A wild ride with a bear and some, um, interesting puzzles.
Okay, so there’s this game, “Ruffy and the Riverside,” where you’re basically running around in this wild 3D open world. Think of it, you’re this bear—looks a bit like one of those cute Star Wars ewoks, no kidding—named Ruffy. He’s not just any bear; he can mess with the world around him, like, change stuff up. Sounds cool, right? The whole thing has this playful vibe, but eh, there are times it feels kinda clunky.
So, here’s the deal: Ruffy’s world, this place called Riverside, is about to get wrecked by some weird cube thing. Ruffy’s gotta be the hero, gather up these letters to light up this world core (whatever that means) and keep his home from going kaboom. You’ve got this big hub area and then smaller spots to explore, kind of like Super Mario 64 with the castle and paintings. You run into all these quirky characters and face some wacky challenges. Seriously, those ladders—nobody prepared me for ladders you have to climb dead-centered.
Ruffy’s got this neat trick where he grabs one thing—maybe a color or a material—and swaps it with another. Sometimes it’s super straightforward, but other times you’re scratching your head for ages. Like, when you finally solve a puzzle you’ve been bashing your brain against for 10 minutes, it’s awesome! But oh man, sometimes I was hitting stuff at random hoping it’d just do something. I guess if you’re into puzzle games, you might feel more at home here, but who knows? Could go either way.
And don’t get me started on the controls. Ruffy’s speedy but not exactly pinpoint precise. There’s enough jumping around that it becomes a pain sometimes. Especially when you keep getting sent back way too far ’cause of checkpoints. Serious déjà vu redoing those challenges again.
Got these coins, right? Spend ’em on heart containers—more life, woo-hoo—or snazzy outfits for Ruffy. But what I really liked was spending ’em to skip some puzzles. Made getting through the game smoother, honestly.
Oh, and speaking of puzzles, early on you’re like switching waterfall water for leaves you can climb or turning ocean rocks into floating wood platforms. Gotta collect those Riverside letters, you know? But ugh, some challenges just repeat too much. Like, symbol-matching puzzles are fine, but over and over? Talk about mind-numbing.
The sound and music, gotta say, they’re pretty fun, totally match Ruffy’s goofy dance moves. The visuals? Hand-drawn and vibrant, with these jagged yet basic designs. Writing’s funny, sure, but the intro drags a bit. Could use some trimming.
All in all, “Ruffy and the Riverside” is this quirky adventure, its charm winning over some quirks and repetition. Played it on the Switch 2—yep, that’s the one—and it’s packed with stuff for those who love completing everything. Frustrating puzzles sometimes? Yeah. But that nifty switching mechanic spices things up. It’s a bit rough around the edges, maybe, but it’s a Riverside I’d dip my paws into again.
