Expanding a Formidable World
Expansions, downloadable content, or DLC as we mostly know it, have been a bit of a mixed bag over the decades since the concept was first introduced to the console market on the Xbox.
On one side of the coin, there is the fantastic opportunity to significantly expand the playing time of your beloved games. It offers a chance to take you on a brand-new journey with your favourite characters, to expand into previously unseen realms, and to provide you with new activities to undertake. The gold standard of these recent DLC packs is undoubtedly the Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion, which added a rich, new layer to the base game.
On the other side is the infamous horse armour in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Luckily for us, Rain World: The Watcher falls firmly into the first category, giving you a whole new, substantial adventure for this formidable game.
The Slugcat’s New Journey
We liked the main game, Rain World, a lot when we reviewed it upon its release a few years back. We loved the harrowing adventure of the Slugcat and found the world-building to be incredibly engrossing, even though there wasn’t any clear direction given at first and, at times, the difficulty was as hard as nails.
This is the second significant piece of DLC following the relatively linear Downpour expansion. The Watcher, by contrast, offers a much more complicated journey that will likely frustrate some players, while others will absolutely adore it.
This division of opinion can also be applied to the story itself. While in the original game there was a relatively simple objective – which was primarily to survive and find your lost family – in this expansion, you have to explore deeply to get the most out of the narrative. The game’s visual storytelling is paramount here, and the act of imprinting your own version of events onto the screen is just as important as what is explicitly shown. I think it’s a story about everything: death, life, the passage of time, and the myriad different worlds entwined around us. It is dense and open to interpretation, and I suspect there are already a lot of videos out there that will examine the lore in minute detail, covering aspects that you could easily miss while just playing through the game.
Backtracking and Blended Worlds
The sheer sense of exploration offered in Rain World: The Watcher is nothing short of amazing, and the different areas that you find are consistently diverse and unique. At times I was genuinely lost in just how big this DLC package is. However, the downside to this vast scale is that you will be doing a significant amount of backtracking, so you need to be prepared to see a lot of the same areas repeatedly as you navigate the map. There were areas that I reached that didn’t seem to have much of a point to them, resulting in dead ends, while others hold vital items or clues that you might miss the first time around, which are essential in order to progress.
Reading up on the development of this, it appears there have been mods created that have been blended into this official DLC. You can sometimes tell this is the case, as at times the worlds feel a bit unconnected in their design logic. Portals are a major mechanic here, where you might be in one distinct place and then suddenly find yourself transported to a desert environment. Later in the game, you will even get the ability to make your own portals, just to make things even stranger and more unique.
Punishing Difficulty and Pixel Perfection
As was the case in the first game, there isn’t really any handholding to be found here. At times, the experience is so punishingly hard that you might want to cry, but if you persist, there is something undeniably beautiful in this journey of the little Slugcat. That being said, I do wish there was a little more help provided regarding progression.
The encounters you have with enemies and beasties along the way are just as hard as they were before. There are terrifying new creatures on offer here with horrible abilities that require you to be constantly on top of your game as you move through the environments. The core gameplay of moving and interacting with your Slugcat feels largely the same as that which came before, so I didn’t feel entirely lost control-wise or feel like I was starting from scratch. It is worth noting, however, that you do need to have finished the main game to start this DLC.
Visually, the game still looks amazing and remains one of the most unique and strange experiences on the market. The colours and textures are great, and the new biomes and areas are stunning, adding layers to the environmental storytelling as you try to work out how these worlds came to be. The new creature designs are inventive and look good, even though I met my demise at their hands many, many times. It really is a masterclass in what developers can do with the pixel art form.
The same high praise can be applied to the soundtrack. It is so experimental and, at times, deeply unsettling that I don’t know whether I loved it or was genuinely scared of it.
A Hellish, Hypnotic Triumph for Hardcore Fans
I didn’t think I wanted to go back to Rain World. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed my time with it back in 2023, but the punishing difficulty level and the sensory assault of the scenes were things I enjoyed, but found taxing on my old brain. However, it has been good going back with The Watcher, even though I found the lack of direction even more baffling this time around.
It feels like being lost is part of the intended journey and so if you are a fan of the original game, then you will have a good, hellish time with Rain World: The Watcher.
Important Links
Journey Beyond to Something Only Ever Glimpsed in Rain World: The Watcher – https://www.thexboxhub.com/journey-beyond-to-something-only-ever-glimpsed-in-rain-world-the-watcher/
Buy The Watcher – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/rain-world-the-watcher/9n0wqrjhztm3
