Rusty Rabbit Review

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I have a soft spot for side-scrolling games starring mascots that are platformers. Additionally, I enjoy exploring intricately designed Metroidvania games with hidden treasures and mysteries waiting to be discovered. Sometimes, these two genres combine, resulting in exceptional video game titles like Hollow Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest, and Yoku’s Island Express, which often fly under the radar.

Looking forward to discovering another charming indie Metroidvania game, Rusty Rabbit caught my attention right away. The appealing mechanized combat paired with exciting power-ups, and the prospect of enjoyable, destructible maps to explore suggested a combination that could lead to an unforgettable gaming journey.

Despite NetEase having a mixed reputation with some debatable mobile games and impressive console titles, their latest game wasn’t an automatic success. Nitroplus, known for creating visual novels, brought even more uncertainty to the mix, as their past work didn’t suggest they had the abilities needed to create a high-quality Metroidvania.

Despite having numerous questions unanswered, I remained optimistic enough to dive into this thrilling escapade to understand the mystery behind it. However, after more than 20 hours, Rusty Rabbit would not be my first choice among the bunch.

A Hare Of Narrative Intrigue

At first glance, Rusty Rabbit appears to be a game with limited narrative depth and world-building complexity. The initial presentation of narrated text over static backdrops might give the impression that there’s not much happening in the world of this cranky, carrot-smoking, walnut whiskey-drinking bunny.

Rusty Stamp is a scavenger who dives into the depths of Smokestack Mountain every day, sifting through and gathering as much junk as he can find to bring home. What makes this interesting is that the junk seems to communicate with Rusty, just like he communicates with his mechanical companion, Junkster, whom he takes along for each expedition.

As the narrative progresses, Rusty encounters, rivals, and works alongside a fresh group of treasure hunters in town, known as the Black Berries. This secretive squad is headed by a mysterious figure named Nether, who plans to delve deep into the mountain’s core. With his curiosity piqued by the prospect of discovering hidden riches beneath the earth, junk-dependent Rusty can’t resist joining in on the adventure.

As our four-legged friend journeys on, he gradually discovers enigmatic notes concealed within puzzling machines that were abandoned by a long-gone human civilization. Some of these communications appear to have been penned by Rusty’s estranged child. This revelation fuels his determination to find out where she might be now.

Here, you’ll find a narrative presented through restored messages and brief dialogues with the townsfolk. It adopts an intriguing blend of post-apocalyptic, science-fiction, and religiously themed elements, all while incorporating fascinating tidbits about rabbits, which adds an entertaining layer to your ongoing exploration.

…The title unexpectedly struck an emotional chord in me, quite unlike anything I’ve felt before, given my previous encounters during the early hours.

It’s fascinating to discover that these rabbits have evolved into highly intelligent, thoughtful creatures. Learning about their insights on the world, their individual challenges, uncertainties, and what propels them to rise from their burrows each day is quite intriguing.

Throughout my gaming session, I was surprisingly touched by how effectively this game tapped into my emotions, something I hadn’t anticipated based on my initial hours of play. It’s clear that there’s a lot of emotional depth to it, and everything culminates beautifully at the end, wrapping up the story in a way that feels very satisfying.

24 Carrot Presentation

When Rusty isn’t raiding Smokestack Mountain, he typically hangs out in a snowy town that functions as the central hub. This place is brimming with activity and offers various establishments to explore. For instance, there’s a diner where you can engage in social interactions similar to Persona’s links with the locals. There’s also a bar where you can discover additional quests, a general store for restocking your equipment, and a church where you can delve deeper into the beliefs of its questionable followers, some might even say cult-like.

In town, everything seems snug and comfortable, and all the bunny friends you meet are soft, fluffy, and stylishly designed. Even Rusty, with his gruff persona, has various fur designs to discover, as well as options to refresh his mech’s appearance with new paint jobs. If you appreciate cute visuals, this game is filled with plenty of them.

The dungeons can appear somewhat conventional due to their adoption of a chunky, Steamworld Dig-inspired architecture. This design choice tends to restrict the passageways and routing, creating narrow, right-angled corridors that not only hinder movement but also detract from the visual charm of the game’s aesthetic.

Indeed, the consistency in theme persists, and exploring the freshly introduced biomes, numbering 15 in total, offers an intriguing visual experience upon initial discovery. From fiery lava-filled forges to verdant subterranean forests, and unexpected story-driven pit stops along the journey, anticipation of what lies ahead never fails to excite overall.

In this setting, the soundtrack truly shines, varying from bluesy rock tunes to catchy tracks reminiscent of Persona. To fully appreciate each track, I adjusted the music volume in my preferences. Additionally, it helped block out Rusty’s rather annoying, repetitive dialogue that can become quite grating after a few hours of gameplay.

Technically speaking, my experience ran flawlessly without any crashes or significant drops in performance. Occasionally, enemy animations switched abruptly, lacking smooth transitions which felt a bit jarring, but these instances weren’t severe enough to warrant special mention. In summary, Rusty Rabbit appears to run smoothly on various hardware and seems well-optimized for efficient performance.

Hopping, Skipping, Jumping, Digging

In simpler terms, Rusty Rabbit isn’t often able to reach the level of exciting gameplay that you’d find in the side-scrolling Metroidvania genre or the dungeon-crawling exploration and loot collecting of Steamworld Dig.

In Rusty Rabbit, the video game style is to initially equip you with all your skills, only to have them taken away for you to reacquire as you advance. Unfortunately, most of this game isn’t particularly enjoyable during this initial stage. The movement feels extremely slow and awkward until you acquire rocket boosters after several hours. The platforming and wall climbing are troublesome and unsatisfying before getting the jetpack ability, which is introduced towards the end of the game.

Initially, only hand-to-hand combat using your melee digger arm is allowed. Later, as you progress, you’ll gain access to a twin-stick gun, sword, and hammer. As you discover more blueprints for weapons, enhanced versions of each type will become available, offering increased damage potential and the ability to open new paths.

In this game, none of the actions seem very captivating except for the swordplay. You can expect to predominantly wield the sword throughout the game as you face off against robot creatures that are largely similar and tend to reappear frequently.

Every weapon possesses unique capabilities that function similarly during use, and offers skill upgrades enhancing attack power or combo length. However, these skills rarely result in significant game-altering effects.

In a Metroidvania game, it can be acceptable for there to be generic battles and enemies if the exploration aspect is exceptional. However, this isn’t true for Rusty Rabbit as its exploration falls short.

Indeed, regained weapons and skills do allow you to traverse previously unreachable areas on the maps, though usually without any significant rewards other than perhaps a new blueprint fragment or an old car part that Rusty might fix up in his spare time.

In a Metroidvania game, discovering areas that you couldn’t reach before is a key aspect of the experience, but in this case, it doesn’t feel particularly rewarding or essential, so the thrill of advancement from acquiring a new power-up is rather limited.

At the final stage, there’s one particular dungeon that demands your digger arm to reach a specific level before moving forward, which seems less like a challenge and more like an artificially imposed obstacle meant to make you grind for several hours in the game’s optional, monotonous, and seemingly random dungeons that you’ll eventually gain access to.

I was clearing blocks just because I felt the obligation to.

I found Steamworld Dig and its follow-up incredibly enjoyable, and I had an irresistible urge to clear every single obstacle on the map before moving on to a different region. This repetitive yet engaging task was something I eagerly took up, knowing that I’d be rewarded with exciting loot or cash to buy new equipment.

In this case, I was cleaning up the blocks out of a sense of duty, and the usual compensation was some junk I wouldn’t normally find useful, except for reselling it repeatedly to acquire additional healing supplies.

Too Soft And Cuddly

It might be beneficial for specific games to function as welcoming gateways into genres known for their challenging nature. For instance, consider a game like Another Crab’s Treasure, which belongs to the Souls-like genre and offers numerous challenges for those seeking them, but also features a more inviting design with multiple difficulty settings. This allows players to gradually acclimate themselves to the game’s action at their own pace.

Rusty Rabbit is incredibly simple to play, which might seem appealing for newcomers to the Metroidvania genre. However, despite its simplicity, the game lacks depth and variety in other essential aspects of the genre. Consequently, you’ll find that most enemies (apart from bosses) can be defeated with a single hit.

Nothing here is ever really going to make you stop and think at all.

For the initial 10 hours, the gameplay primarily involves traversing from Point A to Point B, essentially clearing dungeons. There are side paths to explore, but with a quick glance at the map, you can usually predict your destination to finish the dungeon, and then proceed towards the exit.

Barriers occasionally halt your advance, and you need a security pass to proceed to the following area of the map. Interestingly enough, these passes are always found very near where you are, giving the hunt for them a sense of monotony and tedium.

The second part of the title may offer additional labyrinthine layouts with a sprinkle of fresh challenges, but these are no more intellectually stimulating than kindergarten-style block moving or switch flipping tasks for door opening and rotation. You won’t find anything particularly thought-provoking here.

In my extended 20+ hour gaming session, I can honestly assure you that I perished just once while playing this game, and it was all thanks to a particularly tricky mini-boss with a move set that included some powerful but poorly signaled attacks. Despite eagerly seeking a challenge at that stage in the game, getting hurt from unpredictable, seemingly random attack patterns doesn’t feel like an accomplishment; it just leaves me feeling annoyed instead.

The most challenging aspect was that I managed to defeat this one difficult adversary by amassing healing supplies, absorbing each blow from the boss while repeatedly striking with my sword, again and again. Eventually, it turned into a grueling battle of Damage Per Second (DPS) where I could emerge victorious due to having enough remaining health points to persevere.

As I slip on my headphones and tune into a favorite podcast, I find myself slipping effortlessly into the groove of the game, almost as if my fingers are moving on autopilot, guiding me smoothly through yet another captivating map.

Frankly speaking, throughout my gaming journey, I’ve never tasted the bitter pill of death once. No falls, no hazards, no bosses or dungeons teeming with grunt enemies could claim victory over me. While I’m proficient at side-scrolling platformers, I wouldn’t call myself a seasoned Metroidvania player. The lack of challenge posed by this game and its boss fights is something that leaves me questioning the design choices made in the development process.

At its core, it’s a straightforward Metroidvania-style dungeon crawler that can feel rather routine as you progress. To be honest, I don’t mind the appeal of a game that helps me get into a groove and lose myself in the gameplay, especially when I’ve got a podcast on and I can let my mind wander while I auto-pilot through another level. It’s refreshing to take a break from thinking too much and just enjoy the simple pleasure of this type of game every now and then.

Despite Rusty Rabbit offering little in terms of innovative gameplay and design, it can still be considered a harmless, easy-going, casual game that may serve as a pleasant distraction at times. Whether or not it’s the right choice for you ultimately depends on your personal preference and gaming mood.

Closing Comments

Rusty Rabbit isn’t a poorly made game, but it lacks complexity within its genre. It falls short in providing any substantial challenge, iconic bosses, engaging puzzles, or satisfying progression. However, the narrative is rich with lore, intriguing, and emotionally resonant by the end. The adorable rabbit characters add a delightful charm to the game during those moments when you find yourself immersed in map-clearing, dungeon-exploring, mindless enjoyment. Nevertheless, the game extends beyond its welcome after more than 20 hours of playtime, and there are superior choices if you’re seeking a more user-friendly experience within the Steamworld Dig-Metroidvania hybrid. Despite its length, it’s affordably priced, so it’s not entirely dismissible if you’re searching for a leisurely side-scrolling game to pass some spare time.

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2025-04-14 10:10