PEGBRJE: Ryza Roads and Midnight Manor
Open-endedness all around.
Ryza Roads is an open world vehicle simulator made by Felipe Godoy, an indie developer based in Brazil. Players are anyone they wish to be, for they are a roblox-looking fellow that has found themselves on an island complete with all of the tools and equipment necessary to drive to their heart’s content.
As an open world, Ryza Roads gives players the complete freedom to simple go and explore what they wish, limited only by their bank account. The game starts with enough money to purchase an offroader Jeep, and from there it’s essentially an open world. To earn more cash to buy different vehicles, there are races littering the archipelago that have their own cash prize to be won, either by finishing before the timer strikes zero or by destroying the competition of AI. Races will fuel the vehicle up, so no need to worry about running out of gas mid race. Before each race, the game will give a ‘recommended’ vehicle to utilize, which can be for any number of reasons, but should at least be considered. The shopping cart race, for example, recommended a shopping cart; I instead joined with my off-roading vehicle and got sourly trounced thanks to the better acceleration of the cart (somehow) and the fact that they could turn better without completely losing themselves. This also doesn’t mention that I was simply too large and kept getting in to accidents with the other racers. The point is that these recommendations are meant to give hints and guidelines as to what the race is looking to focus on, and taking that in to account is wise.
Outside of races, much of the fun of Ryza Roads is simply cruising around the island in a vehicle of choice and just doing whatever one wishes. The vehicles range from sports cars to speed around the island to large busses to a freaking boat that can be driven around the waters. If the vehicle aesthetics aren’t meshing with the style, the garage is available to alter the colour to something more pleasing. It also has the ability alter the suspension, leading to hilarious moments of lifting a sports car and becoming unable to turn without flipping the vehicle (guilty as charged). The person can be customized as well, with numerous simple outfit combinations to try out, such as the top-hat route that I went.
Completely open world titles are hard to really lock down their appeal thanks to the complete freedom that it gives players. The ability to simply do whatever can be paralyzing for some, while completely liberating and relaxing for others. As one that usually falls in to the first category, Ryza Roads gives some direction with its races to allow for enough direction to appease both audiences, giving others the vehicles and the ability to just go find that sweet viewpoint and relax for a while. It’s meant to be a small title at the end of the day, so don’t be expecting some fancy realistic car builder; especially with the graphical style that it goes for. If you like driving around an island at your own pace and just chilling in the sun, this is definitely a title worth looking in to.
Midnight Manor is a collecting-driven narrative platformer made by Travis Maynard, an indie dev from the United States who also goes by ‘travm’. Players are an individual who has found themselves in a precarious position on October 31st; out in the dark with nowhere to seek shelter from the elements. Finding a house, they break in only to find an older gentleman with a very peculiar request.
The best way to describe Midnight Manor is in it’s own descriptor: a ‘collect-em-up’ of sorts. Players will be tasked with collecting certain items that are located around the manor, each set different depending on what ‘section’ of the manor the player is in. The collection of items is what drives the plot, for after completing the task the elder informs the player that they need a new task, and sends them to the next section. This means items always spawn in the same place of the house so that restarts or subsequent playthroughs don’t get confused. Players themselves have the ability to jump around the house while collecting keys in order to open doors to acquire said objects of interest. These keys are numerous and work on every door, so pathing is not a problem unless keys are dragged around and require players to find one across the manor. This does lead to some very interesting pathings that can be taken depending on whether or not this is the first time played, or if it is a repeat run. Other interactables include crates, which the player can use to stack and jump to heights normally unreachable.
This vague explanation is purposeful, for Midnight Manor is as much about the collections as it is about exploring the manor’s secrets and discovering what the elderly gentleman is actually asking of the player. Each player may become suspicious or questioning of their task at a different time; be it the bones that players are destroying, or the terrifying screech released upon completing the first task. This lack of answers is what ultimately drives the player into exploring more of the manor to find answers, even if they aren’t as clear or obvious. Secret rooms are everywhere, found by walking in to certain walls to reveal a location previously unseen. These places can have pumpkin heads called Jacks that, when smashed, give a boon to the player that they can utilize like double jump. Paths are completely up to the player thanks to the keys, so finding alternate ways of exploring can help players either speed up their time or discover things they may have simply passed by upon their first run. I keep mentioning ‘first run’ because this game fully intends for multiple playthroughs to see the multiple endings that are possible. In fact, the picture above is from my second playthrough after I stumbled in to an ending I completely wasn’t expecting; I’m talking full whiplash and ‘wait what?’ kind of unexpected.
Midnight Manor knows that it’s gameplay may get a bit tiresome if left to its own devices, so it does a fantastic job of keeping the pacing tight, the collectables to a lower number and the levels small yet interwoven. My first playthrough was over in less than 20 minutes, and with 4 endings lurking in the water there’s a great deal of possibility for what the others could be. It wants to be explored and understood, and knows the audience that it wishes to appeal to; there’s even speedrunning timers to be displayed to encourage players to see how fast they can get a single run in. With so many ways to play, I’d encourage you playing it if you like narratives that don’t say much and instead are driven by the curiousity of the player as they question what their tasks mean. Good luck!
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