Rain World is a lot of things.
It's one of the most frustrating and challenging games I've ever played.
It's a game where every small success feels like a legitimate accomplishment and where earned comfort, rare as it may be, is relief like no other.
It's a game with a breathtaking world to explore. Every single area is gigantic and inspires your curiosity. Every single screen - of which there are thousands - is lovingly assembled and full of detail.
It's a game that nails its fascinating ecosystem. Animals in this game aren't just 'enemies,' they're realistic creatures with autonomy and personality. Sometimes they'll fight amongst themselves or get stuck and appear frustrated. Sometimes they'll just lounge around and seem uninterested in you.
It's a game that rewards you for being interested in its world, where you can learn things through observation and apply them to improve your gameplay.
It's a game with amazing animations, art direction, and music, which do justice to the rest of its elements.
It's a game full of small details and environmental storytelling that you could theorycraft about to no end.
But more than anything, Rain World is a game about making you feel small and unimportant.
The gameplay tells you this - it doesn't even offer you the precedent of fairness. You will die a lot, sometimes to things that seem unavoidable. The world tells you this. Its post-apocalyptic setting communicates that - even for a people much more powerful than you - this world consumes all. Their ruined architecture exists on a scale you can barely understand.
This overwhelming humility is one of the most powerful things a game has ever made me feel. It makes me sad that no other games like this exist. Undoubtedly one of the best and most unique experiences I've ever had with the medium, and one of my favorite games of all time.
It's one of the most frustrating and challenging games I've ever played.
It's a game where every small success feels like a legitimate accomplishment and where earned comfort, rare as it may be, is relief like no other.
It's a game with a breathtaking world to explore. Every single area is gigantic and inspires your curiosity. Every single screen - of which there are thousands - is lovingly assembled and full of detail.
It's a game that nails its fascinating ecosystem. Animals in this game aren't just 'enemies,' they're realistic creatures with autonomy and personality. Sometimes they'll fight amongst themselves or get stuck and appear frustrated. Sometimes they'll just lounge around and seem uninterested in you.
It's a game that rewards you for being interested in its world, where you can learn things through observation and apply them to improve your gameplay.
It's a game with amazing animations, art direction, and music, which do justice to the rest of its elements.
It's a game full of small details and environmental storytelling that you could theorycraft about to no end.
But more than anything, Rain World is a game about making you feel small and unimportant.
The gameplay tells you this - it doesn't even offer you the precedent of fairness. You will die a lot, sometimes to things that seem unavoidable. The world tells you this. Its post-apocalyptic setting communicates that - even for a people much more powerful than you - this world consumes all. Their ruined architecture exists on a scale you can barely understand.
This overwhelming humility is one of the most powerful things a game has ever made me feel. It makes me sad that no other games like this exist. Undoubtedly one of the best and most unique experiences I've ever had with the medium, and one of my favorite games of all time.