Preview: RIN: The Lost Child [PC demo]

Developed and published by Space Fox Games, thii Indie platformer takes a dark fairy-tale approach to metroidvanias. Hearken back to classic platformers like Rayman and new age like Hollow Knight. Prepare for a sneak-peek into the dark world of magic of RIN: The Lost Child.

Our Story Begins…

RIN: The Lost Child has us following the game’s namesake, Rin, as she travels through the world to save it from her deific siblings. Along the way you will uncover stones that tell of the past, of the force that sent you here, and the destiny you have before you. Beyond these stones however, nothing is told to you outside of the opening moments of the demo.

The best way to describe the story, and really the art-style of RIN: The Lost Child is that of a fairy tale. Perhaps this will change with the full release, but until such a time comes, we are lacking in story and character motivation. Or there is potential that this game is an art-piece, one that makes more sense once you have the full picture in mind.

Colorful Chaos

RIN: The Lost Child is a platformer at heart, with exploration being at the forefront of the gameplay. You’ll traverse multiple biomes through the game, each having vastly different enemies and hazards to encounter. As you explore, there will be different obstacles in the way, and may require different approaches to overcome them. This, however, leads into one of the issues of the game. The platforming is very precise, requiring you to risk health or death if you don’t make the jump perfectly. This is an issue because everything blends together. The art-style, while beautiful and well designed, is heavily cluttered and makes discerning things difficult.

An interesting mechanic in RIN: The Lost Child the use of spell crafting. As you explore, you will come across spells, aspects, and runes. Putting these together, you will craft spells and abilities to use, such as a sword attack, magic missiles, and bombs. The modification of these spells come with runes, and they can be used across the different spells you have. However, they are not uniform, meaning that a Rune of Life, for example could decrease the cost of the cast on one spell or it could cause the spell to also be weaker in another. It can be a little confusing, causing you to flip back and forth across each spell to see what can do what.

Creative Confusion

Beyond spell crafting in RIN: The Lost Child, you also have abilities such as floating up currents and dashing midair. You find these as you explore. However, they look the same as runes and aspects with very little setting them apart. This sameness bleeds into another issue: the mana bar.

Casting spells costs mana, but if you run out of mana you can meditate and replenish it. It might be nit-picking, but this seems arbitrary to me. Another issue is the hit-box collision. The one boss fight in the demo required throwing myself at the boss until I got lucky. This was due to the boss attacking and moving even after I respawned, sometimes damaging me as I entered the closed off arena.

A Beautiful Mess

RIN: The Lost Child is a wet cat in a nicely wrapped package. With care, the cat might be a good experience. Starting out, it is unruly and has problems that need to be addressed. If the full release of the game can tell us what is going on, or fix the problems with combat, this game will be able to shine. Until then, maybe give this game a pass. Unless you’re really into the art style.

RIN: The Lost Child will be available on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S. The demo is available as part of Steam’s Next Fest until February 13, 2023.