A enjoyable trip stuffed with amassing junk.
Facet-scroller Rusty Rabbit stunned me. I hadn’t heard of this recreation earlier than reviewing it, nor was I aware of the work of the anime author Gen Urobuchi who wrote the story, but it surely made a powerful first impression that carried by means of all the way in which to the tip. The story saved me , however the exploration and motion of the gameplay was simply as vital to holding me going, and collectively they added as much as one of many higher video games I’ve performed shortly.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future the place people are gone and rabbits have change into sentient, the world of Rusty Rabbit may be very well-developed. You play as Stamp, a grizzled outdated rabbit who explores the ruins of Smokestack Mountain, amassing junk to promote or construct issues with, and alongside the way in which you meet an entertaining forged of characters who assist you to piece collectively the intricate lore of the historical past of the “giants,” a.okay.a. people, and the way the world turned what it’s now. The story could be nearly overwhelming at occasions with how a lot of it there’s, and whereas some cutscenes are absolutely voice-acted, different sections are simply giant blocks of textual content, which could be cumbersome to get by means of. Regardless of that, the sport by no means wore out its welcome for me, and saved me occupied with unraveling its mysteries proper up by means of the conclusion.
The gameplay of Rusty Rabbit entails Stamp in his mech, exploring the depths of the mountain, breaking by means of blocks and combating off mechanical rust beasts that infest these areas. That is very paying homage to the SteamWorld Dig collection, the place digging additional down permits you to improve your mech with new capabilities and weapons that in flip help you go even deeper. The junk you accumulate could be bought, however can be essential to craft the brand new weapons you purchase blueprints for alongside the way in which, and the XP you get from digging will get you ability factors to be spent on a really deep ability tree. Collectively, there’s an actual sense of development and empowerment that adjustments the way in which you play.
Like a great Metroid-style recreation, Rusty Rabbit’s large world permits for lots of exploration, however there’s a selected path it’s guiding you down. Going off the crushed path will get you extra junk and expertise, and frequent fast-travel factors make it comparatively painless to return to areas when new skills help you discover additional. The map does a great job of telling you the place issues are and what obstacles are in your approach.
Stamp has 4 important weapon sorts that every have their benefits and weaknesses. The drill and hammer are largely used for environmental puzzles and traversal, whereas the gun and sword are extra centered on fight. Whenever you discover blueprints for brand spanking new and higher variations of every of those it seems like a giant deal, and every of them can be upgraded with plasma cores you discover all through the world.

Fight in Rusty Rabbit largely feels superb, with completely different enemy sorts requiring completely different methods, which helps maintain issues contemporary. There are additionally some attention-grabbing bosses with distinctive patterns, however generally they will really feel too straightforward, the place in case you’re leveled up correctly and are available with some therapeutic gadgets, you possibly can kind of simply stand there and hack at them they usually’ll die earlier than you do. Alongside the way in which you unlock the power to struggle extra highly effective variations of them, which could be attention-grabbing, in addition to randomly generated ranges which might be useful if you wish to degree up or accumulate sure sorts of things.
With a giant world to discover and a compelling story stuffed with twists and turns, Rusty Rabbit provides a fairly meaty marketing campaign that stays attention-grabbing all over. The gameplay loop and upgrades are very satisfying and maintain issues contemporary alongside the way in which. Whether or not you’re aware of the artist’s work otherwise you’re model new to it like me, I absolutely advocate Rusty Rabbit.