Looking for a PC game similar to RiME, except a little bit lighter on the hardware requirements

[ninja666]

Here I am, once again with a game request because for people on reddit's suggestion board, a suggestion that meets specific criteria seems to be too big of a concept to grasp, and 4chan's suggestion board barely has anyone replying, and the people who reply just keep giving me very unfitting suggestions, so you're my only option now. I hope you can help me out.

Since I haven't been able to find my perfect open world game, I decided to branch out a little and try something else. After some searching, I found this game, inspired heavily by Ico, called RiME [http://store.steampowered.com/app/493200/RiME/]. I liked Ico very much back when I played it, so RiME's ideas and presentation seemed very appealing to me. There were interesting locations, there was platforming, there were puzzles, there were enemies that added to the challenge by posing an actual threat (even moreso than in Ico because in RiME you have to avoid them and run from them, instead of beating them up with a stick) - just a really cool-looking game in general, whose creators really seemed to know what they were doing. Seeing as I was meeting the minimum requirements for it, I decided to give it a go, expecting to be able to play it relatively smoothly, even if with the graphical options turned down a bit. Turns out I was wrong, and the performance on my PC was terrible. I was getting sub-30FPS on the lowest settings, at 720p and it just kept getting worse the more I progressed.

Seeing that there was nothing that could be done about it, I just refunded the game, and now I'm looking for an alternative that offers the same kind of experience, but is lighter on the hardware. Any ideas for such a game? Here's what I want, in more detail:

- 3D Puzzle Platformer
- Third Person Perspective (can also be First Person, but I'd really prefer it to be Third Person; it helps with platforming more)
- Colourful, cartoony artstyle
- Fantasy setting
- Large, highly explorable areas
- Whimsical atmosphere
- Decent story
- Relatively easy puzzles
- Very minimal, or no combat
- 6+ hours of gameplay

Alternatively, if it turns out this request is too niche and there actually are no games that fit, an action adventure title of the more regular kind (i.e. with more combat in it, rather than focusing solely on puzzles) fitting the criteria given, albeit with a more calm, relaxing, and serene tone to it, rather than the usual Epic Quest To Save The World (TM), would also do. Basically, something like that 2008 Prince of Persia game everybody hated, except without Ubisoft's shitty, anti-consumer practices.

My PC's specs:

- AMD Ahtlon II X4 @2.8GHz
- 4GB RAM
- AMD Radeon HD7770 1GB
- Windows 7 64-bit

Thank you in advance for the help.

 

[DoPo]

The Talos Principle [http://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/The_Talos_Principle/] is not an exact fit but it is close-ish, I suppose. It's also an amazing game. It's a puzzle game that is very reminiscent of Portal - you get a "tool" for a puzzle and then the next one introduces more complexity, next one introduces a new tool, then you get to use both tools in a puzzle, etc. So, yes, this also means that the game is segmented into different "chambers" for each puzzle.

What is really awesome is that there are "meta-puzzles". These were seriously amazing - you might have to break a puzzle chamber or sometimes several in order to solve them. For example, you may need to get a laser from one chamber pointed at a gap that looks at another one. Other times, you may need to "liberate" some equipment from one puzzle in order to use elsewhere. The challenges were really satisfying...well, most of them. Some were quite bullshit, but a very small amount.

At any rate, here is how it fares against your list:

- 3D Puzzle Platformer

There is some platforming but not that much. It's definitely a puzzle game, though.


- Third Person Perspective (can also be First Person, but I'd really prefer it to be Third Person; it helps with platforming more)

You can switch between first and third person. The latter...doesn't look great. Really stiff animations and such - it's definitely a first-person mainly game.

- Colourful, cartoony artstyle

It's not cartoony, but it's definitely colourful. It looks absolutely gorgeous.

- Fantasy setting

Eh...sort of? It's definitely not "reality" but probably not the fantasy you're thinking of. It's more sci-fi, I guess. You wake up and you are some sort of robot. And apparently God is giving you instructions to go and solve puzzles.

- Large, highly explorable areas

Not entirely sure what you'd class as either "large" or "highly explorable" but the game is basically separated into large segments - each is tailored towards a different civilisation - Egyptian, Greek, etc. This affects the look and feel of the area (architecture and such). Each of these segments is a large-ish and contain the puzzle chambers. You can definitely explore as there are some secrets around. The meta-puzzles definitely need you to be familiar with the area and all the puzzles in it, too.

- Whimsical atmosphere

I'd say not really. Although it can definitely look like it at times.

- Decent story

I think it's good. The devs had a cool solution to piracy - the cracked game worked fine until you got to the tower (basically, the end of the game) when the elevator would just stop. A lot of players then went and bought the game, so they could see the end. So, it's at least engrossing.

- Relatively easy puzzles

Not gonna lie, some of them are hard. The cool thing is, you don't need to solve all of the puzzles. If one is proving too difficult, you can leave it and do another one. You need to solve around 80% of the puzzles, if I remember correctly. Although, solving more will unlock different endings. The meta-puzzles are for that, but you don't really need them, really.

- Very minimal, or no combat

There is none.

- 6+ hours of gameplay

I think it's at least twice that, if you don't want to solve everything.

Also, the game should run fine on your PC. At least according to the specs listed on the Steam page. I know it has a mobile port as well, so I don't expect it to be THAT demanding, overall.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I immediately thought of Journey, and then remembered that it's a playstation exclusive. Too bad really because it sounds like it's EXACTLY what you're looking for.

Perhaps you'd like Quantum Conundrum. It's sort of a cartoony portal-style puzzle game. You shift dimensions and play around with gravity. Can't comment on the story because I never got around to playing the game, it just caught my eye years ago whenever it first released. Your computer shouldn't have trouble playing it.

Why not Psychonauts? There's combat in it, but that's not the primary focus, and it more or less hits all your other points.

 

[ninja666]

The Talos Principle [http://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/The_Talos_Principle/] is not an exact fit but it is close-ish, I suppose. It's also an amazing game. It's a puzzle game that is very reminiscent of Portal - you get a "tool" for a puzzle and then the next one introduces more complexity, next one introduces a new tool, then you get to use both tools in a puzzle, etc. So, yes, this also means that the game is segmented into different "chambers" for each puzzle.

I had a look at it. Looks cool, but I don't think it's what I'm looking for. It's definitely more focused on puzzles and such, and, well... it plays more like Portal, as even you yourself said. It seems very compact overall, allowing you to just solve puzzles and nothing else. RiME was also linear, but the areas were huge, and while you definitely had to solve whatever problems the game threw at you to progress, you didn't have to do it right away. You asked about how large the area would need to be for it to "count" as large. Let me elaborate, basing it on the very first area from RiME.

You end up washed up on a beach. The game immediately positions you facing a tower you have to climb. You don't have to climb the tower right away, though. You can also turn yourself 180 degrees and go into a cave behind you. Said cave will lead you to an opening that will allow you to climb a cliff, where you'll pick up a collectible. From there on you can jump back to the beach and proceed towards the tower, or turn yourself around once again and see that there's an entire forest behind you you can freely go into, explore, interact with the environment, and find some more collectibles. All of this is entirely optional and doesn't affect the story in any way, but it's a fun thing to do if you're into that sort of thing, which I definitely am. And the later areas open up even more than that.

Apart from that, again, the only challenge in Talos Principle seems to be puzzles. In RiME you get puzzles, platforming challenges, enemies you have to sneak past, and even (from what I've read) boss "fights", where the solution to killing him is solving a puzzle that will keep damaging him.

So yeah, Talos Principle doesn't really seem to be what I'm looking for. Still, thanks for the suggestion regardless.

Perhaps you'd like Quantum Conundrum. It's sort of a cartoony portal-style puzzle game. You shift dimensions and play around with gravity. Can't comment on the story because I never got around to playing the game, it just caught my eye years ago whenever it first released. Your computer shouldn't have trouble playing it.

As with DoPo's suggestion - looks cool and fun in its own way, but it's not really what I'm looking for. It focuses too much on puzzles, the environments are tiny and the progression is highly linear. The setting is wrong, too - I'm looking for a fantasy (or sci-fantasy) games. Thanks regardless.

Why not Psychonauts? There's combat in it, but that's not the primary focus, and it more or less hits all your other points.

Already played it.

 

[CaitSeith]

I haven't tried it personally (I just heard of it and I'm immediately adding it to my Wishlist), but this one seems interesting: TRI: Of Friendship and Madness


Maybe one day you will find what you're looking for (because most 3D platformers not focused on combat are trying to be Portal clones).

 

[ninja666]

I haven't tried it personally (I just heard of it and I'm immediately adding it to my Wishlist), but this one seems interesting: TRI: Of Friendship and Madness

It's a tad bit too surreal for my taste, but looks interesting nonetheless, and it seems close enough to what I want. I'm gonna wait for more suggestions for now, but I'm definitely picking that one up if nothing better shows up. Thank you for the suggestion.

(because most 3D platformers not focused on combat are trying to be Portal clones).

I'm aware of that. That's why I've given you an option of suggesting regular action-adventure games that are more focused on combat as well, as long as they fit atmosphere and level design-wise. These are bound to be more common, right?

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

RiME reminded me of the early Tomb Raider games. Except those are a lot harder, less relaxing and have combat.

Actually I can recommend one game - ABZU. It's like RiME except underwater. It's a great game. I liked it better than RiME.

 

[ninja666]

Actually I can recommend one game - ABZU. It's like RiME except underwater. It's a great game. I liked it better than RiME.

Looks good. I'm reading it's incredibly short, though. The average time spent with the game by the people who claim they beat it in their reviews was roughly 3 hours, which means there isn't really all that much to it in the first place. I think I'm looking for something longer and richer in content than that, to be honest. I don't suppose you can think of something like it but longer?