Rain World Reviews
Too often in Rain World, death does not feel warranted, as the ruthless creatures make any attempt to advance truly punishing. I felt that many times that there was simply no way to avoid dying, which in turns sets you back in your progress to locate new areas to explore. There are thrilling moments in the game, but the poor design decisions in the game hamper any enjoyment.
Even though the game frequently gates off my progression, I can't get enough of Rain World.
To me, Rain World is an example of how independent projects can progress some of our basic conventions of fields like animation, design, and world-building, but also how sometimes they can ward off some players with their quirks as well. It is a game that instigates you all the time to experiment but also reminds you how risky your mistakes can be, keeping you always aware and focused. At times I was extremely pissed at the game and even though sometimes it was justified, I often saw that I was guilty of my deaths and realized that I could abstract knowledge from my mistakes to conquer this world. Its subjectivity and brutality will for sure be problems for many and they have been for me too at various times, but in the end I feel that experiencing Rain World is not so much about progressing in this world to get a conclusion (something I didn't come across after spending 15 hours on my playthrough), but is about understanding how this world works and make yourself the king of it, well, at least until the next time you die.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The monsters are vibrant and suffused with poisoned grace
Rain World is a surprising fun game when it manages to click together. However, it also suffers from some frustrating design choices that makes it difficult to enjoy the game. Despite its flaws, the game offers a solid experience if you can overlook some of the difficulty spikes.
Relentless and brutal, this post-apocalyptic pixel art survival quest is a gruelling, if often beguiling, challenge.
One of the best-looking 2D games ever made, but the beautiful animation can’t compensate for the tediously unfair gameplay.
Sadly, despite its pretty aesthetic, Rain World is a confusing and sluggish platformer that failed to give me any reason for what I was doing and just left me feeling bored and bewildered.
A gem of a platformer featuring an adorable Slugcat. Rain World is both brutal and challenging.
I feel so badly for this game in a way. It seems so close to being something special and wonderful, but is just undermined at every turn by baffling design choices, poor controls, and frustration. Maybe some of these issues will be addressed in a future patch and Rain World will become the game it feels like it should have been. Someone else will have to let me know. As far as I'm concerned, my days of being a slugcat are officially behind me and I won't be looking back.
Do not be fooled by the serene music or a cute protagonist, Rain World is an extremely difficult and highly frustrating survival game. You will become part of the food chain from a hostile environment with deadly rains. Death will constantly follow your steps and progression will have a slow pace. Several secrets await to be uncovered, including game's own mechanics and objectives. If all of this enticed your competitive spirit, go for it; buy the game and be happy. Otherwise, stay away from all the stress. Above all, have in mind that you may face technical problems that may corrupt your save file.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
With core systems opaque and unnecessarily limited, all I ever felt equipped to do in Rain World was fail.
There was a big part of me that didn't want to stop playing and maybe I'll pick it up again some day, because there is so much to love about discovering the laws of nature behind this huge, ruined ecosystem. But with each random death, each accidental roll off a cliffside, each checkpoint drought, that love turned to ash. There is so much beauty and intrigue and diversity of life in Rain World. It's a pity the game doesn't want you to see any of it.
I wanted to love Rain World, I really did, but in the end I couldn’t. Although it starts out strong, and boasts a variety of unique gameplay features, it ends up coming out a bit muddled due to the abusive limits it places on players and overbearing confusion.
Rain World is a maddening thing, because of quite how special it could have been. Beautiful environments, incredible animations and enticingly hazy mechanics are fantastic, but the sheer cruelty of how it's pieced out to the player transcends challenge and becomes an unwanted trial.
Think Limbo, but more haunting and with better controls, and you'll have a basic idea of what Rain World is about.
Not since Mark of the Ninja have I played a stealth game that felt so impactful, lingering in my thoughts long after I put the controller down.
Few will see the more remote corners of Rain World’s relentlessly dire stretch, but those who do are unlikely to forget the experience.
The end result is complicated: it's a game we bounced off quite a lot but one we still greatly appreciate. The game does something new with the genre and it does it well for the most part, making the game worth at the very least giving a look.
