I went into Heavy Rain expecting a clunky old PS3-era game, and yeah… it definitely shows its age. But after a few hours, I completely stopped caring.

This isn’t a game you “win.” It’s a game you survive.

From the first scene with Ethan just living a normal suburban life, I didn’t think much of it. Then the mall scene happened, and I actually felt that slow, sinking dread in my stomach. The game has this way of making simple moments tense. Even small choices feel heavy because you know someone could die later because of it.

The controls are weird at first. Walking feels like steering a tank. And the QTEs? You will fail some. I did. A lot. But that’s kind of the point. When you mess up during a fight or panic during a chase, the story doesn’t reload — it adapts. I lost a character in a scene I thought I could handle easily, and I just sat there staring at the screen like, “Well… that’s on me.”

The Origami Killer storyline hooked me harder than I expected. I kept second-guessing everyone. Every character felt suspicious at some point. The trials Ethan goes through are genuinely uncomfortable, especially the more self-destructive ones. I found myself hesitating before making certain choices, which almost never happens to me in games.

Madison’s investigative sections were some of my favorites, especially the more intense sequences where everything can spiral quickly. And playing as different perspectives kept things fresh instead of feeling repetitive.

Is the voice acting perfect? Not really. Some lines are awkward. The animations can be stiff. But when the music swells and the rain is pouring down and you’re trying to make a split-second decision that could ruin everything… it works.

Heavy Rain is messy, dramatic, and sometimes unintentionally funny. But it’s also bold in a way most modern games aren’t. It commits to player choice actually meaning something, even when it hurts.

I didn’t get the “best” ending. And honestly, I don’t think I deserved it.

Would I replay it? Absolutely.

I don't know what's worse, the fixed camera system that was dated even when this game was new, or the controls which are horrendously implemented and don't work half the time. The game has a great mood to it, but it's just so frustrating to play that I wish I hadn't bothered. I'm finishing this game out of stubbornness, not because I'm enjoying myself.

I played this back on PS3 waaaay back when it came out, and remember it pretty fondly, so I wanted to revisit this again to see if it holds up. Does it? Haha, hell no!

Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun with this game. This is like, The Room of video games. Maybe not quite as extreme, but this game fails at so many aspects when it comes to building a compelling narrative. I think the number one thing is that the acting is just plain awful. Hilarious? Yes, of course. But not convincing in the slightest. It's absolutely crazy how they have multiple characters in the game pronouncing origami differently. You know, half of the serial killer's name? So many line deliveries are just terrible.

The controls are absolutely terrible on PC, too. I nearly gave up on this game after less than half an hour because the game was not accepting inputs from my controller. I looked it up, and this is a common problem, even all these years later. I later tried mouse and keyboard controls, and they worked, for the most part. Some inputs translated poorly to a mouse, some of the slow circular ones in particular were awful. I must have spent an hour redoing the baby chapter alone to get the result I wanted. It's also worth mentioning here that just walking around with a mouse and keyboard was a nightmare at times. Because the camera angles will change as you walk around, it's extremely easy for input something wrong, and your character will turn the wrong way and bump into something. There was a chapter involving fire that reeeeeally pissed me off.

I do think this game's control scheme does have potential. Pressing buttons to perform some of these actions were surprisingly immersive. If the other David Cage games on PC fix these controls, I anticipate having a better time with them. When they DID work, they were pretty enjoyable to use. I just wish they worked all the time.

Overall, I'd compare this game to a bad movie you can't help but love. Does it have plot issues? Yes. Is that acting awful? Yup. Is it hilarious? Yeah, but not on purpose. If that's enough for you, then picking it up when it's on a deep discount wouldn't hurt. If you've come here looking for quality though, you'll have to keep looking, because you won't find it here.