Rayman 4 (2022 video game)

Rayman 4 is an open-world action game developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft. It is the sixth main title in the Rayman series and the direct sequel to the 2003 video game Rayman 3. The game was released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in July 2022. Xbox Series X and Xbox One versions were released in September 2022. A Nintendo Switch version was released in April 2023, and the PC version, on August 2023.

The game was announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2021 set to release in September 2021, however, it was delayed to July 2022 due to the game not being finished in the original release.

While the game being highly antecipated by fans worldwide, The game broke various records and became the fastest-selling game on the video game industry's history, earning $850 million in its release and nearly $2 billion in its first week of release''. Rayman 4'' received critical acclaim with critics praising the plot, script, controls, open-world, soundtrack, the return of 3D graphics, and gameplay. Considered one of the best video games ever made, it won various accolades including Game of the Year, Rayman 4 is currently the best-selling video game of all time with an estimated amount of over 250 million copies sold all around the world and with a worldwide revenue of $7 billion.

Rayman 4 also features characters from Disney's animated show Star vs. the Forces of Evil, with Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz being two of the four playable characters.

Unlike any other Rayman game, this is the first Rayman game to be open-world and to receive a Teen rating for Blood, Violence, Language and Comic Mischief.

Cast

 * Kevin Andrew Rivera - Rayman
 * Stephan Watson - Globox
 * Eileen Montgomery - Star Butterfly
 * Adam McArthur - Marco Diaz
 * Michael C. Hall - Toffee
 * Ken Starcevic - André
 * Ashley Johnson - Molly Renner
 * Billy West - Murphy

Gameplay
Rayman 4 's gameplay is completely different from the other Rayman games, The game is played in a third-person perspective, players can progress through the story and unlock more gameplay content playing missions. The player can also freeroam the massive open-world map of Mewni California which can be fully explored after the game's first chapter. Players can jump, run, swim, or use vehicles such as cars, unicorns motorcycles, planes and boats to navigate through its open-world map, Players can also use melee attacks, firearms, weapons, swords, special attacks, and explosives to fight enemies, If the player gets caught by an enemy, the enemies will go after the player with an "enemy" meter in the HUD display. Triangles will be displayed with the player is being chased by the "New Forces of Evil", diamonds for robot gangsters, and hexagons for "mewmonists".

Each character has a "final attack" to finalize the following enemy whom the player is attacking, Rayman has the "Super-Fist" final attack, Star has the "Mewberty" final attack, Marco has the "Advanced Karate" final attack, and Globox has the "Mega-Slap" final attack.

Each character also has a different smartphone for contacting friends, and accesing an in-game Internet. Players can purchase cars, upgrade weapons and tune vehicles. Players also have the opportunity to access places such as cinemas, stores, car dealerships.

Synopsis
Toffee returns to destroy Glade of Dreams, Rayman and Globox must go to Mewni California to unite with Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz to go on an dangerous mission to find the item that can destroy Toffee, but also have to take on new and old enemies.

Release
Rayman 4 was released worldwide in July 18, 2022 for the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5, then September 5 for Xbox Series X and the Xbox One, then April 8, 2023 for the Nintendo Switch, and in August 3 for the PC.

The customers who pre-ordered the game received a free acess to the "Extended Version" DLC, a downloadable content that adds more missions and develops more story for the game.

Development
Development of Rayman 4 began in May 20, 2019, one day after the finale of Star vs the Forces of Evil aired on television, Ubisoft Quebec developed the game with a team of over 1,150 people, with the game being developed with Unreal Engine 5.

Development of the game finished in June 2022, with the game taking over three years to make.

Reception
Rayman 4 was widely praised by critics and fans, earning a 96 rating on Metacritic for the PS5 & PS4 version, a 95 to the Switch version, a 94 to the XONE and Series X version, and a 98 for the PC version.

Trivia

 * Rayman 4 takes five years after the events of Rayman 3 and the fourth season of Star vs The Forces of Evil.
 * Rayman 4 is the best-rated Rayman game.