Recently I played RiME for the first time. It’s a game that has been around for 3 years now – recently having just celebrated it’s 3rd anniversary in May – and I am surprised that a game that has so many great reviews has slipped so far under my radar and I hadn’t played it until now.

If you don’t know what RiME is, it’s an indie puzzle adventure game that follows the story of a young boy travelling through a world of varying degrees of emotion and difficulty as he navigates through the 5 stages of grief.

The Soundtrack

Before I get into the gameplay, I want to give some focus to the soundtrack. This game has one of the most amazing soundtracks I’ve come across in a game, especially for a smaller indie title. The music is suited to each level perfectly and it is so emotive that you will feel everything the boy is feeling – you’ll feel scared when he’s feeling scared, you’ll feel sad when he feels sad, and you’ll feel content when he feels content. When I was playing, I used my Beats headphones rather than my Turtlebeach headset and I have to say that was the best decision. My Beats have such a high quality of sound and it really elevated the gameplay experience by making the soundtrack super immersive. If you play RiME, I highly recommend you play with a high quality headset or headphones because it honestly will enhance your experience.

The Artwork

The Gameplay

As I mentioned, this game navigates through the stages of grief, giving RiME 5 levels. Some levels are longer and harder to get through and others are quite short and easy, but it is all an amazing journey through denial, anger, bargaining, sadness and acceptance.

We begin the game as a young boy stranded on a beach. This chapter takes you through a journey filled with vibrance mixed with some mystery surrounding something that it seems you want to acknowledge but you also want to ignore. It is a beautiful beginning to the game and completely captivates you as you find yourself needing to continue through the story to get answers to who this boy is and what has happened to him to make him wind up alone on a beach. The only thing that I found annoying is that there was no tutorial or any kind of prompts to know what to do, so you’re kind of left wandering around trying to figure everything out on your own… which I suppose is conjunctive to the game as it is about navigating through the 5 stages of grief, and when you are going through that there isn’t really any guidance or rules to follow – just like in life you are left to figure it out on your own.

This was my least favourite part of the game… it was all about working through anger, but for me it was filled with fear. Why? I have a fear of birds and the fact that I was being hunted throughout this entire chapter by a giant angry bird was terrifying. Apart from that, this chapter was artistically an amazing part of the story. The change in colours and sound from the first chapter to this one really helps to convey the appropriate emotions and it really sets the scene for how the game is going to progress through the various emotions to come.

Side note: I got some Spirited Away vibes from these dark no-face figures. They show up throughout the game in varying ways, but they are always super creepy.

This chapter was a much needed refuge from the scary bird in chapter 2. Again, the artwork in this chapter is absolutely beautiful. It did start off a little confusing and irritating and had some intense Legend of Zelda Lost Woods vibes, but once the initial maze puzzle was solved it was a rather enjoyable chapter.

This chapter evoked some serious feels. It wasn’t challenging in the form of puzzles but it was challenging in the form of emotions – you could just tell that something intense was coming. This is by far my favourite chapter in the game. The visuals and soundtrack together evoked some serious emotion and I could really feel what the boy was feeling. I’m so happy I used my Beats headphones for this game because it really added that extra element of immersion into this chapter, and because I could hear everything it meant I could feel everything, and I am not ashamed to say that I cried my way through this chapter.

This chapter is short and simple and has the biggest plot twist I have ever experienced in a game. I won’t say anything about it because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t played it yet, but the small details in this chapter are huge in tying the whole game together and once you realise what is happening you’ll be shattered and in absolute awe of this devastatingly beautiful game. I cried so hard through this chapter, and I’m even tearing up thinking about it as I write this.

In conclusion…

If you haven’t played RiME before, I highly recommend you do – not only is it a good game to sit back and chill with, it will take you on a journey you never thought possible with a game.

I rate RiME: