma; Tequila Works<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Throughout my adventure&comma; I did encounter a fair few issues involving drops in framerate&comma; music cutting out and starting again and a crude sense of control&period; Controls became a problem as the young protagonist could spiral out of control after a small drop onto a platform below&period; Not a major problem but during some segments that involve high platforms and jumping and dropping&comma; this became a little annoying after the first few deaths as a result&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>These issues should discourage you from player <em>Rime<&sol;em> as it is a wonderful game&period; I felt the campaign could&&num;8217&semi;ve gone on much longer as the third act felt as though it ended before it was meant too&period; Overall the game time will last about 7 hours which could be a little disappointing considering the price tag&period; But the replay value is high as there a number of interesting collectibles to discover&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Rime<&sol;em> is a fantastic game and worthy of its praise&period; The developer&&num;8217&semi;s talents have shone through once again with this incredibly beautiful and immersive title&period; The exploration is engrossing&comma; the aesthetics are stunning and above all&comma; it has heart and grace that&&num;8217&semi;s not seen often enough in gaming&period; It may come across as cheesy or a little overly emotional to some but its message is clear and the gameplay is enjoyable&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>An Xbox One Review key of Rime was provided by Tequila Works for the purpose of this Review&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;