Ring Fit Adventure - Nintendo Switch

Mainly writing a review because I'm seeing some very... odd criticisms leveled at this game.First the obvious Amazon issue where people use the product review page to rate the shipping, the seller, or other various issues with receiving the product rather than the product itself. There are areas to review that and leave feedback/ratings. The product page is not it.Now, on to criticism of the product I've seen that is very strange. First of all, complaints about graphics. The graphics are fine. More than fine, it's a very nice looking game. No, it's not bouncing 8k ray-tracing at 144 frames per second with physics computed in the cloud simulating every molecule of dust in the wind, but it's a game about jogging and fighting sentient yoga mats with thighmaster powers, on the Nintendo Switch. The textures are sharp, the colors are vibrant, the animation is on point and the resolution/framerate are high and solid. Unless you simply have something against the art style, I fail to see how one could complain about the graphics here.Now the second common complaint I've seen regard the progression. Namely, things are unlocked at a very slow pace. This depends on your perspective, in my opinion. The game's adventure mode is not meant to be beaten over a weekend, but instead used to help get the player into a more fit routine over the course of several months. The total percentage of things you unlock is done at a very slow pace, yes.. I've been playing for 10 days, and have yet to unlock the skill tree I've seen in places like IGN reviews and the like. However, that's not to say I've found the unlocks to come at a snail's pace.I've been playing the game for little more than the recommended 10 minutes of physical activity per day. (Ring Fit Adventure tallies up active time separately from time spent with the game simply on) In these 10 days, I've made it to the 5th world, have 4 different sets of outfits with 2 more purchasable if I earn enough gold, unlocked 9 or 10 different smoothie recipes, and have something like 20 exercises I can equip for battle. There's also a catalog to track your unlocked things, and according to that I've only unlocked about 6 percent of the smoothie recipes.. Yeah, it'll take a long time to get 100% unlocked, but there are a LOT of things to unlock and my short sessions involve several unlocks per day.Now, the actual important thing... how is Ring Fit Adventure as an exercise game?I loved the idea of an exercise RPG as soon as I saw it announced. I did use Wii Fit U for a few weeks, but the lack of variety made it feel about as exciting as your average treadmill. It did the job, but it was hard to feel enthusiastic about playing.Ring Fit Adventure on the other hand has the RPG aspect, and while I'm not super invested in the story (so.. dragon? Magic fitness ring that talks? Strange lands and exercise equipment trying to kill me? Not chomping at the bit for the next page of the story...) the RPG style progression has me ready to continue my adventure every day. In 10 days, I've reached character level 30 and still love seeing the "GAINS!" flash on the screen, increasing my attack/defense stats.As exercise itself, it also can be more intense than you think. Currently, I'm playing on difficulty level 16. There are 30 total difficulty levels, and the main difference is in how many reps you need to do per set during a fitness battle. It also appears to change how fast you have to move during sprinting sections when running through the levels.Now, I'm not massively out of shape, but I'm a 36 year old man who was slowly melting into "dad bod" and didn't want that. In the 10 days I've been doing Ring Fit Adventure, I started on difficulty level 9 (answering a few questions about my age, weight and desired difficulty) and have slowly added in more difficulty levels when I feel comfortable. Comfortable is a relative term though, as I've been worked so hard by this game I've ended up sore.. and yes, that's with only 10 or 14 minute sessions each day.After each level, you are given the option to check your heart rate with the right joy-con's infrared camera. I've read many reviews that say it gives wildly varied readings that don't line up with reality and is thus a broken feature, but I've had much better luck with it. Yes, sometimes the reading is off but that's because I put my thumb in the wrong spot (kinda hard to get it perfect when you're exhausted) but still, it won't just spit out a number. It'll tell me the reading is having trouble, and try again. The trick? Do what the picture on the TV says. Line the pad of your thumb up with the IR camera, don't press too hard, and hold. It's easiest for me with my hand in the same position as shown on the TV, with my left hand supporting the ring-con, so I don't shake all over the place.Also, YES DRINK WATER. I don't remember sweating nearly this much from Wii Fit, but I can't go one session in Ring Fit Adventure without dripping sweat... which makes Ring saying "Your sweat is so shiny and beautiful!" all the creepier, but I digress.Overall, Ring Fit Adventure does what it sets out to do. The RPG hook is enough to keep me coming back not for the story, but for the grind. If you've tried things like Wii Fit, or other attempts to gameify fitness but simply getting fit wasn't enough of a draw to keep you coming back, Ring Fit Adventure might work for you. Defeat dumbell crabs with squats and planks!Just watch out for Ring... that thing is so into fitness, it is honestly worrisome....----UPDATE----I've continued playing, now on day 25 of the adventure. Still playing just about the 10-14 minutes a day the game gives before asking if I want to stop. In this time, I have upped the difficulty up to level 20, and I've kept it there for the last few days as certain exercises still are very difficult in but one rep set.I've also been keeping track of my weight over this time, and while I haven't seen much of a shift there, I have been noticing I'm toning up pretty well. If I actually bothered to count calories, I could really shed some fat in a hurry with this game helping me out.The game keeps track of all the exercise you've done, and I have burnt over 1000 calories with my morning Ring Fit Adventure. Of course the more difficulty you add, the more reps you have to do, the more calories you burn. However, the game also seems to still keep the 10 minute rule before it asks if you want to stop. I usually do, but sometimes I feel like I just started exercising and keep playing until I'm spent. If I do that too many days in a row, I up the difficulty.I can say for certain my abs are really toning up. I still have a bit of a belly, but you can actually see my abs under the little layer of flab. Whey protein has been a big help in making me not feel so sore, and allowing my muscles to heal and strengthen after a session in Ring Fit Adventure.Finally, as I've continued playing I've found SO MUCH MORE STUFF in the game. Doing sidequests has overleveled me on normal content, so I'm about 5 levels above the enemies I'm facing right now. That mainly means I don't have to use smoothies as often in battle, and can instead sell them for gold if I need it.There are tons of outfits to unlock, and they have different set bonuses. At level 40, the skill tree was finally unlocked and I started earning skill points per level. At level 65, the skill tree expanded, and I learned the fit skills have RANKS, and I just barely saw that 2 star ranks exist.Every time I unlock something new in this game, I get the feeling that I'm still barely scratching the surface.Oh, and also I found the tiny text on the box about how to clean the ring-con's hand grips, if they get stinky from so much sweat, they are removable (held on by velcro) and you're supposed to hand wash them in warm water with mild detergent, and let them air dry away from direct sunlight. Only says that on the box in a very tiny spot that's easy to miss, so I figured I'd add it here.

Ring Fit AdventureI’ve got about 5 sessions in so I thought I’d review the game so far. This is going to be long.Where to begin! This is more than just a game. First, it comes with a yoga resistance ring as well as a thigh holster for one of the joy cons. Each session begins with putting one joy con in the thigh holster and attaching that to your leg as well as sliding the other joy con onto the resistance ring. You also have the software. There’s a decent tutorial to get you started and on your way.I’m not going to write much about the game play, storyline, characters etc. because you can find all that and more from watching YouTube reviews of the game. In general terms, you are inserted into an RPG style game in which you are trying to defeat a muscular dragon type villain, with the help of a talking ring personal trainer. There are a lot of details, big and small, to the game, that would take for ever to write about. So I’m just going to stick to the hardware experience and why I bought it.The Hardware: 5/5This game is a terrific vehicle for showcasing the Switch’s unique hardware. It uses the vast array of sensors in each joy-con to tell the game what you are doing and where you are as you complete an exercise. Each exercise has a mini calibration before you begin. For example, the overhead press has you put your arms over your head holding the ring-con and hold that pose for a few seconds to make calibrate. Much of the game is of you jogging through the various levels and worlds. So the joy-con that’s strapped to your leg captures your movement as you jog in place. It seems somewhat accurate. There will be times where you have to high step to run through water, run up stairs, etc. So the joy con on your leg has to measure that movement to make sure you’re high stepping.The ring-con is also pretty cool. Much of the game was you, for example, pushing in the ring with both hands to maneuver the game’s menus, cycle through dialogue, selecting options on screen and so forth. It’s basically a substitution for pressing buttons*. You also use the ring-con to move through the map by twisting the rin-con left or right, lifting it over your head or moving the ring-con to face the ground. It’s also used to track arm movements as well as registering pushes and pulls on the ring-con. One other interesting feature: it utilizes the IR thing on the right joy-con to, get this, measure your heart rate. I compared it to my heart rate sensor on my fitness band and it isn’t terribly accurate. It has only given me two readings, something like 178 if I’m really working hard, or 140 for moderate exercise. I don’t believe it varies at all between those two readings. Still cool, nonetheless.*So the idea is, instead of pushing buttons on the controller to access menus, etc. you’re still doing a physical movement, in between exercises, to move through the gameplay, such as rifling through dialogue, moving through the map or menus. If you’re tired or you don’t feel like squeezing the ring-con anymore, you can always use the x,y,a,b buttons instead. As far as the left joy-con is concerned, it’s pretty much there to measure your lower body movements.The only con I have with the hardware is I’m afraid I’m going to ruin the resistance. I’m more of a strength guy versus agility. I will say this, I still get tired out doing the overhead press, but when I’m doing the downward press, the one at waist high level, it’s too easy. I’m nearly touching both hands when pressing in (squeezing in). So hooray for me I guess but I don’t want to have to buy a new ring-con.Again, if you want to know more about the game play, graphics, all of those details, you’ll get a more succinct review of that by watching a youtube video.Why I bought it:Ring Fit Adventure keeps you honest, provides manageable goals for fitness and exercising, really gives you a total workout from stretching both before and after, to working your upper and lower body as well as your core.The long and the short of it is I can’t begin to explain how well this game keeps you motivated, on track and consistently coming back to play and exercise again. It’s certainly not because of the RPG elements, its the total package. It’s a very polished tool to get in shape and enjoy doing it.Things that stand out to me:-it keeps a running timer of active exercising for each session, not just how long you’ve been playing.-It does a more than adequate job explaining each exercise, showing oyu how to do it and then making sure you’re doing it right-Again, very customizable. If it’s been too easy, it may even prompt you to ask if you want to increase the difficulty level. You can also do it manually at any time. If it’s too challenging, you can always decrease the difficulty level. It’ll at times ask or suggest you to stop, probably based off the heart rate levels. It really does stress the importance of not doing too much too early and pacing yourself.-As I’ve played more and more, I notice that certain groups of levels or worlds focus on certain movements and exercises. For instance, today I found myself doing a ton of squats and doing this one yoga pose that worked my core. Also, I've noticed the cool down stretches aren’t always the same and sometimes correspond with the previous session’s exercises. For example, if most of the exercises I was doing concern themselves with arms, the static stretching at the end made sure they stretched my arms out. In other words, the exercises and stretches have been very purposeful so far.-I really do get a good sweat going and find myself tired afterwards. I’ve always had trouble pushing myself at the gym to the point of being really tired. So I think this game does a good job of making sure your time exercising was well worth it.-although not too useful to me, but certainly applicable to young children, the game offers several varieties of tips and healthy suggestions towards proper nutrition, sleep, exercise habits and so forth that would be valuable to people who are still learning those things.Things I don’t like:-Uneven exercise reps. Due to the nature of the game, as youre battling a foe, that bad guy may be at less than full health. Okay and you choose an exercise to finish him off. There are some exercises where you switch from one side of the body to the other, like the Warrior Pose #1. Today i found myself defeating a foe before I was able to switch from the left to the right side of my body, As a result, only my left side got the workout. It was a bit uneven. Now, im sure I could have paused the game and finished the set, but I was engulfed in the game and wanted to finish the battle.-Kills your joy-con batteries. And I believe my right joy con’s battery has been used more than the left one.-Not sure of the durability of the ring-con. Like I said before, its fairly easy to push in the ring-con where my left and right knuckles almost touch. It would be cool if they could offer replacement ring-cons that have greater resistance.-only a one player game. Other people can play it, but it has to be on their own profile. Maybe they could offer some DLC that has minigames that are multi-player. Not sure howd that work.