Okay technically the new year started two weeks ago but CES exists in a space outside of time for tech writers. I got a review copy of Ring Fit Adventure when it launched last October but I didn’t write a review. The Nintendo Switch software’s big innovation is injecting lots of video game mechanics into an exercise routine, but the experience is still primarily about exercise. And while I’m definitely no expert when it comes to working out, I do know that its effectiveness must be observed over a substantial period of time. It just didn’t make sense for the typical review strategy of “marathon a game over the weekend and write down your thoughts in a fugue state.” That’s for maniac real life speedrunners.
That’s not to say that this is now Geek.com’s official review of Ring Fit Adventure. It could be. I could talk about the weirdly beautiful graphics that don’t need to try as hard as they do. I could talk about how the variety of minigames, or the variety of acts you can perform with the hoop, entertained me more than Wii Fit (and its discouraging weigh-ins) ever did. But again, I think that kind of misses the point. I’m not like terribly out of shape but I’m also no fitness god. Any exercise success I’ve ever had has just come from sticking to some sort of habit. And what I can say about Ring Fit Adventure is that it has very easily become a habit.
For the past few months I’ve used Ring Fit Adventure to replace any exercises that just use my own body weight, something to do in between days when I use equipment dumbbells or an elliptical or whatever. I’m not going overboard with sketchy calorie counting or heart rate monitoring. I’m just squeezing a hoop and strapping a Joy Con to my leg every other day. And that’s worked out pretty okay. The awful irony of exercise is that it’s repetitive by necessity but boredom is an easy way to lose interest and motivation for something that’s by definition tiring.
As I had hoped during my initial preview, Ring Fit’s cannily weaponizes the sugar of the role-playing game genre to help the exercise medicine go down. RPGs are already all about grinding and repetition. They just keep you on the hook with higher numbers and promises of new rewards. In other contexts, like free-to-play mobile games, this psychological trap is used for evil. But here you are making actual tangible healthy progress for your real physical flesh body, not imaginary virtual progress for no reason at all. I don’t really care about getting running shoes with better stats or unlocking new worlds. But I don’t not care.
It’s honestly for the best though to not get too invested in the game part because you don’t want your desire to “beat” the fairly lengthy game to trump your desire for a better workout. Color-coding different enemies to make them weaker to different exercise is a great way to mix up your routine. Arms, legs, abs, yoga. But there were plenty of times when I didn’t do the “optimal” workout for a specific encounter because I just wanted to flex a different part of my body or avoid putting strain on a sensitive area. And it’s simple enough to earn enough smoothies to brute force your way through most encounters anyway.
However, eventually the story (save the world, stop the evil bro gym dragon) has enough downtime that it got in the way of my momentum. At first the game’s mix of running in place and performing exercise battles left me winded, and any break was welcome. Even now different parts of my body still hurt when I try unfamiliar activities. But after several sessions I needed to add custom sequences of no-frills extra exercises after I was finished with story chapters to really feel like I had done anything substantial. It’s to the game’s credit though that it got me to that point and still had the flexibility to offer more if I wanted it. I was also pleased that fellow Geek editor Genevieve Scarano got better results than I did because while I know more about games she knows more about fitness, and that should be the real advantage.
So I’m going to keep playing Ring Fit Adventure this year. I don’t expect to be Marvel leading man chiseled by then. I have lost weight and gained muscle, but between my other long-term exercise and diet changes I can’t credit Ring Fit alone. And the game itself knows that fitness is like that, a holistic experience and not a magic bullet. But I do think my body will be better thanks in part to Ring Fit Adventure. With two brand new consoles launching this holiday, I’m going to need all the help I can get staying active.
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