Games
The long-awaited indie darling is nearly here; we go hands-on and speak with the team behind it.
It's been a long time coming, but finally, RiME, formerly known as Echoes of Siren, is nearly with us, and it's been worth the wait.
The indie darling was revealed back in 2013 as a console exclusive during Sony's indie presentation at Gamescom, and before that, it was even set to be a Microsoft exclusive – but developer Tequila Works has since bought back the IP, and is releasing it on both current-gen consoles, PC and even bringing the game to Nintendo's brand new Switch console.
The 35-strong Spanish studio has been hard at work on the game for years now, and while it looks a bit like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker or perhaps even The Last Guardian at first glance, there's a whole lot more under the surface of this 3D adventure title littered with puzzles. In fact, you have to look a lot further back in time to see some of RiME's direct influences, and to other mediums entirely.
"For RiME, the visuals were incredibly inspired by Joaquín Sorolla, an early 20th century painter, also known as the 'Master of light'," creative director Raúl Rubio explained. "A lot of his paintings deal with trying to recreate the breeze, the waves and the light – you can feel that everything is improved with light – it's bouncing off of all the clothes, for example."
Sorolla's bright, vivid paintings are echoed in RiME's equally bright design: the open world shows off a bright blue sky and dazzling white architecture, and as the day-night cycle moves into dusk, the game is still incredibly pretty, with gorgeous dynamic lights that show your path and hint at the direction the unnamed boy, your protagonist, needs to take.
The work of Giorgio de Chirico is another inspiration for the game, with his art work showcasing long elevated columns, sky-high towers and again, bright canvases only contrasted with deep shadows – and RiME isn't the only game that has looked to de Chirico. Many of Team Ico's games – Ico in particular – took plenty from de Chirico.
Surprisingly, Rubio tells us that Nintendo's cel-shaded Zelda title, The Wind Waker, wasn't an inspiration at all, nor was Team Ico's library either – instead, the likes of Dark Souls, Jak & Daxter 2 and indie darling Journey had much more of an impact on RiME than any other games. The mysterious figure in the red cloak featured in one trailer for the game is surely a hat tip to the latter.
"We want to make you feel like a kid, like a child. We want you to be reckless, fearless, to try things, to experiment, and if you fail, there are no consequences. You restart, you keep playing. And that was something that Jak & Daxter 2 was very good at. Wind Waker, we did not take much inspiration from, but people do make those comparisons. For the platforming, you'd be surprised, we took a lot of inspiration from Jak & Daxter 2. The animation system there is amazing, and the platforming sections were so accessible yet challenging at the same time."
RiME puts more emphasis on exploration and puzzle solving that it does combat. In fact, there's none whatsoever in the game, with your child protagonist only armed with the ability to run, jump, roll and shout – the latter of which plays into solving many of the game's puzzles. The child's voice can open doors or trigger a timer for a platforming challenge, and it's your job to find out just what a shout can trigger.
"That might be surprising for a game with no combat, but Dark Souls inspired us, as it basically has this super intelligent level design where you feel like you're in an open world," says Rubio. "But at the same time, you feel like you're lost in a sandbox, because you have all these hubs and connections, and you really feel like you're a part of a bigger world. We studied the level design in Demon Souls and Dark Souls to try and get the same similar feel. So for example, the islands in stage one and two, you can see quite far into the distance, but everything you can see is a place you can reach."
Much like Dark Souls though, RiME wants to instil emotion into you. FromSoftware's Souls games give you a sense of crushing despair and, on occasion, fear, as you scrape from battle to battle and flee from high-level encounters you know you have no chance of winning.
During our short playthrough of the game, we came upon the second stage, where one of your key puzzle pieces (a large, golden dome that's used to move the day-night cycle) is stolen by a predatory bird, and as you venture to get it back, you stumble into the bird's territory.
It can swoop down and pick you up, forcing you to restart from a nearby checkpoint. It's rage inducing, as just as you figure out a piece of your next puzzle, sprinting from cover to cover, the corners of the screen turn red, and when you think you're in the clear, the predator swoops down and picks you up, forcing you return to the checkpoint and rethink your strategy. But slowly, you learn, and sure enough you progress.
"That chapter is a stage in the game that we wanted to drive by an emotion. That's why we say the island is a character too. The bird is a bit like your angry downstairs neighbour with his broomstick hitting your floor, or like that neighbour you fear when you've accidentally kicked your football into his garden," Rubio explains.
"The egg-like dome he steals, is a bit like when you are playing with football with your friends, you kick it next door, and you have to try and get it back. To that extent your journey through the island is more like a rite of passage, where you as the player, have to discover this world, learn the rules and then you need to master what you can do in it and become a part of the world."
Though the game lacks Dark Souls' relentless combat, RiME can still seem rather daunting. The game gives you few prompts on anything; you have to figure out how to solve these problems all by yourself. Shipwrecked on this mysterious island, with nothing but a distant tower to guide you, you know just as little about the unnamed protagonist – it's as much your journey as it is his.
Using your wit and clues given inside the world, your exploration of the island is punctuated by physical puzzles you need to solve, and while some can be as simple as lighting up a few torches with your shout (sure, why not), the difficulty ramps up, and you have to take what you've learned and apply it to the next puzzle, as it gradually tests you and your resolve. Figure something out though, and you get a sense of satisfaction that's only rivalled by those times you worked out those tricky puzzles in Monument Valley or The Witness. Rubio tells us that not all of the puzzles the developers created made it into the game though.
"There was a moment where we had more than 500 puzzles in the game, but we had to cut a load. They were challenging and cool, but for some players who were enjoying the experience, some of these puzzles were frustrating – they cut the pace up. It's like 'I'm spending 45 minutes in this room, I'm still not understanding what is going on, all because someone thought they were being really clever by including this really difficult mechanic.' It's a fine and tricky balance," he tells us. "Now it's far more balanced."
Aside from small button prompts on-screen that tell you when you can grab a box, or light a torch with your shout, you're on your own – but if you're really stuck, there is a mysterious little orange fox that pops up from time to time and kindly signals the direction to go. It's natural little prompts like this in the game that really set it apart from other mainstream titles, but while Rubio and his team make it look easy, Tequila Works have felt a sense of immense pressure ever since the game was first revealed.
"We showed off the game after around six months of development, and we showed off what we had with that debut trailer. We were blown away when people were saying 'Oh yeah, nice target render, but when are you actually going to show the game?'. This was literally the game." Rubio tells us.
"We took real time footage we had at the time. We showed what we had, which was the kid moving around, jumping, we had the AI for the boars. That's basically what we showed.
"For the first [trailer], we said okay, people love it, but they're comparing it to The Wind Waker and Shadow of the Colossus, so we had to improve the messaging, because the audience think it's that and it's not. It's a game about exploring an island! So for the second trailer, we were like, okay, we've been on this for one full year now, and we're going to show gameplay. Basically we presented the game with more gameplay and features like time passing, and again, the audience was like 'very cool, but where's the game?'."
Evidently, Rubio and the rest of the team were getting frustrated, and even some of the comparisons were a little unsettling for the small studio. On being compared with the likes of The Last Guardian, Rubio had mixed opinions on it. "I mean, you take it as a compliment, but you are also terrified. They're comparing us with giants, and we're basically a tiny indie company."
Oddly enough, Rubio and the team took it on themselves to see what the game would be like if it really was what people were calling it – a clone. "People wanted it much more like Zelda, so there was a time where we gave the kid a shield, a spear and a helmet, and it felt a lot like Zelda, but it wasn't the game we wanted to make," Rubio says. If we showed this off, those people commenting before would say 'It's a Wind Waker rip-off, knew it all the time'.
"It needs to be totally true to our vision: the kid, the tower and an island. That's all. Three things," he continues.
Luckily for an indie company, there are no third parties interfering with their vision for the game. The Tequila Works team have stuck to their guns, and in buying back the IP, they're able to keep it true to exactly what they want. Although Rubio was worried what people were saying after the team bought back the IP, he tells us that it's meant that they've practically had a weight lifted off of their shoulders.
"Being more free in the end has helped us in making the game we wanted," Rubio says. As a result, you'll be able to take the game on the go with you when it launches in May, as the team have a Nintendo Switch version on the way too.
"All I can say is that we're really happy that Nintendo trusts us," Rubio tells us when we quiz him about the Switch version. "The experience and content is the same – [Australian devs] Tantalus are handling the port. We're still figuring out how to take advantage of [the Switch] however, because, well, we didn't know what the Switch would be, but it has some good features now – but we're not going to be doing anything different with it.
"We’re in safe hands, as Tantalus handled the Twilight Princess HD Wii U port," producer Remy Chinchilla adds. "We’re in contact with them, there's full communication, so if they have a problem or question, we can assist."
The road for RiME has been long and filled with twists and turns, but there's light at the end of the tunnel. Tequila Works is near the end of development, as the game is due in May, and while there's surely a few things to fine tune, Rubio and team can breathe now the game is nearly shipped.
"The team is so proud of what they've done, and you don't see that often," Rubio says. "We're basically in the process of certification, we're waiting for the first parties to say it's all done, and we're nearly ready to let people play. The team really feel like they made something special – and I think that's the indie spirit. It's not about the budget or the size, or whatever, it's about creating something that keeps your creativity independent."
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