PC and console games

Developer: Videocult	Graphics:
Publisher: Adult Swim Games	Sound:
Year: 2017	Difficulty:
Genre: Action-platformer	Lastability:
Number of players: 1 to 4*	Rating:	8/10

(*) The Downpour expansion (2023) adds a “co-op multiplayer campaign” mode. Without that, multiplayer is limited to closed arenas.

Alright, apart from the title screen (artistic and mysterious!), how do you judge a game’s merits?
By its technical achievements? I could find countless counterexamples…
By its mastery of conventions that define the genre? That would be quite sad and would stifle any spirit of innovation…
Perhaps by the emotions it stirs in us?

Yes, I’d like to focus on this criterion. Dragon Age: Origins made me laugh, Subnautica scared me stiff, Outer Wilds left me indifferent… And Rain World? It made me eat my tie!

The visuals and opening scene are reminiscent of Ori and the Blind Forest (2015), a game I found appealing but conformist and a touch too cutesy.
Don’t worry, Rain World won’t try to bring a tear to your eye…
Wait, let me rephrase that: it won’t try to move you. I guarantee it will make you cry—out of sheer rage!

Some compare it to Hollow Knight (2017) in style, and to a certain Dark Souls (2011) for its difficulty. Ah, kids these days… I have different references in mind:

So, what exactly is Rain World? It’s a 2D platformer where you control a slugcat—a slender creature positioned in the middle of the food chain. You roam freely in a ravaged science fiction world, overrun by wild fauna and flora.
You’re nothing more than an insignificant passenger in an “indifferent” ecosystem (the adjective chosen by the publisher) that doesn’t need you, and makes this unequivocally clear!
The climate, too, seems to want your hide. At regular intervals, a torrential rain pounds the world, precipitating (oh oh oh!) your demise if you don’t reach shelter quickly enough.

I was drawn to this title, partly because of the unique creature animation technique; and partly in response to Vampire Survivors. I wanted to experience the opposite approach: a game that deliberately does everything it can to repel the player!

One often speaks of “procedural generation” for creating virtually infinite numbers of levels (sometimes at the expense of creativity), particularly in Rogue-like games. Diablo (1996) is a good example of successful implementation. However, a computer algorithm can serve many purposes beyond generating environments. In Rain World, it can replace the animator’s work, literally teaching 2D models how to walk! This gives all the creatures (and carnivorous plants) that populate the game an erratic behaviour, sometimes making them appear drunk. This original movement system, combined with the programming of elaborate personalities, makes the gameplay entirely unpredictable. Unlike conventional platformers, where you observe creatures moving back and forth along a predefined path, here they don’t wait for you in the same places; they interact with each other constantly, even outside the visible screen area.

The controls feel awkward at first because our character’s movements are procedural too. They account for weight, posture, and terrain, so the same combination of buttons will yield slightly variable results (sometimes leading to our death, and believe me, I’m no stranger to the frustration this entails!), but it’s an intentional concept. The control scheme is described as “natural” or “organic”, meaning you don’t command your avatar to walk; you command its little legs to gain purchase on the ground and exert force that will propel it forward. Believe it or not, if you persist long enough, you’ll end up twirling everywhere, instinctively performing acrobatics you hadn’t imagined at the start (somersaults, rolls, slides). This process even enables sophisticated movement techniques unknown to the developers!

However, I must admit that my beginnings were extremely laborious, but I’m glad I took notes, as my initial impressions have softened over time. Let’s look at a brief overview of what I recorded:

This game is torture. Pure, undiluted pain. Oppressive, depressing, despairing!
As a chess player, and former practitioner of the “Owen Defense”, Rain World evokes in me exactly the same feeling of anxiety and helplessness as when I played black against a well-prepared opponent. Yikes! That’s embarrassing.

I spent the first two hours getting lost and dying. You can’t imagine the satisfaction of reaching my first new shelter (which serves as a save point). Short-lived satisfaction, as I then repeated my cycle for hours on end: getting lost and dying… The challenge isn’t so much about surviving as figuring out what on earth we’re supposed to do.

After a long while, I realised something. I won’t tell you what, to avoid spoiling the masochistic pleasure of discovering it yourself (it has to do with “karma”). This gave me a sort of short-term objective. I began searching for food before returning to my den, multiple times in succession. Each of these round trips played out differently, which I found remarkable. The experience is more akin to a life simulator of a small animal in the forest than the initiatory quest of an Ori or Hollow Knight. That’s when I began to appreciate this game’s unique approach: it’s not enough to cross through an area; you must prove your ability to adapt to a new environment before being allowed to progress to the next. How you “adapt” is up to you: playing hide-and-seek with predators, or attempting to fight them (very exciting but risky).

Through perseverance, I was able to expand my “territory”, or rather, my relative comfort zone, very slowly. I felt completely left to my own devices and at the mercy of the first predator that came along. I progressed with extreme caution, which didn’t prevent some creature full of legs (or feathers!) from dropping out of nowhere and gobbling me up in less than a second. One must constantly be alert, and never consult the map when in the open. The effort is so demanding that I could only play in short sessions.

Now for the criticisms, starting with the most obvious, but in my opinion, the most venial: the difficulty is “unfair”. Yes, that’s the idea. Nature is chaotic and arbitrary. This game is a survival simulator in a (imaginary) natural environment. A monster can block your path and decide to stay there. A monster can “fall from the sky” onto you or grab you at the transition point between two screens, with nothing you can do about it. But the rules are the same for everyone. I’ve lost count of the times I was cornered, about to become lunch, only to see a larger predator swoop down on my aggressor. Anything can happen. That’s what creates all the charm, what makes you scream, what fuels the powerful emotions by which we judge this game’s merits!

I had a good laugh once when I had a scavenger beside me (a neutral creature), and an aggressive lizard in front, blocking my path. I pushed the scavenger towards the lizard, which pounced on it. Problem solved. Path cleared. Every critter for themselves!

But morality prevails, because another time, I gobbled up a flying bug passing by in the “Sky Islands” region. Shortly after, its mother, absolutely furious and considerably more imposing, chased me across several screens, adding to the chaos, as it’s an area already teeming with lizards and scavengers. Finally, I hid in my shelter and spent the night, thinking I’d be forgotten. Not only was she still waiting to murder me when I emerged, but hibernating had established a “save point”, so I was forced to face the situation (I fled, very, very far!).

Ultimately, unfairness is what adds spice to an “unscripted” game. The developers themselves haven’t predicted what happens to us, leaving countless adventures to experience and anecdotes to tell!

Another criticism from my notes, though it too doesn’t stand the test of time: certain shortcomings in character control drove me mad. Particularly, when crawling through small tunnels, the character has this annoying tendency to enter backwards (which reduces movement speed). After dozens of hours of gameplay, I discovered that it could turn around by holding the “jump” button. I felt both foolish and proud simultaneously.

Similarly, when climbing horizontal platforms stacked above each other, it tends to automatically grab nearby vertical surfaces and shift sideways, requiring numerous attempts. This drove me up the wall! [No, it didn’t. – Ed.] Until I finally decided to replace my analogue controller with one suited to 2D games, equipped with a proper directional pad.

Now for the serious flaw, alas: lack of visibility. The fixed-plane camera doesn’t always allow us to discern what lies ahead at a sufficient distance, which can lead to artificially unfair deaths. Another annoying aspect is that we can’t always differentiate between “solid” platforms and the background. We also don’t know whether falling into a hole will cause immediate death or a screen transition. Finally, I have tremendous difficulty controlling the character underwater, as it becomes almost indistinguishable, to the point where it’s hard to tell which way it’s facing (especially towards the end, when it “glows”).

Note that this is a game whose longevity and difficulty decrease dramatically if you consult online guides. I advise against doing so before completing it (even if the temptation is great). Nevertheless, I’m pained to admit it took me about sixty hours to see the end, largely due to a single unfortunate decision. The following advice will moderate your suffering somewhat. I’ll try to reveal as little as possible, but if you want to follow in my footsteps through this purgatory without any indication, I tip my hat to you! Stop reading here.

I watched a video that presented Rain World as a Metroidvania disguised as a survival game; I think exactly the opposite. Few games deserve the “survival” qualifier more than Rain World. It doesn’t need hunger or thirst meters, nor a crafting function for that.

My mistake was, precisely, to react like someone conditioned by the Metroidvania genre. I felt stuck relatively late in the game. It was so difficult that I thought I needed to go back, find a new item or ability that would make my character more capable of overcoming this trial. Result: I scoured every region looking for it, then wandered in circles for days, for nothing. I wasted particularly much time in the “Shaded Citadel” (hunting ghosts) because I’d just “acquired” the power to glow in the dark and assumed I should use it in the dark area. Wrong! This isn’t Metroid; the character won’t gain new abilities. If you’re blocked by a difficult challenge, keep persevering! Because you’ll waste much more time doing what I did: retreating, changing regions, getting lost and being utterly unable to return due to a tragic and total lack of sense of direction. In truth, if there is indeed a place where you’ll be forced to turn back for lack of “prerequisites”, the game will make it “explicitly” clear (ouch!).

Second piece of advice: you have infinite lives, make use of them. Play aggressively, practise teasing the lizards, jumping over them! The training will serve you throughout the game.

Since the map isn’t always clear (except for showing where we died!), I strongly recommend taking notes, particularly to remember which regions are connected by those metal doors serving as junction points.'

Finally, between gaming sessions, play around with the “regions” mode from the main menu. It allows you to examine the map stress-free. From there, you can see which unexplored areas remain to visit. It’s important to assign yourself an objective, because the game won’t do it for you.

I started a second playthrough with the “Monk” character (I learned at this point that this was an “easy” mode). This time, I allowed myself to consult a wiki and a map. I finished the game in two hours! My investment took a hit. Confirmation that it’s the journey that matters, not the destination.

As for my third playthrough, with the “Hunter” … even faster and more dangerous monsters, new constraints… I found the experience equally exhilarating and traumatising, but I wasn’t able to see it through. We all have our limits (blasted tendinitis!).

Regarding the story, it’s another originality of the title; it’s barely suggested and will remain, I think, unknown to the majority of players. It begins to reveal itself very slightly at the very end of the game. And if you want to learn more, you’ll have to work terribly hard in subsequent playthroughs (learning about it on the Internet destroys all interest, don’t do it!). Personally, I’m not very receptive to the metaphysical themes addressed. However, I applaud the idea of exposing the plot in fragments, as a reward for enterprising players, rather than unlocking powers or aesthetic items like other games do.

As you’ll have gathered, Rain World is a singular title, uncompromising, that will appeal only to a handful of diehards, rather like Ecco the Dolphin in its time (Sega Genesis, 1992). It demands not so much reflexes as patience and stubbornness. What kept me going: the fascinating atmosphere, admiration for the experimental animation style … and perhaps having recently abandoned Outer Wilds and Mega Man Battle Network 3, pricked my pride and inoculated me with the surplus of determination needed…

In 2023, with the release of the Downpour expansion, they added a “remix” mode, offering plenty of quality-of-life options players had been asking for. Notably, you can now play as the Hunter (the highest difficulty mode) without the time constraint (having to complete the “campaign” in under twenty “cycles”).

Here’s an oddity that amuses me: the programmers seem to have difficulty making dead creatures stop moving. I feel I frequently observe, in many modern games, corpses shaken by spasms.

In the same style, I suggest Knytt Underground (2013), The Void (2016) and of course Flood (1990).

Where to buy it? GOG Steam