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Rain |OT| Wash away those Last Guardian blues

K

KennyLinder

Member
Eurogamer - 6
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-10-01-rain-review


It's a shame, because the atmosphere throughout is wonderful. Rain's arcades and alleyways, clearly based on the 20th-century myth of Paris as much as any particular city's reality, is gorgeously realised despite simple geometry and repeated textures. Under boiling skies and by the banks and sluices of a swift-moving river, it's the perfect place to stage a gloomy children's fantasy full of menace and melancholy. The game that actually draws on this magical midnight ambience is perfectly acceptable and intermittently enjoyable, but it meanders and runs out of ideas, and it lacks the kind of striking narrative that could assauge the absence of genuine challenge or playfulness.

It will be hard to forget your trip onto these rainy streets perhaps, but it may prove equally tricky to remember what you actually did when you were there.
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M

Monty Mole

Member
Endo Punk said:
Shame Sony left the embargo far too late. The game is releasing today, doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the title.
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And now you know why! A shame as Puppeteer and Rain were the two slightly left-field titles I've been really looking forward to. At least Puppeteer delivered.

EDIT: Or maybe not, mixed reviews. Perhaps it's a love/hate affair. Do we know if there will be a demo?
 
M

Man-is-Obsolete

Member
Monty Mole said:
And now you know why! A shame as Puppeteer and Rain were the two slightly left-field titles I've been really looking forward to. At least Puppeteer delivered.

EDIT: Or maybe not, mixed reviews. Perhaps it's a love/hate affair. Do we know if there will be a demo?
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Reviews will be all over the place. Even Puppeteer, which you liked got 6's as well.

Edit: Missed your edit :p
 
G

get2sammyb

Member
Fully expected the divisive reviews. Very much the kind of game that you're playing for the "experience". If that appeals to you, then you'll really enjoy it. Others will lament the fact that there's very little "substance", though.

Here's our review:

A wet and mild ride through a spirit-infested city, Rain is soaked with smart stealth-lite systems and awe-inducing presentation. The simple puzzles and short running time wash away some of its triumphs, and it certainly won’t leave you streaming like Japan Studio’s most memorable excursions, but the adventure will still linger on your lips like a kiss under a dark cloud.
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http://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/psn/rain
 
H

Hanmik

Member
I keep reading 4-5 hours in reviews.. wauw.. I checked my clock twice it took me exactly 2 hours. and I didn´t rush.. hmm.. my clock must be way off..
 
S

stryke

Member
Sterling gave it 8/10

Rain is not quite the model of refinement that some of its PlayStation Network peers have been, but it's an overwhelmingly amiable, effectively cultivated little adventure. Calming and scary, amusing and sorrowful, Rain is a game that jogs calmly through a gamut of emotions, rather than sprints headlong into mood whiplash, and it's incredibly difficult to ever dislike it, even during its twitchier moments. Rain is, above all, a most balmy experience.

Also, it's nice to see the PS3 finally getting a rain-themed exclusive with a good story.
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Zing.
 
F

Feindflug

Member
Fabrik said:
Pass. I feel the same as I felt towards Brothers : A Tale of Two Sons. This type of games always feels so empty. I like their concepts but they are just not engaging mechanically as games. I feel brain dead playing them. The fact the game is rainy, grey and sad doesn't help.
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I guess games like Journey, Brothers and Rain keep their gameplay mechanics simple and not that challenging because they don't want the player stuck thus hurting the pacing, from what I've played SotC found the sweet spot IMO between atmosphere/experience and gameplay. Hopefully we'll see more games like the above but with more complex mechanics in the future.

That being said Rain looks really great visual wise and I wanna play it just for the atmosphere alone but I think I'll wait for a sale.
 
Acquiescence

Acquiescence

Member
USgamer - 4.5/5

If Tokyo Jungle didn't make you believe in C.A.M.P, Rain certainly will. With all of the doom and gloom about how Japan can't compete with Western megahits, it's definitely refreshing to see these smaller projects feel so tightly designed and well-realized. In a world where Ico was the hit it should have been, we would have been seeing games like Rain a lot sooner than 2013.
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H

hurzelein

Member
keit4 said:
This game has "PS+" written all over it.
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This game has "Support games" written all over it. It will end up in Plus in the end, but I feel like Sony C.A.M.P. stuff is worth supporting!

If everyone waits for it being on Plus we won't get this kind of games anymore soon. Don't say "I will wait for it being on Plus, if you are really interested. If you are not 100% sure, wait for a sale.
 
E

Empty

Member
KennyLinder said:
Eurogamer - 6
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-10-01-rain-review
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hmm.

Given the tools that are theoretically at your disposal, it can be hard not to find yourself longing for just a slight element of actual free-form stealth - not a Sam Fisher neck-breakathon by any means, just a moment or two where things open out and you get to read the landscape and experiment. In truth, though, Rain is a platforming-puzzler rather than a stealth game, and it uses its very basic hide-and-seek elements in extremely prescriptive ways. There's a single preordained solution to every situation you're thrown into, and, while the game's never difficult, there's inevitably a bit of stop-start pacing in play as you try to work out what the game wants you to do, or die trying all the other promising things it never intended you to investigate.
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this doesn't both me. i love beyond good and evil's stealth rooms as discreet puzzles concept.

As for the narrative that the cinematic camera serves, Rain's tale is too flimsy and poorly-paced to build into something significant. There are stand-out moments - particularly early on when the rain flickers over the screen like scratches on old film and Debussy's Clair de Lune takes shape from the tentative meanderings of the soundtrack - but the story keeps playing the same tricks: a grind of separations and reunitings, of chases and last-minute escapes that circulate with no real escalation. Even when the last act offers a little welcome variation, Rain never quite transforms into what it probably wants to be - Ico by way of René Clair, a poignant human tale told wordlessly and with a stylish European slant.
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this on the other hand is a little deflating. though i suspect its more about mood than story.
 
C

Cave Johnson

Member
I'm beginning to see comments dismissing the game because it wasn't a 9 or 10. Where was that review chart where only 8 - 10 matters? I pre-ordered this game because I know exactly what I'm going to expect and many of the reviews affirmed such depositions.

Also "style" out of substance. I'd be surprised if 90% this gen actually had "substance" to begin with.
 
E

Endo Punk

Member
Rev3games review

I gotta say from what Ive seen I completely agree with this review. The game definitely seems to push style 10x more than gameplay. The same problem I had with Unfinished Swan though I disagree about SOTC having the same problem, that game was plenty unique when it came out.


Sony should stop pushing style with dumb hand holding gameplay on us, it's sort of becoming a trend with them. Give us more games where the gameplay is just as meaningful as the presentation, like DeS or TLOU for example. Less of run of the mill gameplay please.
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
They're starting an official livestream of it where they will be giving away codes

To celebrate the launch of rain, we’ll be playing through the game LIVE here on PlayStation.Blog and on Twitch at 10:00 AM PT today. Make sure to tune in — we’ll be giving away codes so you’ll be able to play rain for free!

Also, we’ll be answering your questions, so please post them on the livestream feed on Twitch, or tweet your questions to us at @PlayStation.
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http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/09/30/rain-arrives-on-ps3-tomorrow-new-trailer-debuted/
 
R

ramoisdead

Member
Livestream is on, in case people don't know.

EDIT: Welp I asked the following question over at Twitch:

"Ramoisdead: Does Rain have a Platinum trophy? Would make a certain Wario happy 64 times over."
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And the answer is no, there will be not.
 
Marc

Marc

Member
Hmm, I was kind of expecting this game to be an agreed upon instant classic. Doesn't matter as I have pre-ordered and love the graphics, art, musical adjustment and the idea enough to feel they deserve payment for their efforts.

The one thing that is concerning me is the length of the game, 2-4 hours for the price is not ideal. Some of the reviews that I have skimmed seem a bit odd though, like they were expecting a completely different game to the trailers and interviews have suggested and then been disappointed with it for that.

Hopefully I like it,
 
D

dragonbane

Member
Acquiescence said:
"Divisive" is an understatement! Man, critics are all over the shop where this game is concerned.
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Yeah. I mean I expected it, but now I'm scared again for Beyond and the release embargo :/ Doesn't bode well. I mean Heavy Rain got some mixed reviews sure, but they were pretty rare. Don't really know what to make of Sony's decision regarding these two titles.

Anyway, I'm going to check out rain for sure. Love me some artistic games from time to time.
 
C

CorySchmitz

Junior Member
I really like it so far. Just finished chapter 5. Lots of atmosphere. The setting is interesting too... post-WWII Italy caught in a torrential downpour?
 
K

kuppy

Member
Oh, wow, what a lovely game.
I really want to know more about it now..

Absolutely worth its price, don't cheap out on this game, please.

Edit: The Dev Diary is nice (2:27 is awesome in context of the video and my own experience), I hope there will be some more of this or interviews with more details about the thought progress behind the game.

Also I did a little recap about my expressions with the game.
The story and how it is been told is just very well done, keeps an emotional bond to the player and fully puts you into the situation (so there are many points were you react directly the occurrences). The art style and atmosphere just adds onto that, a overall fitting theme.

The only weakness might be its ambiguity at some points, specially at the beginning the player is not that much into the game and can't interpret what you are supposed to do. That doesn't mean that the game is to difficult, no it's actually most of the time on the contrary (which isn't too bad regarding the way of progression in story) it also doesn't mean that the solutions are too hidden, but for example when you are introduced to the jumping settings it sometimes seems weird that some more obvious solutions aren't possible - like right in the beginging
when you have to flee from the unknown and to be fast enough you don't walk the normal staircase, instead you run over planks - on the first thought it seemed obvious to me to take a shortcut but I wanted to jump over the railing which should have been a doable jump regarding previous comparisions
- I guess it's the world that isn't as open as it should be, which is why it forces you to do it in the only right way. But well, later on I understood that and I had no problems with it anymore.
 
M

Miles Quaritch

Member
Thanks for the impressions kuppy, can't wait to fire it up when I get home tonight. Man, it's a great time to be a gamer. GTA5, Puppeteer, Rain, Beyond, Arkham Origins, half price SC: Blacklist, Marlow Briggs...to name just a few.
 
E

EGM1966

Member
Gonna pick this up in UK later today. Not bothered by reviews I'm comfortable I'm going to enjoy it.

When I see those kind of reviews I know the game is unique and if you "get it" to use that often abused phrase you're going to really like it, if you think "arty" and "style" driven games are pants then the weak reviews are really aimed at you and warning you off the purchase.

I personally love more experimental games and will happily support the devs with a full price purchase.
 
M

Maxxan

Member
The game's really mellow, almost therapeutic. If this had been released on the PS2 it would have been considered a classic. Now? Opinions will vary a lot, but I kinda like it =)
 
W

wouwie

Member
Just played the very beginning. The atmosphere and visuals are wonderful. Then again, i do love rain settings in games. Music is great too and i'll most probably buy the soundtrack once i finish the game. It's a pity that there is no exploration to be done. There are so many screens where i was just walking around trying to see if there were things to click on, discover or do but there was none. Something of a missed opportunity in such a beautiful and unique setting.

Anyway, looking forward to continue playing later on. It certainly grabbed my attention.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
how is the audio? with it raining, I can imagine it being really immersive with high quality 5.1 surround sound enveloping me in the rain.
 
D

Dragun619

Member
Just played it through one sitting with my headphones on and I found it to be a really good short 4-5 hour ride. Which was perfect length for me, almost felt like they should of did a Vita version so I could play in short bursts.

But yea, Definitely loved the atmosphere and aesthetic of the whole game. The soundtrack though was what really kept me into it.
Loved how Clair de lune by Claude Debussy is introduce in the beginning and how much the soundtrack feels like its hits all the right notes. Has this minimalistic feeling too. Man, I might just buy the soundtrack.
Now, I think there could been more interesting puzzles but the more I think about it, I sorta liked the how simple and non head scratching they we're. Made me appreciate everything else happening in the game.

Sorta went "heh" as I saw Fumito Ueda mentioned in the credits. Now that Puppeteer & Rain are done, I hope JapanStudio focuses their attention on finishing The Last Guardian, lol.
 
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