Fretless – The Wrath Of Riffson Review

17 July 2025

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fretless-–-the-wrath-of-riffson-review — Fretless – The Wrath Of Riffson Review

I grew up as the kid that was super into post-hardcore, metalcore, Djent, and whatever other subgenres of “screamo music” you want to throw out there. And no, Mom, it wasn’t just a phase. While my tastes have shifted, I’ve aged and “matured” into the realm of technical death metal and the proggiest of prog these days.

Along the way, I was also the guy that could be found most weekends in high school playing crappy local shows with my friends before finally getting into a “real” band in college, signing a laughably bad record deal, and touring the Midwest playing for a handful of kids before spending the night in a Walmart parking lot between venues.

This is all to say, I’ve done the whole band thing, and music has been a huge part of my life in ways I really can’t even explain all these years later. Clearly, video games have also been an equal passion of mine, as evidenced by my ever-growing portfolio of work here as well.

Whether you are looking for chiptunes, synth, or something utterly unexpected, indie games have you covered for music.

While I know I’m not alone in my shared passions, I would still say there’s a fairly untapped market for video games that really lean into what it’s like to be a musician and capture the modern alternative music scene appropriately. That’s why Fretless – The Wrath Of Riffson really caught my attention from the first second of its trailer.

Starring Rob Scallon of YouTube musician fame and seemingly going all-in on making a lovely “Guitar-PG” for musicians and normies alike, Fretless seemed like it could be something special.

And I’m here to tell you… it is special. To be honest, Fretless blew my expectations out of the water. Whether or not you know the first thing about playing an instrument, this is a cozy, charming, wildly creative, fun video game that I truly hope rises to the top of the charts. It certainly hit all the right notes for me.

A Musical Masterpiece

While I’ve spoken a lot already about metal and its adjacent genres, Fretless is a game that refreshingly delves into much more than crunchy guitars and breakdowns. In fact, the acoustic track that plays on the main menu of the game is so nice and peaceful that I simply sat and listened for a couple of minutes before officially starting my journey.

Rob Scallon, Dovetail, and Jeff Jennings are credited with the bulk of the musical contributions here, but I was pretty shocked to see some other big names on the tracklist as well. Australia’s metalcore class-act Northlane are also on the bill, along with Sweden’s Cult Of Luna, and Davie504, the hilarious and amazing bassist also of YouTube fame.

Such a strong musical lineup has led to what’s probably my favorite soundtrack of 2025 so far, second maybe only to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but that’s amazing company to be in regardless. I mean, this OST already has a vinyl release announced, and I’m dying to give it a spin on my turntable.

This attention to detail in the music department seeps into every aspect of the game, with nods to some more of my favorite musicians, like Tosin Abasi from Animals As Leaders, and many other musical injections and puns along the way. Mentions of “games” like Metalcore Gear Solid and Resonant Evil 2 had me grinning from ear to ear.

The combat is focused on four useable instruments you can use as weapons; an acoustic guitar, a bass, a synth, and an 8-string guitar. Each one changes the theme of the music while in battle, which is just more proof of the care and passion put into making Fretless one of the coolest music-inspired RPGs on the market.

You’ll find many, many more examples of this attention to musical detail throughout the 8-or-so hours it takes to get through the game, but I’ll leave the others for you to discover on your own. Just know that everything relating to music in this game is top-notch. No notes.

A Cozy, Corporate Comedy

The story of Fretless isn’t entirely groundbreaking, but it still works extremely well, is appropriately goofy, and leads to several fun moments during the whole experience. While there’s no voice acting whatsoever, the writing is consistently witty and entertaining.

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At its core, Fretless is another story about a DIY musician that wants to make it in the industry. He dreams of winning a giant Battle of the Bands competition thrown by Super Metal Records in order to secure a shiny, new record deal that launches him into stardom. The only problem? The record company is evil, of course.

Led by CEO and main antagonist Rick Riffson, the record label is simply out to profit off of their roster of artists who are simply desperate to crack the charts and make a name for themselves in the business. Once again, as someone that’s dealt with record labels in the past, this was all handled hilariously and appropriately.

There are more layers to uncover as you go, such as additional cronies and sub-villains under Riffson’s control, as well as questions to be answered about why musical monsters are roaming the world in the first place. Nothing major ever truly shakes the story up too much, but there are a couple fun twists and turns along the way to keep everything chugging along to the final act.

What’s really great from a story and setting perspective is simply the worlds and citizens that populate the whole game. With Stardew Valley-reminiscent presentation, it’s easy to feel that same lovely, cuddly vibe that the best cozy games do such a good job of fostering. Fretless has this in spades, with many memorable, wacky encounters that all serve this endearing style and nature.

You can pet multiple dogs, aid fellow adventurers in little side quests, and meet plenty of additional NPCs along the way that all have some quippy, punny dialogue to keep the pleasant vibe of the title alive and well throughout.

Fine-Tuned, Rhythm-Focused, Deckbuilder-Lite, Turn-Based, QTE Combat

By now, you may be saying something like, “Cool, we get it. You like the music, and it reminds you of your days as a failed musician. How does the game actually play, though?” An entirely fair question, and one I’m happy to report with incredibly positive answers. In addition to all the amazing things about Fretless we’ve already discussed, it’s also just simply a joy to play.

There are a lot of layers to unpack here, but I must emphasize that while the game has a lot of systems at play, all work incredibly well together, are easy to grasp in concept, and never feel overwhelming, despite what you may assume based on a high-level description.

This is a turn-based RPG with QTE rhythm mechanics and a moveset system that borrows ideas from a deckbuilder with multiple combat styles and ways to buff your character/equipment. That’s a lot to take in, I know. Still, Fretless makes this all feel approachable and seamless.

Let’s break it down. As Rob, you attack with your instrument of choice, initially just an acoustic guitar until you unlock the other options. Your stock set of moves includes attacks, ways to raise a shield, and buffs/debuffs you can apply to yourself or your enemies. When attacks are deployed, you can also press an input as Rob flashes yellow to deal extra damage.

…gets you into a flow-state as you’re physically bobbing your head to the music…

This flash of yellow always happens on-beat during the song in the background. As you’d imagine, it becomes imperative to time these inputs perfectly throughout the game, and gets you into a flow-state as you’re physically bobbing your head to the music and timing all your moves (and blocks) perfectly. It truly feels great when you start to nail everything.

There are also “crescendo” special moves that charge up over time. When used, they launch you into a super-stylish-looking, Guitar Hero-like rhythm section where you’ll mash buttons flying down a fretboard for bonus damage. These are different for every instrument, and are always fun to perform and nail.

It’s a slightly weird comparison, but the loop here reminded me most of Slay The Spire with rhythm mechanics added in. Both games are at the same level of complexity in terms of wrapping your head around moves, buffs, and debuffs. Both feature a small-ish roster of enemies, so you can learn the ins and outs of their attacks. Both also feature the ability to customize your deck/moves and dole out your options randomly throughout a fight.

In addition to all of this, you’ll earn new bridges, strings, and accessories to deck your guitars out with at work benches, each allowing you to fine-tune and synergize various passive buffs. You’ll also collect guitar pedals and build out your very own pedal board, with each giving you things like extra HP, bonus damage, and more options to further mix, match, and experiment with.

Your moveset for each instrument will grow as you collect more riffs (moves) to perform, making you feel like an overpowered musical maestro by the end of the game. Enemy designs are amazing, all meld a creature with an instrument, and have audio cues that reflect their musical bodies.

There are a handful of bosses, and all truly are a blast to take down, several of which include their own crescendo attacks which you can diminish in strength by perfectly playing their Guitar Hero-style fretboard mini-game back at them.

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Truth be told, none of this is ever that challenging, but I personally didn’t care. The combat is so fun and feels so good that a smoother level of difficulty just works. I didn’t die once during the game until the final boss, which took me a handful of attempts. Some will be mixed on this level of difficulty, but I found it refreshing and fitting for this cozy and fun of a title.

I want more of this franchise…

Unlike other RPGs where you may start to avoid encounters, I’d seek out every single fight possible just because I was having such a good time. This speaks volumes to just how fun Fretless really is from start to finish.

One more thing to note is that you always fight as Rob alone. This works great, and I don’t have any issues with the setup. Still, I can’t help but think how cool a possible sequel could be with a full party of four, each playing a different instrument in a band with their own dedicated powers and movesets. I want more of this franchise, and that would be an awesome way to progress the systems in place.

Originally, I was going to have to knock the final boss of this game, which was way too difficult, RNG-focused, and felt unfair compared to the rest of the title. Thankfully, the team patched this fight during the review process, and it’s a night and day difference now. I appreciated the continued effort to tweak this game to make it the best it can possibly be.

Likeable Linear Levels

Where I think some criticism of Fretless could be warranted is in the level design between the battles. All of them look great as you traverse everything from frozen tundras, to dense forests, to volcanic mountains, and everything in between. Still, they are all just a tad bit linear in design, too.

There are occasional branching paths to explore, which will lead to things like treasure chests full of currency, new moves, various other useful items/collectables, and even a couple of optional bosses. Even so, you’re never able to wander too far from the critical path, and your progression will mainly just be Point A to Point B traversal.

You’ll also bump into a handful of puzzles out in the wild, with various rewards/upgrades that are always worth it. Still, these are very simple, never getting more complex than a basic block sliding puzzle that you’d find in the first 2 minutes of a Zelda game. Once again, though, I personally didn’t mind.

I’m a firm believer that we don’t always need the most sprawling, deep, and complex world/puzzle designs full of hundreds of nooks and crannies to explore and secrets to uncover. Sometimes, it’s just nice to play a game that isn’t trying to do too much, and instead expects you to simply vibe and go at your own pace until you reach the finale. Fretless is that type of game.

I will point out one forced stealth section in the endgame that I didn’t personally need, which felt out of place and a bit frustrating, but it was short-lived enough to not dampen my otherwise sky-high spirits too much. While I appreciated the gameplay switch-up, the stealth just wasn’t quite up to par.

The linearity and simplicity here will mean your own personal mileage may vary with the level design, but I will continue to contend that these choices worked perfectly for me, someone that was completely on board for a cozy, low-stress, simply fun turn-based RPG experience.

Closing Thoughts:

Fretless – The Wrath Of Riffson is a genuine indie gem, and one of my favorite gaming experiences of the year so far. It’s a lovely mix of cozy, creative, funny, and addictive as you synchronize with the rhythm-based, flow-state, turn-based combat. I wish some of the level designs and number of enemy-types were a little more robust, but this ultimately boils down to me simply wanting more of this amazing title. This is a must-play for musicians that game, but I’d also wholeheartedly recommend it to the non-musicals as well.