One day when Rabi wakes up, she finds out that a lot has changed since she went to sleep. Follow this crazy story of a bunny-turned-human and her fairy friend as they go through a whole lot of madness to rescue Miru!
Rabi-Ribi is a Metroidvania bullet hell game about Rabi, a bunny who has become a human. She was kidnapped to another area along with Miru, and in order to rescue Miru, she’ll have to find a lot of friends throughout the island. It’s not long after she gets back to the island that she meets up with Ribbon, a fairy who is trying to find rescue her friends.
When you look at Rabi-Ribi on the surface, you see some fairly skimpily dressed characters. Most of the game involves this, though you only really get to see it when you see the full character portraits. Even if the characters really aren’t wearing very much, the art style of the portraits is quite well done. This also includes the occasional CG images that come up when you complete certain events and bosses. When you aren’t looking at the full portraits or CG images, the game is designed in a cute, pixelated way. The only time I found the pixelization to look a bit odd was when you had the “larger” sprites for characters or monsters, as these just ended up looking pretty poorly stretched out.
The story is pretty easy to follow in Rabi-Ribi, though you’ll generally only get it in occasional chunks. In order to rescue Miru, you’ll need to work with your master (Rumi) to activate the Stele. However, to do this you’ll need the assistance of other magic users. You’ll be given some hints as to where these magic users are, though it’s your job to actually try and find your way to them. Once you do finally find them, a boss fight ensues. As you progress through the game, Rabi and Ribbon even start commenting with stuff along the lines of “This is going to be another boss like usual, huh?”.
Rabi-Ribi has a LOT of boss fights. There’s one for every town member you can find (23, if you exclude Rabi), a boss for each time you use the Stele, and some of the town members even have multiple fights! These boss fights are when the bullet hell part of this game really come in. All of the bosses have certain patterns that will involve flashing lights of hard to dodge objects, and you’ll need to use either your trusty hammer or Ribbon’s magic to defeat them. Even with playing the game on Novice, there were some bosses I just struggled against. Thankfully, if you die enough, the game will take pity on you and will offer you a buff to help you through the fights.
Like every good Metroidvania game, there are collectibles to find. A LOT of collectibles. Scattered throughout the island are helpful skills and boosts. These will help you survive, and will help you deal with enemies. Take care, though, as bosses do power up based on how many items you have and from how far you are in the story! If you’re looking to go for the ultimate challenge, you could always aim for the 0% item achievement on the highest difficulty. All I can say to that is good luck!
Something I absolutely loved about Rabi-Ribi is the soundtrack. It’s upbeat and catchy, and all of the boss themes sound quite fantastic. The speed of the music also reacts to certain debuffs you might have, so if you’re slowed then the music will also slow down. The music also changes to a different speed when you’re underwater, which becomes noticeable when you leave the water and the same track is playing.
Is Rabi-Ribi worth playing? Absolutely. There’s a massive post-game section you can do, as well as Speedrun and Boss Rush modes that you can unlock. There’s a large number of achievements to aim for as well, if you’re feeling daring enough to get them. The game is also an exceptionally solid Metroidvania title, and the addition of bullet hell parts also works out quite well. There will be times where bosses will want to make you throw your controller through your monitor, but if you just keep at it, your persistence will pay off. On top of all that, the artwork is quite good, and barring a few minor grammar errors, the writing is quite good as well. I can easily give Rabi-Ribi a high recommendation, and definitely suggest that you should check it out if you’re at all into Metroidvania’s or bullet hell games.
Rabi-Ribi Review Score
4.5/5
Rabi-Ribi is available now on Steam.
I would like to thank Sekai Project for providing me with a copy for review purposes.
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