We’re back with our “Let’s Talk About…” series! Check out the previous chats here.
Let’s Talk About…: A game made in the last five years
Okay! I’m always up for talking about Dragon Age: Inquisition! I can talk about that game a lot!
No? You all are tired of me talking about Dragon Age?
Okay! I’m always up for talking about Mass Effect! Let’s talk about Mass Effect: Andromeda! I can talk about that game and that series a lot!
Oh. I’m doing it again, aren’t I?
Okay! Let’s talk about RiME!
I’m honestly not sure why people aren’t talking about this game more. I went to my local GameStop and they didn’t even have the game for sale. Ever. No promotional materials, no empty spot on the shelves where it should have sat.
I looked online. No one seemed to be talking about it. It got the slightest amount of hype before being dismissed as little more than an homage to games that came before. As a puzzle-adventure game that has a style and theme reminiscent of Shadow of the Colossus, ICO, Journey, and any given Zelda title, I can see why it might come across as having less than a small amount of intrigue to keep a player’s attention.
But… I can’t stop playing it. I’ve been thrown into a world (almost literally. The main character washes up on shore), given no explanation, and then been shown a great, big, beautiful island paradise to explore.
Oh, and there are these adorable little pig things.
There is hardly any explanation, and yet the game somehow feels natural to play and allows the player to explore, even down to pressing every single button everywhere until something works. There is an occasional prompt around incredibly important items the first time, but then the player is left to learn, retain, and explore. Each of the puzzles builds on the skills previously learned, and so I can see some of the upcoming puzzles being quite complicated.
After wandering aimlessly and shouting at things in the game (again, literally), I met a mysterious figure who vanishes into thin air when my character approaches him. I have an inkling as to who the figure might be (in a macro sense), but that doesn’t mean I’m not having fun finding out how we’ll get there and how the story will unfold.
I also met a little fox friend who also appears to have some special powers, who acts as a gentle guide later in the game, happily bounding ahead in each new area and waiting for you to figure out all the puzzles.
It’s fairly short as far as games go; I think HowLongToBeat puts it somewhere around ten hours. But, like we know from Journey and Shadow of the Colossus, it’s not the amount of hours in a game that matter, but the amount of game in those hours.
Have you played RiME? Have you even heard of it? What is one recent game that you’d consider a hidden gem? Or, what’s your favorite game from the past five years? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you soon!
~ Athena
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No Rime or reason
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Haha very punny!
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I’ve been reading about Rime for ages (in Edge, mostly) and i’m looking forward to playing it – waiting for the Switch version though. To me it seems like the reason it hasn’t got more hype is perhaps because it is difficult to describe what it actually is. You make it look very cool though!
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Thanks for dropping by and commenting! (and for the follow) Glad you’re going to give it a try! It’s sort of like Journey in that regard. It’s sort of difficult to describe, but it well worth the experience!
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Good to know 🙂 Thanks for following my blog too, looking forward to reading more from you in the future!
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I got this game at a sale yesterday! It’s 30% off in GOG, and I think it was on sale at Steam or the Humble Store. I still haven’t played it, but I think I’m going to like it a lot. I’ve had a thing for friendly fox companions since I read The Little Prince 😛
Ugh, my memory is truly terrible, because I can’t recall a veritable “hidden gem”, but Oxenfree is a game made in the last five years that I enjoyed a lot.
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Cool! I’d be interested to see your thoughts on it when you play it 🙂 And “aww” to friendly fox companions!! 😛
You’ve mentioned Oxenfree before, and I know I’ve heard a lot of good things about it… Another one added to my list, then!! haha
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I will report back! I think I will tackle this before any long games like Mass Effect or Tales From the Borderlands.
Another new game, one that barely makes the cut because the original was published in 2012, is Kingdom (or, as I like to call it, Lothering Simulator 2012). I don’t know if I have mentioned it before, but it is so good and deceptively hard. And there is a two-player version for the Switch.
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Sounds good!
Wait wait wait… Lothering Simulator?? Where do I sign up?? haha But seriously, that sounds cool. Is it a puzzle game?
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Hmm, what a question. It’s like a hybrid between resource management and tower defense, but it looks like a platformer. The reason I call it Lothering Simulator is because the premise is “MONSTERS ARE COMING AND THEY’LL DESTROY OUR NICE LITTLE TOWN”.
The upside is that, unlike Lothering, nobody gets killed (except you, the king/queen); if your subjects get attacked they just become vagrants without a feudal lord.
I understand tower defense and resource management aren’t the most *glamorous* of genres, but I really enjoyed it. The game is challenging and the art is pretty, but there is not a lot of (scripted) story there.
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Haha well, that’s a good reason to think of Lothering.
I’m not a huge tower-defense fan (I guess I don’t have the patience?) but it’s nice that the people don’t actually die if you do a poor job. Maybe I can find an LP and check it out!
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I have yet to play Rime and while it was on my radar due to its visuals, early reviews were lukewarm so it fell off. Based on this write-up though, I might keep an eye out for it, if it goes on sale at some point.
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Yeah, I can see how some people might not really go for it, because it’s not really a “flashy” game, but what it does, it does well, and I’ve been enjoying myself greatly. If you have a chance to pick it up, I’d recommend it!
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I have been going back and forth on this as to whether I should buy it or not. The art style drew me in but there was so little about it prior to its release (at least as far as I saw) I couldn’t quite work out what it would be. Then after release I read reviews and they made me unsure so I now look at it every so often and it ends up back on the shelf. One day I might pick it up and try it.
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Thanks for commenting! Yeah this was one of those games that got a little publicity before release and then just faded away. However, I’m very much enjoying it. It takes all the good parts of a lot of games like ICO and Journey and builds on them, so to my eye it’s a worthwhile experience. When I’m done with it I’ll be posting an Interesting Case… article on it, so I hope that will help you decide whether to play it or not!
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I will look forward to that, it does sound like something I would enjoy and from what you are saying is definitely worthwhile for me. I shall see what you say in the Interesting Case article once that is posted, but it is looking like Rime is going back on my “would like to play” list.
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I feel like I’ve been hearing about Rime for ages, I was really glad to hear it was making a comeback on all platforms it went dark for a while. It’s great to hear you’re having such a good time with it, it seems so charming and intriguing. I think I’ll have to give it a look soon.
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*after it went dark
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Definitely do! I was sort of disappointed when it faded away on the internet, but it’s a solid game with a lot to offer its players. If you have a chance, I recommend it!
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I really enjoyed this game. The lack of combat was refreshing. I love more puzzle-focused adventure games like this. The atmosphere and music was fantastic. I loved the visuals and had fun with the puzzles and traversal. Thematically it was pretty interesting too. Really cool game.
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“Refreshing” is a very good word for it. It’s just a very well-done game in an aesthetically-pleasing package, and I agree that it is just an overall really cool game to play!
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I for one can never read enough about Dragon Age 😀
Never gave Rime much thought, but you make it sound awesome! It looks so charming and fun. Google has told me the Switch version comes out Nov 14, so if I’m done Dragon Age Origins AND Inquisition by then, I’ll use this as a BioWare break, haha. Also it’s made by Greybox – the people behind Dreadnought, I think.
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Haha well that’s good. Because I could blather on about Dragon Age for a good long time!
Ooo really? No wonder the boat turning mechanics are great. I mean, wait, wrong game. (haha) That’s really cool, though!
But yes, if you’re looking for a nice refreshing game between huge RPGs, I’d definitely recommend it!
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I’ve heard of it, I also don’t see many people talking about it. It looks great and I love it’s story. I definately get that Journey vibe from it. I’ll get it once it comes out on Switch. Would love to play this on the go.
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Yeah, the interwebs seems to have a fairly lukewarm feeling toward it, but it’s really a lovely experience. If you get it for Switch, let me know what you think of it!
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Haven’t made the plunge, but Rime’s been on my list. For me, it’s all about the soundtrack. The music has absolutely sold me on the game. I know reception might be mixed on it, but if I can get a game sounding like that, I’ll be pretty happy even with some troubled gameplay.
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The soundtrack is gorgeous, and I think is alone worth your time. Thankfully, I haven’t come across anything too troubling regarding gameplay, so it’s a win-win in my book!
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Haven’t heard of it, but I’m adding it now!
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It’s a good one!
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