Jan 30, 20194 min read

Game Review #115: Rain World (Nintendo Switch)

Reviewer: Chad M.

Developer: Videocult

Publisher: Adult Swim Games

Category: Action, Adventure, Platformer, Multiplayer

Release Date: 12.13.2018

Price (at time of review): $19.99

Buy Rain World from the Nintendo eShop here.

Well, Aren’t You a Cute Little Guy?

There are quite a few platformers on the eShop, and the list continues to grow as we add another with Rain World. Rain World is a survival action-platformer brought to us by Adult Swim Games, and created by the small indie team over at Videocult. It took the small team over six years to fully develop, and was first released back in 2017 on PS4 and Windows. The game initially released to mixed reviews, praised for some aspects and critiqued for others that were addressed through updates over time. Now, Rain World has made its way to the Switch, and I had the pleasure of playing it, so let’s jump in and talk about it.

I Hope You Brought Your Umbrella

The story starts off with a mutant family of part-slug, part-cat-like creatures. As the slugcats make their way, you are suddenly separated from your family and left all alone. Now you must fight for your survival in a ruined world that has a post-apocalypse feel to it. You travel from place to place in tunnels, abandoned worn down factories, and outside in the wild, to name a few locales. You’ll be searching for food to consume in hopes of hibernating to stave off the world crashing down around you when the rain comes. As the title states, in Rain World, every so often, the screen will begin to shake, and you have to high-tail it to one of the scarce hibernation chambers before the torrential rain comes and pummels you to death or drowns you.

As you travel along, you’ll encounter different types of creatures that will kill you—some in one hit—so you have to always be on guard. There are killer plants, killer birds, killer Komodo Dragons, and killer water-creatures, so not too many friends for poor slugcat to play with. You are mainly meant to evade and try to be stealthy, but that won’t always work. You can pick up spears and rocks to throw in attempts to keep them away or battle them back. You can also use the spears to make makeshift limbs or ledges to access items and food. The food you consume is also scarce, so grab it when you see it.

Gameplay & Fun Factor

You have a map that can be accessed at any time, and with over 1,600 screens to navigate, it will come in handy. Lucky for you, there is a glowing plant-like creature that pops out screen to screen, pointing you in the direction of food and hibernation chambers in the form of holographic images he projects. As stated before, you have to use hibernation chambers, and when you do use one, it resets the day cycle and saves your progress. If you die by the rain or by a creature, you’ll return to your last hibernation point. You can lose karma points by dying, which are shown on screen and obtained by a successful hibernation. You can also protect your current karma level by eating a yellow flower. This is important, as your karma has to be at a certain point to reach certain levels as you journey along.

For the most part, I enjoyed my time with Rain World, except one glaring thing: the controls did not feel solid at all. I had to work overtime to make sure I was grabbing a pole or jumping the right way. It’s so sad—as so much of this game is such a joy to play—that the controls made what was an extremely enjoyable gameplay experience take a step back in the wrong direction. Trust me, it’s not that it’s just a tough platformer, as I’ve played so many; and there is a strong difference in the controls compared to, say, a Super Meat Boy and this game. It doesn’t feel tight.

In fact, it felt like my character was slippery or sluggish at times, which made the game harder and took away from my experience. In saying that, I still like this game, and enjoyed it quite a bit. I just wish this was something that could be patched and fixed, as I’ve read this has been the main concern from the game’s debut. They have also added on an arena mode for multiplayer gaming with friends, it was fun to pass the time, but nothing like the main campaign.

Audio & Visuals

The audio in the game is well-placed, with creepy sounds when the creatures begin to ravage around and the rain begins to pour in all around you. The soundtrack is rather ominous and depressing, but fits with game perfectly. The pixelated art is beautifully done, and is very fluid as you watch the slugcat jumping around from poles, chucking spears at bird-like insects to eat. Everything about the art style and graphics is done very well, and will only help you get lost in Rain World.

Final Thoughts

My time with Rain World was fun, and playing as the cute little slugcat was a pleasure. I only wish the controls could be tightened up a bit. Past that, I had a blast playing in this rain-soaked world filled with deadly creatures at every turn. I would recommend anyone that likes action-platformers to give this one a go.