First Impressions | Rime PS4.

 

 *SPOILERS*

Rime became free on PSN plus a few months ago and from the get-go I wanted to play it, it's one of those games that look simplistic yet beautiful at the same time and I knew how captivating it would be just by the look of the trailer and streams I have seen. Rime is about a little boy who has been washed up on an island which has a huge giant tower in the center, as you start running/ walking around the island you come to realise that you're not alone and a magical fox appears who guides the little boy, whilst guiding him there is someone in a red cape but whenever the little boy gets close this red-capped person is always too far away to reach.

Throughout the game the little boy starts to realise how he got onto the island and remembers that he and his father were at sea together, now what I want to say at this point is although this is a first impressions post it means I haven't finished the game but I have watched it streamed a few times now so I know what the story is about and I have always wanted to play the game for myself to experience it properly. Now back to the game! When the little boy and his father were out at sea there was a storm and because of the storm, his father ended up going overboard and from what the little boy remembers he tried his best to save him even by grabbing hold of his father's cape by the red part but it was no use the waves took him away leaving the boy with only the red part of his fathers cape which the little boy wears in his father's honour.

Whilst on the island, he comes across a number of puzzles and in order to go any further in the game these puzzles need completing, I really enjoyed doing them they really tested me at some points but once I got the hang of what I needed to do they became more obvious to me. As the game goes by the boy goes through different areas on the island these areas represent the five stages of grief so you can imagine now who he is grieving for and once he learns to accept he has no choice but to let the fox go that has been guiding him. The thing I loved about this little fox was how beautifully animated it was and the connection between it and the little boy, it reminded me that he needed a spirit animal to guide him to where he was meant to go.

The game as a whole is about grief and if done the right way a game can work out really well, take Heavy Rain, for example, it's one of those games that takes you on a journey showing you how a man will do anything to save his child, this game is kind of reverse (yes I know they are completely different styles but I'm comparing the aspects between father and son) where a little boy is trying his best to reach his father but in the process doesn't realise he is actually going through the different stages of grief. But what we soon come to realise is that his father is alive and we see the story from his point of view and learn how his little boy lost his life. 

Some may say this game is too short for them as it only has five main levels but if you walk around and take in the beauty of the game you can make it a little longer, all in all its about 10 hours long but less depending how fast you get through the puzzles and how quickly you play games in general, Rime is beautifully put together, the surroundings remind me a lot of the game Journey which is always a great game for any game to be compared to. Although I haven't completely finished the game I found it engaging and fun and full of mystery, personally, this is a game I think can capture the hearts of a lot of people, it stands out for me because of the artwork and how easily the story flows.