Rating: 4.5
Author: Katsutoshi

The famous Collectathon games are much loved by the platform game audience. Whether 3D or 2D. Many of them were the basis of many gamers’ childhoods and to this day there are games that influence younger audiences.

Ruffy and The Riverside comes with a similar proposal: collect lots of items, search every corner of the scenery and get rewarded. But how does the rest of the game fare?

Unique Introduction to Puzzles, Characters, and Quirky Storytelling in Ruffy and The Riverside

The game already starts in a very peculiar way, which is to teach you the mechanics of copy and paste. You can copy the “properties” of something in the scenery and, where possible, paste it somewhere else. At the start, we learn that we can turn waterfalls into plant walls to use as stairs. This is a kick-start to open up the player’s imagination so that they can solve the puzzles that lie ahead.

Ruffy and the Riverside - Gamohol Game Review

You control Ruffy, the character after whom the game is named, and his faithful companion Pip, a bee with very funny answers and questions that make the dialogues fun. The dialogues tell a simple story, but it’s enough to give you a direction for your adventure.

After going on a little adventure at the request of Eddler, a mole who lives in search of gem crystals, our hero ends up accidentally freeing the great enemy of the plot. This enemy steals the strange items scattered around the world, including the sign that gives the region its name. This causes a huge mess around the world. The sign has its importance, and although it’s silly, the dialogue makes it all the more fun.

Stunning Visuals, Fun Music, and Nostalgic Game References

Visually, the game mixes 3D scenery but the characters are 2D in a style like the sprites in the classic Doom game. There are very detailed animation frames but the character itself looks flat, just like in Paper Mario. And speaking of which, be prepared for a lot of references to famous games.

The music is very good too, a mix of a tropical theme with some cool hip-hop. I’ve yet to hear a song in the game that made me tired, so I consider that a big plus.

Smooth Gameplay, Responsive Controls, and Fun Exploration

And in terms of gameplay, the controls are simple. Ruffy can walk, punch, run, jump, climb objects and roll, use Pip as a glider and beat the ground in the style of the mustachioed plumber’s games. But here’s to praising how fast, precise and responsive the game is in its movement and level design. The gameplay sometimes changes perspective and still remains solid.

The camera also works very well, throughout my journey I didn’t find a moment when it got in my way. The game’s difficulty isn’t great either, but I think the order here is to explore and have fun. And speaking of exploration, there are lots of things to collect and puzzles to solve, which can be a real treat for fans of the genre.

You won’t get lost in Riverside

As the game also has a somewhat linear progression, there are places where you won’t be able to go initially, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get lost, as the game has a map and an objective identifier. You can explore as much as you like and then go to the objective when you feel it’s necessary.

This is good for those who are going to broadcast the game and it even helps to prevent the audience from getting bored of seeing the same scenery over and over again.

It also has to be said that the game is not dubbed, although the characters make sounds and it is recommended that the audience read the dialog. But this can be extra fun, as the streamer can play around with different voices for each character.

The game is also localized into nine languages and can be played on any hardware configuration, even a portable running Steam!

STREAMER SCORE

Performance
Streamability
Audience Engagement
Replayability

4.5

Summary

Ruffy and the Riverside has great levels of charisma and fun that I recommend to everyone. It’s certainly a light-hearted experience but one that will make you think about playing some more and maybe even collecting all the butterflies, Etoi and coins in the game.

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