izigame.me

tl;dr
Rain World is a hellish game filled with lots of trial and error and will challenge your patience regularly. Yet those who persevere will discover perhaps the most unique and engaging exploration game out there.

Full Review

I found this game through my wife’s obsession with its lore. I tried it out and quickly became frustrated with its difficulty, but it sat at the back of my mind until I played again. I still got frustrated, but I was doing better. And still I repeated this process. Now, 100+ hours in, the game still manages to annoy me sometimes…and yet there’s nothing quite like the feeling of curiosity and adventure it gives. That’s what keeps bringing me back to Rain World.
Gameplay:
Rain World has a high learning curve. You are tossed into the game after a brief cutscene, taught the basic mechanics of controls, eating food to survive, and finding shelter from the titular rain before the end of each cycle. After that, there’s next to no instruction, and you’re left to wander around and figure everything else out yourself.
One of the most curious features in Rain World that you’ll quickly notice is the other nonplayer creatures. Rather than being traditional video game enemies and whatnot, they behave more like animals in an environment simulation, traveling around the region and doing things on their own accord. Some are passive toward you, while others become aggressive and need to be foiled in order for you to survive.
Which leads to another key point: your character is small, weak, and delicious, and your abilities are limited. Besides the low-damage spears you can find scattered around, there’s very few consistent methods to fight back against dangerous creatures. As such, you instead must learn how to outsmart, outplay, and outmaneuver anything that wants to eat or kill you. Along with survival, platforming skills and devious wit become imperative for progression. This is where a lot of the unfairness comes into play, as during some cycles it will just feel like everything is working against you. It can work the opposite way as well, however, as random situations or thinking outside the box can lead to unexpected solutions for moving forward. Such a fascinatingly random environment is both this game’s biggest annoyance, and greatest reward.
Story:
Rather than a traditional linear story, Rain World is more of an anthology of its own ingame world, told through the small and comparatively insignificant struggles of each character’s campaign. Even then, little of that lore is given to you directly, but rather must be gleaned from piecing together environmental clues or dialogue from ancient beings. This form of storytelling fits well with the game, making you once again feel like just a small critter in a world that lives on, with or without you. Those who can figure out Rain World’s lore will find it unique and fascinating. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil any of it!
Visuals:
This is another section where Rain World stands out from other games. The graphics are clearly pixelated yet highly detailed, playing well to the visual storytelling I mentioned earlier. Each creature, including yourself, is actually procedurally-animated, causing them to move even more lifelike…usually. Sometimes the procedural animation can glitch and create some humorous results, haha. Even still, the graphics and procedural animation in particular are often a wonderous sight to behold.
Music:
I’m normally not good at saying much for this section but holy hecc does Rain World leave an impression here. The soundtrack is absolutely a perfect match for this game. Much of the music almost feels diegetic as you explore, and the dynamic threat music for whenever danger is nearby fits the riskiness of each encounter.
But what sticks out in particular to me is the main theme. Along with the title screen version, it plays in three other variants throughout your adventure. It’s such a simple tune, yet the more I’ve learned about Rain World’s lore, the more I feel it perfectly encapsulates the game world’s themes and condition. It is hauntingly beautiful, and almost nostalgic in a way. Very few soundtracks can get me emotional in the same way.
Replay Value:
Although the game’s world stays the same for each given campaign, the high randomness factor and generally nonlinear exploration make Rain World a great game to play over and over. Many secrets lay hidden throughout each campaign, and even without, there’s plenty of fun to be had in challenging yourself to different completion methods or scores.
In conclusion, Rain World is a highly unique exploration game experience that is really worth a look. Thanks to its high learning curve, this game unfortunately might not be for everyone, especially if you get frustrated easily. But those who are looking to try something new, and are willing to use a bit of patience, will find this game unforgettable.