Album Feature: Rain World Original Soundtrack + Rain World: Downpour Original Soundtrack

Rain World is a game that flies under the radar of a lot of people, due in part to it being a small indie game released in 2017, the same year as massive titles such as Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, not to mention other indie games such as Hollow Knight. But with the recent release of its DLC, or downloadable content, Rain World: Downpour, more people are discovering the game and the beautiful environment it has to offer. 

Additionally, its soundtrack is one like almost no other, a very interesting mesh of different styles that truly bring the environment of Rain World to life. Having the rare trait of being a game soundtrack that is fully enjoyable without the game itself, the album can be experienced whether you choose to play the game or not (although I would HIGHLY recommend Rain World to anyone who likes a challenging survival game).

Part of what makes the soundtrack for Rain World notable, as addressed earlier, is the large variety of different styles that the soundtrack covers, as well as the different emotions the various tracks all touch on. It’s not every day you can find a heavy, techno, industrial theme like “Bio-Engineering” in the same album as a funky, upbeat jazz-esque tune like “Kayava”, or a melancholy ambient song like “Raindeer Ride” in the same album as a wacky and distorted song like “Threat – Garbage Wastes”. There’s a mix of various styles that come together to make a soundtrack with something for everyone, with all still fitting the vibe of Rain World, being a survival game in a strange and dangerous world.

While there are several scattered songs throughout the soundtrack, this doesn’t take away from the album and music telling a story. Four tracks in particular– “Sundown (Theme I)”, “Moondown (Theme II)”, “Random Gods (Theme III)”, and “Deep Light (Theme IV)”– share references to one another in their sound, with the melody getting more and more faded with each of the four songs until it is almost unrecognizable between the first and the fourth. It tells a tale of the game in these four tracks alone; the slow decay of the world, the fading of what the story in and of itself means, and, well, I’ll stop here so you can experience the game yourself without spoilers.

All of this is complimented even more by the soundtrack for the aforementioned DLC, Rain World: Downpour. The songs in the Downpour album are also a treat to experience, with some themes referencing the original soundtrack such as “Threat – Waterfront Complex”, “Threat – Looks To The Moon”, and “Reflection Of The Moon”, and some being whole new, entirely original tracks such as “Breathing Hyometer”, “Fragile”, and “Sheer Ice Torrent”. Furthermore, the Downpour album’s 53 songs even surpasses the original Rain World soundtrack album’s 40 songs in length. For once you’ve experienced the base soundtrack and gotten a feel for the style of the artists who worked on the music for the original Rain World, Downpour is an amazing continuation to experience next.

All in all, the Rain World soundtrack is a brilliant masterpiece, made of various styles all combining and meshing together to truly bring the environment of the game to life. So many different types of music all come together to make the soundtrack what it is, and it is a prime example of being able to show, and not tell– or rather, to play music, and not tell– the story of Rain World. Taking a step forward, the soundtrack for Rain World: Downpour gives even more of Rain World’s signature sound and beautifully compliments the original album. I would highly recommend listening to both soundtracks, as well as playing Rain World for yourself.

The Rain World soundtrack album can be found here, and the Downpour album can be found here. Additionally, both albums are available on most streaming platforms, such as Bandcamp and Spotify. Finally, Rain World itself can be played on Playstation, Windows, Steam, and Nintendo Switch, with Rain World: Downpour being available on Steam and coming to Playstation and Nintendo Switch in the near future.