#oneaday Day 546: Squeeze My Ring

After quite a while of it being unavailable through anyone other than price-inflating eBay scalpers, I managed to score a copy of Ring Fit Adventure for Switch. It arrived today, so I gave it a go for the first time.

Having not really done any exercise since the pandemic started, it was a bit of a challenge to get moving again, but it was satisfying to genuinely feel the game working different areas of my body — and as you progress more options open up.

I'm most intrigued by the "game" aspect of it, though, as this has a ton of potential to keep things interesting compared to the rather dry and clinical exercise games we've had in the past. Well, I mean, Wii Fit had some fun minigames, but everyone knew that the exercises that actually had an impact were the "boring" muscle and yoga exercises.

Ring Fit Adventure, though; it integrates actual exercises into a game-like scenario. So far it appears to follow a structure whereby you jog on the spot to proceed through a level, "squeezing" the ring controller to blast out an attack in the direction you're pointing it (mostly used for breaking targets and obstacles) or laying it "flat" in front of you and squeezing it to do a jetpack-type jump thing to clear gaps or reach aerial goodies.

The bulk of the muscle exercises then come when you encounter an enemy, at which point you engage in a turn-based battle against them. You pick a move from those you have available, each of which corresponds to an exercise, then perform a series of repetitions of that exercise to deal damage. After that, during the enemy's turn, you squeeze the ring controller against your abs to "brace yourself" and reduce the damage you take. You then repeat the process until either you or the enemy run out of life.

You can't just perform one single exercise over and over, either; each one has a "cooldown" (usually just a single turn, at least at the early stage I'm at) before you can use it again, so you'll need to alternate at least two different exercises in most fights. Thankfully, so far there has seemingly been no need to do all the exercises available, so if there are some you struggle with, you can leave them out of your routine until you're feeling a bit more confident, flexible or whatever.

Once you finish a fight or level, you're rewarded with experience points, which level up your attack and defense stats and I believe unlock new "moves" a little later. As you progress, your total time exercising is totted up and the game can even read your heart rate using the IR camera on the Joy-Con. Clever stuff.

I was sweaty and sore after my first routine today, but I'm going to stick with it. It's easy to set up and the "game" aspect makes it feel entertaining rather than just something you feel like you "should" do. Plus it's all drenched in that trademark Nintendo good humour, supportiveness and polish, which goes a long way towards making it something you'll want to engage with over the long term.

Anyway. Further reports on that as progress dictates, but I'd say we're off to a good start, sore knees aside!