Rain World is a survival-platformer where you play as a slugcat, separated from its family during a flood. Awakening in a strange and foreign environment, your journey begins with a simple objective: reunite with your lost kin, no matter what.

In the beginning it really is as simple as that, but it soon becomes clear that this will be much, much more complicated than you originally thought.

Beyond that brief synopsis, what can you expect when actually playing Rain World?
Well I don't believe in beating around the bush so I'm just gonna say it. You are going to die. A lot. I've seen more than a few people get into this game believing it to be a relaxing experience, something to play to unwind. This could not be further from the truth. The 'tutorial' essentially teaches you how to move around, eat things, and perform a basic leap to cross large gaps. That's it. If you have Downpour, there are loading screen tips that explain more complicated or otherwise unknowable information, but that's all you're going to get. On top of the lack of tutorial, the game itself is hard.

An important thing to keep in mind when discussing the difficulty of this game, is that all the creatures in it were created with each other in mind. What does this mean? It means that everything interacts with everything. Batflies do not exist to be solely eaten by you, the player. Rather, they exist to support creatures higher on the food chain. Squidcadas and Jetfish actively hunt them, and they, in turn, are actively hunted by other carnivorous creatures. You may be thinking, 'okay well that's pretty cool, but what does that have to do with the difficulty?', and I'll tell you.

The world does not care about you. You will live, or die, and little will change. You are not high on the food chain, and you are not special. It is highly likely that, at some point, you will be put into an unwinnable situation, with no chance of turning it around. Of course this doesn't happen very often, most deaths can be attributed to user error in some way, but sometimes precognition is the only way out.

So why is my review positive? Potentially unfair circumstances? That sucks! Well, it might at first. The trick is to keep trying, and to not give up, no matter the odds. If you can persevere and experience what the game has to offer you in the way of art, OST, and story, then you will likely fall in love with it like I did. The ecosystem combined with the unique regions and inspirations come together to make this game a true masterpiece, nothing else is quite like it.

Now to wrap things up, I will say that this game is absolutely not for everyone. Are you strapped for time? Do you want to play games to relax? Do you not really care about story or art direction? Then this game may not be your cup of tea. I do think that this game is worth picking up when on sale regardless of your circumstances, as you never really know for sure. Some people might be put off by the difficulty, and understandably so. It is without a doubt the hardest game I've ever played (and beaten). However, I've seen people far, FAR worse than myself play this game to completion. That is to say, every campaign, and a significant amount of side content. So don't let the difficulty alone influence whether you buy the game or not. I love this game, and I think many people that haven't played it will also love it if they just give it a chance.

TL;DR: Art is great, OST is great, story is great, hard as ♥♥♥♥, grab on sale if you're unsure.

Rain World is a survival-platformer where you play as a slugcat, separated from its family during a flood. Awakening in a strange and foreign environment, your journey begins with a simple objective: reunite with your lost kin, no matter what. In the beginning it really is as simple as that, but it soon becomes clear that this will be much, much more complicated than you originally thought. Beyond that brief synopsis, what can you expect when actually[i] playing [/i] Rain World? Well I don't believe in beating around the bush so I'm just gonna say it. You are going to die.[b] A lot. [/b]I've seen more than a few people get into this game believing it to be a relaxing experience, something to play to unwind.[b] This could not be further from the truth. [/b]The 'tutorial' essentially teaches you how to move around, eat things, and perform a basic leap to cross large gaps. That's it. If you have Downpour, there are loading screen tips that explain more complicated or otherwise unknowable information, but that's all you're going to get. On top of the lack of tutorial, the game itself is[b] hard. [/b] An important thing to keep in mind when discussing the difficulty of this game, is that all the creatures in it were created with each other in mind. What does this mean? It means that everything interacts with everything. Batflies do not exist to be solely eaten by you, the player. Rather, they exist to support creatures higher on the food chain. Squidcadas and Jetfish actively hunt them, and they, in turn, are actively hunted by other carnivorous creatures. You may be thinking, 'okay well that's pretty cool, but what does that have to do with the difficulty?', and I'll tell you. The world does not care about you. You will live, or die, and little will change. You are[b] not [/b]high on the food chain, and you are[b] not [/b]special. It is highly likely that, at some point, you will be put into an[b] unwinnable[/b] situation, with no chance of turning it around. Of course this doesn't happen very often, most deaths can be attributed to user error in some way, but sometimes precognition is the only way out. So why is my review positive? Potentially[b] unfair [/b]circumstances? That sucks! Well, it might at first. The trick is to keep trying, and to not give up, no matter the odds. If you can persevere and experience what the game has to offer you in the way of art, OST, and story, then you will likely fall in love with it like I did. The ecosystem combined with the unique regions and inspirations come together to make this game a true masterpiece, nothing else is quite like it. Now to wrap things up, I[i] will [/i]say that this game is absolutely[b] not [/b] for everyone. Are you strapped for time? Do you want to play games to relax? Do you not really care about story or art direction? Then this game may not be your cup of tea. I[i] do [/i]think that this game is worth picking up when on sale regardless of your circumstances, as you never really know for sure. Some people might be put off by the difficulty, and understandably so. It is without a doubt the hardest game I've ever played (and beaten). However, I've seen people far, FAR worse than myself play this game to completion. That is to say, every campaign, and a significant amount of side content. So don't let the difficulty alone influence whether you buy the game or not. I love this game, and I think many people that haven't played it will[i] also [/i]love it if they just give it a chance. TL;DR: Art is great, OST is great, story is great, hard as fuck, grab on sale if you're unsure.