Rain World

This game is amazing. But it's not for everyone.
This is not a review, this is a warning.

If you are looking for a fun game that is easy to pick up, don't play this game.
This game is meant for people who have patience and are willing to put up with esoteric controls and vague goals.

But if you put up with it and wade through all the obtuse controls and vagueness, you will find that this game is a gem not usually talked about. The story is incredible and the environments look amazing.
The ecology is incredible as well and the world feels alive.

And after some more time, the controls will feel buttery smooth and everything will be clear in hindsight. You'll be able to understand how the game works through careful observation and experimentation.

If you need help, there's wonderful people over in the Rain World discord that are willing to help and guide you through the game.

A lizard eated me.
Bad game

I learn.
I eated lizard.
Good game

Rain World is a masterpiece. I am not using this word lightly, this game has undoubtedly been a huge influence on my life.

Anyway, onto the game itself.
In Rain World, you play as a small animal - a wet and pathetic little otter thing called a slugcat - surviving in the ruins of an alien world. This is a world of derelict structures and burgeoning ecosystems, a world that is dead and yet so very alive. The line between ruin and nature is blurred into insignificance, as new life grows from a heap of decay. Rain World's beautiful pre-rendered environments convey the experience of a small, nimble animal extremely well. Cities are shown not through living spaces but basements, alleyways and storm drains. Pipes and rusted rebar scaffolds are not background objects but core geometry features of level design. Rain World thus has a wonderfully fresh take on ruined environments.

The gameplay itself is wonderfully unorthodox. While it takes some of the bare bones of a metroidvania, its progression is almost incomparable. The slugcat does not gather upgrades, and has every ability from the start. Instead, Rain World's progression is based on exploration and knowledge alone.

Rain World's story is one of the best I have ever seen. I can't really elaborate, as it's best experienced yourself. I could say a lot about it, but nothing that does it justice.

So overall: pretty nice game. you should play it.

This game is a damn masterpiece. Don't you think that usually in video games, when an enemy is chasing you, the dev decides to make it so that the enemy is constantly stopping/slowing down mid chase to avoid frustrating the player? Well, Rain world says "♥♥♥♥ that, and ♥♥♥♥ you" to the players.
Every enemy has its own extremely complex AI. They all have their unique behavior and personalities. All of them have the exact same goal as you: find food and survive. While your food is mostly bats and fruits, their food is you. So your job is to find food for yourself while avoiding becoming food to larger enemies. Sound simple enough, but you quickly realize how intelligent the AIs are.
Smarter enemies can adapt to your action and find different ways to try eat you. Enemies can fight each other to fight for food, and they can attempt to eat another smaller creatures that isn't you. There is no scripted encounters in this game. Everything is purely the cause of the AIs interacting with each other. This has its downside of course, as it can create unfair scenarios and trap the players in insane situation, but that is the beauty of this game.
The world is alive, and you are not the main character. You're just another creature in the world with an established food chain trying to survive. Other creatures can kill and be killed by you, their environment or other creatures. Big predators can be eaten by an even bigger predators, and you're just a tiny slugcat trying to survive in the midst of everything.
This game is truly the most "alive" game I've ever played. Absolutely recommend.

Rain World is like a physically abusive goth girlfriend.

Let me explain.
At first, it appears hauntingly beautiful, an irresistible yet dangerous thing, and you can't help but wonder why so many avoid it. However, as soon as you're in far enough that you think everyone else was overexaggerating, it beats you down over and over and over again, ruthlessly, as if it's enjoying watching you pathetically try and keep loving it. It does not care if you feel betrayed, it does not care if you feel helpless, it will keep kicking you while you're down until you're sobbing on the floor. And if for some godforsaken reason you choose to stay, then, and only then, will it lift you up, hold you close, and let you enjoy a moment of the most satisfying, soulful respite you have ever felt; that's when it will all have been worth it.

Eventually, you'll get to know it. You'll learn how to navigate the hostile world without incuring its wrath, you'll become familiar with all that there is to love about it, and maybe, when it inevitably beats you to the brink of tears again, you'll find that you've started to enjoy that part too.

So, either give it a shot and be ready for all the most brutal abuse and all the most beautiful love, or move over and leave it to the sick freaks who can handle it.

trying to write something serious and actually meaningful without sounding corny is much harder than i thought but here we go

I got rain world on the same day that i truely gave up on life, the timing of this was like a prophecy come true, I couldn’t have asked for a better coincidence. I never realised it, but the game was an exact representation of what i was going though. Trying and trying again, against all odds. Even though there were complaints, the struggle was the entire point. Recovering from such a deep part of your life portrayed as an innocent creature in a world full of hazard and endless worry. But the extreme journey is well above worth it. Even though I had to take a complete reroute of the entire game because I didn't understand how to get to the end, the ending sequence is something I’ll never forget. How rewarding it feels, it wants to make me cry. I’m not saying that Rain World saved my life, but it sure made it feel like a story. And the last theme: “Deep Light” means so much to me. I can’t listen to it without feeling sorry for myself on how i felt in those depressing months, and thanking that I’ve recovered. I never knew a video game could mean so much to me!! I’m so thankful that I got to experience this game in such a sad yet perfect time in my life. Thank you ever so much Rain World :)

rain world is a surreal experience that has changed my life; the beautiful and lonley atmosphere is undescribable. the ai is the best in any game ever made, and i know it would be funny for me to write a joke review, but this game means too much to me to do that. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this game if you haven't played it already