Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson was the musical adventure that I never needed in life. It combines the aesthetic of Brutal Legend with the rhythm action gameplay of Hi-Fi Rush, blending it all in with a NES pixel overlay. The combination of all three elements breaks expectations and delivers a blast from the first second of the gameplay to the last. It’s the journey of a boy with a dream who hails from a small town, going all the way to the shady underbelly of the music industry and destroying the evil music producer. This is our review of Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson.
Old School Pixel Perfection
The visual direction feels like inserting an NES cassette and living in the glory days of pixel masterpieces, where everything came down to the details instead of shinier textures or realistic models. The game does an excellent job of setting the pixelated background with neat little details that can be found at every corner. A pixel-detailed world also makes for a fun easter egg hunt, as there are plenty in this game. From interacting with the game console in the home to seeing Resident Evil popping up, to the picture of a Prince serving pancakes.
Not a single character model shares the same appearance; all of them are unique. The details also make the characters appear better, as you can easily tell their personality by looking at their clothes. Each new town has its own set of characters scattered throughout, and interacting with them gives plenty of interesting details that contribute nicely to the overall world-building.
Another place where visual perfection hits all cylinders is during the Ultimate Attack. Each one has its own animated opening based on the instrument or weapon of your choice. I always saved the Ultimate Attack for the end of the boss fight for the cinematic finish, where I got a giant goat skull to appear in the sky, scorching the ground with roaring flames until everybody turned into ashes.
The animation here is done perfectly, and the character acts to the background of the music. All four instruments in the game have their own unique attack, and all of them cater to the theme. Personally, I went for the eight-string electric guitar for the heavy metal riff, with all things demonic. Other options include an acoustic guitar, a Bass Guitar, and a synthesizer. I switched up to a different instrument based on the mood, but the heavy metal tone of Eight String is not describable in words.
The Smooth and Heavy Flow of Music
Rhythm action games demand great music to properly balance it with the visuals of the gameplay. Fretless accomplishes that by bringing great tracks to the forefront of the screen from the theme that plays during the main menu, all the way to the final battle. The flowers on the ground also emit wind chime music, when I walk over them, which also adds to the overall atmosphere of the game. Most tracks are quite catchy; the game plays somber and calm tracks in towns, but during combat, it turns into four different tunes based on the instrument or weapon of your choice. The Synthesizer weapon will bring the charm of the 80’s music while the Acoustic Guitar plays a country tone, and the eight-string is carved from the gods of heavy metal.
The game also uses sound to deliver proper audio cues during combat. Each attack has its cue, and once I found my vibe in the game, I could easily tell the attack without looking at the screen. When the player is about to attack, you will hear one or two high notes in the soundtrack. If you press the button during the notes, you will deal perfect damage. Once the attack is over, the song transitions into the combat theme, then goes back to the enemy’s attack theme, and this all happens in the span of 5 seconds.
Music Against the Evil World
The highlight of Fretless is its intricate gameplay, as it is a turn-based rhythm-action game, where every part needs to be properly balanced together to make the game function. The team nailed it, as every part of the game genre feels present in all combat scenarios without one extending over the other. The game offers a diverse number of enemies, each with their own attack and various mechanics that never felt boring. Everything here is done on rhythm; the game also pushed me to complete the attacks in rhythm to deal extra damage. While I did have some trouble getting used to it, I soon found myself landing the perfect attacks.
The game also offers four instruments or weapons to choose from: a synthesizer and three guitars, each with its own tune and attacks. The game doesn’t put stats into everything; you can easily beat the game with the starting weapon. In terms of what makes the weapon work? It all comes down to the customizable aspect of the instrument. Adding various mods and learning new riffs even makes the starter weapon feel as powerful as the late-game unlocks. The instruments or weapons in the game are designed to cater to various music enthusiasts. Just like picking a real instrument off the shelf, you must find the instrument that speaks to you.
I did manage to keep the weapon in balance, where half of the riffs or abilities are damage-oriented, and the others are focused on adding various buffs to enemies. Everything became a walk in the park as I cleared stage after stage without any sweat. It’s one of those games you need to get to the groove to feel the gameplay in all of its glory. The rhythm of the music to the action, to the tone of the instrument, all act well together to put you in the groove as quickly as possible.
Hitting the Wrong Note
The only minor problem I have with the game is the lack of an information tab. Normally, when there are status effects, the game does show the effect details while in combat. But no such option is present to see it outside the game. You only get to see the name of the status effects during combat scenes, but the information is not available anywhere in the game menu. This became a problem during the tuning or customizing the instrument to my liking. I will always come across mods that inflict a certain kind of status effect, but each of them is presented in simple icons with no details on their mechanics.
This made installing mods tedious, as I had to find enemies to try out the effects to learn about their abilities. Here, a bibliography would have helped a lot, since the game offers six different varieties of status effects with 6 different icons with colors. While I could remember some of them, some really don’t show up a lot during the game, during enemy encounters, and I did get confused on the details.
Conclusion
What Worked:
- Addictive gameplay with deep customization
- Great selection of music
- Visual aesthetic of the pixelated game of old
- Cast of interesting characters
- Never a dull moment
What Didn’t
- Lack of detailed information on game mechanics
9/10
Some games are made with a living, breathing soul, as every part of the game feels integral. Fretless is one such game that delivers some of the best music, a cast of interesting characters, and visual narration to create addictive gameplay. It delivers a perfect game without being limited by pixelated graphics. The game excels at everything by making proper use of the genre without forgetting what the game truly is about: music.
