We've known it was coming since last year, but atmospheric, beautiful, ecologically-driven metroidvania platformer Rain World's new expansion has dropped.
In Rain World: The Watcher, you become Nightcat, AKA The Watcher, a new and adorable slugcat with its own (new, adorable) gimmick—finding mysterious echoes of itself, which will require you to check out all kinds of new places on the map.
"Journey beyond to something, somewhere only ever glimpsed," says the official description. "When the world beneath your feet cracks and crumbles, will you hold on to all you once knew? Or dive into the unknown?
"The wilds that await will be unlike all that's come before. Unknown creatures stalk and climb and dive and hunt. New breeds rip and pluck and burrow and hide. Predator and prey redefined. And through the middle of it all, a lonely lost slugcat trying their best to outlast the ravages of a warped world."
For the Rain World community, The Watcher is sure to be an interesting one. It's a sprawling expansion compared to the prior one in terms of sheer areas, with diversity in both other creatures and strange sights.
There's also some best-in-class design cribbed from mods, especially as it pertains to some of the coolest areas added. That's great, because it's the expansion's main conceit that you'll have to explore more than an average run in order to survive as The Watcher.
Rain World's previous expansion, Downpour, was famous for a different reason: It added a whole lot more than just one slugcat. It was a gargantuan fan-spearheaded effort that took years to complete, but nailed what made Rain World so special.
"Rain World found its audience at the intersection of nature documentary fans and those who play Stalker survival mods," said Dominic Tarason writing about Downpour for PC Gamer back in 2023.
You can find Rain World: The Watcher on Steam.
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