Drawn to the rain and commotion outside, a young boy observes a girl as she’s being hunted through the streets by a creature. He watches for a brief second, before he decides to run out and hopefully save her. And through a mix of watercolor and chalk begins our story of a young boy and his mission to save a girl. This sounds exactly like a million other stories, but none in the artistic manner of Rain, the next outing from the talents at Japan Studio.
Now, the game itself is not presented through watercolor and chalk, but rather in a more accessible and traditional graphical style, with a third person view and fixed cameras. After going through a mysterious gate, our young hero finds himself invisible. It’s only by leaving shelter and going into the rain that he can reassure himself of his continued existence. But there are other matters at hand; there is still a girl to save.
Our preview of Rain takes place in the first three chapters of the game. During these chapters you will be introduced to its core mechanics as well as its discreet, but functional, storytelling. There is no audible narration in Rain, it is all written on the walls as you pass through the environment – only to fade out when you move on. On top of this is an orchestral score that matches the events you are going through. If you are being hunted, the energy of the music increases substantially, but becomes more soothing when you’re free to explore.
The core mechanic of Rain is, well, rain. You are visible to yourself and others when you are out in the open rain. When sheltered, neither you nor the enemy can see you, and your only means of knowing where you are is to watch the wet footsteps you leave behind. You can walk, run, jump and interact with certain things; your action button is contextual, so whether you need to crawl, open a door, push a crate or pull a lever, it will take care of it. Your main way of progressing is either through puzzles based on your mechanics or taking advantage of your surroundings. An example can be to jump in a puddle to attract a monster, then stepping into shelter and sneak past while the enemy investigates the sound. In other instances you can lure enemies to run into scaffolding to tear it down, creating a path for you to move on. But mostly it comes back to the rain and shelter, much like a stealth game based on light and dark. As you move on, these puzzles become more elaborate like they usually do.
Later chapters in the preview introduces you to mud which will leave you visible even in shelter, and the only way to get rid of it is to walk through a deep puddle. You will also experience action sequences where you are being hunted and just need to keep up, avoid obstacles and run the right way. The first chapters of the game takes us through a small town, a church and an old factory building – each providing their unique set of puzzles.
Rain wins a lot on atmosphere alone, where the rain becomes more of a character than a mechanic. My main concern after playing it at Gamescom was exactly this, but I’m slightly less worried now. There are gripes though. It’s graphically not that impressive, but that might change as I keep playing and see other areas. The animation leaves a bit to be desired, and coupled with the fixed camera this becomes a somewhat rigid experience.
But beautiful things do happen in Rain – things that don’t rely on graphics or animations – so it’s definitely a game to keep an eye on. And so far Rain is something you would expect to find in the PlayStation library, and that is a good thing.
Our soaking wet review of Rain will be published October 1st.
