‘RIVE’ is one of my favorite games of last decade. After thoroughly enjoying Toki Tori 2+ by chance from its developer Two Tribes, I was surprised to see them announce it would be their final game.
Its small cast of characters certainly have their quirks, and its story seems a bit disconnected at first. But then you come to understand what the game’s spaceship factory setting is an analogy for, and suddenly it becomes a very unique and special thing; one which can’t quite be emulated by just any studio, or with mere borrowed art or mechanical design influences.
‘RIVE’ is a game with very retro design, through and though – not “retro”, but the authentic kind, where the game makes the most out of its design with as few parts as possible, and never shies from serving you brutal yet astonishingly elegant challenges. It comes from people who could only possibly be veterans of their craft, making a true labor of love. Despite having only gotten into games around the fifth console generation myself, I nevertheless found myself appreciating it in a way unique from most indie games I’ve had the pleasure of playing. Poetically, RIVE did not release to huge commercial success, yet I didn’t regret buying it at launch. It’s a fairly short game with about a 6 hour campaign runtime, and I recommend it to anyone who fits the niche that it caters to.
While this Gratitude is more to praise the game itself, so far I’ve made a habit of listing songs, and so I think I’ll continue to do that here. ‘Track and Wield’ is a welcome surprise of a trip-hop tune that backs one of the slower-paced levels in the game. Much of the soundtrack works excellently in context, with many songs having dynamic variants to suit the action, but I think this one also works well as a standalone song.
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