Rime begins with a boy washing ashore on an island. There's a path leading from the beach uphill, and a white tower seemingly just beyond, but you don't have to go there. At least, not right off. You can pick your way along the beach to the right or the left, even swim a bit in the ocean (the jellyfish will let you know when it's time to turn back.)
But at some point, you scale the hill and find a statue missing some pieces that go around it. Finding the pieces brings a cheerful little fox to life to guide you, but it turns out that tower is much further away than you first thought.
This first part of Rime is serene. The fox may yip to encourage you to follow, but you're free to go any direction you can manage. Take your time, enjoy the scenery. Day and night will pass whether you're going anywhere or not, but it doesn't impact the gameplay. This is not the Castlevania game where everything becomes much more difficult at night. There's no permanent death; if you fall from too great a height, you simply reappear where you were before the plunge. If it visually reminds me a bit of Ico, the pace reminds me more of Journey.
As you roam, you may find other objects. Children's toys, or mysterious conch shells you play a tune with. Odd keyholes you peer through for a vision of. . .something. The story of a boy with a red cloak not unlike yours. The only problem I had was, at times it isn't clear when a path leads to something like that, or to the next place you need to go to advance. So there were things I missed simply because I picked the path that leads you forward and couldn't find a way back later. Granted, that's only a problem if you have that desire to collect all the things, as I sometimes do.
There are puzzles, but most aren't complicated. Doors that open when in shadow, so you need to create a shadow. Arrange blocks to access a switch or statue that reacts to you shouting. Move glowing orbs between different pedestals to get things open the way you need them. Sometimes it's a matter of climbing along ledges or steps to reach a different access point. Again, there's rarely a ticking clock on these things; you can usually stand there and study it as long as you want before actually trying.
I thought, upon reaching the tower, that I was basically done. In which case, it wouldn't be a very long game. But that's only the first step. You still need to climb the tower. Things get a bit more complicated, but not to a degree where you're likely to struggle. There is a large angry, skull-headed pterodactyl that torments you for a time, as well as some odd shadow things. But again, if the pterodactyl grabs you (because you were out from under cover too long) you just reappear the last place you were safe.
The shadows shy away from you at first, even as you cringe at the sight of them. Later they become aggressive. Pursuing you and draining the color from you if you get too close. You can disperse them with a burst of light from certain orbs you find, but in most cases, they reform quickly. By the end, as you run around a labyrinth of walls, stairs and arches in the pouring rain, they simply watch you pass.
It's not a relaxing game, because the camera will often make you aware of how frightened or tired your character looks as they trudge through the rain or dark caverns full of angry shadows. You want to try and push the kid forward to a safer place, but also not drive him into the danger that's in the way (even knowing he'll just pop back up if you screw up.) It is a lovely game, though.
No comments:
Post a Comment