A Detailed Analysis of 'Rain World: The Watcher'

Last week, on March 28th, Rain World celebrated its seventh birthday, and as a part of that celebration, we were introduced to Rain World’s newest upcoming DLC expansion: ‘The Watcher’.
In this video, we’ll explore what there currently is to learn about ‘The Watcher’, and we’ll also do a little bit of speculation as to what it might have in store for us.
Please enjoy my thorough analysis of everything we know so far about 'Rain World: The Watcher'!
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Video Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:58 - Trailer Overview
2:39 - Additional Information
4:08 - The Fourth Slugcat
5:40 - Trailer Analysis
9:13 - Steam Page Analysis
18:46 - The Big Questions
24:15 - Outro
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[@blazingfierymountain8161]

FINALLY A DETAILED ANALYSIS THAT ISN'T JUST "Um. So basically Nightcat real and we're getting new regions."

[@discoparrot8342]

10:52 a rain world dev actually said that they are trying to make entirely new creatures, and not new variants, unlike they did in downpour

[@user-hz6he5qc5i]

Sick

[@wusspoppinjimboalt7107]

something tells me the watcher was there all along, through every journey. It probably has the best idea of rain world and is meant to be played last as that's when the player would likely have all the knowledge this slugcat has

[@MooseyCat]

I get a similar impression! I have a feeling it’s just been lurking in the shadows all this time. That comes with a whole heal of questions, though, like how they managed to survive all that time (do slugcats die of old age?) or how Saint’s campaign fits into things.

[@fatcat5817]

It would be wild if Video Cult pulled a Don Hertz. 😯 After all, ascension is a BIG driving force in Rain World. If you want to break the cycle. What if The Watcher doesn't ever want to ascend? So it's living like an echo, refusing to ascend/having no desire to leave. Don Hertz explores the quest and consequence of immortality With: It's Such a Beautiful Day. World of Tomorrow. Don Hertz Simpsons Couch Gag. So you have achieved eternal life. Now what? A good video analysis over Don's themes is: The best Simpsons intro is about losing everything you love. 🤔 Thinking about it, if Night-cat is lonely. No other beings may want to stay unascended with it forever. The only one? (I have some life experience in a other way, that makes my theoretical nightcat's plight relatable to me personally) If it lost because it was separated from Gourmand's tribe? Or separated from the new slugcats it formed relationships with, once Gourmand and the rest of the tribe later on ascended or 'died?' (Just like Bill from "It's such a beautiful day", He lives on, thousands and millions of years into the future, learning everything there is to know, 👉seeing 👈everything there is to see.) Is it afraid of permanently dying/the unknown? Not to mention the importance of memory, as the Watcher. It must, value it's memories highly. Everything it learned, observed, cherished is in it's memories. *Living forever without memories, what would even be the point?* Why would it want to ascend? Seeing its own kind enter the void sea with desires to bring themselves to an end/stop the cycle, never to be seen again. (Also reminds me of Bojack Horseman and the Void Door, watching people enter. In various states of sadness, desperation, fear, acceptance, guilt, etc...) Just my thoughts/theory. 😺

[@jonaut5705]

@@MooseyCat I think it might be the case that slugcats don't die of old age, and neither does anything else, it just seems more consistent with the cycles and ascension and all that. I think that if things could die of old age, nobody would be nearly so concerned with ascension

[@starrs802]

I like the idea of something something time travel gimic. This would explain the the name as well as the different regions

[@ionicman2908]

I mean, didnt nightcat/watcher appear in the gourmand ending?(assuming this dlc follows the downpour timeline that is)

[@Foregoner]

Here's some info that I thought i'd share from the official discord - Andrew (DP dev) and Wrayk have confirmed that James, one of the og devs, will be working close on this DLC (making the lore and all that, hopefully music too!) - All the modded regions shown in the steam page "are but a small piece of a really sweet package" Implying that there will definitely be original content/regions and not just mods being integrated

[@riley_-zm8vr]

something worth noting about the rot: the iterators knew about the rot before five pebbles got it. for one they have a name for it already when five pebbles gets it, but also nsh ends up giving it to the hunter since nsh rushed the task of genetically engineering the hunter. plenty of iterators have gotten it before pebbles, and for a variety of reasons, so the presence of the rot does not mean this dlc is connected to pebbles in any way. too many other things point toward it not being anywhere near pebbles and moon's facility imo. all the new regions, complete lack of any familiar regions in the screenshots (downpour still included plenty of teasers and screenshots that included new versions of base game regions, particularly saint's versions of them), and the fact almost all the environments in the new regions are wildly different from the vanilla ones. plus downpour let us explore pebbles's facility in a wide array of relevant time periods, i doubt the devs would make an entire new dlc just to explore the same location again in a new time period. would be a damn disappointing dlc then imo. "game all about worldbuilding gets two dlcs yet every important story in them only happens in one place".

[@HollowSlug-gj3zr]

My theory is that the watcher doesn't take place anywhere near Moon and Pebbles, because these regions wouldn't really fit into Pebbles/Moon facility, and the fact that there is rot doesn't really mean much, and, although never explicitly said, in one of spearmaster transmissions, some iterators were talking about how Pebbles got the rot, and they seemed quite familiar with it. Also, when Moon analyzes spearmaster, we can see a DLL/MLL/BLL symbol in one of the projections, meaning the rot is already in iterators database. Another reason why i think it won't be near moon and pebbles is because in the pink region, the room is above clouds, but we don't see other iterators and the huge transmission spires, meaning that the region is really far away from iterators and the spires, which wouldn't make sense if it was near moon and pebbles... Even in saint we can see collapsed cans and crooked transmission spires!

[@IdkTbhLol]

They are modded regions

[@HollowSlug-gj3zr]

@@IdkTbhLol just because they are modded does not mean it's near Moon or Pebbles... also, modded regions are a only a small part of a really sweet package, as said by one of the devs working on watcher

[@discoparrot8342]

13:40 fishnoid said that this is actually a reimagining of badlands that he is calling badlands 2 for now

[@TheSampy]

Badlands 2: The Lost Sequel

[@BoglBoi]

Badlands 2: Electric Boogaloo

[@jonaut5705]

To me, only ever glimpsed implies that we have seen it, but only very briefly. The first thing I think of about that is challenge 70, it's the only time we see sliver of straw the whole game, but other contenders could be the void sea, rubicon, or something along those lines. Another option could be fully functional lttm, as we only get a glimpse of her uncollapsed, and even then she's not fully functional, though I'm not sure that fits so much with the rest of the descriptions

[@Someperson12532]

Same with seven red suns and no signigant harassment (right? isnt nsh in hunter void sea ending?). You can see seven red suns with spearmaster if you complete their campaign and look at the save file.

[@BouncyBonBon]

Here are my thoughts on all the images: 12:36 - likely Badlands 13:46 - confirmed Stormy Coast 14:50 - confirmed Coral Caves 15:16 - confirmed Aether Ridge 16:25 - likely The Mast 17:23 - likely Aether Ridge 18:01 - closest match I can find is Sizzling Sewers, though it appears to have been majorly rehauled

[@minnarew]

IIRC someone mentioned that the 'badlands' screenshot is from a region currently called badmands 2? (IIRC it was made by the same guy that made badlands 1)

[@minnarew]

also IIRC the mast has been deconfirmed for the watcher, too

[@auro8236]

I have a feeling the watcher is meant to act as a witness to all events through history. Maybe that's why we get so many different looking areas. It sees the world through multiple points in time and it could be the first campaign that is divided up into multiple parts following the same character. With downpour, we got 5 slugcats with their own 5-10 hour campaigns, which is a lot of content. So i have a feeling that if this dlc ends up being the same length as downpour, it could be something like three campaigns all following the same character, but thats just speculation.

[@Runninglizards]

I think the pink-purple room is a sunset, though I could be wrong.

[@discoparrot8342]

15:15 sorry I’m commenting a lot but I’m obsessed with this DLC. Apparently, this region is aether ridge, a old region from before downpour that was never ported over to the steam workshop

[@discoparrot8342]

Also the “snow” is apparently salt, suggesting it may be connected to shoreline and or coral coves

[@user-hz6he5qc5i]

@@discoparrot8342 Could be some evaporated saltwater lake

[@iosis9324]

​​​@@discoparrot8342It's snow, ugly but clearly snow. We can see here the same snowflakes as in Saint campaign, so I'm betting that these are just ugly snowdrifts that, according to the developers in discord, have not been completed. And if I didn't miss something, the developers didn't say what exactly what it is, there is no apparently what it is.

[@bro748]

@@iosis9324 It is salt. Aether Ridge (the region it's from) is a desalination rig, filled with deadly brine pits, salt floating through the air, and coating just about every single surface. It's also a very warm region, besides the Tundra Fault subsubregion and parts of Cold Storage (it is supposed to store cold things, not be cold itself.)

[@iosis9324]

@@bro748 After researching this region, I will say no. There are locations with salt, but it doesn't look like that, and there's only one water location that's salty, so it is snow. And I didn't find a place in this region where the screenshot of The Watcher was taken, so In your place I wouldn't say so sure that this is exactly this location.

[@bro748]

Missed this video till now. There's a good chance most people here already know the following info, but thought I'd clarify some things. The opening animation is Aether Ridge. The rot is from the Cold Storage subregion, where the ancients experimented on rot with test tubes, but after they all ascended the rot broke out and has grown everywhere. There's also a gate in the heart of the rot in Cold Storage leading to a mysterious region called 'Lumen Station.' Kaeporo keeps all info about this region extremely cryptic, but it's likely planned to have lots of rot, and I fully expect to see it in Watcher. Okay, now to say all the regions. 1st is Badlands 2, as other people have pointed out. Fishnoid wanted to remake this region a while before they joined the Watcher team, so with the new sand shader developed by Slime_Cubed, they thought Watcher would be a great opportunity to do so. 2nd is the Spearmaster variation of Stormy Coast. This could mean Watcher takes place at or prior to Spearmaster's place in the timeline, or that they'll be putting these regions in vastly different contexts. 3rd is Coral Caves. Not much to say, except this one makes sense since it connects Stormy Coast and Aether Ridge. 4th is Aether Ridge, specifically 'The Surface' subregion. This room didn't exist in the 1.5 mod since the sand texture didn't exist, and Kaeporo has heavily implied Aether Ridge will be much bigger and in a vastly different form so I suspect each subregion will be broken up into its own region. 5th is not The Mast, but rather a new region by Fishnoid inspired by a room they posted in the modding discord on new year's eve, 2022. The Mast dev snoodle has said they are not part of The Watcher team, so it's unlikely The Mast will make it, unless they're trying to keep some things a secret. 6th is Aether Ridge again, also not a room seen in the 1.5 version. Interestingly, this one is from the 'Shattered Terrace' subregion that leads to a gate to a region called Gilded Sanctuary. That region is a region jam made by a dozen different people that'll release really shortly, but it is not going to be included in The Watcher, so I wonder what other region Shattered Terrace could lead to... 7th is a new region likely by Wrayk, as they posted a very similar room on discord exactly 1 year ago as of today. It is inspired by the 'Old Drainage' region by FishSwallower. there's one more confirmed Watcher dev called 'Cappin' who made Metropolis and Bitter Aerie. I wonder what they're working on for Watcher?

[@martijnbouman8874]

You say that you think The Watcher will add less content than Downpour, but I think that is a matter of interpretation. In terms of new campaigns, surely Downpour added more content than The Watcher will. But if this is also the case for the addition of totally new creatures... We'll see.

[@MooseyCat]

That’s a totally valid way of looking at it! For me, when I think of the fact that Downpour added five totally new slugcats, each with their own fully unique story content and essentially their own full maps (not all entirely new content but redesigning almost the entire map for each campaign is still a lot), and then the new creatures and creature variants on top of that… it’s a lot of new content. There was also Jolly Co-op, Expedition mode, and so on. I think the Watcher will still have a lot of new content to explore, but I don’t personally see it quite reaching the same amount of content as Downpour. Maybe something like 60% as big at a stretch- it’s either that, or there’s a LOT we haven’t even heard about yet (which I’m not sure about.)

[@wizardly9211]

Perhaps the Watcher will play similarly to safari mode, however instead of directly controlling the wildlife, the player can only influence the wildlife in order to progress. Maybe "predator and pray, refined" is supposed to hint that we won't be either predator or pray, instead *watching* the new ecosystem, playing into the Echo angle

[@19arti10]

I'm hoping this DLC takes place in a new region of the world. I feel like we're really done with Moon and 5P's story and their region after Downpour. Packing even more stuff into it would make it feel too dense. I want to see something completely new. Maybe this could be a DLC about Sliver of Straw (or someone else, maybe even a completely new iterator) and her region, maybe it could take place entirely in the void sea, like Rubicon, maybe it's a glimpse into what happens after ascension, or maybe it could explore some completely new. There are tons of interesting ideas that I'd love to see this DLC to explore. When it comes to the timeframe where it could take place, considering the slight emphasis on void elements and the line about "world crumbling beneath your feet", I feel like maybe it takes place after Saint, when the current world is about to be swallowed by the void sea completely? It could definitely take place somewhere else in the timeline though, it's very open to interpretation.

[@judochopknell3186]

at 15:22 it looks like deadlands that daszombes made a video about

[@DragonGirl408]

I remember in one of the Dev streams that they were talking the cut Watcher campaign. Originally the Scavengers were an integral part of it, with you even communicating with one with the mark to fulfil some sort of goal (like the Scav Chief we see in Arti's campaign). Since we see a Scav in this trailer something tells me that they might expand upon this cut content. I also know that the devs will be focusing on getting new creatures implemented into the game, I'm hoping that they will look to some of the creatures that were cut from the original game (Mimic beetles, bubble barnacles, maybe even lizard eggs?)

[@jonaut5705]

A lot of these were cut for a reason, but I feel like maybe with some slight reworks they could absolutely fit in with a completely new area. Also, if nightcat does have cloaking abilities, I feel like you could work mimic beetles in with that. Downpour also added some previously removed content as well, like the slugpups, so it's absolutely possible, probable even, that they would do the same with the watcher.

[@Laymann311]

Awesome! Thank you for covering it and I can’t wait for us to get more information 😊

[@VulcanHeStan]

15:29 that area bears hints of an idea that Dazombes came up with a while back about a sort of frozen region atop a glacier kinda dealio EDIT: one of the creatures he had on the list was a sort of lizard that would burrow into the snow, and leap out when prey got close, similar to a dropwig.

[@Lightningmcblue]

the description dsaying " Will you hold on to all you once knew? Or will you dive into the unknown " Most likely is talking about how you can only ascend by letting go of violence, lust, companionship, gluttony, survival. And then reaching max karma in order to go to the void.

[@discoparrot8342]

This video is so underrated it’s crazy

[@sillyswrdd]

There was this one analysis/theory on tumblr about the Qualia of rain world, and I really think it’s spot on for this expansion. It theorized that when creatures ascended they would become their own void worms and create a world based on their memories and such - I think that, as Nightcat, we could be exploring those worlds. Mainly Five Pebbles, but I think with influence from other slugcats/iterators we know of.

[@aynxieth]

I believe that the watcher is gonna start as if you are playing an Echo then it's going to evolve into a "slugcat" itself, I imagine that the start of the campaign is going to be the watcher observing every other slugcat's journey and ascending, each time we ascend we are going to go more into the future and future campaigns, once we ascend when the world is at the state of the saint we are going to finally start the campaign itself and we are going to see the journey of an Echo in the form of a slugcat, finally getting rid of it's own vices and reaching ascension after the entire world is gone and all the iterators are dead.

[@Pebbsi_official]

Also i have theory that in watcher's campaign, world turned into a huge desert (similar to what happened in saint campaign )

[@sprite848]

Great analysis dawg, I feel like you have a lot of potential in the video essay space. Would love to see more videos about pretty much anything if you present it how you did just now

[@TacoBoyVR]

i love rain world so much and im so happy were getting more content after all these years, i just beat the saint campaign but i still gotta do gourmand. thank you for this detailed analysis! you've earned my sub as a fellow rain world fanatic lol

[@ddrw1]

I know its probably not what i think its gonna be but what if its a entire new iterater can? I know only tiny bits of info, and i dont even know where it is in the timeline, but i have a theory that maybe this slugcat will take place atleast slightly in another iteraters can. I know that theres new regions being added, thats what im basing my theory off.

[@j5ylim396]

rw devs had the worldbuilding and lore so fleshed out, real nice to see them press on with developing it and i thought downpour was the end of the road

[@yuksu8680]

15:14 is very likely aether ridge, color palette matches and coral caves connects directly to it. 17:26 is likely shattered terrance, a WIP mod shown a few times in the discord by the same modder as aether ridge.

[@yuksu8680]

just double checked released images and 17:26 is 100% confirmed shattered terrance. matches up 1:1.

[@jonathan333-ke9ix]

I imagine this DLC taking place way after the death of the iterators and the structures of the ancients

[@babyyoshi3099]

Two things: A. I don't think the Watcher is an echo or anything, since it would be very redundant territory to have two slugcat echos. B. I don't think they will release it for consoles at the same time as PC. Console games are much more difficult to update than PC, so PC is used to find and patch bugs quickly before they release a more stable version to console.

[@keeganmcclure8448]

My guess for the point of the campaign is to climb the tower and listrn to the iterators conversations as moon has just regained some functionality

[@habderrahmane]

1 thing that i thought about this dlc is that it will take place in a completly different map than the base game one at least the steam description makes me think that so maybe the watcher wont meat five pebbles or moon and maybe he will meet other iterators like seven red suns and maybe if you beat the watcher campaign you get to bring old slugcats to this new map and give them new endings maybe hunter will be able to beat the game without abandoning his slugpups

[@user-ue6kz6rl8x]

I have a feeling nightcat is going to have crazy cycle system

[@RealMeowlus]

I don't know a lot of the game lore, but the watcher seems to have ties to echos (as stated in the video). Echos are supposedly created by trying to ascend without ridding yourself of things like greed, arrogance, etc (as stated in the video). Since you can't reach max karma as Artificer, the karma counter flashes red while swimming into the void sea, and the void worms don't help you. I always wandered what happened to them...

[@fusselised-slugcat]

Fantastic video!

[@rufflepuff1501]

The badlands looking area looks like the connection between industrial and garbage wastes

[@pmpwbrrs]

great video!

[@sushihoardingsquonk7311]

i think this dlc will have a lot more content than we think. a lot of the time put into downpour was overhauling preexisting systems they had (like the lighting, as they talk about in some of the in game dev logs) so stuff they work on here would hopefully be more streamlined? idk

[@gromm1e]

A neat little detail I don’t think you mentioned is that it looks like the cover art is inside of a Memory Crypt. The boxes have almost identical patterns and there looks to be an underhang in the sky.

[@marcellorossilermen2997]

Wild theory here: What if this campaign takes time after the saint campaign, the void is already consuming the surface, and causing instability in the world

[@Pebbsi_official]

What if watcher will give us some answers on "what the rot is" Maybe it's something more than just a cancer

[@raidenpax]

17:20 is the aether

[@Gayfeatherwarriorcats]

15:16 SLIVER OF STRAW??? MAYBE??

[@nousername8162]

Balagaga, who is quite well connected to the modding scene from what i can tell, did a video on this recently, where a lot of extra info is revealed about the modded regions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5a4Xnlngdlra7s

[@GreenBugBoi]

NIGHTCAT REBOUNDS INTO ACTION 🗣️🗣️🗣️💯💯💯💯💯💯💯🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@slugkat]

I am so excited for this dlc to come but I wouldn’t be TOO excited cuz apparently it over 4 years! For downpour dlc to release, tho it was announced 2 years ago but had a spearmaster teaser 4 years ago

[@the_phantom_cat7912]

I honestly don't think it takes place in Five Pebbles' facility grounds at all, or at least it primarily doesn't. I reckon it'll take place mostly, if not entirely, in a different iterators facility grounds, after all, there's only so many regions you can add to Pebbles' grounds before it winds up seeming cramped

[@cristianbalan518]

What is the timeline of this slugcat? Could it be around survivor? Are iterators still functioning? Is this slugcat going to find the last functioning iterator, thats why there is special fauna and flora as well as no iterator cans seen in the horizon. Maybe it is taking place far far away from moon and pebbsie.

[@DawnTheIceWing]

I think that in the 4th screenshot for the trailer, it could be from Daszombes' Deadlands region concept thing. More specifically, the Salt Flats sub region. But this is just my theory :> Link to the Deadlands Region concept: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIXUqIV5pb5_pa8

[@discoparrot8342]

17:00 maybe it’s dusk/dawn?

[@pmpwbrrs]

7:18 what is the name of this soundtrack in a background?

[@Martan2010]

so, is it just easier more friendly inv?

[@Chippers11.]

I thought the night cat in arena mode was inv

[@NSH-No_Significant_Harassment]

play rain worl guys :'(

[@flyingfoox1365]

Haven’t watched the video yet but how the heck did you make a 26 minute video on a 20 second trailer?????

[@MooseyCat]

i’m built different

[@Anton-oj8hn]

Genuinely excited for this DLC. However I genuinely hope they take time to optimize the areas they already have. Subterranean and Struts have the worst optimization out of any game I have ever played.

[@Armillaria]

Wasnt the trailer 1 minute long

[@starrs802]

Isnt every being in this world emortal?

[@CozmosPA]

am i the only one who kind of hopes there isnt a gimmick? or at least it's not something major, like hunter's back spear. The downpour scugs' gimmicks are really overpowered and i feel like this is a chance to...not do that again

[@milksonghorlet]

I just hope it's a much needed return to the "dumb rat in NYC" less grandiose essence of the game, given that the actual lore dev (James) is the one writing it instead of fanfic from a mod