Ruffy and the Riverside Review: An Evaluation

Oh man, where to even start with this one? So, “Ruffy and the Riverside”—yeah, it’s one of those quirky games where you just throw yourself into a world that’s like a mish-mash of everything? Picture a bear, Ruffy, who kinda looks like one of those tiny furry creatures from Star Wars, the ewoks, with this wild ability to tweak the world around him. That’s right, the dude can literally alter his surroundings. Fun, huh? Until, well, you hit those rough patches. But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.

So, this Riverside place Ruffy’s in? Under threat from some random ominous cube… because of course, it is. I mean, when do we ever get a break from ominous cubes? Anyway—Ruffy’s gotta be the hero, collecting a bunch of letters to power up the world core to, you know, save everything. Easy peasy, right? The layout’s clever, like hub-world kind of thing with smaller areas branching off. Famously like Mario or whatever, but with more, uh, bear-centric antics?

Now, let’s talk about Ruffy’s nifty trick. Swapping stuff around or colors—it’s a big thing here. Sometimes the puzzles are like, “Hey, I got this,” and other times it’s more like, “Wait, WHAT am I doing?” Ever felt that mysterious puzzle vibe, like you’re just standing there, hitting everything, praying something clicks? Oh yeah, you get that here. Might gel with some folks more than others, but hey, that’s just life, isn’t it?

And those controls? Hmm, Ruffy’s like super fast, but steering him with precision? Yeah, not always a walk in the park. And checkpoints that make you revisit the same annoying jump or puzzle? Ugh. Who designed that part? But buying solutions with coins? Genius, sheer genius. Spared me some outbursts, gotta say.

Oh and about these puzzles… Like swap waterfall water with leaves, or turn stone pillars into wood. It’s cool but hitting up the same puzzle bit in a row? Feels like the game’s asking if you’re actually paying attention. Symbol matching exercises? Once is fine, but after two or three rounds, you kinda start questioning your life choices.

Soundtrack’s chill though, and Ruffy… gosh, this guy dances his way through troubles. The visuals? Hand-drawn vibes—simple yet vibrant. Kinda like finger-painting but professionally done. The writing tries to be funny, seems to work mostly, though the tutorial… that thing really drones on. Who’s got time for that?

All in all, yeah, it’s a fun ride—a tad bit unpolished, but lovable in that scrappy kind of way. And on the Switch 2? It runs pretty darn well. You’ve got a lot to do if you’re into that completionist scene. Sure, there’s some head-scratching moments or things that’ll have you groan, but that swapping mechanic is a blast, trust me. Ruffy’s rough around the edges, but it’s a river worth wading into.