In our adventure game stream format, we play a game every Monday until we eventually beat the game. But sometimes we don't get a game that resonates, or it just isn't a good game for whatever reason. Rain World is one such. We got 1.5hr into it before I decided that it was enough and we instead moved on to a different thing for the stream.

Rain World is a very very pretty game and has a lot going for it. You're a slugcat, a very weak and small creature in a harsh world where you're very VERY edible. Dangerously so, in fact. Every day the rains come and kill everything that's not hunkered down or found a safe haven. Your goal is to explore the world after accidentally being split from your family. The map is very metroidvania with expansive connections and places to find and discover. The enemies are difficult and diverse and randomized, leading you to have to wisely traverse each room to continue your journey. All the while mentally keeping track of the safehouses so you can get there quickly before the rains come and sets you back a day (dying.) Its got this calm atmosphere and procedurally animated characters that just gives it all an almost soothing vibe. But thats about where the positives end... Ramble here, I like talking about games and where I feel like they falter.

I was told after we decided to stop playing that this game is in a niche of exploration. This super balls-hard you'retoldnothing world and you have to progress genre. And I think that's an awesome. But this isn't a good game. The tutorial you're given is how to do a crouching leap, how to find and eat prey, what a safe room is, and what indicators on the map mean what. Pretty standard tutorial stuffs, and it gets the job done. It sets up the world and tone, gives you some tools, and sends you on your way. I was doing okay as well, being able to juke predators and find new safe zones to progress. But one time I went a bit too far. I found a really really interesting area with these symbols and moving machinery, something I'd not seen any evidence of yet. So clearly its a progress point. Getting through there, I followed my guide to where they said a safe zone was and suddenly they left me for dead and stopped telling me anything. Just as the rains started. Resetting all my progress to that point. Dangit. Frustrating but whatever. Trying to get back to that point I had to avoid predators (which are a 1hit KO btw) and it led me down this totally different path then I intended to go down. Dangit. Now I have to get back. At least I found a safe zone and could go from here right? Nope. I spent probably 30-40 minutes going around in circles trying to get my way out. Dying constantly to different things. Even sometimes it was legitimately unavoidable as I didn't have any information to tell me that a randomized enemy was on the other side of a tube! It was brutal. But eventually we found the way out, and it had me do a couple kinda-precise jumps in order to get to a tunnel which would take me next to that steam room. But I couldn't jump it. Legitimately, no abilities I had could get me there. At this point someone in chat said that I had techniques to get up, had them all along and that the game just never tells you. Which, let me be frank here, is absolute garbage game design.

At no point does this game inform you of any of the powers, abilities, and techniques you can use to explore. When the only goal of the game is to explore. In fact, some of the things you could only learn if you were actively trying to die and failed at it. In fact, it seems like the only way to learn anything in this game is to die, die, die again, die another time, keep dying, and finally in frustration you throw your controller at the screen and it hits the magic buttons to do a new thing. Challenge is a good thing in games, but you still have to guide people and show them what your core abilities are. The challenge comes from the players overcoming obstacles, not overcoming what information you should have told them. Its like if Hollow Knight never taught you how to heal. You could beat the game, but it would be incredibly hard unless you so happened to hold down an arbitrary button for a few seconds while hurt. You know, when you're generally running away not standing still holding buttons. That's what this felt like.

And the map. Oh god the map. It has a HUGE world to explore, with each room being self-contained puzzles of sorts in order to progress. But it doesn't lead you to anything at all. I was going around aimlessly for honestly too long, trying to find what the fuck I'm supposed to be doing. I get it, right? You put players in an unknown world and you want them to feel lost and confused. But you should still gently guide them to a power, ability, or situation where they can understand something new to progress. At least at first. This game had me instantly enter rooms with 4 new exits, each leading to another room with 2-3 more. Making a web of confusing mess to untangle. Am I doing down the right path? Is there anything over here? Or should I go back to that other way that looked kinda interesting in the ceiling? Why bother, nothing matters apparently. Just hold right until you find something neat to be killed by. Until I found that steam room I thought there legitimately was no direction. That the whole point of the game was just to wonder around. And honestly, I still think that might be the objective.

We talked about this being a "Wiki Game." For those unaware, a Wiki Game is a type of videogame where you should probably have the Wikipedia of the game up so you can reference things as you play. But I don't think this is one. Or at least, its a really really bad Wiki Game. Stardew Valley, Terraria, and Subnautica are all Wiki Games. You can beat them completely vanilla with no help. They indicate direction and has reason to find those new things to progress. The Wiki is there for extra context, smoothing out your experience if you put yourself into a rocky position, or to answer questions you might have missed the answer to (or are asking far earlier then they intended you to ask!) Wiki Games refer to titles that are incredibly deep. Rain World *requires* the Wiki to be up. In the Controls section, there's 9 different subsections of it, and 9 for jumping alone! Yeah, high-end high-skill stuff doesn't have to be told to the players. But its disrespectful of my time to assume that you're better then telling me how to jump up higher. I tried to do a wall jump for like 5 minutes, because it had me stick to walls a little. Ultimately I figure it would be related to an ability I would get later on. Nope, I could always wall jump. Just wasn't being precise enough. That's just *one* example.

We're not beating Rain World. I might even remove it from my library. Its got super high reviews and I don't see why.

All of this and more was talked about in the stream where I was playing this title. If you want to see my play the next game in our adventure game series, you can watch over on https://www.twitch.tv/zaezar where I promise I won't ramble nearly this much! Well, okay maybe a little... But usually about good things! We're playing Duel Masters, Sempai Legends (yes thats its official title)

Art © Zaezar