Review | Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson
With 8 years of development, an 8-string on your back, and 16 riffs at your disposal, Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson is an instrument-driven RPG that turns music into monsters and mayhem as you fight to compete in the famous Battle of the Bands held by Rick Riffson. Aptly coined as a GuitaRPG, the main hook of its musical combat is a harmonious pairing of rhythm-based QTEs and turn-based fighting. However, the music is everywhere motif that finds itself throughout the experience is the heart and soul of this game, a sacred world defined in the lands you explore and the community you make along the way.
Purchase on Steam
This is a game that I’ve struggled to review because it feels so earmarked for me.
From my previous posts on this website, you can see how much I love music, video games and their soundtracks, and supporting independent creators. However, I see no need to remove that personal bias from this review, but wanted it to be known that I can’t feel anything but love and respect for this game and the people who made it. I’ll still feature what makes Fretless so special, for someone who is as involved in this realm as me, but also for people who enjoy turn-based deck-builders and who like to support the people making interesting titles in the indie gaming space.
This is a game where you traverse the Songwood Forest, the depths of Carillon Cave, or the cold winds of the Tunedra.
In the different landscapes you travel through as you play through the game, I really appreciated the maze-like pathways and passages you’d explore. It felt like I was back playing my Gameboy again with its old-school level layout that is definitely a pro for the feeling of the game and the pixel art presented. You will walk past a door, or see enemies and loot in the far distance, and you are immediately aware that you might need to follow a different route to get there, or solve an environmental puzzle to unlock the way forward.
This is a game where you fight Xylomanders, Harperbeasts, a band named Karma Dioxide, and the “big bad” Rick Riffson.
How can you not enjoy those names? Even better, the enemy and character designs reflect the musical nature their names suggest. The Xylomander, for example, has a spine covered in the blocks that make up an xylophone, with its tail end as a mallet. Since this game IS this game, the attacks of the Xylomander features the lovely sounds of the instrument this beast represents.
The same goes for your own arsenal of instruments you use during combat encounters. Fretless features an acoustic guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, and of course, an 8-string guitar that all add their own flare and art design when attacking or defending. I found myself enjoying the synth the most since it offers a unique FX Chain dynamic to the game, and the first instrument to offer adding debuffs or passive damage to enemies, as well as buffing your character as you play. I enjoyed the mechanic behind the bass as well, coining itself as “slap damage”, a cheeky but fun use of the hand technique used by bass players. Even with upgrading and moving around some riffs, I still found the synth to be the most satisfying and intuitive to play with, and feel like the other instruments weren’t quite on the same level.
This is a game that features Northlane, Cult of Luna, Yvette Young, Andrew Huang, Mary Spender, Davie504, and more.
As you progress through the story, the main music of the game is a perfect blend of guitar-centered ambient with chiptune, a staple of the older games this title takes inspiration from. Most of it was made solely for the game, and some were covers of Rob Scallon’s more meditative tracks that lent itself perfectly to the world of Fretless. Rob is the protagonist of the game as well, wearing his signature beanie and outfit many have come to know from him, as well as his signature Schecter 8-string being the design of the weapon in the game. With this in mind, he was able to include friends, musical colleagues, and even the bands as referenced above to add the to game and soundtrack respectively. As someone who has followed Scallon and many of the creators in the game, it was nothing short of heartwarming to see them make it to this world in their lovely 8-bit character art.
The heavier bands like Northlane and Cult of Luna were able to contribute to the boss battle themes of the soundtrack, yet another huge part of the game. We all expect a game like this to deliver when it comes to this aspect of the soundtrack, and I am happy to confirm that it did. Not only are the heavier themes some of the best riffing I’ve heard from a game of this scale, the way they designed combat to always be “on beat” makes each encounter distinct from your choice in weapon and the riffs you chose to attack or defend with.
This is a game made by a passionate, small group of creatives, with help from a dedicated publisher to drive home the musical mania this game has to offer.
I love that Ritual Studios shared a development video, not only showing how they made the game, but how they marketed and promoted it to get it to the finish line as well. Seeing them begin the game with the idea of music being central to the experience, to the end result where they followed the rabbit hole as far as it could go. They reached the logical conclusion of rhythm-based combat and the huge “crescendo” moment where your special attack is completed by your button prompts for bigger, beefier damage. I am also admittedly a huge Guitar Hero/Rock Band fan, so this aspect of the game interested me the most. I thought it was on the simpler side until a boss crescendo rocked me with a harder-than-usual riff and accompanying QTEs. I can say I loved that defeat, and went back into the boss fight with a smile on my face.
This game may not be perfect, but it felt perfect for me, and surely many others. Its Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam are a great indicator of the overall enjoyment of this experience, and I hope they are able to bring this game on console as well for a bigger audience. I can see it being a perfect title to pick up on Steam Deck where it is playable, or any handheld console once available. It clocks in around 12 hours from start to finish, a little janky at moments, but nothing short of an impressive first title from Ritual Studios. This game truly feels DIY, but I can’t help but think that name doesn’t do it justice. DIWYF feels more appropriate, meaning “Do It With Your Friends”. I know how silly (and suggestive) that sounds, but it encapsulates the game’s themes and the people who worked tirelessly for almost a decade making this title.
If anything above sounded interesting to you, please consider picking up the game for the low cost of $15USD. That’s probably the price you think you’re paying for a month of Netflix before realizing the price went up four times and you have ads now. You can also buy the game and soundtrack as a bundle for less than $20USD, which is probably the price you are paying monthly for one of these dreaded apps. Trust me, this is better.
Release Date: July 17, 2025
Genres: Indie, Fantasy RPG, Music/Rhythm-based
Developed by Ritual Studios, Published by Playdigious Games
Rating: 9/10
Written by Evan Lurie
