FlightyFelon Games’ FREERIDE is one of the more interesting demos I’ve played. It first caught my eye while browsing through TIkTok, and I saw a video by the developers describing it as “an action RPG that’s not-so-secretly a personality test.” Myers-Briggs meet Undertale was a fascinating hook, so I decided to take the plunge.
The graphics have this 3D cel-shaded feel to them that really makes the entire game pop. It looks sort of like an upscaled version of the Mega Man Legends series. The denizens of the Spirit world are colorful anthropomorphic creatures with unique designs and varied personalities that make them memorable, even with the limited scope of the demo. Presentation wise, the game looks great for a studio whose only other game is an SCP themed dating sim.
The game opens with our protagonist Proto waiting for a train, which leads to him meeting the mysterious spirit Lepida, who whisks him away on an adventure aboard the Fate Train and to Pandaemonium Station, where the demo unfolds.
The choice-making begins almost immediately as I’m presented with a dialogue bubble on whether to say my name or not. It’s a trivial choice, but it is something to consider when the crux of the game is being a personality test.
The tutorial takes place on the train before it arrives at the station, where you become acquainted with the colorful cast of passengers on the train. I exhausted almost all of their dialogue on my first run-through as I was committed to playing the game like I would any other RPG.
The train also has the first use of the physics-based powers that Proto uses throughout the game. This is probably mostly user error but never has a combat system vexed me so much. For the most part, it amounts to picking up objects or enemies and just flinging them, but I could never get it down. Every time I thought I had figured it out the object would fly with the grace of a dying sparrow as it fell a few feet from Proto’s face.
Pandaemonium Station is filled with a variety of places to explore. On my first run, I went to a shop and helped its owner find their lost key card, played a rhythm mini-game in an arcade, and explored the sewers where there was an abundance of small little slug demons to kill. This would lead to a boss fight where my lack of skill with the physics powers bit me in the ass, as the spear I was provided with barely ever moved. Nevertheless, I achieved victory and returned to the train, which is where the demo ends.
An entity shows up on my screen and comments on all of my actions during the run. It compares how many times you do an action relative to an average (that I assume is from other players) to make its assessment of you. For my playthrough, it noted the ludicrous amounts of slug demons i killed while revealing that they used to be people, praised me for talking to almost every NPC more than the average player, and then finally mocked me for how little strength I used when flinging objects with the physics powers.
The game’s assessment? I was a detective
It was then revealed to me that there are three more routes to solve. The next route I did featured a creative platforming sequence that ended with me entering a grate to get to the destination as opposed to a sewer. The physics powers are used hear to hit buttons and stack objects as impromptu platforms, and I was having a way better time with the mechanics on this run.
The game’s assessment after this route? I was an explorer.
The brief time I’ve spent with FREERIDE has left me with a burning desire for more. There are still things that need to be shaped up, the camera is all over the place in some areas and I’ve talked at length about the lackluster physics combat. But the Myers-Briggs action RPG hybrid has a myriad of awesome ideas, and I can’t wait to see how the full game expands on them.
Desmond Leake is an intern for Paste‘s games section.