I did a search the other day to find adventure games that are similar to Inside which is a game I consider to be one of the best games ever made. I got a lot of results back and I figured I would start with this one since it was one of the only ones on the list that was 3-D.
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What makes this game and other such as Inside so great in my opinion is that there is no backstory, there is no dialogue and there is very little in the way of any sort of writing that happens in the game. This has obvious benefits for the developer in that their game can be instantly ported to any country without extensive translation. However, this also presents a real difficulty in actually getting the point across without using words. It could fail horribly if no one can figure out what the hell is going on.
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At the start of Rime we find our character washed up on shore of a mysterious island with no indication as to how he got there or why he is there, upon exploring the island various parts of it are unlocked by locating some beacons and doing something at them in order to open later doors. The game is almost entirely platforming jumping mazes and various puzzles, none of which are terribly difficult to finish.
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The environments are beautiful and the companions you meet along the way are quite cute as well. Later on when the game becomes more dark and especially when it becomes rainy the graphics are just done perfectly, as is the music.
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Virtually none of your personal story is revealed until the end and NO, i am not going to tell you anything about that because that would be a complete dick move. Let's just say that when it does come together it is simply beautiful.
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What adventure game would be complete without an underwater portion?
Now on to the bad part about this game: It has to be one of the shortest games I have ever played. It took me only about 2 hours to complete the entire game (without cheating via YT) and that just seems exceptionally short. The game is only around $10 - $15 but when it was finally over I had this feeling of "that's it?" I also don't see much replay value in it. There are a bunch of things to find if you want 100% completion and what not, but most of those things are so tediously hidden that i think you would get bored of that pretty fast.
from the official PlayStation channel
Overall I really loved this game and was only disappointed that it didn't go on for at least another couple of hours. I also love the way that the story isn't told, a lot of it is left up to interpretation especially after you have completed the game and you think back to previous segments and have an "a-ha!" moment.
When you do die, there is no real penalty and it starts you back (with almost ZERO loading time) at a very recent checkpoint. So if you know anything about how easily friggin frustrated i get about load times, you understand that this really appeals to me.
Rime is available on all platforms and it is relatively cheap. However, due to the fact that even a reasonably talented gamer like myself will complete this game in a couple hours, I would hold off until it goes on special for just a few dollars unless you have substantially more money than I do.
I can't give it highest marks because of its exceptionally short runtime but everything else about this game is absolutely perfect.
Therefore it receives nearly my highest level of accolades with a well-deserved..
