As mentioned in my Instagram account, I was planning to review Nintendo fitness game - Ring Fit. This is long overdue! For those who don't know, Ring Fit is a game by Nintendo designed to motivate or help us to get into the habit of workout, especially for someone like me who isn't physically active, to begin with - so, is this a gimmick or does it actually works? I used it for 30 days. Continue reading for the review from the perspective of a professional counsellor and gamer.
As a professional counsellor in New Zealand, the main focus in my line of work is to help the client achieve 'healthy' and 'acceptable' wellbeing accordingly to the client's standard. This includes having a healthy amount of physical activities in life. However, being active in physical activities has always been my nemesis - no matter how much I 'enjoy' the after aching of physical activities, I always find myself stopped being active after a period of time. This is when I contemplated buying the Ring Fit, in hoping that it could help me stay active while having fun doing it. In short, it did help, but it did not magically change my habit.
The Ring itself is well-made and feel sturdy when playing the game with it, I didn't feel like it'll break after applying force to it which means I can play the game without worrying about applying too much force. The hardware generally does a good job at syncing workout motion with the actual gameplay, however. occasionally re-calibrating is needed for accuracy. I would say it works well more than 98% of the time.
Alright, enough of the hardware. Let's dive into the game itself. The game is well designed integrating 'real-life' exercise positions into 'attacks' and 'defence' skills in-game. I have limited knowledge in the physical exercise realms, but this workout seems legit. I often got exhausted after a good 20 to 40 minutes sessions. You'll be surprised how much you sweat after the workout!
I like that the game attempt to match the exercise difficulty accordingly to individual needs as it makes exercise goal easier to be achieved hence reinforcing the concept of "I can do it too"! You can also change the difficulty setting if you need more of a challenge or if it's too easy for you. The game will check in with you every time you log into the game and also regularly check with you If it was getting a little annoying at how frequent the game is checking in on you!
The game story isn't mindblowing or out of the ordinary, and it is not completely lame nor try-hard too! At least from my perspective anyway, it is an experience to enjoy while doing the jogs, runs and exercise, which is otherwise boring tasks for me. So, I'm glad there is something visual and story for me to follow through while keeping myself physically healthier.
Being able to exercise doesn't just help with physical health, it helped with my psychological health in the sense where I feel that I achieved something that I otherwise find it difficult to complete. Also, it was emotionally cathartic to be able to release certain emotional or 'stress-energy' through the physical outlet. If you are looking for other ways to release these 'energy', you could give any physical activity a try! Do you remember the times when you feel those stress or emotion energy building up and you just want to punch or move around in hoping to shake these energies away? Yes, because the activities which are built into the game are actual routine, you actually feel the burn and the satisfaction of releasing energy. Did I mention that Ring Fit has a custom mode as well? Yea, there is a custom mode where you are able to choose your set of workout if you don't like to follow the story mode.
So, all in all, I do think Ring Fit is a good game that incorporates physical activities into its story mode. You can also use it as a workout device with its custom mode that doubles up as an in-home gym or fitness class during the pandemic time when social distancing and outdoor activities were mostly restricted. I do recommend the Ring Fit if you have extra money to spend and you would like to try out a new way to exercise. However, don't expect this product to miraculously increase your exercise motivation - you still need to put time and effort into getting into the habit of exercise.
That is all for now. Enjoy gaming!
Comments