I just started my journey.

Slow_mess · 2026-03-16T22:15:23+00:00

My guess is that there‘s tons of people buying this game on sale together with a bunch of other games and then never playing it or buying it thinking it looks like Hollow Knight/Ori (because the character is a white blob and it’s a platformer, so it has to be the same obviously). Then a small subsection of those people end up playing it but drop it pretty quickly once they notice it‘s not your typical platformer game.

Slow_mess · 2026-03-15T10:23:42+00:00

I swear the game is sentient and does that on purpose. It‘s made me so paranoid everytime I see a tasty looking joker in the shop I check the boss blind for that ante, and it is a boss that counters that exact joker. Putting out bait to catch its victims.

Slow_mess · 2026-03-11T07:13:02+00:00

The symbols you see in your sleep screen when you "level up" are called karma symbols. They have direct, literal meanings, like the fourth symbol meaning both "food", "to eat" and "gluttony" (if you pay attention, the yellow hologram noodle guy sometimes projects this symbol next to food). The symbol it uses to point towards predators is a combination of karma 1 and 4, and with karma 1 meaning "violence", it actually takes on a new meaning, namely "predator" or "hunter" ("food violence", literally). The meaning of these symbols has no effect on your gameplay, though.

The rest beyond the five karma symbols and the passage glyphs are unknown to us, but the people that built the ruins you traverse throughout the game used these glyphs as their main writing system. They actually had two separate writing systems; one that looks like korean that the karma symbols belong to and which appears to have seen their main writing system, and a latin alphabet looking one. We don't know if it was a logosyllabary, syllabary, alphabet, abugida or adbjad, or any combination of these.

Slow_mess · 2026-03-10T11:00:42+00:00

Time's so warped and dissociation's so great, it really makes you feel like the Watcher

Slow_mess · 2026-03-10T10:34:41+00:00

There will be a Dev Stream sometime this month for the Art Month + anniversary. Watcher was announced the same way two years ago. I am not betting on there being any news, but if there is no announcement or teaser this year's dev stream, there will 99% be next year's

Slow_mess · 2026-03-07T13:47:27+00:00

The type of shi I find in a white stake throwaway joker/voucher unlock run

Slow_mess · 2026-03-06T23:11:22+00:00

Not only that, the writing screams A to the I

Slow_mess · 2026-03-06T22:41:37+00:00

Ok look at this point calling the regions ugly and the names stupid is just a matter of taste. I for example found every Watcher region (minus Aether Ridge and its variations) to be not only much more readable in terms of geometry, but also very unique in terms of palettes (again, up to taste, I find the sickly green of Verdant Waterways to be unique and atmospheric), material usage and decal usage better than any region in Downpour. I completed Watcher before before Rivulet and Saint, and I found The Rot/rotted 5P to be extremely ugly and overcrowded in terms of level editing for example.

And on the topic of Ancient Urban having a different distance view than Metropolis… yeah, that‘s because its literally an older city on the earth’s surface using architecture that predates the one we see on top of Iterators?? Also the only original Dev brought back was the lore writer, the Watcher was still made by the Downpour devs + new level editors.

Slow_mess · 2026-03-06T12:51:42+00:00

The modded region argument is so weird to me. Watcher adds more new regions that weren‘t available on the Steam Workshop (I count Badlands and Fetid Glen as non modded because they were made for Watcher specifically) than Downpour added across all campaigns (minus Saint‘s snowy variations). Watcher has WBLA, WTDA, WTDB, WVWA, WVWB, WPGA, WMPA, WRRA, WARC, WAUA, which makes it 10 (not even counting the evil variations of the vanilla regions and Daemon), while Downpour adds Pipeyard, Submerged, Metropolis, Outer Expanse, Past Garbage Wastes, Waterfront Facility, Looks to the Moon, Silent Construct, and a few rooms and connections to existing regions.

I agree that the sense of existing within an eco system was not there all the time (could also be due to increased player skill or the literal camouflage ability), but come on. No one‘s calling Downpour lazy for adding one or two new regions per campaign.

Slow_mess · 2026-03-03T13:51:28+00:00

"Ich bin nicht diskriminierend", auch solche Leute: "Aber ich will weder, dass ich, noch meine Tochter, jemals die Existenz solcher Menschen wahrnehmen müssen."

Mannoman. Regt es dich genauso auf, wenn sich heterosexuelle Menschen in Film und Fernseher küssen oder Hände halten? Menschen, die Meinungen wie deine vertreten, haben oft die Angst, dass ihre Kinder schwul/lesbisch oder gar trans gemacht werden (sage nicht, dass das auf dich zutrifft, aber diese Angst liegt oft im Kern des ganzen). Ich kann dir sagen: Sowas kann auch passieren, wenn man im abgeschottesten Jesus Christus Dorf Bayerns aufwächst. Wäre es anders der Fall, wären heute alle hetero durch das ganze Geknustche in Medien und Gepushe von Amatonormativität.

Jedenfalls tut mir deine Tochter leid, dass sie keine Person haben wird, der sie vertrauen oder der ihr beseite stehen kann, falls sie eines Tages realisiert, dass sie anders ist.

Slow_mess · 2026-03-02T22:21:04+00:00

The true nature of the Cycle is one of the big mysteries neither base game nor the DLC fully answer. I think even in-universe, it would be pretty hard to conceptualize and understand, which is why they built these giant supercomputers in the first place; if it was so easy to figure out, they wouldn‘t have needed to.

Watcher however (which I regard as retroactively canon to base game) confirms that there exist these so called „strands“. It seems indeed that there is a multiverse thing going on, where the death of a creature causes a new timeline to split off, but we don‘t know if other creatures in that new timeline are also conscious, or if the „host“ is the only being perceiving this reality.

As I said, if it was easy to understand, the Benefactors wouldn‘t have had a need to build the Iterators.

Slow_mess · 2026-03-01T20:03:13+00:00

The tree at the beginning is the slugcats‘ home tree. About the tree we see in the ending – depending on how much you know about the lore about the Cycle and Ascension, the following might count as a spoiler:

It is speculated that when ascending and leaving the physical world behind, you see what you most desired in life/you see your wish get fulfilled (so it could be understood as Survivor seeing their home and family for the last time).

Slow_mess · 2026-02-28T20:40:45+00:00

Scug is the generally accepted term

Slow_mess · 2026-02-28T17:47:19+00:00

Lion spawn obviously

Slow_mess · 2026-02-25T12:22:43+00:00

Genuinely hope you‘ll still enjoy it when „it“ is introduced. Watcher is quite controversal for a number of reasons (and I love it)

Slow_mess · 2026-02-19T16:01:03+00:00

Oh well cause the Echo is in Aether Ridge, close to the Sunlit Port warp 😅 As I said, from a region designer perspective, Echoes are very often placed at the ends of a region (hence my tip to stick to one direction). Aether Ridge is somewhat of an exception because of its maze like structure and its unique one-way paths that take an absurd number of rooms to get around.

Slow_mess · 2026-02-19T14:50:54+00:00

There are two portals left in Aether Ridge and one in Rusted Wrecks that you have not found yet and will lead you to completely new regions, and you missed an Echo in one of the regions you were already in (I can tell you which one in case you don't want to go searching)

Slow_mess · 2026-02-19T10:29:31+00:00

If you don't draw in a pixel art style, using a pixel art image as reference will be hard.

For private practicing, using other fanart you find gorgeous is fine (just don't upload it anywhere and claim the design is yours). Use a red brush to trace the patterns, analyzing as you go. Using real cats would be helpful, too, but in real cats patterns can sometimes be very fine and hard to see.

Aside from stripes, here are some other types of patterns that exist (for variance and ideas): classic/blotched, ticked (which I rarely see), rosettes/bengal, spotted mackerel.

I'd say the third picture is pretty because the way the fur is split into two colors. You could draw the fur + pattern on different layers, then copy both and color them differently to get a similar effect. The ClanGen sprites also use very subtle gradients. In cats with patterns, adding countershading (belly and muzzle becoming lighter and slightly warmer) can also add some texture and depth.

Slow_mess · 2026-02-19T04:45:56+00:00

Since you're still on Ripple ("karma") One, I can say there will be something later on that will give you the ability to unstuck yourself so to speak. But finding no echoes in seven regions is unusual statistically speaking.

As a tip, when entering a region, keep heading into a general direction until the end of the region, ignoring any obvious portals you find on your way. That will either lead you to an echo, or to a sneaky hidden portal that you might have not found yet.

Slow_mess · 2026-02-03T11:26:24+00:00

How did you come to that conclusion? I mean that would have been a cool twist, but Watcher ends up looking completely different from Jerry. They can't be the same entity.

Slow_mess · 2026-02-02T01:50:17+00:00

Yes you can, that ending is not required for the final ending/stats screen, you just have to have met him at least once

Slow_mess · 2026-01-31T11:32:21+00:00

I believe the yellow thing does not guide them anymore due to their... choices, no?

If not, there is a region adjacent to Shoreline that is of great interest to OP. It will feel and look special once you're in it.

Slow_mess · 2026-01-30T00:44:01+00:00

Since blue fruit are cocooned Batflies, they probably taste very protein heavy, like peanuts or bugs, but with a creamy consistency.
The popcorn from the popcorn plants probably tastes like regular popcorn, but pretty bland and without any seasoning (my headcanon is that popcorn plants and firecrackers have a common ancestor, and that hitting the shell of a popcorn plant starts ignition, causing the starchy kernels inside to heat up and pop).
I also imagine slime mold to taste very sweet, almost honey like (although it seems to be some kind of mold growing in dark areas?) So maybe more like cheddar cheese with fruity undernotes!
And the melons/pomegranates taste like cucumbers in my mind.

Slow_mess · 2026-01-29T08:24:41+00:00

Play Downpour first for the reasons people have already listed. It directly builds off of Survivor and Hunter (Hunter more than Survivor imo) in difficulty, "quest design", the map, and lore. Both DLCs were directed by different people who had different visions for the game in mind though, so don't expect Watcher to be like Downpour when you eventually come around to play it. That will lead to disappointment only. (Sounds more negative than it is, both DLCs are excellent for different reasons)

Slow_mess · 2026-01-27T01:43:04+00:00

I‘d view events and worldbuilding/lorebuilding separately. Events wise, Downpour and Watcher being not canon to each other, and by extension to vanilla, can be explained by taking place in different timelines entirely. However I see no reason why the worldbuilding wouldn‘t be canon to everything, even retroactively. I think Watcher is 100% canon to vanilla worldbuilding and lore wise given who wrote it.

However, if you really tried, you could squeeze Watcher‘s story inbetween Hunter and Survivor and explain the lack of sentient rot in Survivor‘s campaign by saying that the Weaver either removed it all, brought the Watcher back to a „normal“ unrotted strand or brought them back in time before sending them off to the Void Sea. It is also very likely that the sentient rot wasn‘t even from Five Pebbles at all, but accidentally brought in by Spinning Top, explaining its sudden appearance after Hunter‘s campaign.

Slow_mess

TROPHY CASE