You know, maybe it's just me, but. I don't really consider Watcher to be "Vanilla". Irrevocably and undebatably canon? Yes, sure, for all the good and bad of that (I have complex and not terribly generous feelings about The Rot as this all encompassing all consuming thing with a singular sentience that seeks to assimilate all life. It is not a new or bold idea, especially if you're a science fiction fan.) but... that doesn't make it vanilla. Watcher was a slugcat who existed in concept and in Arena and basically nowhere else - rather unceremoniously removed and I never approved of that frankly. But, Watcher is not Vanilla. Their arena sprite and portrait was, but their abilities, their campaign, the ramifications it all has on the world? Gang the scuggywuggy came out eight years after initial release. That's just categorically DLC. Especially since it cost 15 dollars. Watcher does not come with the base game! Simple as. Thus Watcher is not Vanilla. This does not prevent Watcher from being my fourth favorite slugcat. I adore Watcher. I cried during the campaign, and thinking about what they went through. Watcher is deeply dear and personal to me and as an autistic person I relate to the struggles Watcher deals with in ways I would need a seperate post to describe. But... not Vanilla. I know where the idea comes from. Comes from Watchy being cut from the game come Downpour, and the original devs coming back for Watcher. Which I'll be real, is not necessarily an indicator of quality both in game and world design nor as many Watcher players know, testing. (I love that you can break coralbug casings with Snail pops now... But that only came as a result of people desperately wanting a solution to the coralbug problem, and we DO know Watcher was pushed out the door a bit early. What it does to the world is fucking amazing. I'm not big on the rot or its use - I'm open to what they're gonna' do with it and was very shocked to see the things they did with it, but I've seen The Borg, I've seen The Flood, and while I am willing to believe The Rot is not just another all-assimilating-hivemind-with-a-core, I have thus far been presented with that, at least on the surface so it's hard to treat it that way. But I love Ancient Urban. I love the spread out, disconnected, vast world. I love everything they did beyond The Rot. The Ripple is fucking amazing for its implications and really neat-ass gameplay. But none of this is Vanilla. It simply must be said.
