Review
Sasha here!
Rift Riff is exactly what it's advertised as. A Tower Defense game. You play a Rifter(?) that's pumping 'juice'. That's the amount of story I got from my time playing.
The game quickly gets you into the action. Introducing you to the mechanics at a comfortable pace while giving you a great deal of freedom on how you want to approach each challenge.
At the start of each level you choose which tools (abilities) that you'll have access to for that level. You have your basic tools, the small turrets that shoot slowly but cost cheap, to your mortars that work well against groups of enemies, and your snipers that have a massive range but shoot rarely.
Take a moment before each level to judge how you'll go about it because there's no switching it up once you start. The game encourages experimentation.
I felt that there were parts where I couldn't really do anything but watch as my plan would fall apart. I suppose that's part of your Tower Defense genre but I wonder if there's some way to fill that idle time? Rift Riff does give you a little drone that follows and shots enemies; which turns you into a basic moveable tower, but it didn't feel like enough. This might be something that solves itself as the levels get harder later in the game though.
Art & Music
Even though the game is very minimalist the art is very well balanced to match that vibe. The animations are smooth and the music adds a pleasant mood that nicely stiches the transitions between level, overworld, and even the menus together.
With a good variety of level concepts (with palette changes) this game definitely won't get tiring to look at.
Final Thoughts
It's a chill game. You spend most the time planning between the waves of monsters and while the waves are active you can still build towers but for the most part you just have to let the towers you planned ahead of time do the work for you.
The game overall was sort of relaxing. I'd love to sit on a large couch, sip some tea, and have this blasting it's music on a wide screen TV.
It's not a free game but if you enjoy the Tower Defense genre then maybe watch for a sale? It's $16.99 CAD on Steam right now. You can definitely spend a weekend playing this game.
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