What
immediately
pulls
you
into
a
giant
bear
hug
is
Ruffy
and
the
Riverside’s
visual
style.
Character
models
heavily
resemble
the
Paper
Mario
series,
their
flatness
and
white
outlines
making
them
look
like
they’re
animated
stickers
running
around
the
world.
In
contrast,
the
environment
has
a
chunky
3D
style
that
harkens
back
to
stuff
like
Banjo
Kazooie
and
Crash
Bandicoot.
Which
makes
sense
because
this
is
also
a
simple
platformer
with
a
cutesy
lead
character.
But
Ruffy
has
a
cool
little
twist
that
makes
it
more
than
just
copy-bear.

Available
On:
PS4,
PS5,
Xbox
Series
S/X,
Xbox
One,
PC,
Switch,
Switch
2
Reviewed
On:
PS5
Developed
By:
Zockrates
Laboratories
UG
Published
By:
Phiphen
Games

Review
code
provided
by
the
publisher

Ruffy
is
your
bog-standard
kind
young
bear:
he
wears
a
cape,
works
a
job
for
his
surrogate
father
figure
where
he
plies
his
unique
skill,
hangs
out
with
a
talking
bee
and
only
talks
in
speech
bubbles
because
his
excitable
noises
are
incomprehensible
to
the
human
ear.
You
know,
the
usual
mascot
platformer
kind
of
things.

One
day,
though,
things
go
a
bit
crazy
and
Ruffy
finds
out
that
he
is
The
Chosen
One,
because
only
his
unique
gift
(we’ll
get
to
that,
don’t
worry)
can
help
defend
against
the
return
of
Gnoll,
a
giant
floating
ancient
evil
cube
thing
that’s
going
to
hoover
up
ancient
marbles
and
use
them
to
take
over
the
world.
Or
something
like
that.

Like
the
classic
platformers
Ruffy
and
The
Riverside
emulates,
the
story
is
wacky
nonsense
for
the
most
part,
although
this
one
delivers
an
interesting
twist
toward
the
end
that
might
annoy
or
delight
in
equal
measure.
There
are
some
hiccups
in
the
writing
and
the
humour
is
rather
hit
or
miss,
which
might
be
because
Zockrates
Laboratories
(this
is
their
debut
game)
is
based
in
Germany,
so
some
things
could
have
been
lost
in
translation.

Ruffy
has
a
party
trick
up
his
sleeves,
and
it
isn’t
just
his
God-given
right
to
bear
arms:
he
can
swap
textures
using
magical
mumbo-jumbo.
For
example,
a
pond
full
of
water
can
be
turned
into
lava,
while
a
tree
can
be
changed
into
stone.
There
are
some
limitations
–
not
every
texture
can
be
swapped
around,
so
you
can’t
go
turning
another
bear’s
face
into
wood,
for
example,
although
that
does
sound
like
an
excellent
premise
for
a
spin-off
called
Ruffy
And
The
Mass
Murdering
Psychopath.
Hmm,
spiritual
sequel
to
Naughty
Bear,
anyone?

Ruffy’s
unexplained
ability
to
swap
textures
around
–
as
if
he
had
access
to
the
game’s
development
tools
–
is
the
basis
for
most
of
the
puzzles.
Don’t
fret,
though,
this
is
not
a
game
designed
to
challenge
the
‘ol
grey
matter.
No,
the
puzzles
tend
to
be
simple,
enjoyable
things
that
combine
texture
swapping
and
basic
platforming.
For
example,
a
waterfall
becomes
a
ladder
if
you
texture
swap
the
water
with
some
nearby
vines,
or
some
concrete
bricks
in
your
way
can
be
smashed
if
you
swap
them
to
wood.
Maybe
you’re
in
a
tournament
and
need
to
do
some…creative
alterations
of
the
scoreboard
to
ensure
victory?
Although
the
game
struggles
toward
the
end
with
finding
new
ways
to
use
the
swap
ability,
for
the
most
part,
the
puzzles
and
platforming
mixture
is
fun
and
well-balanced.

Ruffy
also
has
the
totally
unique
power
of
punching
things
in
the
face,
but
combat
in
Ruffy
and
the
Riverside
is
about
as
important
as
the
side-salad
option
at
a
McDonalds.
He
can
perform
a
butt-slam
too,
a
move
so
incredibly
useful
that
I
used
it
roughly
three
times
throughout
the
game,
and
even
briefly
forgot
about
it
entirely
while
trying
to
solve
an
optional
puzzle
where
buttock
smashing
was
the
answer.

It
wouldn’t
be
an
old-school
inspired
platformer
without
a
metric
butt-load
of
stuff
to
collect,
and
yes,
that
it
a
real
unit
of
measurement
–
it’s
exactly
one
half
of
a
bear
butt
less
than
a
metric
ass-load.
Not
to
be
confused
with
an
imperial
ass-load,
which
is
a
unit
of
measurement
only
found
in
Star
Wars.

The
point
is,
outside
of
battling
Gnoll
and
saving
the
world,
there’s
the
far
more
important
job
of
doing
everything
else,
leading
to
a
pretty
fun
Platinum
trophy,
in
my
case.
There
a
few
dozen
tiny
cute
critters
to
be
found
hiding
inside
trees,
in
barrels
and
every
other
place
they
shouldn’t
be.
There
are
the
special
stone
monument
where
you
have
to
discover
a
pattern
in
the
environment
and
then
replicate
it
on
the
monument.
There
are
butterflies
hidden
everywhere
to
find.
Hell,
there
are
even
a
couple
of
Mario-esque
sections
where
you
jump
into
a
wall
painting
and
the
game
briefly
turns
into
a
2D
platformer.

While
you’re
doing
all
of
this,
you’re
also
listening
to
an
absurdly
bouncy
soundtrack.
One
track
in
particular
is
stuck
in
my
head,
bouncing
around
and
refusing
to
leave.
I
do
have
a
small
nitpick:
the
game
doesn’t
always
smoothly
transition
from
song
to
song.
Otherwise,
though,
this
is
a
killer
soundtrack
that
sounds
both
modern,
and
old-school.

One
aspect
of
the
game’s
presentation
did
leave
me
unsure
whether
it
was
a
deliberate
homage
to
the
classics,
or
an
actual
development
issue.
You
see,
Ruffy
and
the
Riverside
is
not
a
completely
open
world.
It
has
a
couple
of
areas,
and
the
way
it
divides
those
areas
is…interesting.
For
example,
there’s
a
section
that
links
the
main
town
to
the
first
major
hub,
and
it’s
very
obviously
a
transitional
zone,
similar
to
what
you
might
find
in
the
old
games,
designed
to
allow
the
game
to
load
everything
in.
Other
times,
you’ll
simply
walk
into
a
big
black
void
before
the
next
chunk
of
map
pops
into
existence.
And
in
one
area,
there’s
a
massive,
flat
image
of
the
next
section
of
the
map
that
you
walk
into
to
trigger
the
loading.
Part
of
me
wonders
if
this
is
all
a
nod
to
how
the
old
platformers
handled
loading
screens,
but
another
part
of
me
thinks
this
is
an
actual
technical
limitation.

Ruffy
and
the
Riverside
cleverly
ape
classic
platformers
while
delivering
a
gimmick
that
makes
it
feel
fresh
and
modern.
In
fact,
its
whimsical
nature,
built
around
an
intriguing
gameplay
mechanic,
gives
it
classical
Nintendo
vibes.
The
story
sets
up
for
future
adventures,
and
considering
this
is
the
developer’s
debut
title,
they
are
future
adventures
I
would
love
to
see
made.