Cleared over a year and a half since purchase! Review of Ring Fit Adventure, a fitness game made for ease of play and continuity!

In October 2019, the Nintendo Switch " Ring Fit Adventure " was released. The game, which not only allows players to literally work out as if it were a game, but also to enjoy a full-body exercise adventure, quickly grew in popularity, selling more than 14 million copies worldwide as of the end of March 2022.

The author also purchased this title during this period, and after two setbacks and about a year and a half of work, finally reached the ending of the game, so I will provide a review of the game as I look back on it again. He will explain the basics of the game, such as the battle system, the many considerations that motivate players, and how the game and training work together.

Battle system to fight demons with gestures

The most important feature in this title is the use of two of the included controllers, the Ring-Con and the Leg Band: the Joy-Con is set in each, the circular Ring-Con is grasped in both hands, and the Leg Band is wrapped around the left thigh.

The Ring Con is the most heavily used part of the game, as it is used to push, pull, and turn the Joy-Cons. However, the elasticity of the ring cones seems to ease the load considerably, and we have not experienced a single malfunction in all the time we have used them. According to the Q&A on Nintendo's official website, the spring inside the Ring Con is made of "fiber-reinforced plastic," which is also used in ships and aircraft. I learned this later, but it makes sense. It is only natural to pay attention to durability when the device is used in a violent environment, but the fact that Nintendo has put so much effort into the design is typical of the company's history of making sturdy game consoles such as the Game Boy and Game Cube.

Leg bands are used for leg exercises. Details will be discussed later, but in "Adventure," the main mode of this title, jogging is as frequent as battles. The leg bands themselves are wrapped tightly around the legs and are highly elastic, so they never seemed to break.

Battles in this work are turn-based, and attacks are carried out using "fit skills," in which full-body movements become "waza" (moves). There are four types of fit skills: "arm," "stomach," "leg," and "yoga," and each skill focuses on training the part of the body corresponding to its name. If you perform the skills you choose, you can inflict damage on your enemies. You and your enemy take turns, and if you can reduce your opponent's HP, you will defeat him.

The key point is that different types of fit skills use different muscles and train different places. To use an arm skill as an example, "Sagete Push" is a skill that trains the pectoral muscles and is a technique for slowly pressing down on a ringcon held below, while "Arm Twist" trains the arms and shoulders and is a relatively more frequent skill that involves raising the arms and swinging them repeatedly from side to side.

Although the number of fit skills that can be set is limited, it is nice to know that the combination of these skills can be decided as one pleases. Thanks to this, the user can enjoy exercises that meet his or her individual goals, whether he or she wants to build muscle by focusing on high-impact skills or to increase muscular endurance by adding more skills that require a greater number of repetitions. I am confident in my ability to use my muscles instantaneously, but my endurance is poor, so I also tried to overcome my weakness by adding skills to do more repetitions to my leg area.

Attacking with a fit skill that is the same color as the enemy's increases the amount of damage inflicted slightly. In addition to one-on-one battles, you may be fighting four or five fighters at once, so it is important to choose the right skill for each fighter. Each fit skill has a cooldown, which means that the same fit skill cannot be used consecutively. The game also has a strategic aspect to it, such as choosing which fit skill to use on which enemy and at which time. Some time ago on social networking sites, a comment was made that "I can understand the protagonist's reluctance to use special moves" in the battles of this title, and this is exactly what happened.

Enemy attacks are prevented with the "abdominal guard. Pressing the ring-con against the belly activates a shield, which reduces the amount of damage received from the opponent.

To fold on a dying opponent, for example, you choose one of the fit skills you have set up. However, the fitness skill is designed to stretch one's limits, and it is very draining on one's strength. The power of an attack with a fit skill is reduced if the attacker does not perform the prescribed movements in the correct posture, so if the attacker runs out of energy in the middle of the attack, it will be a loss. On the other hand, the other skill is easy to use and can definitely inflict damage, but it does not do much damage to begin with, so there is concern about whether or not it will be able to reduce the opponent's strength.

Both of them may fail to kill the enemy, and if that happens, our strength will not be enough. So which should we choose?　The player's choice becomes even more severe depending on physical strength, fit skills, and the situation of the battle.

When watching anime and movies, I am sometimes frustrated by the allies who are always staring at the enemy and never making a decision, but after learning about the above sentence and the battles in this work, I feel that my perception has changed a little. I guess I could understand some parts of it because I was involved in it.

Although the element of bargaining is hard work, the battle system, based on a turn-based system, is simple, and there are no complicated operations such as combo attacks or command input. All you have to do is use the fitting skill for the attribute that matches the enemy and perform the exercise displayed on the screen. Like the sturdy construction of the Ring Con, this is another strength of Nintendo's. In order to appeal to a wide range of users, this title is gentle and carefully designed so that players can fit in from day one.

Full of mechanisms to motivate players and help them keep going.

Battles that require the full use of muscles are grueling. However, this title is designed to motivate players and keep them going for a long time.

In the adventure, which is the main part of the game, players can train while conquering various stages. The game is visibly stimulating, even if only by changing scenery or solving gimmicks on the course, which is natural for a game, but that in itself is a motivating factor. Although simple, the game also has a storyline, with battles against the arch-enemy Drago, as well as the appearance of the "Master 4," a team of four who have mastered each part of the game, and a world full of ghosts, so it is hard to get bored.

The ability to easily level up is also a big plus. When you defeat enemies with fit skills, you gain experience, and when it reaches a certain level, you level up, and the pace is very fast. From the beginning of the game to the final stage, I was able to gain one level by completing about two or three stages.

The author's data shows a level of 184 at the time of clearing the stage, and as the level goes up, not only does the attack and defense power increase, but you may also gain new fit skills. The ability to easily defeat enemies will motivate you, and if you save up enough money from defeated enemies, you can buy training wear, the armor in this game. You can also buy smoothies and ingredients for recovery items. Motivation is a visible reward for the player's efforts. The cycle of effort and rewards continues.

Although it is a physically demanding game, it is also noteworthy that the game provides an environment that makes it easy for players to continue playing. For those who live in apartment complexes or often play at night and cannot make much noise, a "silent mode" can be turned on to allow jogging with a light bending of the body.

In addition, in addition to the Adventure mode, there is also a "handy," "while training" mode that allows users to work out while watching videos or TV programs to pinpoint only specific areas of the body, a feature that suits those who have little time or who have lost motivation after continuing with the Adventure.

It is a small detail, but I felt that a great deal of care was taken in the language of the narrator who helps you prepare before playing the adventure. Even if you don't have to do a series of stretches, he says, "You are going to stop 'today'" instead of "today 'too'". Words with negative meanings or images were thoroughly omitted, and thanks to this, I did not feel too overwhelmed when playing.

An exquisite system that blends game and training

The battles in "Ring Fit Adventure" are physical workouts, so naturally your body is subjected to a much greater workload than it would be playing a regular game. In the first place, we have all had the experience of starting training to get toned abs, but gradually losing motivation as we grow tired of our stomachs that don't seem to be changing.

One of the reasons why we become a three-day man is that it's hard to see visible results; you can't expect to crack your abs in three days; you're going to have to put in three weeks, or even three months, or more, of vigorous effort. And then, at some point before they see any tangible results, many people give up because they feel it's not worth the effort.

In the case of "RingFit Adventure," goals are placed throughout the game to support the motivation to train and keep players engaged until they see tangible results. This is a system that is difficult to implement in real-life training, and is only possible because it is based on a video game.

However, it is ultimately up to the player to decide whether or not he or she can continue training. This game only provides you with a variety of ways to keep going. In fact, as I have failed twice, it all depends on your own motivation.

If you look at it in that way, this film is a long road just like training in real life. However, I am sure that "RingFit Adventure" has enough ease of play in it for me to be able to finish the game after giving up twice.

I have been completely out of exercise since I became a working adult, so the load of the battles was quite heavy for me. I remember the first time I bought this title and played the adventure, after clearing two stages, my leg muscles were shaking and I couldn't move, so I couldn't play any further.

I resumed playing around the end of March this year and continued at a pace of 10 to 15 minutes every day, finally clearing the stage this month. I can say that the sense of accomplishment I felt when I finally saw the ending, about a year and a half after my first play-through, was one of the best I've ever felt playing a game. I would like to tell anyone who is going to play "Ring Fit Adventure" to keep playing at your own pace and not to overdo it.

（I would like to say this only to those who are going to play "Ringfitting Adventure" in the future.)

• Information on the game
• Ring Fit Adventure
• Compatibility: Nintendo Switch
• Genre: Fitness adventure
• Player: 1 player
• CERO: A (for all ages)
• Price: 8,778 yen (including tax)
• Manufacturer: Nintendo

© 2019 Nintendo