RiME review. My little trip. Review of Rime Rime game ending

Creation computer game- a long and labor-intensive process that requires significant resources and dedication of developers. In addition, it is often thorny, as can be seen in the example RiME- an indie project from a little-known Spanish studio Tequila Works . It took the creators of the game five years to make the story of the adventures of the boy in the red cloak available to viewers. Already in the early stages, the studio experienced serious problems with financing.

Initially the developers were supported Microsoft And Sony, but both publishers soon withdrew their support, apparently believing that the project had no chance. And it is unknown how this whole story would have ended if the idea Tequila Works didn't seem attractive Gray Box.

Story line

What is so remarkable and unusual about RiME that it has already been dubbed another handmade masterpiece? Unusually bright and colorful graphics, wonderful music and a heartwarming, touching story about love, loss and death. And also the lack of language voice acting and navigation, which, however, is not new. The game starts with main character- a boy of 10-12 years old finds himself on the seashore of a small picturesque island. The sun is shining brightly, seagulls are soaring in the sky, and the waves of the warm ocean are crashing on the sandy shore with a soft roar.

The boy does not know who he is, how he got to this mysterious island, all that is known is that in order to avoid this, he needs to climb to the top of the white tower, a huge column rising in the center of the island. Along the way, he will have to collect fragments of memories and solve puzzles; this is the only way to restore the picture of the past in his memory and understand the meaning of his stay on this beautiful and mysterious archipelago. And so, the little hero sets off on his journey. As you progress, it turns out that the boy can run, jump, dive and swim, climb rocks, carry various objects and... scream. Yes, this is the unusual way in which RiME manages objects and transforms the surrounding reality.

For example, in order to break a huge jug blocking the path, you need to shout at it well. Under the influence of sound waves of voices, totem statues “come to life”, which in turn open doors, launch elevators and other useful mechanisms, torches are lit with their voices, and annoying representatives of the local fauna are scared away with their voices. The solution to other puzzles is based on the play of light and shadow, and these are the majority of puzzles in RiME. However, the puzzles are far from the most important thing in the game, they are too simple, the main emphasis is on the fabulously colorful world and on the protagonist himself.

The mysterious island he has to explore is not so uninhabited. At the beginning of the passage, the boy meets a fox cub (a clear allusion to “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry), who becomes his partner and guide in this beautiful but strange world, where magic and the miraculous coexist with high-tech devices. Most of the creatures inhabiting the world of RiME are harmless, but you shouldn’t relax, some of them can still pose a threat. little hero threat. Take, for example, a skull-headed bird and either people or ghosts in dark robes. The boy doesn’t have to fight them; all he can do is run away.

The game world of RiME consists of four locations - you can get to the next one only by going through the previous one and finding the main artifact - the key. Leaving the Cote d'Azur and the hills of the island, the hero finds himself in an abandoned city, and then in a gloomy rainy labyrinth. All locations are completely different from each other, but all are picturesque and have wonderful musical arrangement, sad and fascinating at the same time. And in RiME you won’t hear a word, there are no dialogues in the game, it is perceived intuitively, the meaning of what is happening is revealed only in the ending and then not completely, leaving everyone a certain amount of imagination in interpreting the ending.

The final

If there is one thing the creators of RiME can guarantee, it is indescribable emotions at the end, but in order to experience the full charm of the game, you need to take a holistic approach to it, not limiting yourself to evaluating just the gameplay, graphics or psychology, although it is the latter that plays a big role in it. If we consider RiME one-sidedly, we will end up with a completely secondary, and for some, perhaps a mediocre product. And this is understandable, because there is nothing innovative in the game, something that jaded consumers of the gaming industry usually expect. The beauty of RiME is in its simplicity and depth at the same time, and also in its emotional intensity and turning the viewer from the world of everyday life to the eternal theme of love and death.

Image gallery:

Finally, it’s immediately clear where the Spaniards come from Tequila Works got inspiration.

Who is this kid in the tattered red cape? How did he get to this picturesque island? What is this tall tower on the horizon? Where did the interface go? As expected, the game will provide answers to these and many other questions gradually, only gently pushing the gamer in the right direction, but leaving him the right to follow the advice or try to figure it out on his own.

The pseudo-open world is easily able to awaken curiosity even in the laziest mattress, burning the retina with bright colors, dense vegetation and ancient ruins alluring with their mystery. A deeper immersion into the world of the game is facilitated by unobtrusive but melodic music, which literally puts the gamer in a narcotic trance, depriving him of the sense of time and fatigue. The game will never give you clear orders on what to do next; you have to figure it out yourself. And even after the credits roll across the screen, you will still want to replay it in order to better understand the message hidden somewhere under a thick layer of sand. And he is. Or should be, anyway.

The game handles exposition extremely well. Sun-drenched lawns, dense forests, sandy beaches and dilapidated ruins - you just want to climb everywhere, look at everything and generally touch everything. But no! Will not work!

In terms of accessibility, it is somewhat reminiscent of an incredibly beautiful and terribly expensive exhibition, to which no idiots are allowed. All of the game's visual splendor is hidden behind unreasonably difficult puzzles, overly confusing island navigation, and simply incomprehensible storyline. You spend more time trying to understand where you need to go now than thinking about the next scenario twist.

We were able to test all versions of the game - for PC, PS4 (taken as the basis for writing this review), PS4 Pro and Xbox One. They look identical on standard monitors and LCD TVs within 40 inches. Even the vaunted super-textures and super-shadows in the PS4 Pro and PC versions can only be seen on 4K displays and monitors. In addition to the almost identical picture, all versions are united by not the best optimization. The game at times begins to mercilessly slow down for no apparent reason, and the version for PS4 Pro suffers more from the drop in frame rate.

As mentioned above, from an artistic point of view it can be safely put on a par with games such as or. But the artisans at Tequila Works forgot that despite the visual splendor, and do not shy away from giving the player hidden hints about where he should go and what to do next. There are no these hints, or they were hidden too well. So, in one place, scribbles on the walls may be instructions for an ancient and complex mechanism, while in another the same scribble may mean absolutely nothing.

The puzzles themselves are very organically integrated into the world. They don't feel out of place or superfluous. True, they often irritate with their complexity rather than somehow contribute to a better understanding of the local world and its rules. For example, even a monkey can carry stones or shout at some totems, but not everyone can understand the purpose of a ball that changes the time of day. And there are plenty of such puzzles - they are all either ridiculously simple, or simply annoying and break the mostly measured pace of the game. And it’s not even the complexity that infuriates, but the complete absence of the slightest hint of the right solution. If the environment helped in solving even the most difficult and complex puzzles, be it marks and drawings on the walls or the location of the scenery, then it leaves the player alone with his ingenuity.

Navigation problems don't stop there. Because of them, it is sometimes completely unclear where to go next. You can spend half an hour aimlessly cutting circles along the fishing line and climbing rocks, without ever understanding what the game wants from you. In the same Rime, it does not reveal itself gradually, but instead dumps everything on you at once, closer to the very end. And, as mentioned above, after the credits you want to start the game again. And not because she is so cool and mysterious, but only in order to understand one thing: are you really so stupid that you couldn’t understand everything from the very beginning?

Game tested on PlayStation 4

From the outside it might seem that RiME was created in production hell. News about the project stopped coming immediately after the trailer was published in 2013, then Spanish industry insiders wrote that the game did not actually exist, Sony stopped funding, and the money it had already invested went nowhere. Some time later, Tequila Games studio announced the acquisition of the rights to RiME from Sony, which many associated with problematic development and mistrust on the part of a large corporation.

Which of this was true can only be guessed at. And if insider statements are difficult to confirm or refute (there were even rumors that RiME is not a cute adventure at all, but a MOBA or something similar), then Sony’s actions are quite understandable. In recent years, the company has been publishing indie games less and less, making an exception only for the creations of its own studios. That’s why they remain only on PS4, and the once exclusive ones don’t. So RiME is available immediately on all current platforms, and in the end it turned out to be exactly the game we were waiting for.

⇡ Again a guy, again an island

A nameless boy wakes up on the shore of a mysterious island. Seagulls are screaming around and crabs are scurrying around, and the guy can only run forward and try to understand where he ended up. The player is not explained which buttons are responsible for what, since everything becomes clear without words: the hero jumps low, clings to ledges with his hands (interactive objects are colored like in Uncharted) and in some cases can grab objects and move them in different directions .

Almost immediately the character meets a little fox who will become his guide on this island. Thanks to the presence of the animal in most locations, it becomes quite difficult to get lost - barking allows you to quickly determine the further direction. In addition, RiME offers exploration of more or less linear locations, and the path from one point to another in open areas is usually obvious. So, despite the similarity in visual style with, expect open world not worth it. At the same time, there are about fifty collectible items that will never catch your eye unless you try to look for loopholes and hidden interactive platforms hidden behind the bushes.

The boy does not have to fight opponents - the only obstacles on his way are puzzles. And in the first hour they seem really unusual and original - sometimes the solution is obvious, but as soon as you find the answer, the conditions immediately change, and you have to think differently. Often, tasks involve moving objects: from arranging them in the right positions to playing with light and shadows falling from different things. The guy solves most problems using his voice - as soon as you shout loudly, the statues standing nearby are activated and something happens. Sometimes you have to use several sculptures at the same time, choosing the right angle.

Unfortunately, after about an hour and a half, the puzzles become too easy. You almost don’t have to think about them, because when you get into this or that room you immediately more or less imagine what needs to be done. However, RiME successfully smoothes out this shortcoming with interesting narrative techniques. Some of them have already been in similar projects, but the presentation is still original enough not to talk about direct copying, ICO, or The Witness.

If streaks of white paint are visible somewhere, it means you can climb there

The beauty of RiME and its main advantage is in the ending, which completely changes the attitude towards everything seen before the finale. Everything takes on a completely different meaning and begins to look completely different. Even the menu with the choice of chapters surprises with an unexpected solution. The game is full of mystery - as you progress, you encounter unusual sculptures and mechanisms, study the paintings on the walls, and follow a strange figure in a red cloak. And although not everything becomes clear immediately after the final episode, over time the meaning of most details does emerge.

⇡ Vivid impressions

But don’t think that you have to endure the rest of RiME for the sake of the ending alone - the game always maintains interest, there are simply no boring or drawn-out episodes in it. The sun-drenched shore gives way to a colorful clearing, gloomy caves and a network of underground passages. Sometimes you have to swim underwater, replenishing the air supply in your lungs with the help of large bubbles. The time of day will change, then the weather, then new dangers will appear on the way - something is always happening in this world, and because of this, not the longest duration (if you don’t get distracted by secrets, get ready to spend six or seven hours) does not seem serious disadvantage.

The attention to detail here is appropriate: lizards crawl along rocks and walls overgrown with vegetation, birds can always be seen and heard on the island, schools of fish frolic under the water, and the seabed is dotted with corals and algae. Sometimes, as in The Witness, you just want to look at the environment and take nice screenshots - especially since the “cartoon” visual style looks great and is unlikely to seem outdated someday in the future. At the same time, RiME is devoid of the sloppiness inherent in many indie platformers, which is usually expressed in crooked animations, a sluggish camera, or poorly placed objects.

That’s why it’s hard to believe the rumors mentioned at the beginning. RiME was the second Tequila Works project that the studio created on its own (previously there was a platformer) - and it turned out to be something truly magical. Everything in RiME works as it should: a mysterious narrative that reveals all the cards by the end, an unobtrusive platform component, and pleasant, albeit simple, riddles.

So you shouldn’t launch RiME hoping to see “The Witness with a plot” - the puzzles here are much less inventive. Rather, the game will appeal to those who have pleasant memories from the ICO, who have fallen in love with Journey, and who were able to cope with the controls in The Last Guardian in order to see the ending. Here you won’t have to struggle with anything: the main character deftly and relatively quickly climbs onto ledges and platforms, jumps where the player wants, and reacts to commands without ever causing irritation. And the puzzles are just nice bonus, which does not interfere in any way during the passage and does not seem out of place.

RiME is one of those games that you want to recommend to friends and acquaintances, but it is very difficult to explain the reason for the delight. At first, it seems like a bright and perhaps even banal fairy tale - there have already been many games about a hero who solves problems on an island. But almost immediately, Tequila Works gives the impression of something much more: it surprises after the very first steps, pleases the ear with an amazing soundtrack and delights the final chapter.

RiME rises above many other story-driven platformers recent years. This is an unforgettable adventure that can easily be put on par with the work of Team ICO.

Advantages:

• an intriguing story with a great ending;
• colorful locations and great attention to detail;
• amazing musical accompaniment;
• a large number of secrets, including new costumes.

You should definitely try the new adventure game Rime from the developers from the Spanish studio Tequila Works. This amazingly colorful story will allow you to spend a couple of evenings in an unforgettable fairy-tale world, take your mind off everyday worries and relax your soul. The game was released simultaneously for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC platforms, so anyone can try it out and touch the beauty.

I told you about the Tequila Works studio not so long ago in a review of an unusual detective game about time travel. From the very beginning of Rime's development (the game was originally called Echoes of Siren), the studio was plagued by problems with financing the project. This is understandable: none of the publishers was ready to invest money in a little-known team. Even though in 2012 the Spaniards released very cool game Deadlight exclusive to the Xbox 360 console, Microsoft refused to finance their next project, deeming it unsuitable for its audience. At this moment, luck smiled on the developers and Sony decided to support them, expressing a desire to make the future game an exclusive of its new PlayStation 4 console.

It would seem that this is happiness! A lucrative contract was concluded with the publisher, money was received for development, but that was not the case. The game's delivery deadlines were constantly missed for various reasons, and at some point Sony producers simply refused to further finance the developers. Tequila Works management again had to look for suitable publishers, which eventually became Gray Box and Six Foot. It was decided to abandon exclusivity for PS4 in favor of the simultaneous release of the game for three major gaming platforms. As a result, Rime was born only four years after it was first shown at a Sony press conference in 2013. A little later this summer the game will also appear on game console.

The game begins with a nameless boy waking up on the beach of a picturesque island. The protagonist can’t remember how he ended up here, so he has to reconstruct the picture of what happened in his memory, collecting fragments of memories scattered across five huge locations (it was decided to abandon the original idea of ​​a completely open world), and also, if possible, leave the island and return home. Visually, the game is strongly reminiscent of Jonathan Blow's recent puzzler, which I told you about last year, as well as the work of Japanese animation genius Hayao Miyazaki. The abundance of bright colors makes your head spin: sun-drenched meadows, azure ocean, golden beaches, pink mountains in the rays of sunset. The artists at Tequila Works have created a truly memorable and enchanting world. You can even print out the frames from Rime and hang them on your wall – the game is so beautiful.

In terms of gameplay Rime reminded me a lot of the series The Legend of Zelda. Largely thanks to the wonderful puzzles, which in essence are not so difficult (although, depending on who you are), how exciting they are to solve. Most of the puzzles that the main character faces are based on the play of light and shadow, as well as various optical effects. For example, at some point you will come across a golden sphere, by rolling it along a round groove you can control the position of the sun in the sky (the game has a full day and night cycle). Your task is to create certain shadows on the wall from the contours of surrounding objects, and as soon as you reach the goal, a door will open in front of you leading to the next part of the location. From time to time you will have to stand on special pedestals and look through a small hole at the world, putting different objects into the required shape directly, like in The Witness. Once the puzzle is completed, it magically transforms the reality around the main character.

The main character’s voice also helps him solve puzzles and interact with the world around him. The boy's screams and singing resonate with certain objects and mechanisms, bringing them into action. For example, to illuminate a dark room, you can shout at a dim lamp, which will light up brightly, as if powered by the voice of the protagonist. A huge jug blocking the path will shatter into hundreds of fragments if you shout at it well - such is the merciless resonance. But the main thing is not to forget to shout at the various statues that you will meet on your way. These figures, as if carved from malachite, activate doors, elevators and other useful devices that help you move further through the location. Sometimes the strength of a boy’s voice is not enough to activate several statues at once, and in this case special resonator spheres come to the rescue, increasing the volume of sound.

The world of Rime is densely populated with various animals and insects. Wild pigs frolic in the grass with their piglets, seagulls scream in the sky, and nimble geckos run along the rocks. At some point, the main character meets a little red fox, who helps him overcome obstacles on his way and, like a GPS navigator, leads the boy through the labyrinths of ruins, caves and thickets. Companion characters in Lately are becoming more and more popular in video games, and I personally think it's a great trend. By becoming attached to a virtual creature, the player feels an even closer connection with the events unfolding on the screen. Don't think that the game is a joy ride, because in addition to adorable animals you will also meet dangerous creatures, for example, shadows that drain the life force from a boy, or a giant bird of prey with a skull instead of a head.

The music in Rime is simply amazing. It miraculously harmonizes with what is happening to the main character of the game, enhancing the atmosphere and making you fall in love with this fantastic world even more. At some moments there are gorgeous vocals performed by Mirella Moran and Silvia Cofreces. The soundtrack is composed by David Garcia. The piercing music of Rime instantly envelops the player and carries him away with it. The sound in the game, however, is in no way inferior to the musical accompaniment and perfectly emphasizes what is happening on the screen. I recommend playing with good headphones so as not to miss a single “touch” of the rich sound picture.

A mysterious island full of mysteries, incomprehensible mechanisms and strange creatures - all this is painfully reminiscent of the work of Japanese game designer Fumito Ueda, who gave us the games ICO, Shadow of Colossus and The Last Guardian. The developers from Tequila Works do not hide the fact that they were inspired by other people's games. However, Rime does not yet reach the level of Ueda's work. The game is good, and in some places even very good, but the developers from the Spanish studio still have room to grow. Sometimes the rhythm of the game slows down greatly and the player has to perform routine tasks of searching, for example, several objects scattered throughout a spacious location. This somewhat blurs the generally wonderful atmosphere. Fortunately, there aren't many moments like this in Rime.

I would consider poor optimization to be a serious disadvantage. At times it seemed to me that in open spaces the game seemed to slow down quite well, which was expressed in the jerky animation of the main character. I got the PlayStation 4 version of Rime, so I can't say anything about other platforms. However, owners of the PC version of Rime reported that the game's performance was negatively affected by the built-in Denuvo anti-illegal copy protection system, which is quite voracious in terms of computer system resources. The developers promised to remove the protection from the game as soon as pirates crack it. Well, the hack happened five days after the release. To the credit of the developers, it must be said that they kept their word and now the game is distributed “in its pure form” without any anti-piracy add-ons.

Pros:

• A deeply emotional story told without a single word.
• It's impossible not to love the amazing visual style of the game.
• Incredibly picturesque and carefully designed locations.
• Puzzles using visual and auditory mechanics.
• Great music and very atmospheric sound.

Minuses:

• Lame optimization leads to frame rate drops.
• Most of the puzzles are too simple.
• Some may find the game too short.

Before us, of course, is one of the most beautiful games 2017. Rime does not hide the fact that it wants to be like other famous works. But she does this not by blindly copying other people’s ideas, but by trying to introduce gaming industry something from myself. The touching story of a boy exploring a fairy-tale world full of mysteries and dangers will definitely stick in your soul. I don’t know about others, but I just relaxed, admiring the incredible landscapes of Rime, the artists of the Tequila Works studio did such a great job. The picture is complemented by wonderful musical accompaniment, turning the game into a real work of art. Starting with this review, I would like to abandon the point rating system. From now on, I will simply tell you about the pros and cons of the game, and also give a recommendation for purchasing it, or advise you to stay away from it. As for Rime, this is the very case when the game is worth trying, even if you are infinitely far from such entertainment.