Rayman 4: Darkness Returns

Rayman 4: Darkness Returns (also known as Rayman 4) is a 2025 3D platform game published by Ubisoft and developed by their Montpellier & Milan subsidiaries. It is the sixth mainline title in the Rayman series and is a direct sequel to Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc (although plot-wise, it happened after Origins and Legends). The game was released for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows (through Steam and Mac) and Nintendo Switch. The game's story follows Rayman (on a path of redemption) and his friends as they travel through the Glade of Dreams and into the Nightmare Veil to stop the returning Mr. Dark and the new Seven Deadly Sins from taking over the Glade of Dreams and infecting their friends.

Rayman 4 was announced in E3 2024 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X & S and PC, and was planned for release during Holiday 2024. However, the game was delayed to March 2025 in order to finish the game on time, in addition, it was also made to run on last generation consoles including the Nintendo Switch to strengthen sales and added a multiplayer mode like in Rayman Arena: Ultimate Multiplayer, which was released five months after Rayman 2: The Greater Escape in 2023. Because of this, this game is marketed with the 30th anniversary of Rayman branding, which was used for merchandise.

Rayman 4 received critical acclaim upon release. Critics praised the game's story/humor, visuals, level design, controls, soundtrack, overall gameplay and the large amount of content, with some calling it one of the best platforming video games ever made with some criticism aimed at the multiplayer and open-world mechanics. Additionally, the game was nominated for multiple awards, and despite initial slow sales, sold nearly 4 million copies.

Plot
See also: Characters of Rayman

Following their respective defeats from Rayman, Mr. Dark (in the original 1995 game) and The Magician (in Origins and Legends) tries to escape from the Nightmare Veil (a banishment area for Nightmares and villains). The latter failed once again, but accidentally opened a portal to another part of the Veil, which houses the Seven Deadly Sins and the Darklings, an evil race of Nightmares, who vow to spread despair and chaos everywhere in the Glade of Dreams. They make a deal to free themselves from the Nightmare Veil by using the power of the Magician and seven Deadly Sins, but the Magician unfortunately failed once again, leading to Mr. Dark thinking of another plan.

Meanwhile, Rayman has longed to live the glory days as a hero once again, but has been resting and hasn't done something greater, when suddenly, a group of Hoodlums and a Xowar have been spotted in the plains by Ly the Fairy (who hasn't talked to Rayman in a very long time, thus explaining her long absence throughout the series, outside of cameos). Rayman defeats them easily, but sees that a dark force up in the mountains, Ly warns him that it's a powerful source which only the Fairies can stop and he cannot stop them by himself. Rayman disobeys her orders and goes to the Mountains, finding a portal to the Nightmare Veil and accidentally letting out Mr. Dark, The Magician, Darklings and seven Deadly Sins into the Glade of Dreams after being tricked to let them free. After a short battle between the seven Deadly Sins and Mr. Dark, Rayman gets defeated and loses a majority of his powers.

He is then woken up by his friends Murfy, Globox and Barbara who tell them that people all around the Glade have been captured by the Darklings, coming clean and telling them that he caused them to escape. While Globox forgives him, Murfy (more so jokingly) and Barbara are more critical of him doing this. Despite this, Ly warns them that Polokus and the Nymphs are in danger from Mr. Dark's army in the Citadel of Wonders (in the Heart of the World). They make it to the Citadel where the Darklings have already destroyed the entire Citadel, captured the Great Protoon, Nymphs, Fairies & Teensies there, and having infected Polokus in a dark energy which is supposedly incurable, giving Rayman the Elemental Masks and a Silver Lum to aid him on his journey, and to also save the Nymphs across the Glade to open the Nightmare Veil. Rayman apologies for unleashing the Darklings, but Polokus forgives him, saying that everyone makes mistakes and should always rectify it no matter what and Rayman will do so no matter the sacrifice. Polokus tells the heroes goodbye and turns into a giant Nightmarish monster shortly right after, unbeknownst to them.

The group explore the Glade of Dreams to find all seven Fairies while also encountering the seven Deadly Sins who are guarding the Fairies. At the start of their journey, they meet Clark the Giant who has once again been poisoned by the Darkling energy which turns them evil, just like Polokus. Rayman vows to find a cure for the infection, but told by his friends is incurable (even by Murfy who is reading the Dreampedia on his phone for anything and says there's nothing), being determined to save Clark and Polokus after having caused the mess.

The group first save Ly the Fairy from Wrath, who heard of the state both Clark and Polokus are in, and tells them that there is a cure, but is from her younger cousin, Tily the Fairy, who hasn't been heard from in quite a while after the events of Rayman Arena, as her last citing was in the deeper parts of the forest where supposedly the Robot Pirates have resided. Rayman and Ly go there and find her with the help of Sssam the Snake, who tells them that she's been captured by the Pirates. They make it into the largest pirate ship where Tily is being held captive, saving her after a run-in with Admiral Razorbeard. Tily (who is now a teenager) gives Rayman a Silver Lum that allow him and others to cure anyone under the dark influence through the use of energy orbs similar to his magic fist in the original version of Rayman 2. The two of them visit where both Clark and Polokus were in and battle them, using the orbs to cure two of them, who thanks Rayman, leading them to go on the journey to cure the infected, defeat the now remaining six Deadly Sins and save the Nymphs and Teensies scattered across the Glade of Dreams. During their journey, Rayman and Ly rekindle their relationship after left somewhat ambiguous at the start of the game, with the latter, Murfy and Barbara forgiving him for his actions. After the group have beaten at least three of the Deadly Sins, The Magician warns Mr. Dark that Rayman will foil his plans once again like the last time, but Mr. Dark assures the Magician that everything is going to plan, with the latter telling him he didn't turn to the dark side and got bullied for his name for no reason, even having been turned into a Teensie before the events of Rayman Origins. Mr. Dark laughs and says he has another idea in mind, creating darker versions of Rayman, Globox and Barbara (latter two first debuted in Rayman Arena: Ultimate Multiplayer as alternate skins).

When the player has saved Betilla (which can be any time the player chooses), she will tell them the story of Mr. Dark, who was originally chosen to be the hero of the Glade of Dreams after the first Nightmares were created. Mr. Dark (or Mr. Light was his previous name) was good at protecting the Glade from the Nightmares, but his downfall began when the Magician told him that the Nymphs were thinking of dismissing his duties after creating the Nightmare Veil, which would deal with the Nightmares. Mr. Light, in disarray, tells them in the Fairy Council (with a younger Ly the Fairy present) that this is all he has, Betilla telling him that he will have to let that go at some point and that was sooner than later. Mr. Light, with the reluctance of the Magician, decides to capture Polokus and make him have bad dreams so he can become a hero once again, thus creating Jano and causing the infamous "First Bad Dream" incident in process, but the Nymphs quickly became aware of this and stopped him, banishing him from the Glade. From that day forward, Mr. Dark plotted his revenge years after Rayman was found by fishermen as a baby in the valley's beach after he was created by the Nymphs, leading to the events of Rayman 1 where he steals the Great Protoon (as explained in the DLC campaign of Rayman 2: The Greater Escape).

After saving all the Nymphs and defeated all the Seven Deadly Sins, six of them opened the portal to the Nightmare Veil and wished the group good luck as they venture into Mr. Dark's domain. They find out that they need four keys to open the doors to Mr. Dark's Castle, which are guarded by the Dark versions of the characters and the Magician. After beating them, they open the door to Mr. Dark's Castle and find him sitting on his throne, leading to a battle against Rayman and Mr. Dark for one last time.

After a gruelling battle, Mr Dark loses and Rayman wins, the group return to see that a celebration in their name was being created as a surprise, but unbeknownst to them, Mr. Dark wasn’t fully defeated and decides to use the Great Protoon and the souls of the Seven Deadly Sins in order to complete his plan, to the warning of the Magician telling him that with that amount of power, it'll cause dangerous ramifications to not only the Glade, but the entire Nightmare Veil. Mr. Dark tells him that that's what he exactly wanted to do, before the Magician can further warn him, Mr. Dark attacks him as the Magician flees to the Glade.

While resting, the group find the Magician who warns them that Mr. Dark has gone crazy and he wants to join them. Barbara and Globox tries to start another fight with him, before Rayman tells the two that in the worst of situations they need to team up with the worst of people. Before they can do anything, the sky turned purple, Darklings appeared everywhere and the ground started to rumble and break. The group realised that Mr. Dark has decided to merge the Glade and Veil so he can rule both realms at once.

Before it can get any worse, Rayman and Globox (while riding Bzzit) head to the centre of the Glade of Dreams to stop Mr. Dark seemingly once and for all. Rayman decides to go only and fight a giant version of Mr. Dark after fully absorbing the power of the Great Protoon, dubbed Ultimate Darkness. After the battle while using the power of the Elemental Masks and Nymphs, Rayman won and took back the Great Protoon, but sees Mr. Dark has returned to normal and is hanging on the edge of the platform. Rayman saved him when he's about to fall to his doom. Mr. Dark tries to fight him for the last time, but is obviously very weak, Rayman telling him it's over and that he should stop before it gets any worse. Mr. Dark, before long, understands and quits fighting, shaking his former arch-nemesis' hand, who assured him that it will take a while for everyone to forgive him, but it's worth a start.

This is disrupted when merging both the Glade and Veil is breaking the entire fabric of time and space, leading to a giant black hole forming. Rayman realises that he needs to use the power of the Great Protoon in order to stop the Glade and Veil to become one. This will unfortunately cost the life of the person who will absorb the power of the Protoon. Rayman initially wanted to sacrifice himself for the greater good, but Mr. Dark decides to use the power himself to make up for his actions and let himself live a good life as Rayman has done enough, who accepted this as, saying goodbye to Mr. Dark as he says while removing his hat:

"Please, call me Mister Light!"

Globox, his family, Bzzit, Barbara, Murfy, Ly the Fairy, Tily, Clark, Polokus, The Magician and the Teensies all watch as they accept their unknown fate as the black hole sucks everything in, that is when the hole mysteriously disappears as everything is reverted back to normal as they see Rayman falling down to the ground. The group rush towards him, congratulating him on saving the Glade of Dreams once again, but he's trying to find Mr. Dark, only finding a Electoon and his hat. Rayman looks sad as the others look confused, while Ly the Fairy walks towards Rayman and hugs him.

Before long, a party ensues as Globox celebrates his wife, Uglette, having an another birth of a child and the rest of the group (including The Magician, who was turned back to his original appearance from the 1995 game and keeping a black coat as the cape) were celebrating and partying in the Citadel of Wonders, except Rayman, who is mourning the death of Mr. Dark, looking at his hat outdoors at his hut in Backwater Village. Ly finds him and says that he couldn't do anything else that it was Mr. Dark's wish to be remembered fondly despite his actions. Rayman accepts the passing of his old arch-enemy, knowing that there was nothing else he could do in that situation, throwing his hat across to the wind. Ly says that he should come back to the party, as Rayman said the party is already here, kissing Ly the Fairy with the fireworks booming, ending the game.

Gameplay
Rayman 4: Darkness Returns is a platform game in which the player primarily controls the series' titular character/hero, Rayman, on a journey of redemption to save the Glade of Dreams from the evil Mr. Dark, his arch-enemy back from the very first game released in 1995. The game's levels are placed throughout 3 different interconnected hub worlds; The Valley of Fantasy, The Citadel of Wonders and the Nightmare Veil. Apart from certain parts in the story, players are free to tackle any level in any order, similar to a Mega Man game.

Players travel through each level, fighting enemies/Darklings, collecting Lums (more akin to Rayman Origins & Legends) and rescuing imprisoned Teensies (like in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc). At the end of each level, the player fights one of the Seven Deadly Sins and save a Nymph, which will give the player a Silver Lum, which will allow them to grow a new branch on the skill tree. Certain segments also see players riding a Mosquito or any other vehicle, where players can shoot enemies or inhale and fire them. Completing any given level will unlock a Time Trial, in which the player must complete any segment of level as quickly as possible, once beaten players can unlock another Time Trial variant, Invaded, returning from Rayman Legends, which have enemies and gimmicks from other levels.

Rayman has all of his usual powers for almost the entire game. He can sprint for a short amount of time, use his helicopter hair to glide in the air, wall-jump or wall-run on certain areas, strafe, roll and shoot his telescopic fist, which he is able to fully charge it to induce more damage, curve his shot, perform a spinning attack that knocks down enemies when turning around and charging up an attack while running (doing this pose when suddenly turning and not attacking), lock-on to enemies and quickly dodge their attacks or lunge towards them to get closer to them for combos. There's also finishers which allow Rayman to beat the enemy in a short mini-game (or quick time event; one of them has him attacking them by grinding while still revving up the spinning fist), but has to come up close to them and is a timed event. If the player doesn't initiate the mini-game in time or fails them, the finisher will not be available. Rayman can also grind on, hang off and hop across rails, as well as slide, use his hand to slam onto the floor and shoot/charge energy orbs with the magic fist after rescuing Tily in the story mode.

Lums, which first appeared in the original version of Rayman 2: The Great Escape, are once again collectible items in the game. However, the Lums in Rayman 4 are somewhat different. They don't appear in a specific amount the player has to collect (like in Rayman 2, where the player had to collect 50 in almost every level), but rather in different amount in every single level. By collecting a certain amount, Murfy ranks if you collected enough of them ranking from Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze at the end of each level. The player can obtain them by either find them floating around, defeating enemies, finding them inside bulb-o-lums or bushes, or by collecting Skull Coins. Lums are also akin to the point system in Rayman 3, where players can gain Lums through fighting enemies by using unique combos or not getting hit for a short amount of time. The game denotes this using a "Groovy!" Counter, which shows a system of how well the player is doing by using words such as:

"Groovy! Awesome! Outstanding! Stylish! Smooth! Great! Good! Solid! Substandard! Meh!", which are said by Murfy, depending on what the word is, the Lums will be gained from combat will have a multiplier applied on. Lums can be used to upgrade character's skills on the skill tree which can give players new abilities and upgrade pre-existing ones. Along with Lums, players can also collect Silver Lums, which unlock new branches in the skill tree when saving Nymphs, Skill Coins which can be used as a currency in shops to buy skins & power-ups. Teensies can give players Skill Coins, a health increase or a large amount of Lums, and can also open smaller and harder levels or single-player/multiplayer mini-games in the Citadel of Wonders, and Darkverse stages which warp players to the Nightmare Veil, giving them a short 2D pixel-art challenge similar to the original Rayman game and 2D sections from Super Mario Odyssey. Once players have completed a Darkverse segment, they collect a Dark Crystal which can be used to trade to the returning Jano after beating his optional boss, for concept art, music tracks and bestiary throughout the series.

In the three open hub worlds, players can explore the world and find the collectibles in the game along with fighting enemies, talk to NPCs, engage in side missions set from NPCs, battle enemies in the open world, play as other characters freely or go into levels (which are broken up in segments like Rayman 3 where they save in-between, however unlike Rayman 3, you can visit each segment individually and the game doesn't stop in between, but is one seamless experience) either main levels, side-levels being only one segment and mini-games.

A new addition to the game is the Elemental Masks from Rayman 2: The Greater Escape, Rayman can put them on in certain segments and use their powers in both combat and platforming. However, they have a meter which will be depleted once he uses them and will only come back once shortly. Unlike the remake, Rayman won't just wear the mask, but his entire attire will change. Fire allows the player to burn items and throw fireballs towards enemies, leading them to burn to a crisp faster than using fist-to-fist combat and can also him to air-dash and charge his sprint to become into a fast fireball for a short time. Water allows the player to breath underwater for longer and throw bubbles to enemies which will trap them. It also allows Rayman to perform the Rain Dance, which will grow plants and control the weather. Air will make a mini-tornado that shrinks down enemies and special platforms to access them, like the Vortex power-up from Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. Rayman can also Spin Jump, which makes him invincible and glide a lot slower for a bit, but will completely deplete the meter. Earth will allow the player to carry heavy objects faster and can bring giant rocks from the ground to throw them at targets. Ice allows the player to freeze enemies and water, which makes Rayman capable of walking on them. Lightning allows the player to use electrical powers and a lightning grapple hook which will stun enemies when grabbing them, similarly to the Lockjaw power-up from Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc and Cole MacGrath from the inFamous games.

Rayman 4 also introduces the ability to control other characters in certain segments in the levels or the open world, such as Globox who is more focused on platforming, can inflate inside of hovering, use his tongue to stick on certain objects, stay underwater without drowning, drink Lum Juice to fly or to burp/fart bubbles out to trap enemies for platforming or combat, and can get his kids (who are spread across any segment he's present in) to do tasks for him such as fight enemies, form different structures, get items and more while Globox can throw them around as a projectile attack. However, Globox is very vulnerable to enemies and can die in fewer hits than most playable characters, in-turn while enemies are nearby, Globox will run significantly faster with a scared face.

Barbara, who is more focused on hack-n-slash combat, uses her Axe (which retains the same framework for Rayman's combat) for slashing and throwing as a boomerang which the player can control, wings of her helmet to hover and has a variety of combos using light, ranged and heavy attacks similar to God of War. Additionally, players can find different weapons (such as a Spear, Bow, Ball and Chain, Sword and Shovel) Barbara can use and upgrade them.

Ly the Fairy, who is more based on Rayman 2's gameplay, involving on slower puzzle segments along with third-person shooter gameplay similar to the Ratchet & Clank series, using different energy orbs such as normal, fast (with a higher frequency, but lower damage), big (lower frequency, but higher damage) and elemental for combat. She is also very acrobatic, fast thanks to her feline-like traits and can fly freely for a short amount of time. The final playable character is Murfy, who has on-rails shooting segments similar to Nintendo's Star Fox series.

Once the final boss is beaten, players can engage in the Great Electoon Quest set by The Magician, which has players finding all 100 Electoons throughout each hub world or stage. Once players have finished the Great Electoon Quest, they can access to Rayland if they have 100% of each stages.

Playable

 * Rayman (David Gasman)
 * Globox (John Leguizamo)
 * Barbara (Nika Futterman)
 * Ly the Fairy (Grey DeLisle)
 * Murfy (Billy West)
 * Clara the Witch (DLC; Jennifer Hale)

Supporting

 * The Grand Minimus (Dee Bradley Baker)
 * Teensies (Rob Paulsen, Tom Kenny, Dee Bradley Baker)
 * Polokus (Mark Hamill)
 * Clark the Giant (John DiMaggio)
 * Tily the Fairy (Hynden Walch)
 * Sssam the Snake (Tom Kenny)
 * Jano (Ken Starcevic; after his optional boss fight)
 * The Magician (Rob Paulsen)

Nymphs

 * Betilla the Fairy
 * Edith Up
 * Holly Luya
 * Annetta Fish
 * Helena Handbasket
 * Volly Doodle (Big Mama)
 * Pio Letta (Scrapped Nymph)

Villains

 * Mr. Dark (Matt Berry)
 * The Magician (Rob Paulsen; originally)
 * Jano (Ken Starcevic; originally)
 * Admiral Razorbeard (Ken Starcevic)
 * Henchman 1000 (David Kaye)
 * Spyglass Pirate (Scott Menville)
 * Razorwife (Tress MacNeille)
 * Dark Rayman (David Gasman)
 * Dark Globox (John Leguizamo)
 * Dark Barbara (Nika Futterman)

Seven Deadly Sins

 * Wrath (Curtis Armstrong)
 * Sloth (Greg Cipes)
 * Gluttony (Eric Edelstein)
 * Greed (Charles Martinet)
 * Envy (Kari Wahlgren)
 * Pride (Roger Craig Smith)
 * Lust (Kevin Michael Richardson)

Levels
There are 16 stages throughout each of the 3 hub worlds. There are also 20 Darkverse stages and around 20 extra one segment stages based on those from Rayman's past.

Main Stages

 * Backwater Village: A remote village on an island with a mountain where Rayman now resides alone.
 * The Dream Forest: A green forest area built on an ancient temple which is where Ly the Fairy lives in, now taken over by Wrath.
 * Spooky Shipyard: Where the small remaining Robo-Pirates have resorted to, in a remote Swap Jungle area where Tily and her pet, Sssam the Snake, live in.
 * The Ultimate Darkness: The final main level of the game featuring only one segment apart from the boss, revealing around players platforming through different levels in a purple vortex to reach Mr. Dark.
 * Rayland: A level that is unlocked once players have 100% each level and is based on Rayman Land from the cancelled Rayman 4. An amusement/theme park made in Rayman's honour with cameos and references throughout the entire series, with one final platforming challenge that will test players' skills (like Chambers o' Fun & Horror in Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil).

Valley of Fantasy

 * The World Tree: Where Betilla is being kept by Lust, in a giant tree that reaches to space with multiple ecosystems in which Rayman has to scale up.
 * Candy City: Where Edith Up is being kept by Gluttony, in a New York/Chicago-esque city made of different foods, with each section of the city being made from a different type of food such as candies, desserts, fast food, Italian/Indian food and more.
 * Imagine Nation: Where Holly Luya is being kept by Envy, in a world reminiscent of Band Land, Picture City and Zoorigami/World of Toys from the cancelled version of Rayman 4.

Citadel of Wonders

 * Kingdom of Sand: Where Annetta Fish is being kept by Greed, in a malnourished medieval-esque kingdom on a beach similar to a few African countries with turtles and reptiles living there, that are frequently attacked by Rabbid Pirates. Based on the Fortress of Sand from the cancelled Rayman 4.
 * Organic Isle: Where Volly Doodle is being kept by Pride, in a breathing living monster that is eating and about to die. Players must platform through caverns and around the entire body through blood veins, the heart, the stomach and more, which is an enormous network of underground caverns and tunnels, comprised entirely of organic material. Living tissue lines the cavern walls and fleshy protrusions dangle from the cave roofs. Rayman must also overcome creatures of mucus, while organic platforms help him to cross seas of stomach acids.
 * The Frozen Sky Desert: Where Helena Handbasket is being kept by Sloth, in a completely frozen over desert in the skies with a frozen over Wild Western-like town and ancient pyramids.

The Nightmare Veil

 * The Castle of Mr Dark: Where Mr. Dark's Lair & Citadel is, and only focuses on pure platforming without any combat.
 * The Phantom Carnival: A carnival with 2 segments (based on platforming and combat), where players platform through an entire circus and go through a gauntlet of each boss and enemy type before facing the Magician.
 * The Dark Forest: A dark, gloomy forest area with many mutant monsters/Teensies and is guarded by Dark Rayman.
 * Transylvania Village: A dark village that houses many Halloween monsters and is guarded by Dark Globox.
 * The Temporal Palace: A giant palace that contains a labyrinth of colossal grandfather clocks, while cogs and cuckoo clocks adorn the cavernous walls. An area guarded by Dark Barbara.

Darkverse

 * Dream Forest
 * Band Land
 * Picture City
 * Blue Mountains
 * Cave of Skops
 * Candy Chateau
 * The Precipise
 * The Cave of Bad Dreams
 * The Desert of the Knaaren
 * Hoodlum Headquarters
 * Desert of Dijiridoos
 * Gourmand Land
 * The Sea of Serendipity
 * Land of the Livid Dead
 * Teensies In Trouble
 * Toad Story
 * Fiesta de los Muertos
 * 20,000 Lums Under the Sea
 * Olympus Maximus
 * Living Dead Party

Extra Stages

 * The Precipise
 * Marsh of Awakening
 * The Cave of Bad Dreams
 * The Iron Mountains
 * The Bog of Murk
 * The Desert of the Knareen
 * Desert of Dijiridoos
 * Gourmand Land
 * The Sea of Serendipity
 * Land of the Livid Dead
 * Teensies In Trouble
 * Toad Story
 * Fiesta de los Muertos
 * 20,000 Lums Under the Sea
 * Olympus Maximus
 * Living Dead Party

Multiplayer
An local online multiplayer mode was added to Rayman 4. It is an expanded and refined version of Rayman Arena: Ultimate Multiplayer, but allows the player to customise and create their own characters based on species of the Rayman series, all returning stages from the previous game will return along with new stages based on this game.

Conception & Design
Rayman 4 started development after the Rayman 2 remake was nearing completion and was directed by Davide Soliani, whose goal was for this installment to be his best work. He aimed to create a game that both allowed newcomers and returning players to have fun in terms of interesting world and level design, with also a more complex combat system by providing various difficulties and challenges while also acting as a send-off to the Rayman series. The development team also intended for the game to be a direct continuation and finale for the original trilogy in both narrative and gameplay.

The development team also wanted to take elements from the cancelled version of Rayman 4, more specifically the levels, having more of an art direction based on the UbiArt games but in 3D, similar to some advertisements for Rayman Legends. The team's previous experience with the Rayman 2 remake allowed them to settle on a direction defined by clear shapes, soft gradients and an off-kilter quality that gave the remake a whimsical and playful feel; the team then took this core direction and amplified it for Rayman 4 to create a more wild and chaotic aesthetic that better reflected the series' irreverent yet fantastical tone. The team's statement for the setting was to create a colorful and dangerous universe unrestricted by the hardware limitations of the original games. For the characters, they are mostly based on their incarnations from Rayman Legends and Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (Rayman keeping his design from Rayman 2: The Greater Escape with slight adjustments and Barbara having her viking attire with goggles & mechanical wings on her helmet and a shovel alongside an axe resting in the back from Adventures, for example), with Mr. Dark in particular based on his Rayman Mini design with some elements from his original appearance in the 1995 game. Other characters such as Ly the Fairy, Tily, Nymphs and Polokus (known as the Bubble Dreamer in Origins & Legends) are slightly redesigned from the Rayman 2 remake, either to fully transition them into this new style or in the case of Tily (albeit as a teenager in this game) and the Nymphs, make them more unique and transition them to 3D.

Writing
The plot was written by David Neiss, who returns from Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc and a newcomer, Tim Schafer (founder of Double Fine Productions and known for Lucasfilm Games/LucasArts titles like Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island and many others; Psychonauts was influenced by Rayman 2: The Great Escape, with it and Beyond Good & Evil having been streamed by Double Fine's developers alongside Ancel a few years earlier). Both wanted to create a more cohesive world and a perfect balance between the comedic humour from Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc and the more dire, serious tone from Rayman 2: The Great Escape, while also writing a perfect finale to the series, but can still be open-ended if Ubisoft wanted the series to continue. The game's main theme is redemption and how everyone makes mistakes and should be at least have the chance to be forgiven. The team also used Mr. Dark as the main villain, due to wanting to have a villain that both old fans can recognize and new fans can be intimidated by, due to his revamped nature.

Music
Rayman 4's score was primarily composed by Gareth Coker, who previously worked on Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. His aim was to create a soundtrack that was both atmospheric in the open world parts and comprised of mostly orchestral pieces and other genres in the linear stages. The soundtrack album will feature 250 tracks, spanning 6 hours and 37 minutes, making it the longest soundtrack in the series.

Release and Marketing
The game was teased at the end of Rayman Arena: Ultimate Multiplayer after the player beats the main campaign with a short post-credit scene showing the Nightmare Veil and Seven Deadly Sins. Davide Soliani confirmed on Twitter that Rayman 4 was greenlit into production in 2020, due to the success of Rayman 2: The Greater Escape and the Rayman DLC in Sparks of Hope. The game took four years to make and marked the first time in over a decade that a new original mainline Rayman title was released since Legends and marked nearly two decades that a 3D entry was made since Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc.

The game was officially announced in E3 2024 with a full trailer and a demo present in the event. The trailer showed off a few of the environments, the story, the multiple playable characters and the combat with a Holiday 2024 release date for PlayStation 5 (even utilizing DualSense's capabilities like in the Rayman 2 remake), Xbox Series X & S and PC. The demo allowed players to play three levels of the game; The Prologue, The Assault of the Citadel of Wonders and Finding Tily, both of these garnered a very positive reception among players and fans who praised the visuals in particular.

Rayman 4 was sold in physical and digital versions, both offering in-game items as pre-order bonuses, as well as a Digital Deluxe edition which includes additional items and a mini digital soundtrack. The game is set to receive three downloadable content expansions via a season pass, including one featuring Mr. Dark as a playable character. These three expansions include the Citadel of Horrors (an Boss Rush set in the Nightmare Veil and includes extra missions), a post-game adventure featuring several new levels and returning character from a educational PC game Rayman Dictées, Clara the Witch in a mysterious jungle alongside Raygirl (who returns from the Rayman 2 remake's DLC expansion which retold the first game's events after having been cut alongside it's SNES prototype) and an alternate retelling of the game's events where players take control of the villains, including Mr. Dark, The Magician and the Seven Deadly Sins, playing through stages in their perspective before Rayman's gang showed up (much like Cortex's segments in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time and Arkham Asylum stages in LEGO Batman: The Video Game).

It was originally set to be released in the Holiday of 2024. However, in October, it was reported to be delayed to the first quarter of 2025. In December, a demo of the game was released on the digital stores, including PlayStation 4 and Xbox One stores. The official release date was revealed to be March 2025, with Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ports coming later in the year (with them being one of the last games developed for the latter two consoles).

Some retailers sold copies of Rayman 4 before the street date, and the Switch version was uploaded online. The director, Davide Soliani said he was saddened by the leaks and urged players to not spoil the game.

The game serves as a tribute to the series' creator Michel Ancel, after he left the company and gaming industry to focus full-time on a wildlife sanctuary, whose final work at Ubisoft was being one of the directors and producers in Rayman 2: The Greater Escape alongside a new series director, Davide Soliani (also currently working alongside him and Technicolor Productions' staff on the cartoon show).

Reception
Rayman 4: Darkness Returns received universal critical acclaim according to the review aggregator Metacritic (receiving 97% of positive reviews and scores) from critics and fans alike, highly praising the gameplay, depth of it's combat, portrayal of it's returning characters, and handling of the narrative and story. Amount of content and replay value, visuals, music and voice-acting were also commended, though the open-world mechanics and multiplayer received criticism.

IGN gave the game an 9/10, saying: "Even with a few rough edges and moments, Rayman 4 is just about everything and more we could have hoped for from this long-awaited sequel." The Guardian gave the game 5/5 and praised it's unique levels, areas and memorable characters, though criticized it's open world, calling it mind-numbingly outdated and boring. GamesRadar+ gave the game 4.8/5 and praised its imagination with it's level, humour and story, the difficulty and called it an "a visual feast for the eyes", but thought the boss battles were frustrating, the multiplayer too basic for it's own good and the upgrade system was "ineffectual". GameSpot gave the game 9/10 and praised the writing and approach to the theme of redemption, the art direction, platforming, and combat, though criticized it's boss fights as lacking, though said the final boss was truly "Legendary".

The locales were generally praised for their detail, vibrant color palette and diversity between them. VentureBeat also acknowledged detail and variety in the character designs. The cutscenes were praised as "bright and colorful" by GameRevolution calling them "cartoony, charming, and funny to watch". Staff from Edge also praised the cutscenes, although found fault with "noticeable artifacting" encountered when the subtitles were off.

The story, voice acting and humor were very well-received. Game Informer opined that Rayman 4 had one of the best stories of a platform game. In addition to getting hooked on the characters, they praised it as a rare video game to keep the player constantly laughing while being invested in the story, citing examples of Murfy's character and the banter between Rayman and Globox. Game Informer also enjoyed the return of the detailed character development and silliness of previous entries. IGN lauded the comedy as exceptional in comparison to others of its kind, reasoning that it emphasizes "fun puns and genuinely calamitous scenarios" over "shouting, screaming and tired memes". Gamespot appreciated the diversity of the Seven Deadly Sins for contributing to the game's comedy, despite being non-evolving archetypes. He called Greed the funniest of them, also highlighting Lust's disparity between the modest way he acts towards women and his self-bloating when he's not with them.

The graphics and soundtrack were very well received. IGN called the game an animated film in both visuals and music, praising how unique the worlds looked with a high frame rate. They also attributed how well the last generation ports were with praise given to how well they ran on them while also prioritising next-gen consoles.

Sales
Although Rayman 4 outsold both Legends and Origins in it's first week from international sales with the PlayStation 5 version selling the most copies, the game failed to meet sales expectations at the time. As of November 2025, the game's sales were approaching 2 million units, according to Ubisoft. In early January 2026, Ubisoft reported that Rayman 4 was selling incredibly well, selling over 4 million units and was contributing to the company's earnings.