Ruffy and the Riverside Review – An Analysis

Oh man, where do I even start? So, Ruffy and the Riverside is this 3D action-adventure thing, right? You know, open world, puzzles all over the place. You’re controlling Ruffy, this bear dude who looks kinda like those ewok thingies from Star Wars. Seriously, I have no idea why they made him look like that, but it works. He messes with his surroundings in the coolest way. But lemme tell ya, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. There’s some hiccups along the journey, and it gets a bit, shall we say, clunky. Yeah, clunky’s the word.

Alright, picture this: Ruffy’s livin’ in a place called Riverside. Totally under threat by this big bad cube. Why a cube? Beats me. So Ruffy’s gotta step up, become the hero, yadda yadda, and grab letters to save his world. The whole setup kinda reminds me of Super Mario 64 with its main hub and smaller spots. Along your journey, expect to meet a quirky cast of folks and tackle puzzles that — oh man — those ladders! Why do they make you climb exactly down the middle? The struggle is real.

Now, the heart of this game is Ruffy’s power. He can absorb and swap stuff — objects, colors, what-have-you. Some puzzles are pretty straightforward, but others? Total head-scratchers. You ever spent like, ten minutes on something only to finally nail it? Yeah. But sometimes, the solution’s so hidden, I felt like I was just whacking things hoping something would stick. Guess it’s one of those love-it-or-hate-it puzzle game feelings. Your experience might be totally different.

Oh, and controlling Ruffy? That’s another beast. Fast, but kinda sloppy on the precision side. If you mess up a jump or something, prepare to be sent back further than you’d like. I get it, checkpoints need to be there, but come on! At least coins aren’t just collecting dust — you can buy heart containers, new looks for Ruffy, or even bypass some puzzles. Gotta say, spending coins on solving puzzles? My guilty pleasure.

So, random tidbit — one early puzzle has you swapping a waterfall with some climbable leaves. Genius, right? Or take stone pillars, swap ’em into wood so they float. That felt pretty rad. But then you hit those repetitive tasks. Like matching symbols again and again. Not sure why, but doing the same thing over gets tiring.

Oh, can’t forget the sound and visuals. The music is all light and silly — fits perfectly with Ruffy bustin’ a move. The world’s drawn with these bright colors and sharp edges. Simple, yet it pops. Writing has some laughs, but dude, the tutorial? Wordy!

To wrap it up, Ruffy and the Riverside is charming as heck, even if it’s a bit messy. Ran it on Switch 2, worked fine, loads of stuff for achievement hunters. Puzzles can drive you nuts, but the swapping? Dang, what a twist to the usual 3D adventures. Janky, sure, but still, I had a blast dipping into that Riverside.