Review Jace 4/5 · Jan 4, 2026
So I ended up setting up my PS3 to replay the Final Fantasy XIII series and some other stuff—and that stuff ended up being Rain, which I noticed on my hard drive, booted up just to see what it even was, and ended up completely distracted until I saw it through to its end.
I thought this was great! Concise, …
So I ended up setting up my PS3 to replay the Final Fantasy XIII series and some other stuff—and that stuff ended up being Rain, which I noticed on my hard drive, booted up just to see what it even was, and ended up completely distracted until I saw it through to its end.
I thought this was great! Concise, understated and gets the perfect amount of use out of its central conceit, concluding before it ever wears out its welcome; a satisfying and complete experience. Clever level design, light puzzling and cinematic platforming in equal measures with a surprising amount of verticality and breathing time to soak in its environments, which are my two favourite platformer things. Reminded me of Ico in many ways which is high praise in my book, even if it doesn't quite hit Ico's heights.
Though Rain released in the same year the PS4 and is locked a generation behind, going back it's a solid technical showcase and sweet little sendoff for the PS3. I was impressed by the indoor segments where the player character is rendered invisible, leaving behind a trail of footprints, knocking over stray chairs and bottles, splashes through the water. It can be hard to keep track of, but that's also kinda the point, and worked for me as a novelty.
Impressive tech is matched with a painterly art direction and finally complemented by a beautifully emotive, piano-driven soundtrack to match its lonely, rainmisted atmosphere. Enjoyed it so much that I even went back on a second run for all the collectibles for a little more lore, as negligible as that lore was.
Just a delight the whole way through. Learned after playing that both the lead director and art director of Rain are working together again on the upcoming Tokyo Stories which I will now anticipate patiently, it looks super duper pretty.
If you made it this far down in this review, wow thanks for reading! In case you're interested, here is some other stuff I plan to play while I have my PS3 out:
- The Ratchet & Clank octology (I think?? there are a lotta these games!)
- Drakengard 3
- The Guided Fate Paradox + The Awakened Fate Ultimatum
- Quantum Theory
- Siren: Blood Curse
- Mass Effect 1? Maybe trilogy???
- Also a bunch of stuff on-disc in-between
Let me know if there's any other stuff stuck on the PS3 you think I should check out! I will probably do it. STAY SAFE!
