Rain World is one of the best games I've ever played. It's beautiful, the gameplay and story are great, and the slugs are adorable. It's not for everyone, of course, and the main reason I've seen for people disliking it is the difficulty. For people who want a game with a difficulty level around a soulslike, the difficulty itself isn't as bad. The unfairness is more apparent when you're in the first two hours. Even as someone who is considered pretty good by people I know, I have difficulty. If you don't like difficult games, don't start. But if you're fine with dying over and over and learning and traveling, you'll find that the ending is so, so much more satisfying. Yes, it is unforgiving, and one death can lose you lots of progress, but it's the same as a soulslike in that regard, so if you play soulslikes, the difficulty may not deter you as much. People also complain about getting lost and being frustrated when that happens. I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a little yellow guy telling you where to go and you're apparently to prideful to follow it and getting pissed when you find yourself in a confusing and unrequired area /sar. The game is meant to be difficult. You're meant to get lost. And you're meant to adapt, to learn, and to get back on track when you feel ready. It's not a game for people who aren't very adaptable, or people who don't like simple but also difficult to master gameplay. It's not a game for people who don't like games without much story directly given to you. Downpour solves this, but it doesn't seem like people who leave negative reviews because of that have played DP. DP also solves gameplay, somewhat. Gameplay is much more fun and engaging when the DP slugcats come into question(my personal favorite is Artificer), but just as difficult when you're starting out. Even without DP, the game is enjoyable. The ecosystem is unique and still realistic. Let me clarify: by realistic, I mean it makes sense, not that it uses actual animals(at least, that we'd find in real life). I haven't even talked about the art yet. It's pixel art. It's simple. It uses procedural animation. But it's the single most beautiful game I have ever seen. It doesn't mean you should get it just because of that, but it makes the game so much more bearable knowing the next room you enter may be the best you've seen. Sky Islands is a prime example of a beautiful region, but I won't say any more than that. I would wait until the Watcher gets some more updates to get it. It's still buggy, still new, still confusing, and lots of people don't like it. It was the same with DP, so if given time and updates, it'll get better. tldr; Don't play the base game if... -You don't like hard to master gameplay -You don't like little story -You can't play a soulslike without quitting -Pixel art is really something you're allergic to -You're don't like being told where to go when it's not obvious ...But play it if... -You like challenging gameplay -You're a sucker for pixel art -Dystopian worlds are appealing to you -Story isn't as important to you -You're able to come back to a game after putting it down for a few months -Complicated and unique ecosystems are also appealing to you ...And get Downpour if you're a mix between these two. Overall, to me it's a 10/10. I definitely recommend playing Rain World.
