A enjoyable journey with just a few Ruff patches.
Ruffy and the Riverside is a 3D action-adventure with an open world to discover and clear up puzzles in. There’s dozens of things to gather and a pleasant sense of play as you management the titular Ruffy, a bear who appears to be like not in contrast to a Star Wars ewok and has the ability to change his environment. The allure and tempo of Ruffy’s journey work properly, however there are some frustrations and jank can generally put a damper on the expertise.
Ruffy’s world of Riverside is threatened by an ominous dice that desires to destroy all the pieces in sight. It is as much as Ruffy to develop into the chosen hero and acquire a sequence of letters to activate the world core and save his house. The world is split into a significant hub and smaller areas inside it, not in contrast to Tremendous Mario 64’s citadel and particular person portray ranges. Alongside the best way, you will encounter a number of colourful characters and all method of distinctive and tough challenges–certainly one of which is the annoying ladders that normally need to be climbed proper down the center to efficiently attain the highest.
A lot of the gameplay facilities on Ruffy’s potential to soak up one materials, object, or colour after which swap it with one other. Whereas some puzzles can have extra apparent options that make use of this mechanic, others contain some (or a lot) trial and error. It is a fantastic feeling while you clear up a puzzle that had taken you 5 or 10 minutes to resolve, however I encountered a number of conditions the place the answer was both much less apparent or solely appeared after I had exhausted all of my choices and simply saved hitting all the pieces round me or retracing my steps. Like with many puzzle video games, if the design clicks with you, you will in all probability have a greater time. This wasn’t at all times the case for me, although, so your mileage could differ.
The controls can take some getting used to, with Ruffy having quite a lot of pace however much less precision. There’s sufficient platforming that this turns into a problem at occasions, and compounding failure is a checkpoint system that may generally ship you again an annoying distance, which forces you to redo the identical puzzles or surmount the identical obstacles time and again. Cash you acquire can be utilized to buy coronary heart containers to spice up your life meter or costumes to alter Ruffy’s look, however I truly preferred with the ability to spend them on the occasional puzzle answer in order that I may extra rapidly progress via the sport.
Simply to provide some context for the puzzles you encounter, among the early ones require that you just swap the water of a waterfall with climbable leaves from a close-by wall or change stone pillars within the ocean into wooden so that they’re going to float horizontally and function simpler platforms. Within the pursuit of the Riverside letters talked about earlier, you usually need to traverse a number of smaller areas earlier than you will discover the letters, and among the challenges thrown at you find yourself being easy repeats of ones you have already carried out. Being tasked with finishing an emblem matching train as soon as is okay, however having to do two or three in a row can really feel like busywork.
The sound results and music are mild and humorous, pairing properly with the humorous design of Ruffy himself, in all his dancing glory. The hand-drawn visible design of the surroundings evokes a way of each simplicity and vibrancy, with plenty of vibrant colours juxtaposed with sharp edges and primary constructions and objects. There is a good quantity of comedy within the writing, however the introduction/tutorial is somewhat verbose and might be pared down.
Ruffy and the Riverside is a pleasant journey whose allure takes priority over its jank and repetition. It performs properly on Swap 2, which is the place I reviewed the sport, and has quite a lot of content material for completionists to sink their tooth into. Among the puzzles could be irritating or obtuse, however the distinctive swapping mechanic makes for a enjoyable departure in comparison with different 3D action-adventure experiences. It could be a bit Ruffy across the edges, however this Riverside is one which I used to be completely happy to dip my toes into.
