Ring Fit Adventure Journal Entry #1: Wait, When Did I Start Sweating?

When Ring Fit Adventure was announced, I laughed.

I mean, just look at this reveal video. It almost feels like a parody of ridiculous Nintendo ideas. Weird Nintendo is my favorite Nintendo though, so I certainly didn’t write it off.

I wondered, would it be any good? More importantly, would it actually be a decent workout? I was certainly interested. I exercise daily and I’m an avid gym-goer. However, I haven’t dipped my toes into a fitness game since Wii Fit, which basically taught me that BMI is a horrible way to determine a person’s health. (And yoga.)

Ring Fit Adventure’s October launch came and went as I kept busy playing big fall titles like Modern Warfare, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Death Stranding… the list goes on. I took the wait-and-see approach with Nintendo’s quirky new fitness game.

It wasn’t until recently that I started reading more about Ring Fit. Notably that the game was selling. I noticed in Nintendo’s latest earnings release that the game had topped 2.17 million units sold. Pretty impressive for an $80 game. On top of that, I was hearing that it was a lot of fun. And yes, it could indeed give you a decent workout. People were sharing stories about how they were losing weight from playing it.

I decided that I had to try it.

I’m happy to report that I’m now six days into my new Ring Fit Adventure routine. My biggest takeaway so far is that everything I had heard about this game is true. Not only is Ring Fit surprisingly enjoyable, it’s charming, unique, and almost immediately sweat-inducing. It’s certainly not a replacement for the gym, but that’s not what I was looking for in the first place.

I like it so much, in fact, that I’ve decided to start recording my thoughts as I progress through the game. Journal entries, if you will.

I’m still relatively early in my journey (I’ve only been playing in thirty-minute segments, give or take), so I’ll keep it brief with my surface-level impressions and thoughts.

• I love the presentation. It’s called Ring Fit Adventure for a reason. It’s a fully-fledged fitness RPG. There’s really nothing quite like it. You level up. Different exercises do more damage to enemies than others. You drink smoothies to recover health and boost attack power. There’s a villainous, bodybuilding dragon that you need to stop. There’s even side quests!
• I’m sore. I bought Ring Fit Adventure partially because my gym routine primarily consists of cardio and a lifting routine. I never stretch. I rarely do calisthenics. Ring Fit is working out parts of my body that don’t get a lot of attention. That’s awesome. I can’t wait to get in deeper and unlock more exercises.
• Speaking of stretching, I love that the game puts you through a quick stretch before and after your play sessions. It’s making me consider that I should probably start stretching when I’m actually at the gym too. Maybe someday I’ll be able to touch my toes again.
• Ring Fit motivates me to keep going. I don’t have a personal trainer. So if I get tired at the gym, I stop. There’s no one holding me accountable. When I’m playing Ring Fit though, the game is constantly talking, eagerly encouraging me to finish my exercises.
• It’s fun. There’s more to Ring Fit than squats, knee lifts, and stretching. As you make your way through the game world, you can use the Ring-Con in a variety of ways, such as firing projectiles to open doors and destroy boxes. I’ve also checked out a few mini-games that used the Ring-Con pretty creatively.

Whether I stick with Ring Fit Adventure for the long haul remains to be seen. As it stands, I’m having a blast with it, and it’s proving to be a great supplement to my workout routine. At the very least, I’ll keep with it for the next few weeks.

Stay tuned for more!

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Have you tried Ring Fit Adventure? If not, are you interested? Let me know in the comments!