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 not not like a Star Wars ewok and has the ability to change his environment. The attraction and tempo of Ruffy’s journey work effectively, however there are some frustrations and jank can typically put a damper on the expertise.
Ruffy’s world of Riverside is threatened by an ominous dice that desires to destroy every thing in sight. It is as much as Ruffy to grow to be the chosen hero and accumulate a sequence of letters to activate the world core and save his residence. The world is split into a significant hub and smaller areas inside it, not not like Tremendous Mario 64’s fort and particular person portray ranges. Alongside the best way, you will encounter a bunch of colourful characters and all method of distinctive and tough challenges–one in every of which is the annoying ladders that normally should be climbed proper down the center to efficiently attain the highest.
A lot of the gameplay facilities on Ruffy’s means to soak up one materials, object, or shade 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 great 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 every thing round me or retracing my steps. Like with many puzzle video games, if the design clicks with you, you will most likely 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 a number of velocity however much less precision. There’s sufficient platforming that this turns into a difficulty at occasions, and compounding failure is a checkpoint system that may typically ship you again an annoying distance, which forces you to redo the identical puzzles or surmount the identical obstacles time and again. Cash you accumulate can be utilized to buy coronary heart containers to spice up your life meter or costumes to alter Ruffy’s look, however I really preferred having the ability to spend them on the occasional puzzle answer in order that I may extra rapidly progress via the sport.
Simply to present some context for the puzzles you encounter, a few of 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 will float horizontally and function more practical platforms. Within the pursuit of the Riverside letters talked about earlier, you usually should traverse a number of smaller areas earlier than you could find the letters, and a few of the challenges thrown at you find yourself being easy repeats of ones you have already performed. 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 gentle and humorous, pairing effectively with the humorous design of Ruffy himself, in all his dancing glory. The hand-drawn visible design of the surroundings conjures up a way of each simplicity and vibrancy, with numerous shiny colours juxtaposed with sharp edges and primary buildings and objects. There is a good quantity of comedy within the writing, however the introduction/tutorial is a little bit verbose and might be pared down.
Ruffy and the Riverside is a pleasant journey whose attraction takes priority over its jank and repetition. It performs effectively on Swap 2, which is the place I reviewed the sport, and has a number of content material for completionists to sink their tooth into. A number of the puzzles will 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.
