If I've sold you on this game I advise you not to read the comments or anything else about it. There's more creatures and locations than I've shown in this video and your first playthrough will be more engaging if you discover them for yourself. If you're not sold then maybe you should watch the official trailer or just roll the dice on it anyway. It took me a while to win me over but I'm glad I stuck with it. I'd lavish more praise on it right now but I don't want to give anyone inflated expectations, it might not click with you but it deserves a chance. More than one even.
Personally, I would not watch comments of games I plan to play. It can lead to unwanted spoilers, which is why I will always try to not watch video's covering the game at hand. Thanks to you, I will look up the game, if it can intrigue me like Wargroove, I would buy It. Allow me to recommend you a game I like: Apotheon!
Written before watching the video: I would love to recommend Rain World if I didn't feel 10 000% compelled to do the absolute mortifying task of bringing certain optional items back to a certain place. While the route you're forced to go in order to accomplish that, being so daunting and impossible that I would never wish anyone else to experience it. Slug Cat Adventures is a great game other than that. If the devs had given me an easier route to deliver that item it would be something I'd tell everyone to play.
I was sold by this video, and having played Rain World and all of the DLC now, I'd actually kill for Matthew to do a full long-form spoiler video reviewing it. It's an utter masterpiece. He's heavily under-selling it here, even.
I like that you mention you had to come back to this game two times to start really enjoying it. I've already played it once, had trouble enjoying it, and have been planning to go back to it for this reason. Giving a game another shot if it doesn't initially stick with you is a great way of finding something you like that you otherwise may not have.
The "trust me it gets better later" argument has burned me in the past. You did a great job describing what to expect though. An unfair environment with a chance to overcome it's harshness. There's a discussion to be had on whether or not fairness is objectively a good trait, especially when it's antithetical to the game's themes.
The thing is, there's a difference between waiting for a game to get better and taking a while before realizing what makes a game remarkable. My friend took a while to realize what made Dark Souls remarkable, but that isn't cause the game was bad and it got better later.
Despite the harsh environment, Rain World is an explorer's delight -- in my initial 1-2 hour sessions I've struggled to get out of the starting area, but I still enjoyed exploring the world and observing the environment. There's an abundance of paths and curious interactions to discover, And as an Explorer player you could also opt to choose Monk as your starting class, despite Matthew's recommendations, and have no less fun for it :)
I think it's important to realise that Rain World is a systemic game. None of the creatures you encounter have predetermined paths, you won't stumble on scripted events. When this clicked the game just became endlessly enjoyable for me, no matter if I was progressing out not.
Just finished this game. Seriously one of my favourite games of all time from only an initial playthrough. I would kill for Matthew to do a full review of this game. I cannot express the joy this pure experience gave me. Please check it out I implore you
Thank you for those first 45 seconds. Some reviews put it down for a few things, but it's always been on my wishlist, and I was willing to try it if only for the art. You sold me the rest quicker than any other form of marketing could have :) Thank you, and I promise I'll come back after finishing it.
omg i've been waiting for matthewmatosis to discover this game it's honestly one of the most unique experiences you can have in modern video gaming. it's absolutely incredible
You are directly responsible for me finding my favorite game of the past 8 years and I'll forever be in your debt. Rain World is something truly special, I've never felt so close to a piece of media in my life.
Rain World gives me that electricity I used to get from games when I was little. Remember the excitement and apprehension when holding the controller and waiting for a game to load? Beautiful, visceral and intriguing. Will have to wait a bit to watch Matt's take unfortunately.
I didn't know I needed this comment. Thank You, I've been searching a long time for another person who is familiar with this beautiful 'electricity' feeling.
I know right, it also gave me the feeling of starting out a game and being so bad at it but overtime mastering the controls that I rarely get nowadays since lots of games have similar control schem (not necessarily a bad thing but I missed feeling powerless in a world and slowly becoming better myself without the game giving me stats boosts) So yeah, love this game for giving me all those feelings again after so much time!
This is exactly what I think I've been trying to articulate to myself for a long time now. Rain World has been the only single-player game that I've played recently to really capture that sense of wonder that I had when I played computer games as a kid. I am so, SO glad I stuck with it!
Thank you for being so careful about not spoiling the game; I watched a few seconds and then clicked off and saved for later viewing... and went and purchased. Love discovering a new, Interesting game. Fingers crossed It hooks me.
The thing about this game is its originality. Every aspect of it is interesting and innovative in a way. I think it's special, and even among the thousands of games released each year, it manages to stand out.
Few years late but I beat this game yesterday. I hate sounding hyperbolic, but this game made clear to me something about being human, how existence is just one big struggle, but one worth persevering through. Genuinely can’t thank you enough for bringing this experience to my attention, it’ll certainly stay with me👍
if I had one positive thing to say about the camera system, it's that it keeps the game quiet. it calls to mind the more serene shots in a nature documentary. it portrays a still world where the only movement is that of its creatures actually, to say a second positive thing: it decenters slugcat. this is a world indifferent to you as a player, and thus the camera won't track your every move. and even when you do go offscreen and the camera does come with you, it's almost more like you're switching to another camera entirely, closer to the act of glancing at another screen in a surveillance room than the motion of a singular camera centering slugcat surprise: I have a third positive thing to say. rain world is not a game overly concerned with being fair to you. it's easy to die from forces beyond your control. the camera system is not inconsistent with this--in fact, it restores a part of the prey's experience that would otherwise be missing due to the side-on perspective: not knowing what's waiting around the corner to surprise you. just as a real-life mouse can't be sure there isn't a fox behind any of the trees surrounding them, slugcat can't be sure there isn't a lizard just beyond the next screen transition having considered all that, I actually don't think I would change the camera system given the choice. I'm not sure it would be rain world without it
Matthew, given how much you've endured in Rain World, I HIGHLY recommend giving *Darkwood* a try. It's among the best HORROR games in recent memory, alongside P.T., SOMA, Detention/Devotion (haven't played RE2). It combines survival elements and small randomization, with gorgeous artwork and sound design, and being in an East European setting and hints of cosmic horror, makes for an unforgettable experience.
As a huge fan of Rain World - I'll second this. Darkwood is one of many fantastic indie games I've played in the last few years (up there with stuff like Hollow Knight and Lisa). It's honestly pretty amazing how well they pulled off survival horror in a way that compliments its unique perspective. The ending is also incredible.
I don't own or haven't played Darkwood, and I haven't thought about it since learning of it a good while ago - but even to someone who steers wide and clear of usual horror games, I remembered all about it from your comment. It's just utterly intriguing.
Rainworld seriously is one of the most amazing journeys I've ever had in game. This video only accounts for 1% of the depth of it, but that's because you NEED to go into it blind. It's amazing.
And get stuck in drainage system for 10 hours, running into every dead end, before finally giving up and going back to the wastes, and most likely dropping the game.
@@pawlogates It's not badly implemented, if you think it is, then that is the skill issue, drainage system at best is meh and okay, unfortunate development is the true worst place ever in rainworld, due to this single issue being literally bland and boring when you know how to traverse through it, and being literally Lower shaded citadel x3 if you go through it blind. Drainage system ironically has alot of paths to cross over, like that room with 3 circles and most of the time lizards on the lowest part of the area, you can either leap to the circles or literally run straight through the lizard crowd, hesitating once in the game unironically results in death. The exploration is also immaculate I should say, the best example of this is "The wall", which is like, probably the most rewarding subregion ever, provided by the visuals, and the hidden stashes throughout the world. And, what? There's barely any dead ends in drainage system, wall climbing and planting spears in the wall exists, there's also various movement techs that actually get you through drainage system in a *breeze*, you should definitely check the discord server. And being straight to the "I'm better than you" statement, remember, there's always someone better than you lmfao.
@@WorlWyrm I meant parts of the game are, including drainages deadends. Open world level design is great unless you put deadends that and no fast travel
@1:49 3 years late on this, but while this system may seem incredibly punishing at first, this is actually a clever way for the developers to gate players to avoid frustration. You already highlighted that Rainworld is all about studying your surroundings and using that knowledge to your advantage; unlike an RPG, there is no leveling system that says "you have the stats necessary to challenge this new area". So how does a developer test for knowledge in Rainworld? The elegant solution is this gating system---if you know enough to survive a certain number of cycles in one area, the developers deem you ready for the next. If the developers allowed players to wander into very difficult environments without the gating system, players may permanently get stuck at a location and cause needless player frustration. So funnily enough, a system that feels incredibly punishing to the player is put in place to prevent even greater player frustration.
glad to see big youtubers recommending this game, I love it and think it's very ahead of it's time in it's design, AI, and animation. It was panned on release, is getting some tentative praise lately, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it on "game of the decade" type lists eventually.
I love this game. I beat this game, I have tamed lizards, been to most regions. Its a beautiful cold stark game. And its a game with serious problems. EXTREAMLY rough edges. You WILL face unavoidable deaths even if you get good. You WILL have to traverse large distances with barely enough time to get to the shelter in some cases. I love this game to absolute death but its one of the most inconsistenty fair game I have ever played.
Such an awesome art style. Despite having never heard of it before watching this video, a recommendation from Matthewmatosis makes this an instabuy for me.
Rain World is fraught with all kinds of things that can turn off all kinds of people. But there is also a ton of stuff to love in there, and the feeling of exploration and the amazingly designed combat are special.
tbh there is no game like rain world, and there is no difficulty curve like the one in rain world. Try a game like hollow knight next if you haven't already!
@@poli2514 hehe, i've played through hollow knight twice by now. it's deserving of it's status, as a modern classic! but it's lacking a bit in the departments of randomly getting eaten, watching my lifeless body getting dragged around and fought over for minutes, and legit making me ragequit. PS: some of the rain world mods are even more curvy, in that regard.
i adore this game. i also find it very hard to recommend to people because of its obtuseness. there's a few points with regards to conveyance where i think the game spectacularly fails. but there has NEVER been a game that made me feel like i was part of an ecosystem as much as this game. being part of the rain world speedrunning/scorerunning community has illuminated that perhaps hunter's hunting is the game's true design and that it never was made for the survivor. ty
Regarding being ambushed by predators on the other side of tunnels, you will not actually exit a tunnel unless you move to exit it. While you might hold the movement key while traversing a tunnel out of habit, it's not required. Movement is automatic once you enter, and you can stay at the endpoint indefinitely. While peeking out, enemies can't see you and in most cases won't attack you even if they enter the tunnel (though they will push you out as they enter).
So happy you reviewed this. Love how you make your videos and I have been trying to beat this game off and on for half a year now. Love the atmosphere and feeling that playing this game gives you. You are the slugcat.
It only took you four hours to start liking Rain World? It took me around 40-60 hours (which is how long it took me to complete the campaign) to start truly enjoying it. The only reasons I didn't quit were A: I owned maybe 4 games on steam at the time, and B: the concept of the game, and C: the semi-frequent times I felt like I had improved or progressed. These things kept me from quitting, but I never felt completely in control of slugcat or at home in the world until downpour. The movement from artificer was pure dopamine after playing as survivor for so long, and next thing you know it, I'm hooked. Through both artificer's and rivulet's campaigns I improved, driven mainly by their movement. By the time I reached spearmaster, I was good enough to handle the more brutal environment and had figured out (and looked up) pretty much all the movement tech I needed. I now have over 200 hours and counting, feel extremely comfortable with slugcat's moveset and at home in the world. Rain World is now my favorite game, the journey was definitely difficult but rewarding, something I would 100% recommend. I wouldn't hesitate to go through it all over again for the ability to move around in the world's beautiful ecosystem as if I was the slugcat.
This is a video I've had in my back pocket for years and now I've finally given this game a shot and come back. I decided to explore in a cheeky direction in my second cycle, promptly got a combination of panicked and greedy in hunting food and followed a red thing that I thought I could eat into what I think was it's mother's nest and got killed. While the losing progress mechanic is harsh, I'm sure I could just linger around my own little burrow to level up if I needed to, before feeling confident enough to venture forth. I very much enjoy the balance it forces you to strike - while the alien, oppressive world is probably more like Super Metroid, it makes me feel like how I did when Dark Souls eventually clicked - all great reference points, and helps get me into the mindset that seems to be the game's true challenge. The animation reminds me of falling sand physics games if anybody remembers those, and it gives a great feel to the strange, gelatinous creatures inhabiting this world. I'm looking forward to what more I can see. One question though, what happens if you pick the monk? Do certain enemies ignore you or something?
I enjoyed this game very much and remember it fondly but when you brought up the static screen was the only time I thought that it really was straight up bad mechanic without any justification. The slugcat in game doesn't just see what we see.
It's an amazing game and it's environmental AI makes entering area's you have visited before always an exercise in caution, stealth or parcour. Yes it is very hard, but I recommend playing the first level as the Yellow one first to get used to movement and the other mechanics and then restarting as white cat. The only niggle I had was the few "quests" later on where you have to ferry items large distances trough very hard zones to unlock some lore or help an NPC. They are (because of the AI) always a challenge but got old to me before I could get the most of it because you can only bring a few items at a time with you and you need to save some room for food to hibernate.
Years later I've finally played through Rain World and I say - it's a unique experience, but not a good video game. The problem with it as a game isn't in how punishing it is, but how obtuse, unintuitive and clunky it can get. Forcing you to survive like an animal is one thing, but having a key item that you need to progress look like a background light source that you don't pay any attention to and just walk by (and then die repeatedly, because you didn't even think it was the item you needed) is just bad game design. And unfortunately this game is littered with these kinds of bad choices. I died several times jumping on to a poll that looked like it's in a foreground, but it was in a background. Many time I fell off ledges, because the terrain under your feet looks like a jumbled mess and you can't say where it ends. I died to camera switch being placed in a very awkward position and on several occasions constant camera switching made platforming just insufferable. After many hours of this game harshly teaching me to run away from everything that looks even vaguely threatening it started to expect me to grab some of the creatures and keep them with me, otherwise I won't be able to progress, without any indication which creatures a safe to grab and won't kill me. On one map there are pits that lead to a lower part of the level, but if you descend in a wrong pit it will kill you, even if you have a "parachute" to not take any fall damage. I had to do final two levels of this game in almost pitch darkness, because I didn't eat a specific type of food that was available in just one level in the middle of the game - I've somehow managed to do so well on that specific level that I didn't need to eat and take shelter - and I was punished for my success. There are many more things I could keep piling on here. Each of them is small in separation, but it's a death by a thousand needles. Sprinkle some pure RNG that can easily lead to your death, controls that live their own life sometimes, and some truly infamous bugs like the deer in Farm Arrays (some negative reviews mention that area and that deer specifically), and you have a recipe for a lot of needless frustration. I've seen people on steam and reddit defending all of it, but I don't think fixing these (and many other) problems would've taken away from the experience, but rather would've just lead to a better game that a lot more people would've got to experience, instead of quickly bouncing off. In the moments when this game "works" I see how it could've been really good and engaging. But as is - it's a unique experience, but not a good video game. Although, I'm glad this game found it's audience and there are enough people who enjoy it as is to give it a cult classic status.
My thoughts exactly. Thanks for making me feel less insane cuz everyone is defending all this or saying thst the HUGE roadblocks (which you can only run into when you play spoilerless, and ignore the guide which shouldnt be punished this harshly by an explorstion heavy game) are actually not an issue.
Man, it'd be amazing to see a full review from you on this one, I just got finished with the BOTW review, which is a game I have already played and already love, and yet somehow it was so tremendously enlightening and insightful-- and Rain World is ALSO a game I have played and loved, in fact, it's one of my favourite games ever. But where quite a few of BOTW's design innovations seem obvious in retrospect, even after HUNDREDS OF HOURS and watching every video on Rain World I could possibly find, some of it just seems... so obtuse, and impossible to fully grasp, in a way I LOVE, but I'd still really like to hear your take also.
Yep, on my first playthrough I hated the game at times, but I kept on going for gorgeous environments and the exploration's sake. Now I regard Rain World as one of my all times favourite, yet when I replay it I still avoid certain regions cause there's no way I'll go through those ever again
youtube gods sent me here and I'm glad they did! you have a fantastic way of explaining your thoughts and I very much enjoyed your perspective! I'll be checking the game out now!
Big issue is still making progress, the monkey creatures for example are just tedious to deal with since they're so far away and random death in exploration can lead to repeating the same motions over and over again, especially when all other avenues are exhausted and you are left to retry it endlessly until you get lucky. Unfair difficulty is good when it isn't boring.
Thank you for making a video on this. Rain World is one of my favorite games and I feel strongly that it is criminally underrated, even despite the admittedly niche appeal
Even after completing this game, i am still playing it. There is so much to master when it comes to this game it becomes the reward to conquer previous challenges easy. As you said, the slug cats movement is tough at first, then bearable. With a bit more experimenting you can slide into a hop the same distance as a crouch jump, you can forward roll from a high drop and jump further than a crouch jump and speed up your movement considerably through areas. The story to this game also hooked me in, and my god the ending was amazing.
Once again, a great recommendation for a game I probably wouldn't have played If I hadn't seen this video. By the way, he mentions art that could mimic the feel of spider webs. There was a beautiful exhibition called hybrid webs by Tomas Saraceno that focused entirely on that. You can check it out on google, good stuff
Been playing it recently and felt the same too. It's like an alternate universe version of OddWorld, where it manages to look more cartooney but at the same time feel less goofy (intentionally of course).
I just want to say this; without your recommendation, I would never have held any interest for what looked to me like yet another sprite simulation. You've led me to some of my all-time favorites in the past, however, so I'll look further into this game when the opportunity presents itself. Thank you.
Brilliant commentary on the bizarre charms of Rain World's design. I'd love to see you delve deeper into games similarly confident in subverting the conventions of wish fulfillment you briefly described; a lot less common in single player games, perhaps what makes Rain World so interesting.
Feels like it would have been a good idea to include some of the advanced control/movement techniques the game features. I tried the game and dropped it very quickly when it came out, only to later find out that there's so much you can do and master, but it's not hinted at anywhere. I had to find out about it in a thread about the game, that linked me to a page detailing such things.
So glad you made this video (as well as made it spoiler free). I had played the game for a bit, but wanted to enjoy it without bias so I didn't look things up, thus I had no idea how to get through those doors and just stopped playing. Now maybe I can actually get to the rest of the game.
Thank you so much for giving this game the spotlight it deserves! It has many flaws, but I think all the unconventional choices it took payed off overall, making it an unforgettable experience (I feel a lot of the points you made on your video about the bold choices in Demon's Souls apply to Rain World too). Now I can only wish for an in depth critique in the future :)
Something I think it’s a shame non gamers miss out on is the immersion created by high difficulty in games Rain world’s use of difficulty is thematic as well (one of its most brilliant qualities imo), but I swear this game put me into a trance at points
I was thinking of picking up a couple new games to fill time during the quarantine when I remembered watching this video a while back. I have deep criticisms of the game, but I find myself enjoying my time with it tremendously. Thanks for the video, and bringing the game to my attention!
I had this game on my steam wishlist, and you convinced me to take the plunge. I have to say, I am extremely glad I did because this is one of the most interesting and enjoyable 2D games I've ever played, both from a technical and mechanical perspective. I finished it this month. I definitely had a trying experience to begin with, I certainly wasn't enjoying myself one hundred percent of the time but I really stuck with it and after six or so hours it just clicked, I genuinely started to appreciate the design philosophy behind this game and I am honestly glad it was so difficult to get into at the start, I feel like it helped a lot to know that before I went in so thank you very much for making this video.
you mentioned restarting a lot at first. That's about where I am right now. It's very intimidating, which would explain journo reactions to it. I'm glad you made a video on this because not only does it deserve it but it also motivates me to try a little harder
Hi Matt, I am not sure how many people here are from the UK, but I think a lot of people are probably watching parliament live at the moment and unfortunately will miss this excellent output from you
This plus their current sale(Seriously, under $5 seems a steal for nearly any game in the first place) has just earned the game a buy. Also a discord friend always uses emotes of slugcat and he looks funny
@@skydiamsteam6005 I fell in love with it very quicky. Never finished it because I got mega lost + life stuff but just recently I had been meaning to play again and then they announced DLC so now I definitely have to!
This is a great way to try and persuade your audience to play the game before watching. A full minute in the video, the description and a pinned comment all dedicated to the massage of going in blind. Most other youtubers would throw away one quick line at the start and carrying on, but not Matthew. Matthew is different. Matthew is passionate. That's why I love him.
you have to think like an animal to play this game, you either like that or you don't. if you go at it trying to kill every enemy and explore every corner you will fail. find shelter, food, stay put...gain karma..move on..repeat. it needs patience and without all the predators would be very boring.
I bought this game a week ago after being on the fence for a while. This review triggered the purchase, and I am overwhelmingly happy it did. It has to be my favorite piece of media I've experienced this decade, I'm completely in love with it. Thank you for shining some light on this one.
I decided to jump into it after seeing the trailer. While it is unforgiving, dying isn't often and restarts are fast. That being said... This is the scariest fucking game I've ever played. If you have a fear of bugs like me, you might not even be able to play more than an hour at a time
This game looks really cool. It really excites me to see games evolve as an art form. I think a lot of the people who don't take games seriously don't realize that games are meaningful in their own right because they're seen as an interactive movie, which misses the point entirely. The meat of the experience is in the situation the game puts you in - the rest is just window dressing in a sense. Not a groundbreaking take there but a game like this is a great example of what makes video games so special
