Gourmand's story honestly really snuck up on me. I haven't played anything other than it and Artificer's campaign so far, but it really struck me how much of a departure it is from the other campaigns emotionally, kinda like you were talking about. Survivor and Hunter are defined by desperation and struggle-there is nothing left for them in the world except to leave it all behind/become a horrible cancer monster. Artificer is driven by a concoction of bile, rage and grief. The others, idfk obviously-but through this contrast it made me realise just how bleak the other stories in this game are. (And by story I am sort of meaning your emotional journey through the game) Gourmand's journey was defined by gleeful experimentation, gloriously silly, bumbling combat situations (that i think are made more funny and engaging because of the exhaustion)... being a little big globetrotting chef man excited to taste the world's delicacies! and then finally... family. Returning to their people, and to beauty and sunshine. Finding contentment and companionship, which was rare and fleeting in the other campaigns. I think it took me maybe 25 hours or something to beat Gourmand and I went all over the map during my time with him, just back and forth, up and down-accidentally got the shitty ascension ending cause it had been so long since I heard what 5P told me to do. So much of my journey was the same geographically, (except for the new places I explored since this was my first campaign) and the challenges were very similar, but it felt SO different. Lighter, ironically. Umm also you don't even need spore puffs for red centipedes. I killed mine first try just by sneaking up on it from above and squashing it. It was hilarious, I think I one-shot it. Gourmand is a BEAST. You just have to pace yourself. Give the little big guy breathers.
Precisely. I wanted to capture this feeling in my video, but I don't think I had quite the right words. This is a spot-on analysis of the tone of Gourmand's campaign (in my opinion). Prepare to be pinned to the top of the page XD
Yessssss. I've yet to play Rivulet & Saint, but Gourmand was honestly the most immersive campaign out of all the rest for me. You have to think like a slugcat to survive, but Gourmand doesn't have to think like any other scug, they have to think like /Gourmand/. Jumping and backflipping away from a threat or spamming throw doesn't work for them, you find yourself thinking "ok, what can i use/craft that could help me in a life-or-death situation? How can i use this room to my advantage and sneak around most of these threats" And even though it was frustrating as hell, you can feel the carefree and joyous nature of Gourmand just by travelling around the map - sliding and rolling around everywhere, the bounce you get after dropping on an enemy always made me grin. As other scugs im always stressed and nervously looking around for any hint of danger. But Gourmand is just happy to be here! :D
I mean, Survivor's campaign really is a lot of sunshine and rainbows, especially in a retrospective view. Survivor never saw their family die, and it'd be safe to assume that at least one of them survived. And thus, Monk. Monk is the one character in the game that breathes hope in every step they take. They're the only character who understands more than just a single view of the world. And viewing Survivor's campaign from that perspective, knowing that for every step Survivor takes, Monk is only a few steps behind, really makes it one of the more hopeful journeys. Gourmand is simple-minded, only caring for simple pleasures. Saint is misguided, only focusing on a single, misguided, goal. Artificer sacrificed everything for something that ultimately wasn't worth it. Hunter never even had a chance in the first place. Spearmaster doesn't care, and Rivulet can't care. Monk is the only character in the game that views things not from a single perspective, but also from an empathetic view as well. They try to understand the other creatures, instead of just slaughtering them. They prefer violence only when peace is impossible. An the irony is how this peaceful approach, in which nature should reject, ends up making it so that Monk succeeds in their goal from the start. And it makes it all the more cathartic that Monk succeeds in their quest, and even moreso knowing that Survivor's hopes were answered. Monk is, ironically, the saintliest character in the game.
I feel like the exhaustion mechanics gives as much as it takes. You no longer get the adrenaline "Random bullshit go" of other scugs but you get epic chase sequences as you try to find safety
Ngl, while at the start of Gourmand's campaign I disliked the exaustion mechanic almost as much as you, it really grew on me throughout my playthrough as I learned more about the intricacies. Examples of this include things like crawling away from a lizard while exausted, due to crawling letting you regain stamina(slower than standing still or laying down) and most lizards being just slow enough to not eat you while you do. It can allow you to recover from a missed slide or spear throw, recover your weapon, and finish the job.
Exactly, some people can get used to it! Of course, emphasis on the _some._ Personally, I love the exhaustion mechanic. Without it, Gourmand would be op.
@@Unoriginal____Starwalker I like to imagine he's doing it just to be fair to the world. Allowing creatures this window to gather themselves before a spear throw that would make the iterators tremble is levied before them.
Another thing to note is that Gourmand only gets exhausted throwing SPEARS. So if you're just trying to parkour your way somewhere, it may be better to rock-boost instead.
I actually really like how gourmands exaustion forces you to be strategic and precise. No scug makes you constantly think about positioning and resources like gourmand.
Imagine if the last thing you ever saw was Gourmand's fat ass falling toward you like a comet, you don't even have time to regret your life choices before impact and all the bones in your body break under his mass.
A couple things of note: All slugcats get a small window to respond (throw something) if bitten and not killed, and Gourmand has some bite-kill resistanc. So, while a bit dangerous, I would often let myself get bit and spear the enemy in response to stun them long enough to get by. This also never triggered exhaustion in my experience. Also, 3 dmg isnt enough to kill every predator, but it will fatally wound most things it doesnt, making them leave immediately. So a vulture will just fly off after 1 spear (Kings take 2 full powered i think).
Dont do this with reds, they still oneshot gourmand. Also, I haven't tried this so idk if its true but i think one spear throw is enough to cause a red to go back to their den.
Gourmands bite resistance is absolute for things not named red lizards (or just getting harpooned by a king vulture). Kings also will die immediately to a gourmand explosive spear and being grabbed by vultures can let you spear them in the face for bonus damage
Oh so you wanna be a.. One of those guys that.. Wait, what was it called when someone looks fat yet has a bunch of muscle underneath that girth?@@yogsathoth7960
i loved Gourmand's campaign! I was awful at typical PvP when it came to any other slugcat, so his pure tankiness and planning really appealed to me in a way that the other scugs didnt. His exhaustion mechanic didn't really bother me, as I'd often be using that breathing time to craft, check my map, or otherwise plan out how I want an encounter to go. I also like how his ending isn't something massive and storychanging, as it brings light to how not every scug needs to do something so largescale and important, and most are just another meal for a lizard.
YES EXACTLY!! That's one of my favorite parts of his design; he's just another guy who likes food. That's it. No grand mission, no fateful struggle to fulfill the wishes of a demigod, and no particularly defining motives or desires. I love that he's your favorite character! Every character design is right for someone.
"Gourmand requires you to play differently and strategically whenever you go into an encounter instead of just running away or fighting" Me who's favorite slugcat is Gourmand: "That's why I'm here."
Not trying to pick a fight or anything, just throwing in my opinion, but personally as a careful player in general, his campaign was one of the most fun. It did force me to plan ahead, and I loved that. Taking time to rest had become an instinct to the point I was rarely cornered by his refusal to move
By the time I got finished with Gourmand's campaign, I had to readjust to not needing to run off from a fight to rest every few seconds in other campaigns lol. Once I got used to it I actually quite liked the challenge exhaustion gives such a powerful unit of a scug
From a narrative perspective the Gourmand fits incredibly well within the cast. Without spoiling much, this game is like a Buddhist ecosystem simulator. Narrative follows buddhist teachings pretty well and each slugcat is an interesting interpretation of various teachings. Survivor is the most basic as he survives and the nature stops becoming a concern for him, life becomes trivial. The eternity of the cycles take their toll and he gazes outward. He gradually loses his ties to the mortal coil and "ascends". Artificer on the other hand is eternally tied to the world by her anger and guilt, represented by the lowest Karma value possible (that of Violence). Hunter has no choice but to let go so he finds himself in similar circumstances to survivor. Gourmand however is different from everyone else. He actually likes the cycles. As one Echo says "Why did they always search for escape as if we were imprisoned?". To Gourmand, the world, the cycles, the Samsara, all of it is good. He savours the world as a Gourmand. It is a surprisingly wholesome approach to spirituality if not a little hedonistic.
"Gourmand doesn't have THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP" I'd argue that he does, actually! His campaign starts in the Shaded Citadel which is actually PERFECT for building lizard rep since you can spend a few cycles just transporting dead Lantern Mice to that one room with all the black lizards and bam you'll have universal lizard rep in no-time. Gourmand is also great at building rep with Scavengers, since grenades are one of the simplest things to craft and he can combine them with rocks to make pearls. You can find grenades or at least ingredients to make them in lots of convenient places.
Honestly I think that the exhaustion mechanic perfectly balances Gourmand. Plus I can't tell you how many times I escaped Lizards and Vultures while in need of a power nap, the enjoyment was immense
while maybe some would consider it "cheating", there is a mod called "Gourmand is GOD" that removes the exhaustion mechanic from his campaign! i would recommend it to people who want to enjoy the round slug without having to worry about him needing a breather after running every 3 meters. despite being very punishing, Rain World is a game, it's meant to be fun! install all the mods your heart desires to make the experience fun to YOU, even if it means going against the game's mechanics! make Gourmand invincible! make him realize how important cardio is! go crazy! the day i realized that my skill issue doesn't have to stop me from enjoying the game and having fun because i can simply mold the game into fitting my needs was the day i removed leeches from the drainage system, DDLs from Five Pebbles and made my slugs be able to yeet their enemies away through the sheer power of a sus eyebrow, and started to finally genuinely enjoy the game instead of rage quitting after 10 minutes of playing lmao
It doesn't have to be removed, but tweaked. Exhausting from throwing spear- that is fair and under your own action and control. But when you get exhausting simply by running and jumping - that just BS. At least tweak that doesn't make him exhaust that quickly And yes I won't deny that it is cheating. If I do that that's because game made me so angry or when justified and on very rare cases deserved to be cheated.
I was the one that made the mod creator make it. I hated gourmands exhaustion, so i asked if there were any mods that removed it in the discord, and everyone said no. They said I should pay a modder to do it. I am a gourmand, I dont pay, so mills was kind enough to just do it for the fun of it. You can thank me for the narrative masterpiece of a description that mod has, and the beautiful buff gourmand as the thumbnail.
in all seriousness i think the issue lies in the difficulty spike between survivor and the rest of the dlc. not many new players give hunter a shot before playing gourmand/artificer, because of their status as a "challenge mode" in the original game. however there are many enemies from hunter (as well as tge dlc itself) that players will suddenly have to deal with while having limited movement or angry scavs.
I love the exhaustion mechanic because it forces you to powernap in the face of certain death before striking back, making gourmand seem like even more of a badass
I actually played arti first before gourmond. It felt SO BAD going from insane mobility and skirmish potential to not being able to jump 4 times in a row. Getting used to it though, gourmond is ultimately a very satisfying character, and his food quest is really fun. I just wish his exhaustion was less punishing in non combat scenarios.
I also did Arti before Gourmand, but I found the change of pace extremely nice. I went from a very painful repetition of Scavenger bullshit to a relaxed saunter around the map. Gourmand was the first campaign where I spent a lot of time in Garbage Wastes and it was the first time I really tried killing vultures rather than running and hiding. I may even do another Gourmand run soon now that I've done the rest of the campaigns so I can take advantage of his intricate mobility options
This comment perfectly describes why I want to do Gourmand, but will not. I think the character is goofy as hell but I just cannot deal with the exhaustion mechanic. I am very imprecise, and it just kills me every time. I got to The Leg and quit his campaign
Personally, I like the mechanic. Maybe could be tweaked to allow for a little bit more physical activity, but it's on brand for the rotund character to need a moment after taking a lizar to rage in a cage and winning the championship with his bulk. It's a good tradeoff for a character who can craft most of what they need for a situation before facing it. Also, annihilated that noodlefly at 8:05
tbh gourmand really embodies rain world in my opinion, a tanky class that has a fatal flaw that if not worked around will get you killed sooner or later. it shows how deeply thought out the characters are in the game
One of the most satisfying things I've found to do with Gourmand is to find loopholes or workarounds to his exhaustion. If more than one lizard shows up, one of the things I may do is slide to build some distance or reach a pipe, get them to spread out, then pick up a rock and proceed to either injure or kill the first lizard with a combo of rock throwing, sliding, and backflipping into rolling. By the time the second lizard catches up, I'm already aiming at it with a rock and the spear that I never had to throw.
The exhaustion mechanic forces you to plan out everything, which, given Gourmand's lore and personality, is pretty accurate. Rain World is incredible in the way it puts you in the mind of the characters, whether that be the confusion and struggle of the survivor, the methodical, slow, and planned but silly and wholesome campaign of Gourmand, or the violence of the Artificer.
I genuinely love gourmand, exhaustion and all, it really chage how tense some situations were, whilest also being balanced around being the god of death when not exhausted
While I do agree that Gourmand can be fun to play, I probably wouldn't go and play through his campaign again. It just doesn't offer something unique enough to go with his mechanics. And while the food quest was quite interesting, its nothing really special. Love the vid, will consider subbing ⭐
My worst complaint about gourmand is the regurgitation. It trivializes the food quest and is really dumb how he can just "spit out" so much stuff. The exhaustion is such a good balance.
Yeahhhh I'm super new to this... I thought about it and I meant to do it but the weekend I put this together was a bit of a fever dream and I forgot lol You should see a spoiler warning on the next one :) Thanks for the feedback.
I think I like the exhaustion mechanic not because of balance or extra challenge even, (although that’s definitely present) I think I just like the way it ties in gourmands whole theme. If normal slugcats were cliff jumpers and hikers, gourmand would be that one guy who just strolls to the top of a mountain only for the view(food) and to be able to say he did it and I love that abt him, he’s not some epic adventurer, he’s just him
I honestly really like gourmand's exhaustion. It forces you to play slower and more thoughtfully. Its pretty unique, when all other scugs are speedfreaks.
I got the game and have less then 20 hours on it and I just wanna play spear master but I can't cause I either need to play the genocidal kamikaze cat that explodes if she even gets 5 meters of a water source or the chonk which you kinda explained already (So far the game is based but getting lost is so easy I'm the reason there's instructions on shampoo ;-;)
Bahaha I'm still permanently lost; I swore myself off of the wiki for the Survivor and I legitimately had more than 60 hours on the game before I ascended. It was _an experience._
Hey, i don't know if you know this, but there is a setting (in the remix menu or more slugcats expansion) that lets you unlock all campaigns to play in any order you'd like!
Pretty good video that explores Gourmand pretty well! Though I do have to say that the exhaustion mechanic is pretty fair in my opinion - if anything it might be one of the best ways to demonstrate skill I agree that it can be frustrating when getting used to it, but that can also be said to Rain World itself when one starts playing it lol
Fantastic video covering Gourmand! I feel I've always preferred the more sporadic, movement based slugcats such as Artificer. This video makes me want to re-visit him though! The food campaign was quite the quest, and as rewarding as it was punishing for sure. Cool analysis on his more lighthearted, gentle quest as well! Never really considered it in comparison to the other more serious, dire journeys I suppose.
Every time I go from Gourmy to any other Slugcat it’s like whiplash, I always forget I don’t have the insane strength and do wacky Gourmand things like make nukes.
A really nicely made video essay, but i'll have to disagree - without exhaustion Gourmand's campaign would be too easy to offer any meaningful challenge (and that's like half the fun of playing Rain World).
Facts :) I don't want it to be easy, I just think I would have preferred a different _flavor_ of challenge, so to speak. Honestly, I think that half of the issue is that Rain World communicates with its players in generally cryptic ways - Don't get me wrong, that's part of the charm of the game and I love it a lot, but it also makes specific aspects of the game more difficult to deal with. If they did add a stamina bar or something similar, it would help communicate the exhaustion mechanic much more clearly, but it would also vastly change the feel of the game in a way that I don't think I would enjoy.
this PERFECTLY describes my thoughts on him. i genuinely can’t get into his campaign at all because so much of my playstyle relies on the ridiculous movement tech i’ve been forced to learn while playing other characters and its so. guhhhhhhhh. i would love to play through his campaign if someone made a mod to fix this little issue while, idk, giving him some other drawback that isn’t just plain irritating to deal with if that’s even possible to do
THIS IS THE HIGHEST PRAISE. Thank you so much. I honestly wanted to create something that anybody could enjoy, and I’m glad that you feel I’ve hit the mark.
Exhaustion was a menace when i first started to play gourmand, but when i get used to it Gourmand easily became my favorite character from dlc. I haven't enjoyed playing any slugcat as i did Gourmand.
My favourite part of gourmand is the fact that no lizard (Besides red) can instant kill you with there bite meaning you can just usse rocks to infinity escape there grasp or even get caught on purpose to attempt a risky spear hit
I really really love the edits done! And just "our Roly poly boy" got me good. Makes me wanna commit to actually playing this game! So glad I found your channel!!!!
the single sentence "Artificer is my favorite campaign/slugcat" should tell you i aren't the biggest fan of gourmand, but i have grown to like him recently, his crafting isn't nearly as useless as i thought and his roll is the most reliable movement this character has.
Finally, a gourmand appreciation video 💪 we love the rotund boi. I know it's weird but I personally actually like the exhaustion mechanic. I tend to be a very cautious rain world player, even now with years of experience and a lot of skill, so my slower playstyle works well with gourmand because I don't get exhausted all that much. Even when I do, I like the added challenge of having to plan for backup getaways while winded! It's such a drastic change from the other scugs and I enjoy it a lot. I can see why a lot of people dont like the exhaustion mechanic, though, and there have been plenty of times that it's driven me nuts as well. Great video!
I know, I'm kinda late, but if anyone finds the exhaustion mechanic to agonizing to deal with (which is understandable) there are a couple of mods that can change that: "Emerald's Tweaks & Features" has a option (called Chad Gourmand ) that gives you additional stamina "Gourmand is GOD" is a more OP alternative, as it completely eliminates exhaustion You can decide which one you want to use, good hunting.
I mean, as much as it can be annoying, without exaughstion, Gourmand would just be completely busted. And, even still despite it, he's still definitely the most powerful imo
Something nifty you can do with gourm is get right next to an enemy and then start spamming slides, even when exhausted slides and rolls do the same amount of damage and stun so they can make great tools for combat when you’re exhausted
That's what the game design wants you to realize, while the other slugs have unique abilities and weaknesses that can make for a slight shift in game play they all have that core mechanic of flee when things are too dicey, but Gourmand fundamentally takes that idea of fleeing and chucks it into space as he basically is designed to trigger that puzzle solving. The crafting skill is a perfect synergy for giving the right tool for advanced tactics and making you think and memorize what you need to defeat the enemy while being as efficient as possible with your energy. That's why when it comes to Big G I prefer to stop and pop a tool that will weaken opponents first or outright lower the numbers before thinking about using the masculine spartan spear throw that he has lol
Gourmand was a power trip for me tbh, its my second campaign after Monk and I love being a large and powerful animal eating every creature I come across The only time the exhaustion mechanic was ever a hindrance to me was when I was trying to use spears to climb up heights I wasn't skilled enough to jump to on my own, I survived plenty of missed spear throws and even managed to factor "taking a breather" into my fight strategies against enemies I couldn't one-shot For a while though I avoided using spears at all because I figured I'd be dead after single throw, but they're too useful and so I adapted to work with the slow down it caused Now i'm not sure who I wanna play next, I wanted to unlock slugpups but the only characters that can even find them are ones I've played already and that's a bit boring too many times in a row
I love gourmand’s design and story, I think its the cutest out of all of the slugs. But his exhaustion mechanic is INFURIATING! Besides Hunter, his campaign was the most difficult to beat out of all the slugcats, almost solely because of that one weakness
i found that if you can get 2 or 3 good spear stabs in, even at extremely low damage, enemies tend to give up and hightail it out of there. i managed to chase off a lizard in sky islands that i failed my first spear throw on by using rubbish and weak throws to pester it until it fled to the next screen, and i was able to recover.. my biggest struggle with him was the increased weight making it at times very difficult to navigate certain areas, like crossing between the two hub areas of sky islands or getting past worm grass (until i learned other strategies).
I get what you mean with this video, but I loved Gourmand with the way I played him. If you only run while exhausted until you’re far enough for the enemy to be unable to immediately grab you, you stop, then start running again if the enemy moves or if you’re cooled down before it’s in radius. Sometimes I had to recover in really small spurts but you’d be surprised by how op he can be if you use him that way
i honestly like the exhaustion mechanic, it makes you be careful and approach situations differently. what i hated was walking up to a cliff, throwing a spear at the wall to give myself extra jump help, and rolling into the abyss lol
not that i think it ruins the character, it fits the three damage you do, i just kept forgetting lol the exhaustion mechanic made it feel even cooler when i manage to escape situations lol
The only time I struggled with Gourmand’s exhaustion mechanic was in that one room in the wall with all the yellow lizards. Yellow lizards are the only enemies you can’t really pace yourself with-even against lone tanky enemies, you can stall for time with pipes.
I unironically consider Gourmand the peak of slugcat evolution. He is the only one who is neither in some predicament, nor busy being a pawn for a iterator and this independence makes him truly capable. He really owns this world.
Honestly, I completely disagree. It is rough, but gourmand desperately needs that kind of burden and he is STILL really powerful. Also, exhaustion near an enemy isn't a game over instantly. There is still things gourmand can do. Like their roll and slide can still stun the enemy. I love it.
An excellent, thoughtful, and funny video essay! Very well-edited too, and the script is very well-written! I really enjoyed the dropwig encounter breakdown, but also the move combo text. Even as a player with 1000+ hours in the game, I learned a little in this video! I don't play gourmand often because I prefer the ability to skirmish that the other slugcats have, but I can also see the appeal! I think it's an important part of the story, and fitting that gourmand unlocks companionship for some of the other campaigns. If you have the interest and the ideas/passion, I'd love to see you do video essays in this style of the other campaigns, and possibly other elements of rain world!
I'm super interested in making videos for the other campaigns; that being said, it may be a while before I'm able to finish them because I've got a few other projects in the works right now, and I actually need to complete the campaigns before I can really consider making videos for them. I'm glad you enjoyed the video! If you've got any specific criticism, I'd love to hear it! I'm always trying to improve :)
I feel like the exhaustion mechanic is a great addition to him. It helps portray him as the fatty he is. But it's just a bit much. I feel like the exhaustion should stay, but like... Make Gourmand have more stamina, if that makes sense.
To be fair, Gourmand would be incredibly overpowered if it weren't for the exhaustion mechanic. But, the mechanic nerfs the character in a way that isn't very fun. So design-wise I'm not really sure Gourmand could be done better.
I agree, BIG time on the exhaustion. It makes Gourm my least favorite slug in the game and I hate that because everything else about him is interesting and fun.
Gourmand is like a rpg, a rocket jet, and a boulder mixed into one, he's an rpg because he can deal alot of damage with his spear but after throwing it leaves him vulnerable, he's a Boulder because he can deal immense damage, but requires a drop or a build up to the damage, and he's a rocket jet because he can move super fast, but leaves him panting for air afterwards.
When I got to Gourmand, I played for about an hour before I left him. Under the assumption that I would come back once I was a bit better at the game. I completed everything except the Humter, for reasons. Once I understood the power of Gourmand, he became my favorite of the slugcat. Gourmand is kind of the big brain character. Planning is the deal. If you have a few supplies, you can craft your way out of messes once you know what to do. The red centipede is a good example. There are a few ways to craft the spore puff, and you can handle even the toughest enemy once prepared. IMO exhaustion balances Gourmand nicely with his overall theme. I like to pretend that every time he throws the spear that he throws his back out and has to hobble around for a bit. I called the dropping on the enemy his "Raptor Strike." The back-flip into roll "salt and pepper." And the tackle the "E.Honda." I throw a lot of rocks, like I feel naked without one. They are doubly good on Gourmand since the spear can get you into trouble and you can work out some Jiu-jitsu to fix other problem. So Gourmand made me feel smart playing him.😅
Good!! If that experience looks fun to you then you should totally go for it! It was a neat experience that forced me to play the game a lot slower than I was used to. This caused me some amount of frustration, but it was also super fun at other times! It's better for some people than others. Let me know what you think if/when you do play him :)
One small thing I just want to throw out there While Gourmand deals 3 damage with a normal spear throw, and Arti only deals 1.25 - Arti can AND WILL make it deal up to 8 damage by spitting on it real quick, and she can quickly follow it up with other explosive spears or grenades, without any rest. I would say, Artificer's combat proficiency is on par, if not superior, to Gourmand. It's the only scug that allows me to just obliterate a king vulture and pick off its mask with barely any preparation - just eat one random cicada, find a spear and a couple rocks(both are literally everywhere) - and you can murder the king vulture, or virtually any other threat. On perfectly smooth land. With no cover. Within 20 seconds. It's hard to overestimate how powerful Artificer is. She is impeccably deadly
OH ABSOLUTELY. Throw on top of that the fact that Artificer has (in my opinion) the third best mobility options in the game, and she’s able to get in position to use that deadly explosive power. The spear throw damage graph isn’t REALLY a graph of total combat power, because it can only realistically measure one aspect of combat. I found Gourmand to be unbelievably frustrating to skirmish with due to his low stamina and mobility. I consider him to be a burst damage character, rather than a DPS. He puts all his power into one or two attacks, and if those fail it’s ggs. Thanks for your analysis :) I’ll have more to say about this when I finish playing all the way through artificer’s campaign.
@@alfredosteel oh, good luck on your happi happi Scav extermination adventure >:3 Also a quick advice - find at least four echoes and get The Survivor passage before doing the final encounter. You'll regret it if you don't get it, as did I. Because ending places a certain restriction on you, and it makes The Survivor, and thus, most other passages, impossible to get. The only four I believe you can still get without The Survivor, are Wanderer, Dragonslayer, Martyr, and Pilgrim
Thank you :3 I genuinely wouldn't have thought to do that. I probably would have just grabbed any that I came across. I try to go into campaigns as blindly as possible because I believe that's the way the game is meant to be experienced, so it's nice to get spoiler-free advice.
@@alfredosteel yeah good luck :3 Pebbs won't give you karma, but There is one additional, seventh echo in final location, so you can find and grab it instead of one of the six normal ones, if it would be too bothersome to go, like, to sky islands or Subterranean for the echo I hope it wasn't too much of a spoiler
It kinda reminds me of the frustration I felt when Artificer just flopped after I did anything too close to a bomb. The entire gimmick of that character is being explosive, and immune to explosives. In my personal opinion, it’s not great when I’m being ambushed by 6-7 scavengers while dealing with another enemy, and having artificer lay down because they were too close to a bomb. Combat and just hurling weapons is so important to that campaign. ITS WHAT MAKES IT FUN, DAMNIT.
When I heard that Gourmand had an exhaustion mechanic, it made go "goddamn it" But as I played his campaign, I came to appreciate the additional care it required of me. Gourmand is by no means my favorite slugcat, but I don't hate him anymore.
One point I'd like to bring up is that, despite the fact that his exhaustion mechanic does make him less enjoyable, I've found it satisfactory to win a campaign after an arduous journey full of suffering and dying. The exhaustion mechanic perfectly balances out his herculean strength, but it can still be completely mitigated if you use the proper movement techniques to conserve energy. I've had the same experience with my first Survivor playthrough. I felt sluggish (no pun intended) and weak, but when I learnt how to play I became an apex predator. TLDR; Gourmands exhaustion is an obstacle you have to face throughout your playthrough, but can be avoided.
It is possible to kill 3 caramel/yellow lizards as gourmand, just hard. Gourmand's exhaustion mechanic is a limiter for his power, but also makes fighting multiple lizards intresting. Your way of fighting multiple creatures adapts to Gourmand's way of fighting multiple creatures. Gourmand is also very useful in Jolly Coop. Gourmand is a 9 out of 12 to my honest opinion. +able to use mass to plumet creatures +can mix items to create better items +slide goes ⅓ of the screen and does stun and damage +roll deflects spears and does large stun and damage +yummy food eat together +has abs for hands (3 damage, unexhausted) +slugparent +funny sleeping time +intresting gameplay due to exhaustion -getting exhausted at the most worst time -you eat alot -you get slow and stunned when exhausted
Gourmand imo has the highest skill ceiling of all the slugcats. His movement tech is unparalleled (save for Rivulet, whom he actually shares some tech with), his crafting gives you *easy access to any tool you need, and his combat abilities are unmatched, but very punishing. I think if his exhaustion mechanic was more tied to his food, it'd be perfect since it would encourage you to be as full as possible all the time.
![[UNCUT] The Loyal Pin ปิ่นภักดิ์ EP.15 (3/4)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IVwR87OH0_A/mqdefault.jpg)
Gourmand's story honestly really snuck up on me. I haven't played anything other than it and Artificer's campaign so far, but it really struck me how much of a departure it is from the other campaigns emotionally, kinda like you were talking about. Survivor and Hunter are defined by desperation and struggle-there is nothing left for them in the world except to leave it all behind/become a horrible cancer monster. Artificer is driven by a concoction of bile, rage and grief. The others, idfk obviously-but through this contrast it made me realise just how bleak the other stories in this game are. (And by story I am sort of meaning your emotional journey through the game)
Gourmand's journey was defined by gleeful experimentation, gloriously silly, bumbling combat situations (that i think are made more funny and engaging because of the exhaustion)... being a little big globetrotting chef man excited to taste the world's delicacies! and then finally... family. Returning to their people, and to beauty and sunshine. Finding contentment and companionship, which was rare and fleeting in the other campaigns. I think it took me maybe 25 hours or something to beat Gourmand and I went all over the map during my time with him, just back and forth, up and down-accidentally got the shitty ascension ending cause it had been so long since I heard what 5P told me to do. So much of my journey was the same geographically, (except for the new places I explored since this was my first campaign) and the challenges were very similar, but it felt SO different. Lighter, ironically.
Umm also you don't even need spore puffs for red centipedes. I killed mine first try just by sneaking up on it from above and squashing it. It was hilarious, I think I one-shot it. Gourmand is a BEAST. You just have to pace yourself. Give the little big guy breathers.
Precisely. I wanted to capture this feeling in my video, but I don't think I had quite the right words. This is a spot-on analysis of the tone of Gourmand's campaign (in my opinion). Prepare to be pinned to the top of the page XD
Yessssss. I've yet to play Rivulet & Saint, but Gourmand was honestly the most immersive campaign out of all the rest for me. You have to think like a slugcat to survive, but Gourmand doesn't have to think like any other scug, they have to think like /Gourmand/. Jumping and backflipping away from a threat or spamming throw doesn't work for them, you find yourself thinking "ok, what can i use/craft that could help me in a life-or-death situation? How can i use this room to my advantage and sneak around most of these threats"
And even though it was frustrating as hell, you can feel the carefree and joyous nature of Gourmand just by travelling around the map - sliding and rolling around everywhere, the bounce you get after dropping on an enemy always made me grin. As other scugs im always stressed and nervously looking around for any hint of danger. But Gourmand is just happy to be here! :D
gourmand is what life would be like without 24/7 access to mcdonalds
Oh haha thanks! I really liked the video btw :D@@alfredosteel
I mean, Survivor's campaign really is a lot of sunshine and rainbows, especially in a retrospective view. Survivor never saw their family die, and it'd be safe to assume that at least one of them survived. And thus, Monk. Monk is the one character in the game that breathes hope in every step they take. They're the only character who understands more than just a single view of the world. And viewing Survivor's campaign from that perspective, knowing that for every step Survivor takes, Monk is only a few steps behind, really makes it one of the more hopeful journeys.
Gourmand is simple-minded, only caring for simple pleasures. Saint is misguided, only focusing on a single, misguided, goal. Artificer sacrificed everything for something that ultimately wasn't worth it. Hunter never even had a chance in the first place. Spearmaster doesn't care, and Rivulet can't care.
Monk is the only character in the game that views things not from a single perspective, but also from an empathetic view as well. They try to understand the other creatures, instead of just slaughtering them. They prefer violence only when peace is impossible. An the irony is how this peaceful approach, in which nature should reject, ends up making it so that Monk succeeds in their goal from the start. And it makes it all the more cathartic that Monk succeeds in their quest, and even moreso knowing that Survivor's hopes were answered. Monk is, ironically, the saintliest character in the game.
I feel like the exhaustion mechanics gives as much as it takes. You no longer get the adrenaline "Random bullshit go" of other scugs but you get epic chase sequences as you try to find safety
Gourmand giveth, and Gourmand taketh away XD
Gourmand has a “random bullshit go” ability too being able to spam his slide (which still does damage and stuns when tired
Ngl, while at the start of Gourmand's campaign I disliked the exaustion mechanic almost as much as you, it really grew on me throughout my playthrough as I learned more about the intricacies. Examples of this include things like crawling away from a lizard while exausted, due to crawling letting you regain stamina(slower than standing still or laying down) and most lizards being just slow enough to not eat you while you do. It can allow you to recover from a missed slide or spear throw, recover your weapon, and finish the job.
Exactly, some people can get used to it! Of course, emphasis on the _some._ Personally, I love the exhaustion mechanic. Without it, Gourmand would be op.
Even if Saint is my favorite scuggy i have to say that gourmand is just so painfully fun to play.
@@Unoriginal____Starwalker I like to imagine he's doing it just to be fair to the world. Allowing creatures this window to gather themselves before a spear throw that would make the iterators tremble is levied before them.
Another thing to note is that Gourmand only gets exhausted throwing SPEARS. So if you're just trying to parkour your way somewhere, it may be better to rock-boost instead.
I actually really like how gourmands exaustion forces you to be strategic and precise. No scug makes you constantly think about positioning and resources like gourmand.
Which is the whole point of gourmand
@@BananaBotanists that, and alchemizing nukes into existence
@@chickennuggets8685 when the funny fat cat makes a sub atomic bomb
Imagine if the last thing you ever saw was Gourmand's fat ass falling toward you like a comet, you don't even have time to regret your life choices before impact and all the bones in your body break under his mass.
A couple things of note: All slugcats get a small window to respond (throw something) if bitten and not killed, and Gourmand has some bite-kill resistanc. So, while a bit dangerous, I would often let myself get bit and spear the enemy in response to stun them long enough to get by. This also never triggered exhaustion in my experience.
Also, 3 dmg isnt enough to kill every predator, but it will fatally wound most things it doesnt, making them leave immediately. So a vulture will just fly off after 1 spear (Kings take 2 full powered i think).
Yeah throwing a spear while in an enemies mouth doesn't trigger exhaustion, but it only does his exausted damage.
Dont do this with reds, they still oneshot gourmand. Also, I haven't tried this so idk if its true but i think one spear throw is enough to cause a red to go back to their den.
Gourmands bite resistance is absolute for things not named red lizards (or just getting harpooned by a king vulture).
Kings also will die immediately to a gourmand explosive spear and being grabbed by vultures can let you spear them in the face for bonus damage
Gourmand is what I aspire to become
A human beachball?
@@kingoffire105No, a slug beach ball.
similar to kingpin. his girth is not from fat but from pure muscle. which is denser and heavier then fat. but he is also the smartest of the slug cats
Oh so you wanna be a.. One of those guys that.. Wait, what was it called when someone looks fat yet has a bunch of muscle underneath that girth?@@yogsathoth7960
That's what Gourmand is and I love it.@@Manahina1
i loved Gourmand's campaign! I was awful at typical PvP when it came to any other slugcat, so his pure tankiness and planning really appealed to me in a way that the other scugs didnt. His exhaustion mechanic didn't really bother me, as I'd often be using that breathing time to craft, check my map, or otherwise plan out how I want an encounter to go. I also like how his ending isn't something massive and storychanging, as it brings light to how not every scug needs to do something so largescale and important, and most are just another meal for a lizard.
YES EXACTLY!! That's one of my favorite parts of his design; he's just another guy who likes food. That's it. No grand mission, no fateful struggle to fulfill the wishes of a demigod, and no particularly defining motives or desires.
I love that he's your favorite character! Every character design is right for someone.
"Gourmand requires you to play differently and strategically whenever you go into an encounter instead of just running away or fighting"
Me who's favorite slugcat is Gourmand: "That's why I'm here."
Not trying to pick a fight or anything, just throwing in my opinion, but personally as a careful player in general, his campaign was one of the most fun. It did force me to plan ahead, and I loved that. Taking time to rest had become an instinct to the point I was rarely cornered by his refusal to move
No fights picked. I asked for your opinion, I'm excited to have it :)
I'm really glad you enjoyed his campaign!! I did too (most of the time).
I DONT LIKE THINKING
I just throw my spear and live with the consequences
@@froginabucket7294..You mean die with the consequences?
By the time I got finished with Gourmand's campaign, I had to readjust to not needing to run off from a fight to rest every few seconds in other campaigns lol. Once I got used to it I actually quite liked the challenge exhaustion gives such a powerful unit of a scug
From a narrative perspective the Gourmand fits incredibly well within the cast. Without spoiling much, this game is like a Buddhist ecosystem simulator. Narrative follows buddhist teachings pretty well and each slugcat is an interesting interpretation of various teachings.
Survivor is the most basic as he survives and the nature stops becoming a concern for him, life becomes trivial. The eternity of the cycles take their toll and he gazes outward. He gradually loses his ties to the mortal coil and "ascends". Artificer on the other hand is eternally tied to the world by her anger and guilt, represented by the lowest Karma value possible (that of Violence). Hunter has no choice but to let go so he finds himself in similar circumstances to survivor.
Gourmand however is different from everyone else. He actually likes the cycles. As one Echo says "Why did they always search for escape as if we were imprisoned?". To Gourmand, the world, the cycles, the Samsara, all of it is good. He savours the world as a Gourmand. It is a surprisingly wholesome approach to spirituality if not a little hedonistic.
"Gourmand doesn't have THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP"
I'd argue that he does, actually! His campaign starts in the Shaded Citadel which is actually PERFECT for building lizard rep since you can spend a few cycles just transporting dead Lantern Mice to that one room with all the black lizards and bam you'll have universal lizard rep in no-time.
Gourmand is also great at building rep with Scavengers, since grenades are one of the simplest things to craft and he can combine them with rocks to make pearls. You can find grenades or at least ingredients to make them in lots of convenient places.
Honestly I think that the exhaustion mechanic perfectly balances Gourmand. Plus I can't tell you how many times I escaped Lizards and Vultures while in need of a power nap, the enjoyment was immense
while maybe some would consider it "cheating", there is a mod called "Gourmand is GOD" that removes the exhaustion mechanic from his campaign! i would recommend it to people who want to enjoy the round slug without having to worry about him needing a breather after running every 3 meters. despite being very punishing, Rain World is a game, it's meant to be fun! install all the mods your heart desires to make the experience fun to YOU, even if it means going against the game's mechanics! make Gourmand invincible! make him realize how important cardio is! go crazy!
the day i realized that my skill issue doesn't have to stop me from enjoying the game and having fun because i can simply mold the game into fitting my needs was the day i removed leeches from the drainage system, DDLs from Five Pebbles and made my slugs be able to yeet their enemies away through the sheer power of a sus eyebrow, and started to finally genuinely enjoy the game instead of rage quitting after 10 minutes of playing lmao
IM INSTALLING THAT THING IN MA GAME
yeah ive begun to enjoy games much more when i realized its my game and i decide how i have fun and cheating doesn't matter in singleplayer
It doesn't have to be removed, but tweaked. Exhausting from throwing spear- that is fair and under your own action and control. But when you get exhausting simply by running and jumping - that just BS. At least tweak that doesn't make him exhaust that quickly
And yes I won't deny that it is cheating. If I do that that's because game made me so angry or when justified and on very rare cases deserved to be cheated.
I was the one that made the mod creator make it. I hated gourmands exhaustion, so i asked if there were any mods that removed it in the discord, and everyone said no. They said I should pay a modder to do it. I am a gourmand, I dont pay, so mills was kind enough to just do it for the fun of it.
You can thank me for the narrative masterpiece of a description that mod has, and the beautiful buff gourmand as the thumbnail.
in all seriousness i think the issue lies in the difficulty spike between survivor and the rest of the dlc. not many new players give hunter a shot before playing gourmand/artificer, because of their status as a "challenge mode" in the original game. however there are many enemies from hunter (as well as tge dlc itself) that players will suddenly have to deal with while having limited movement or angry scavs.
I love the exhaustion mechanic because it forces you to powernap in the face of certain death before striking back, making gourmand seem like even more of a badass
I actually played arti first before gourmond. It felt SO BAD going from insane mobility and skirmish potential to not being able to jump 4 times in a row. Getting used to it though, gourmond is ultimately a very satisfying character, and his food quest is really fun. I just wish his exhaustion was less punishing in non combat scenarios.
I also did Arti before Gourmand, but I found the change of pace extremely nice. I went from a very painful repetition of Scavenger bullshit to a relaxed saunter around the map. Gourmand was the first campaign where I spent a lot of time in Garbage Wastes and it was the first time I really tried killing vultures rather than running and hiding. I may even do another Gourmand run soon now that I've done the rest of the campaigns so I can take advantage of his intricate mobility options
This comment perfectly describes why I want to do Gourmand, but will not. I think the character is goofy as hell but I just cannot deal with the exhaustion mechanic. I am very imprecise, and it just kills me every time. I got to The Leg and quit his campaign
Personally, I like the mechanic. Maybe could be tweaked to allow for a little bit more physical activity, but it's on brand for the rotund character to need a moment after taking a lizar to rage in a cage and winning the championship with his bulk. It's a good tradeoff for a character who can craft most of what they need for a situation before facing it.
Also, annihilated that noodlefly at 8:05
tbh gourmand really embodies rain world in my opinion, a tanky class that has a fatal flaw that if not worked around will get you killed sooner or later. it shows how deeply thought out the characters are in the game
One of the most satisfying things I've found to do with Gourmand is to find loopholes or workarounds to his exhaustion.
If more than one lizard shows up, one of the things I may do is slide to build some distance or reach a pipe, get them to spread out, then pick up a rock and proceed to either injure or kill the first lizard with a combo of rock throwing, sliding, and backflipping into rolling.
By the time the second lizard catches up, I'm already aiming at it with a rock and the spear that I never had to throw.
The exhaustion mechanic forces you to plan out everything, which, given Gourmand's lore and personality, is pretty accurate. Rain World is incredible in the way it puts you in the mind of the characters, whether that be the confusion and struggle of the survivor, the methodical, slow, and planned but silly and wholesome campaign of Gourmand, or the violence of the Artificer.
I genuinely love gourmand, exhaustion and all, it really chage how tense some situations were, whilest also being balanced around being the god of death when not exhausted
Stamina meter mod would be awesome for the workshop, one of those quality of life things
While I do agree that Gourmand can be fun to play, I probably wouldn't go and play through his campaign again. It just doesn't offer something unique enough to go with his mechanics. And while the food quest was quite interesting, its nothing really special.
Love the vid, will consider subbing ⭐
My worst complaint about gourmand is the regurgitation. It trivializes the food quest and is really dumb how he can just "spit out" so much stuff. The exhaustion is such a good balance.
I love how he’s just a smol ball who just wants to see pople
I love when the funny TH-camr puts major story spoilers in the first 15 seconds of the video without any warning whatsoever. Very cool
Yeahhhh I'm super new to this...
I thought about it and I meant to do it but the weekend I put this together was a bit of a fever dream and I forgot lol
You should see a spoiler warning on the next one :)
Thanks for the feedback.
Huge tip: when you're exhausted you can still slide pounce, which covers a surprisingly large distance
8:06 everyone shut up. this man just parkoured off a noodlefly
I think I like the exhaustion mechanic not because of balance or extra challenge even, (although that’s definitely present) I think I just like the way it ties in gourmands whole theme. If normal slugcats were cliff jumpers and hikers, gourmand would be that one guy who just strolls to the top of a mountain only for the view(food) and to be able to say he did it and I love that abt him, he’s not some epic adventurer, he’s just him
I honestly really like gourmand's exhaustion. It forces you to play slower and more thoughtfully. Its pretty unique, when all other scugs are speedfreaks.
Absolutely! Everyone interfaces with characters differently. I'm glad you enjoyed his campaign!
I got the game and have less then 20 hours on it and I just wanna play spear master but I can't cause I either need to play the genocidal kamikaze cat that explodes if she even gets 5 meters of a water source or the chonk which you kinda explained already
(So far the game is based but getting lost is so easy I'm the reason there's instructions on shampoo ;-;)
Bahaha I'm still permanently lost; I swore myself off of the wiki for the Survivor and I legitimately had more than 60 hours on the game before I ascended. It was _an experience._
Hey, i don't know if you know this, but there is a setting (in the remix menu or more slugcats expansion) that lets you unlock all campaigns to play in any order you'd like!
@wilczus222 I am so dumb thank you so much I didn't even know that was a possibility
Pretty good video that explores Gourmand pretty well!
Though I do have to say that the exhaustion mechanic is pretty fair in my opinion - if anything it might be one of the best ways to demonstrate skill
I agree that it can be frustrating when getting used to it, but that can also be said to Rain World itself when one starts playing it lol
Funnily enough, the reasons you listed for why Gourmand is flawed is actually the reasons why he's my favorite slugcat.
Absolutely! Everyone interfaces differently with each character! I'm glad he's your favorite :)
Fantastic video covering Gourmand! I feel I've always preferred the more sporadic, movement based slugcats such as Artificer. This video makes me want to re-visit him though! The food campaign was quite the quest, and as rewarding as it was punishing for sure. Cool analysis on his more lighthearted, gentle quest as well! Never really considered it in comparison to the other more serious, dire journeys I suppose.
Underrated TH-camr. Don't forget us when your famous.
Genuine question: _How_ would you like to be remembered? How should I pay tribute to all the viewers who stuck with me? I’d love to hear ideas :)
Every time I go from Gourmy to any other Slugcat it’s like whiplash, I always forget I don’t have the insane strength and do wacky Gourmand things like make nukes.
A really nicely made video essay, but i'll have to disagree - without exhaustion Gourmand's campaign would be too easy to offer any meaningful challenge (and that's like half the fun of playing Rain World).
Facts :)
I don't want it to be easy, I just think I would have preferred a different _flavor_ of challenge, so to speak.
Honestly, I think that half of the issue is that Rain World communicates with its players in generally cryptic ways - Don't get me wrong, that's part of the charm of the game and I love it a lot, but it also makes specific aspects of the game more difficult to deal with. If they did add a stamina bar or something similar, it would help communicate the exhaustion mechanic much more clearly, but it would also vastly change the feel of the game in a way that I don't think I would enjoy.
Honestly, this "flaw" is the best part of gourmand for me, I WOULD be tired all the time on that world, and it's just beautiful for immersion
meeeee tooooo ;w; gourmand is stronk
this PERFECTLY describes my thoughts on him. i genuinely can’t get into his campaign at all because so much of my playstyle relies on the ridiculous movement tech i’ve been forced to learn while playing other characters and its so. guhhhhhhhh. i would love to play through his campaign if someone made a mod to fix this little issue while, idk, giving him some other drawback that isn’t just plain irritating to deal with if that’s even possible to do
i feel like this video would still be fun to watch for someone who has never played rain world
THIS IS THE HIGHEST PRAISE.
Thank you so much. I honestly wanted to create something that anybody could enjoy, and I’m glad that you feel I’ve hit the mark.
Chaotic good slugcat
Exhaustion was a menace when i first started to play gourmand, but when i get used to it Gourmand easily became my favorite character from dlc. I haven't enjoyed playing any slugcat as i did Gourmand.
My favourite part of gourmand is the fact that no lizard (Besides red) can instant kill you with there bite meaning you can just usse rocks to infinity escape there grasp or even get caught on purpose to attempt a risky spear hit
I really really love the edits done! And just "our Roly poly boy" got me good. Makes me wanna commit to actually playing this game! So glad I found your channel!!!!
6:11 NOW...... That's impressive.
the single sentence "Artificer is my favorite campaign/slugcat" should tell you i aren't the biggest fan of gourmand, but i have grown to like him recently, his crafting isn't nearly as useless as i thought and his roll is the most reliable movement this character has.
Finally, a gourmand appreciation video 💪 we love the rotund boi. I know it's weird but I personally actually like the exhaustion mechanic. I tend to be a very cautious rain world player, even now with years of experience and a lot of skill, so my slower playstyle works well with gourmand because I don't get exhausted all that much. Even when I do, I like the added challenge of having to plan for backup getaways while winded! It's such a drastic change from the other scugs and I enjoy it a lot. I can see why a lot of people dont like the exhaustion mechanic, though, and there have been plenty of times that it's driven me nuts as well. Great video!
I know, I'm kinda late, but if anyone finds the exhaustion mechanic to agonizing to deal with (which is understandable) there are a couple of mods that can change that:
"Emerald's Tweaks & Features" has a option (called Chad Gourmand ) that gives you additional stamina
"Gourmand is GOD" is a more OP alternative, as it completely eliminates exhaustion
You can decide which one you want to use, good hunting.
Gourmand really fits my playstyle, stop and go and give the big guy a break
I mean, as much as it can be annoying, without exaughstion, Gourmand would just be completely busted. And, even still despite it, he's still definitely the most powerful imo
i absolutely love how gourmand can literally just one shot anything with the sheer might of his ass
Something nifty you can do with gourm is get right next to an enemy and then start spamming slides, even when exhausted slides and rolls do the same amount of damage and stun so they can make great tools for combat when you’re exhausted
That's what the game design wants you to realize, while the other slugs have unique abilities and weaknesses that can make for a slight shift in game play they all have that core mechanic of flee when things are too dicey, but Gourmand fundamentally takes that idea of fleeing and chucks it into space as he basically is designed to trigger that puzzle solving. The crafting skill is a perfect synergy for giving the right tool for advanced tactics and making you think and memorize what you need to defeat the enemy while being as efficient as possible with your energy.
That's why when it comes to Big G I prefer to stop and pop a tool that will weaken opponents first or outright lower the numbers before thinking about using the masculine spartan spear throw that he has lol
Gourmand was a power trip for me tbh, its my second campaign after Monk and I love being a large and powerful animal eating every creature I come across
The only time the exhaustion mechanic was ever a hindrance to me was when I was trying to use spears to climb up heights I wasn't skilled enough to jump to on my own, I survived plenty of missed spear throws and even managed to factor "taking a breather" into my fight strategies against enemies I couldn't one-shot
For a while though I avoided using spears at all because I figured I'd be dead after single throw, but they're too useful and so I adapted to work with the slow down it caused
Now i'm not sure who I wanna play next, I wanted to unlock slugpups but the only characters that can even find them are ones I've played already and that's a bit boring too many times in a row
I love gourmand’s design and story, I think its the cutest out of all of the slugs.
But his exhaustion mechanic is INFURIATING!
Besides Hunter, his campaign was the most difficult to beat out of all the slugcats, almost solely because of that one weakness
i found that if you can get 2 or 3 good spear stabs in, even at extremely low damage, enemies tend to give up and hightail it out of there. i managed to chase off a lizard in sky islands that i failed my first spear throw on by using rubbish and weak throws to pester it until it fled to the next screen, and i was able to recover..
my biggest struggle with him was the increased weight making it at times very difficult to navigate certain areas, like crossing between the two hub areas of sky islands or getting past worm grass (until i learned other strategies).
I get what you mean with this video, but I loved Gourmand with the way I played him. If you only run while exhausted until you’re far enough for the enemy to be unable to immediately grab you, you stop, then start running again if the enemy moves or if you’re cooled down before it’s in radius. Sometimes I had to recover in really small spurts but you’d be surprised by how op he can be if you use him that way
i honestly like the exhaustion mechanic, it makes you be careful and approach situations differently. what i hated was walking up to a cliff, throwing a spear at the wall to give myself extra jump help, and rolling into the abyss lol
not that i think it ruins the character, it fits the three damage you do, i just kept forgetting lol
the exhaustion mechanic made it feel even cooler when i manage to escape situations lol
bahaha or trying to throw a spear on a pole T^T
I did that a few times
The only time I struggled with Gourmand’s exhaustion mechanic was in that one room in the wall with all the yellow lizards. Yellow lizards are the only enemies you can’t really pace yourself with-even against lone tanky enemies, you can stall for time with pipes.
Gourmand truly is a superior character
Gourmand: Can create a bomb that warps time and space casually and without much effort
Also Gourmand: Struggles to throw 2 spears at any given time
Imagine if eating mushrooms restores gourmands stamina to full for the entire trip
This why gourmand is my favorite slugcat
I unironically consider Gourmand the peak of slugcat evolution. He is the only one who is neither in some predicament, nor busy being a pawn for a iterator and this independence makes him truly capable. He really owns this world.
Honestly, I completely disagree. It is rough, but gourmand desperately needs that kind of burden and he is STILL really powerful. Also, exhaustion near an enemy isn't a game over instantly. There is still things gourmand can do. Like their roll and slide can still stun the enemy. I love it.
An excellent, thoughtful, and funny video essay! Very well-edited too, and the script is very well-written! I really enjoyed the dropwig encounter breakdown, but also the move combo text. Even as a player with 1000+ hours in the game, I learned a little in this video! I don't play gourmand often because I prefer the ability to skirmish that the other slugcats have, but I can also see the appeal! I think it's an important part of the story, and fitting that gourmand unlocks companionship for some of the other campaigns.
If you have the interest and the ideas/passion, I'd love to see you do video essays in this style of the other campaigns, and possibly other elements of rain world!
I'm super interested in making videos for the other campaigns; that being said, it may be a while before I'm able to finish them because I've got a few other projects in the works right now, and I actually need to complete the campaigns before I can really consider making videos for them.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video! If you've got any specific criticism, I'd love to hear it! I'm always trying to improve :)
Gourmand could become a unstoppable god....after he overcomes his overwhelming urge to nap.
I feel like the exhaustion mechanic is a great addition to him. It helps portray him as the fatty he is. But it's just a bit much. I feel like the exhaustion should stay, but like... Make Gourmand have more stamina, if that makes sense.
To be fair, Gourmand would be incredibly overpowered if it weren't for the exhaustion mechanic. But, the mechanic nerfs the character in a way that isn't very fun. So design-wise I'm not really sure Gourmand could be done better.
I agree, BIG time on the exhaustion. It makes Gourm my least favorite slug in the game and I hate that because everything else about him is interesting and fun.
Honestly, the the tired mechanic really only adds to gourmand.
Gourmand with rivulets speed and no exhaustion would end the universe
"...because even without (re)using the 'regurgitation' ability, Gourmand requires *P S E V E N F O O D P E R D A Y ."*
Gourmand is like a rpg, a rocket jet, and a boulder mixed into one, he's an rpg because he can deal alot of damage with his spear but after throwing it leaves him vulnerable, he's a Boulder because he can deal immense damage, but requires a drop or a build up to the damage, and he's a rocket jet because he can move super fast, but leaves him panting for air afterwards.
dude he's just like me. hungry.
7:36 Actually, you only need two grenades and a Karma Flower to make the singularity bomb
When I got to Gourmand, I played for about an hour before I left him. Under the assumption that I would come back once I was a bit better at the game. I completed everything except the Humter, for reasons. Once I understood the power of Gourmand, he became my favorite of the slugcat.
Gourmand is kind of the big brain character. Planning is the deal. If you have a few supplies, you can craft your way out of messes once you know what to do. The red centipede is a good example. There are a few ways to craft the spore puff, and you can handle even the toughest enemy once prepared.
IMO exhaustion balances Gourmand nicely with his overall theme. I like to pretend that every time he throws the spear that he throws his back out and has to hobble around for a bit. I called the dropping on the enemy his "Raptor Strike." The back-flip into roll "salt and pepper." And the tackle the "E.Honda." I throw a lot of rocks, like I feel naked without one. They are doubly good on Gourmand since the spear can get you into trouble and you can work out some Jiu-jitsu to fix other problem. So Gourmand made me feel smart playing him.😅
Playing gourmand is like using *A GUN WITH ONE BULLET*
YES. EXACTLY.
I'll be honest the only thing you did was sell me on this character, it sounds so interesting and neat and like a thoughful strategic good time.
Good!! If that experience looks fun to you then you should totally go for it! It was a neat experience that forced me to play the game a lot slower than I was used to. This caused me some amount of frustration, but it was also super fun at other times! It's better for some people than others. Let me know what you think if/when you do play him :)
One small thing I just want to throw out there
While Gourmand deals 3 damage with a normal spear throw, and Arti only deals 1.25 - Arti can AND WILL make it deal up to 8 damage by spitting on it real quick, and she can quickly follow it up with other explosive spears or grenades, without any rest. I would say, Artificer's combat proficiency is on par, if not superior, to Gourmand. It's the only scug that allows me to just obliterate a king vulture and pick off its mask with barely any preparation - just eat one random cicada, find a spear and a couple rocks(both are literally everywhere) - and you can murder the king vulture, or virtually any other threat. On perfectly smooth land. With no cover. Within 20 seconds. It's hard to overestimate how powerful Artificer is. She is impeccably deadly
OH ABSOLUTELY.
Throw on top of that the fact that Artificer has (in my opinion) the third best mobility options in the game, and she’s able to get in position to use that deadly explosive power. The spear throw damage graph isn’t REALLY a graph of total combat power, because it can only realistically measure one aspect of combat. I found Gourmand to be unbelievably frustrating to skirmish with due to his low stamina and mobility. I consider him to be a burst damage character, rather than a DPS. He puts all his power into one or two attacks, and if those fail it’s ggs.
Thanks for your analysis :)
I’ll have more to say about this when I finish playing all the way through artificer’s campaign.
@@alfredosteel oh, good luck on your happi happi Scav extermination adventure >:3
Also a quick advice - find at least four echoes and get The Survivor passage before doing the final encounter. You'll regret it if you don't get it, as did I. Because ending places a certain restriction on you, and it makes The Survivor, and thus, most other passages, impossible to get.
The only four I believe you can still get without The Survivor, are Wanderer, Dragonslayer, Martyr, and Pilgrim
Thank you :3
I genuinely wouldn't have thought to do that. I probably would have just grabbed any that I came across.
I try to go into campaigns as blindly as possible because I believe that's the way the game is meant to be experienced, so it's nice to get spoiler-free advice.
@@alfredosteel yeah good luck :3
Pebbs won't give you karma, but
There is one additional, seventh echo in final location, so you can find and grab it instead of one of the six normal ones, if it would be too bothersome to go, like, to sky islands or Subterranean for the echo
I hope it wasn't too much of a spoiler
That dropwig evade was sick
Imagine if Gourmand has no exhaustion mechanic, he'd be a rolling menace.
FOR REAL
I _already_ roll everywhere, even with exhaustion. If you took it away?? The world would burn in moments.
this dude needs more subs for the content quality
"A treat to complete"
I see what you did there...
Honestly that was not on purpose, if you'll believe it XD
Blame it on my subconscious, I guess...
It kinda reminds me of the frustration I felt when Artificer just flopped after I did anything too close to a bomb. The entire gimmick of that character is being explosive, and immune to explosives. In my personal opinion, it’s not great when I’m being ambushed by 6-7 scavengers while dealing with another enemy, and having artificer lay down because they were too close to a bomb. Combat and just hurling weapons is so important to that campaign. ITS WHAT MAKES IT FUN, DAMNIT.
Meanwhile me who had no idea how to slide or roll while playing gourmand for the first time:
8:17 has me cackling, he looks like he would leave a crater
When I heard that Gourmand had an exhaustion mechanic, it made go "goddamn it"
But as I played his campaign, I came to appreciate the additional care it required of me.
Gourmand is by no means my favorite slugcat, but I don't hate him anymore.
I stopped playing his campaign when I understood that there are orange lizard nest on The Wall and I can't escape or kill them consistentlt enough.
Gourmand is chungby excellant character design friend shape 10/10
You should review more of the slugcats. dope video🔥
One point I'd like to bring up is that, despite the fact that his exhaustion mechanic does make him less enjoyable, I've found it satisfactory to win a campaign after an arduous journey full of suffering and dying. The exhaustion mechanic perfectly balances out his herculean strength, but it can still be completely mitigated if you use the proper movement techniques to conserve energy.
I've had the same experience with my first Survivor playthrough. I felt sluggish (no pun intended) and weak, but when I learnt how to play I became an apex predator.
TLDR; Gourmands exhaustion is an obstacle you have to face throughout your playthrough, but can be avoided.
If I had a nickel for everytime I've said 'wake up Gourmand'.....
for anyone struggling with gourmands stamina get the staminer mod it will save your life
It is possible to kill 3 caramel/yellow lizards as gourmand, just hard. Gourmand's exhaustion mechanic is a limiter for his power, but also makes fighting multiple lizards intresting. Your way of fighting multiple creatures adapts to Gourmand's way of fighting multiple creatures. Gourmand is also very useful in Jolly Coop. Gourmand is a 9 out of 12 to my honest opinion.
+able to use mass to plumet creatures
+can mix items to create better items
+slide goes ⅓ of the screen and does stun and damage
+roll deflects spears and does large stun and damage
+yummy food eat together
+has abs for hands (3 damage, unexhausted)
+slugparent
+funny sleeping time
+intresting gameplay due to exhaustion
-getting exhausted at the most worst time
-you eat alot
-you get slow and stunned when exhausted
I found gourmand really easy, because lizards literally cannot hold him. They just drop him and you roll away
5:42 Ma man described the Monk life in one second.
Gourmand imo has the highest skill ceiling of all the slugcats. His movement tech is unparalleled (save for Rivulet, whom he actually shares some tech with), his crafting gives you *easy access to any tool you need, and his combat abilities are unmatched, but very punishing. I think if his exhaustion mechanic was more tied to his food, it'd be perfect since it would encourage you to be as full as possible all the time.
He would simply be the most OP slugcat if he didn’t get exhausted