Rue Valley Review: A Great Story Backed by a Great Art Style

The concept for Rue Valley sounds interesting. You’re caught in a time loop, your choices matter, and you’re surrounded by individuals with complex and painful pasts just waiting to be uncovered, all in an effort to unravel the mystery surrounding the time loop.

And so, I tucked myself in for almost 15 hours to get to the bottom of things, and even then, there’s still loads to discover. So here’s what you can expect from Rue Valley, a narrative adventure game brought to us by newcomers Emotion Spark Studio and seasoned publishers Owlcat Games Ltd.

What is Rue Valley About?

You play Eugeune Harrow, a man with a shattered past and mind. A recent incident has driven you out into the desert, where a psychologist, Dr. Finck, has agreed to help you put the pieces of your mind back together.

But as you approach 8:47, it all resets, and you’re left to find out why.

It feels like a point-and-click adventure game, with very few controls to speak of. You can play the entire game with only your mouse if you so wish. So if you’re more in the mood for an intense action game, you can safely pass on this one.

You get to explore Rue Valley and its interesting inhabitants, at least until 8:47, each evening, pretty much without any pressure. Get into a car accident? No worries, the time loop will save you. Got shot? Again, don’t fret, the time loop will save you. No stakes here.

Only, as you slowly build a bond with our protagonist and the cast, the stakes do emerge. Do you really want to remain stuck in this time loop forever? And so, it’s up to us to dig ever deeper into the lives of those we find ourselves surrounded by, desperately looking for some way to free ourselves from this loop.

That, in a nutshell, is Rue Valley. Plenty of lines are voice-acted, some aren’t, so prepare for plenty of reading. For a book guy like me, however, that feels like a bonus.

Is Rue Valley Actually Good?

Let’s talk bugs, first and foremost. The game does have a few, but they are relatively minor in nature. Once, I may have hit continue too fast, and I got stuck in a scene without any way to escape. The auto-save feature, thankfully, saved me here, so nothing was lost.

Here and there, you may find a minor error in the writing, and sometimes, when Eugene puts his hood up, the hood disappears, along with the top of his head.

In a game of this nature, such small bugs bothered me little, and so they don’t detract from the experience, personally.

The art style is gorgeous, and it made an impression on me right from the start. Every scene and character feels carefully and passionately crafted, lending itself to the powerful story at play here.

As for the story itself, it’s solid. I can’t say it’s life-changing, but it holds up pretty well and easily engaged me for the 15 hours it took to reach the ending. It’s definitely a game meant to be played slowly, meant to provoke thought with the conversations and stories you uncover throughout your time in Rue Valley.

There’s ample depth here, and anyone who values deep thinking will have an invigorating time in the valley. I must warn you, the story feels very heavy at times, taking some dark turns. It’s carefully done, but there could most certainly be some triggers here. Tread carefully.

The biggest negative here is how linear the game is. It didn’t feel all that linear in the beginning, as you just begin to explore the loop. It felt like there were countless options and that it would take time to pursue them all. Before long, however, you’re set on an almost pre-destined path where you don’t have all that much wiggle-room.

Not that that’s a major flaw or anything, it just would have been nice to enjoy a little more freedom of choice. Things began to feel a bit bland, especially when I got stuck for a while, just driving the same routes to explore different options. It would have been great if we had a skip button for the travel scenes.

But all in all, it’s a great narrative game, and I can recommend it to fans of the genre.

Should you play Rue Valley?

As mentioned, if you’re a fan of the genre, heck yes, give it a go. As I’ve also mentioned, it’s a game meant to take your time with. If you want to speed through games because there are so many and so little time, maybe this one won’t fit your vibe. But if you like to explore deep themes, take your time on games, and read a fair bit, Rue Valley will delight you.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time, even though I had to rush it a bit for this review. But if you take your time, you’ll almost certainly enjoy the experience.