Rime (Nintendo Switch) Review

A lot has been made of the technical difficulties Rime on Nintendo Switch has, especially when played in handheld mode, and indeed the adventure does look extremely ropey when compared to its PC and other home console counterparts. In fact, even in docked mode it looks muddier than ever before and suffers from some chronic slowdown as the expansive world tries to load on the fly as the lead character runs around. What happens, though, is that once the initial shock of how shoddy this port first appears, its overall charm, impressive puzzles, and the gorgeous soundtrack, all help to push negative thoughts further and further to the back of your mind, eventually to the point where it all gets forgotten about. After all, this is a joy to play through, and although presentation played a big role in its original charm, its gameplay also grabbed people's attention a lot.

The story is a poignant one, with a young boy awakening on a mysterious island after a torrential storm, completely alone. Lost and confused, with only a random fox giving some form of guidance, you try figure out what happened and where to go next in this land overgrown and overrun by flora and fauna, respectively. There are no lengthy cut-scenes with exquisite exposition, nor is there any speech to support any narrative development - this is purely an ocular experience for the most part, with players drawn in by the landscape changes around them, soaking in the atmosphere of the world, despite the technical drawbacks of being on Nintendo Switch.

This is not, despite appearances, an adventure like Nintendo's Zelda series, instead coming across as more of a puzzle-platformer contained within the trappings of a grand adventure. This is where the fox comes in handy, since initially it can be far too easy to get lost in the largescale world, forgetting what trigger was required to move onwards. Once realising that the fox is a substitute for an on-screen marker, things become far clearer and the slow-paced action becomes far more engaging. The boy has a limited array of moves, only able to climb, jump, and shimmy along certain platforms, yet the restrictions are actually to the betterment of the brainteasers featured, with careful thought required for getting to the bottom of them.

Rime is not about levelling-up, killing enemies, and the like, instead focusing on careful conundrum cracking, such as light-based triggers to open doorways, finding special keys dotted around, guiding re-animated structures all over the place, block manipulation, uncovering special areas to create shade and hide from a monstrous flying beast, time shifting to take advantage of day and night patterns, shining bright lights on shadowy creatures that try to suck the soul out of the lead character, and other such intriguing shenanigans. There is also a wealth of hidden items to dig out during your travels that give insight into what is actually happening during the escapade, making careful exploration imperative, and, with the surroundings and soundtrack being so sublime, it truly is a joy to wander around the long-forgotten ruins.