Return to The Spooky Raymansion
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| Return to The Spooky Raymansion | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Developed by | Ryemanni | |
| Soundtrack by | Éric Chevalier (ambient music from Rayman 2 The Great Escape) Plume, Fred Leonard and Laurent Parisi (chase and ambient music from Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc) Ryemanni (edited soundtrack) | |
| Release date | Windows:
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| Genre | First-person horror maze | |
| Gameplay mode | Single player | |
| Platforms | PC | |
| Ratings | All ages (OGRS) | |
| Distribution media | Digital download | |
| Game engine | Godot | |
Return to The Spooky Raymansion, also referred to as "The Spooky Raymansion 4", is the fourth entry in the Spooky Raymansion series created by Ryemanni and released in 2023. This is Ryemanni's first game to be running under the Godot engine and which got a release on itch.io.
Plot
Unlike its predecessor whose setting was within a nightmare, Return to The Spooky Raymansion is implied to take place in Rayman's real world.
The game starts as Rayman reads a torn and ink-stained letter from a friend, later revealed to be Globox, who found a place full of Tings and went exploring it so they can be set for life. Globox tells Rayman to go look for him if he doesn't return by dawn. Rayman goes to the place at night, and after going through a small maze outside, finds the mansion where he once escaped from with the bootleg game Rayman IV.
Intro
The introductory level is a small maze outside the mansion, with the sinister building ultimately reached at the end of it. Rayman breaks in through the wooden obstruction and enters the proper first level. It is not referred to as Level 1 unlike its counterpart in The Spooky Raymansion 2, and it does not feature any secret. If ignoring the original instance of Level 1 in the second game, it is the only level in the series where Noseless Rayman does not appear at all, making it absolutely safe.
Level 1
The first normal level in the game, which shares the same visual theme as the maze in The Spooky Raymansion and as Level 2 in The Spooky Raymansion 2. Its music is also the same except highly edited. The first secret is a Rayman 1 game box.
Level 2
Exiting the first elevator, Rayman finds a seemingly very old wooden place. It shares the same visual theme as Level 3 in The Spooky Raymansion 2, and its music is the same except highly edited. The second secret is a box of Rayman 2 The Great Escape.
Level 3
Coming out of the elevator, Rayman finds himself into a dark cave with a huge pit in the middle, bridges linking the various parts of the cave. It shares a very similar visual theme to Level 4 in The Spooky Raymansion 2, and its music is the same except highly edited. The third secret is a game box of Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc.
Level 4
Leaving the elevator, Rayman enters an underground structure with a reception and many floors. It shares a very similar visual theme to the first section of Level 5 in The Spooky Raymansion 2, using a similar ambient music which is heavily edited. The fourth and final secret is a box of an unofficial Rayman 4, using a cover mockup by MarkProductions.
Level 5
The elevator crashes into a straight tunnel filled with many crates. It shares a similar visual theme with Level 4 in The Spooky Raymansion 2, and has a similar structure and chase to Level 4 in The Spooky Raymansion 3. Noseless Rayman reveals a giant new form of his during this level, chasing Rayman by crawling towards him after collapsing the elevator and breaking out of the wall behind.
Level 6
The final elevator leads Rayman to a court with stone brick walls and a sinister red sky. It shares a similar visual theme with both Level X in The Spooky Raymansion 2 and Level 5 in The Spooky Raymansion 3, even featuring a throwback to the boss battle in the latter.
There, Rayman finds his friend Globox chained up in the air and holding a shotgun in his hand, thus suggesting Noseless Rayman may have intended to capture Rayman all along for intruding his mansion. In the first and only dialogue of the Spooky Raymansion series, Globox thanks Polokus that Rayman is here, but warns him that the noseless monster is still out there. Globox lets go of the shotgun and tell Rayman to take it. Rayman mentions how he already defeated Noseless Rayman once in a nightmare, referring to the third game entirely taking place within a dream. Noseless Rayman taunts them angrily and loudly before finally appearing from the elevator. The ultimate fight against Noseless Rayman is very similar to the battle from the previous game, with the noseless creature running after Rayman and spinning to throw many tall flames all around the place. Noseless Rayman cannot charge any more but gets a new attack after the flame one involving jumping high in the air and pounding the ground to create a few flames. Once half of Noseless Rayman's health is depleted, he'll grow giant, albeit not as massive as he was during Level 5. This makes it harder for Rayman to dodge his attacks, but has the benefit of making it easier to hit Noseless Rayman. Once defeated, Noseless Rayman will disappear in a big explosion.
Rayman and Globox escape with the Tings in a bag, rich, and most likely freed from Noseless Rayman's terror once and for all.
Gameplay
Return to The Spooky Raymansion is a first-person horror maze game with a focus on collecting Tings, thus returning to a gameplay structure more similar to The Spooky Raymansion and The Spooky Raymansion 2. Rayman can still sprint, but cannot crawl anymore. He has also now has a limited endurance, making it possible to run for only a few seconds. Due to the game's new sense of verticality with separate floors, it is sometimes possible for Rayman to fall out of a ledge to get to a lower floor quicker.
The Ting Finder returns as the Ting Finder 9000, a device pointing towards the nearest Ting and providing even more features than before. It can indicate the distance separating Rayman from a Ting and tell him in which floor it is located. The Ting Finder now functions as a flashlight which can be turned off, and with a limited battery replenished by picking up Tings. If the battery runs out, Rayman will find himself in complete darkness, making it almost impossible to survive.
Every time Rayman finds 40 Tings, a random power-up will appear in a specific spot of a level. If Rayman collects it, he can activate it from the Ting Finder 9000. These power-ups grant Rayman different temporary effects:
- Unlimited stamina: Rayman's endurance will not deplete for a while allowing him to run endlessly.
- Flashlight upgrade: the flashlight will illuminate most of the area.
- Ting detector: displays the positions of every Ting through all obstructions.
- Noseless Rayman detector: displays the position of Noseless Rayman so Rayman can anticipate his moves. Available if the player failed too many times.
The most common goal is once again to collect all the Tings, which will open the elevator to the next level. However, Rayman must run away from Noseless Rayman or fight him in a few levels instead. Noseless Rayman appears after a while with the same warning as before once Rayman steps out of a level's entrance. In every level, Rayman must not get caught by Noseless Rayman who will eliminate him instantly with a jump scare, except in Level 6 where Rayman has a health bar and can survive a lot of damage. Getting caught will also result in a game over with random messages, some of them being clues and others being jokes or references.
In this game, Noseless Rayman can see Rayman in the dark and will rush towards him whenever he spots him. Rayman can outrun him by sprinting, but this is very dangerous due to the limited endurance, making it vital to escape Noseless Rayman's field of view as quickly as possible to slow him down. As before, he will move inevitably towards Rayman, making it important to constantly stay on the move. However, unlike Rayman, the noseless monster cannot jump off from a ledge, allowing Rayman to more easily distance himself from Noseless Rayman.
Yellow Lums do not return and are instead replaced by four new secrets taking the shape of games from the Rayman series. These are available in secret locations concealed behind a locked door which must be opened by finding and triggering three hidden switches. Those secret places also contain a shortcut to the regular areas.
Gallery
Trivia
- Noseless Rayman will only appear on the title screen once the Intro is completed. Strangely, Noseless Rayman won't disappear after the final level, unlike what his nightmarish counterpart did in The Spooky Raymansion 3, implying he may still be alive.
- The music playing on the title screen is the theme of the Tomb of the Ancients from Rayman 2 The Great Escape.
- The ambient music playing during the intro level is the "(Ambient) The Bog of Murk" track from Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc, returning from The Spooky Raymansion 2 but heavily altered.
- The ambient music playing during the introduction scene and Level 1 is the "(Ambient) Air Currents" track from Rayman 2 The Great Escape, returning from The Spooky Raymansion 2 but heavily altered.
- The ambient music playing during Level 2 is the "(Ambient) Razoff's Mansion" track from Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc, returning from The Spooky Raymansion 2 but heavily altered.
- The ambient music playing during Level 3 is the "'Ambient) Dark Caves" track from Rayman 2 The Great Escape, returning from The Spooky Raymansion 2 but heavily altered.
- The ambient music playing during Level 4 is the "(Ambient) The Spirit Realm" track from Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc, but heavily edited.
- The ambient music playing during Level 5 is "The Great Escape" track from Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc.
- The song playing during the final battle in Level 6 is "Undefeatable" from Sonic Frontiers. Here, it symbolizes Rayman overcoming his noseless counterpart many times, making it a routine for the limbless hero after all these adventures.