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What is Rime? That’s the question we have been wondering since we first saw the game three years ago. Since then the answers have been sparse, giving us only a few details about what Tequila Works’ project would become. The hints were so small that, for a while, we even thought that the game might never be released. Fortunately, we were wrong. Today we can confirm that Rime is real, because we’ve played a couple of hours of its first chapter. It is an adventure full of exploration and puzzles that has amazed us as much as we were hoping and expecting…or even more.

Tequila Works tells us that Rime was originally conceived as an action-RPG adventure with survival and crafting elements called Echoes of the Siren. However what we’ll receive in May 2017 on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC will be very different. When asked to define Rime, Tequila’s team members talk mostly about feelings, and that’s not without reason. It’s an exploration adventure in which we are a kid in an uncharted and beautiful location. We’ll discover the hidden secrets there along with him. It’s an isle full of magnificent places, creatures, landscapes, mysteries and puzzles… lots of puzzles.

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Above: The Rime re-reveal trailer IGN first published earlier this week.

“ The fox is actually an important character in Rime; he is our guide and companion throughout the adventure.

Rime is a distinct game, one in which we don’t even have to worry about fighting… because there’s no fighting in Rime. That doesn’t mean that we are alone on the island, that there are not enemies or tense moments. There’s a little bit of all that, and even more, because our main goal, at least at the beginning, is discovering what’s going on at the island and what we are doing there. In fact, the first few minutes of the game are simple but effective: we wake up on a beach after a storm, without any memories. You’ll have to explore a colorful island full of strange and ancient structures. What are you doing there? What’s this all about?

Shortly after that initial moment you realize that you are not alone, due all the fauna and flora that populate every single corner of the island. Wild boar here, forest over there… and that fox… Maybe you’ll remember that fox from the second trailer of the game. His appearance was brief, lasting only a couple of seconds on the screen, vanishing after that until the trailer that we published earlier this week (and you can watch again above). The news here is that the fox is actually an important character in Rime; he is our guide and companion throughout the adventure. It is so important that it appears on the start screen every time you play the game (this screen evolves with your progress through the story, by the way).

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“ The game is a classic adventure, with separate chapters set on different zones of the island.

And that’s another feature about Rime that has surprised us: its progression. The game is a classic adventure, with separate chapters set on different zones of the island. We played the complete first chapter of the story, which took about two hours. Within it, we had complete freedom to explore a limited section of Rime’s setting. There were lots of hidden paths and secrets but there was only one way to keep moving forward. We were told some chapters are more open, but we haven’t seen any of those for ourselves just yet.

Our first contact with Rime did the job of demonstrating its pacifist nature, to the point that there’s no weapon for the kid to use, nor gameplay mechanics that let us interact aggressively with the island inhabitants. That doesn’t mean that we are mere viewers of this “show,” however. In fact, in the very first minutes of the game you have to get some seagulls to fly and feed some boars to clear your path. It’s even possible to change the time of the day to solve some of its witty puzzles (yes, Rime does have a night/day cycle, although it’s mainly just a cosmetic issue that doesn’t affect the way you play – but if you’re curious, each cycle lasts for about 20 minutes).

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Above: Rime's original reveal trailer from Gamescom 2013.

“ There’s no dialogue, but the kid has a voice that doesn’t speak in a particular language.

During our time with the game we pulled levers, climbed cliffs, activated objects, chased boars (and were chased in return), moved some blocks… and even saw an eerie silhouette from time to time that hinted at both where to go through the island and ruins of a forgotten civilization. The narrative at this early stage of the game is light, but important enough to click with us and make us want to know more about what’s happening there, beyond the puzzles and the platforming. There’s no dialogue, but the kid has a voice that doesn’t speak in a particular language. He’ll be shouting every time you push the ‘shout’ button. Sometimes that will scare a boar, or activate an object. But generally, it will make the kid hum, creating some kind of bond with us, the players.

That bond is, in fact, what we liked the most about our first close encounter with Rime. Tequila Works has managed to create a game that intrigues and envelops you despite being a bit light on story in its very early hours. It may be its gorgeous world, the subtle immersion of its colorful universe, or the accurate way of controlling the kid, who responds just as he should. It may be all that or even more, but the reality is that just a few minutes after the opening credits you’ll put on the kid’s boots and feel connected to him while you explore the island, interact with the animals, and uncover the mysteries hidden behind the debris and the puzzles.

Juan Garcia is an editor at IGN Spain. Chat with him on Twitter at @xcast.