I deeply treasure Rain World and honestly think it represents the highest peak of artistic expression in videogames so far. I first played it and loved it four years ago, and I've only loved it more and more with each passing year. It's by far my favorite game, and I think more people need to experience it.

Between "Coin-op arcade game" and "artsy-fartsy walking simulator" there exists a broad spectrum. There are games that might be more immediately "fun" than rainworld, and conversely, there are games that are more outwardly experimental. Rainworld is special because it perfects a synthesis of these two sides.

The moment-to-moment gameplay is fun, exciting, and always offers some surprises. I've clocked hundreds of hours and I still enjoy starting a new save because the world is built to be unpredictable, and because mastery of the very complex movement system makes you feel like Neo becoming one with the Matrix. Just starting out, the game feels awful and clumsy. Then, over dozens of hours, you'll create a mental map of your moveset, and the exact timings of how to pull off movement combos - flips, leaps, rolls, slides, pounces, special maneuvers with your spear, and more. When you're good enough at this game you can run circles around almost anything you see. Most impressive of all is that this staggering complexity is stuffed into a small number of inputs - 4 movement directions, grab, jump, and throw.

It helps that the world design is sublime and extremely meticulous. Progression is nonlinear with many routes to each objective, and while there are some dead ends if you go the wrong way [don't go waaay far left early on], it never felt frustrating to me because every screen in the game contains its own insanely beautiful environment to stare at in awe. The main route through the game is exceptionally well-paced, with some truly unforgettable areas and sequences. The map itself is 3-D with layers, which makes navigating a lot more complicated than a simple "go left, right, up or down" like most sidescrollers. It's just one of many strange, unique elements of this game, like its unique creature AI, dynamic music, and more.

Its experimental gameplay elements are communicated nonverbally, and can be understood without the use of a wiki or guide if one pays close attention for enough time. In fact, Rainworld eschews almost all words and dialogue altogether. The game is entirely devoid of pop-ups telling you what's happening or what you should be doing. Loose directions are given diegetically by an in-game creature that guides you. The world is signposted in a language a mere slugcat can't comprehend, and once the short intro tutorial concludes, you're left to fend for yourself.

The world is exceedingly cruel and you will die ridiculous, frustrating deaths. Unlike most games, this one doesn't even attempt to be fair sometimes. While the game can be quickly beaten in an easily reproducible manner if you know what you're doing, it heavily punishes the player for rushing or being impatient. The gameplay loop is focused around cautiously exploring, forming a mental map of your surroundings, doubling back to rest in your shelter, and venturing a little farther next cycle, all the while dodging predators and feeding on little creatures that want to survive just as much as you do. It's intuitive once you've settled into it, but completely foreign to almost every other game.

This is all deliberately crafted to communicate its themes - nature's unfairness and brutality, existential melancholy, absurdism and feeling stuck, the cycle of life and death, a "great" civilization long since collapsed, the struggle for enlightenment or transcendence. This is a game with a lot to say, if you're willing to read between the lines and closely examine what you're shown. It conveys an emotional sincerity and sentimental appreciation for the beauty and stillness of nature, and the bewildering mystery of life.

Rainworld is not without flaws, but it stands as proof that a game doesn't need to sacrifice its artistic ambitions to be infectiously fun to play, and fascinating to watch. I genuinely think it will be held up in the ensuing decades as an example of true innovation. It flouts every piece of so-called "conventional knowledge" in game design, yet it's a piece of art that could only be a game - no other medium can evoke the same feelings.

It's too early for me to critique the DLC from an artistic standpoint, but it's had an interesting development history [starting out as a mod before eventually being brought onboard as official content, paired up with a new publisher as the IP rights Adult Swim was sitting on were given back to the true developers.] It's fair to say that it adds enough new content to be worth playing. Just make sure you finish the vanilla game and its hardmode before buying the DLC, as it builds upon those concepts for its foundations.

I deeply treasure Rain World and honestly think it represents the highest peak of artistic expression in videogames so far. I first played it and loved it four years ago, and I've only loved it more and more with each passing year. It's by far my favorite game, and I think more people need to experience it. Between "Coin-op arcade game" and "artsy-fartsy walking simulator" there exists a broad spectrum. There are games that might be more immediately "fun" than rainworld, and conversely, there are games that are more outwardly experimental. Rainworld is special because it perfects a synthesis of these two sides. The moment-to-moment gameplay is fun, exciting, and always offers some surprises. I've clocked hundreds of hours and I still enjoy starting a new save because the world is built to be unpredictable, and because mastery of the very complex movement system makes you feel like Neo becoming one with the Matrix. Just starting out, the game feels awful and clumsy. Then, over dozens of hours, you'll create a mental map of your moveset, and the exact timings of how to pull off movement combos - flips, leaps, rolls, slides, pounces, special maneuvers with your spear, and more. When you're good enough at this game you can run circles around almost anything you see. Most impressive of all is that this staggering complexity is stuffed into a small number of inputs - 4 movement directions, grab, jump, and throw. It helps that the world design is sublime and extremely meticulous. Progression is nonlinear with many routes to each objective, and while there are some dead ends if you go the wrong way [don't go waaay far left early on], it never felt frustrating to me because every screen in the game contains its own insanely beautiful environment to stare at in awe. The main route through the game is exceptionally well-paced, with some truly unforgettable areas and sequences. The map itself is 3-D with layers, which makes navigating a lot more complicated than a simple "go left, right, up or down" like most sidescrollers. It's just one of many strange, unique elements of this game, like its unique creature AI, dynamic music, and more. Its experimental gameplay elements are communicated nonverbally, and can be understood without the use of a wiki or guide if one pays close attention for enough time. In fact, Rainworld eschews almost all words and dialogue altogether. The game is entirely devoid of pop-ups telling you what's happening or what you should be doing. Loose directions are given diegetically by an in-game creature that guides you. The world is signposted in a language a mere slugcat can't comprehend, and once the short intro tutorial concludes, you're left to fend for yourself. The world is exceedingly cruel and you will die ridiculous, frustrating deaths. Unlike most games, this one doesn't even attempt to be fair sometimes. While the game can be quickly beaten in an easily reproducible manner if you know what you're doing, it heavily punishes the player for rushing or being impatient. The gameplay loop is focused around cautiously exploring, forming a mental map of your surroundings, doubling back to rest in your shelter, and venturing a little farther next cycle, all the while dodging predators and feeding on little creatures that want to survive just as much as you do. It's intuitive once you've settled into it, but completely foreign to almost every other game. This is all deliberately crafted to communicate its themes - nature's unfairness and brutality, existential melancholy, absurdism and feeling stuck, the cycle of life and death, a "great" civilization long since collapsed, the struggle for enlightenment or transcendence. This is a game with a lot to say, if you're willing to read between the lines and closely examine what you're shown. It conveys an emotional sincerity and sentimental appreciation for the beauty and stillness of nature, and the bewildering mystery of life. Rainworld is not without flaws, but it stands as proof that a game doesn't need to sacrifice its artistic ambitions to be infectiously fun to play, and fascinating to watch. I genuinely think it will be held up in the ensuing decades as an example of true innovation. It flouts every piece of so-called "conventional knowledge" in game design, yet it's a piece of art that could only be a game - no other medium can evoke the same feelings. It's too early for me to critique the DLC from an artistic standpoint, but it's had an interesting development history [starting out as a mod before eventually being brought onboard as official content, paired up with a new publisher as the IP rights Adult Swim was sitting on were given back to the true developers.] It's fair to say that it adds enough new content to be worth playing. Just make sure you finish the vanilla game and its hardmode before buying the DLC, as it builds upon those concepts for its foundations.