Exnilo Studio has released a new trailer for its narrative sci-fi puzzle game Rivage just in time for its release on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. The trailer, which you can check out below, clocks in at just over a minute in length and showcases many of the areas and puzzles from the title.
One of the core things that sets Rivage apart from other puzzle-based adventure games is its time loop mechanic. As the protagonist explains in the trailer, players will find themselves waking up in the same bunk, at the same time, with all the puzzles having reset, and they must figure out the correct order of doing things and figure out what happened to the other denizens of the A.R.E.S. space station.
The story takes place in a space station orbiting an exoplanet dubbed Vesta. The planet was the subject of immense scientific interest thanks to its potential to harbor life, and protagonist Miranda is just one of many of the crew members who were aboard A.R.E.S. When it comes to gameplay, Rivage will feature many logic-based puzzles that revolve around using the time loop mechanic to find the ideal solution.
Environmental storytelling is one of the core features of Rivage, with Miranda eventually getting her hands on journal entries and other items that will further help her figure out why everyone has disappeared.
A release date for Rivage was announced back in June with a trailer that gave us one of our first hints of just how strange the story is going to be owing to the time loop mechanic. Along with solving puzzles, Miranda will also have to figure out how to fix some of the broken machinery scattered throughout the space station. However, while originally set for an August 13th launch, Rivage was eventually pushed back to its current release date.
A trailer from last month gave us a closer look at some of these puzzles, with many being complex enough to involve multiple smaller-scale puzzles that all tie in together.
Exnilo Studio has said that one of the core themes of Rivage will be the concept of isolation and the effects this tends to have on a person who is left by themselves. Various journal entries found throughout A.R.E.S. will also likely further compound the emotional toll faced by Miranda throughout the multiple timelines she spends on the space station by herself.
To help make the complicated puzzles more manageable, players will have access to the K9 system, which allows Miranda to log her discoveries and puzzles in one easy-to-reach place. Through this, players will be able to put together solutions for complex puzzles, and even figure out more of the story, since narrative threads will be easier to spot through the system.
Along with figuring out what happened to the crew members of A.R.E.S., one of the main narrative arcs will also likely involve Miranda figuring out the nature of the time loop she seems to be stuck in, and how she can escape.
