Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Review

 From developers Spike Chunsoft, creator of Danganronpa, and Too Kyo Games, the team behind World's End Club, Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE is not a new entry in the Danganronpa franchise, but it does share a lot of similarities with that series. Before you begin sleuthing, you have to select a difficulty; this isn’t how hard the game is but how difficult your spirit partner will be on you, select from lenient, mean, troublesome, or adorable. Once this is done, we begin Chapter 0 — Massacre on the Amaterasu Express.

The first chapter of Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE has you thrown into one of the biggest mysteries you will have to solve: who are you and why are you in a storage room? To make matters worse, our character keeps hearing a voice talking to him when there is no one else in the room. The mysterious voice introduces herself as Shinigami and appears before you as a purple spirit. She informs you that you had made a contract with her, and in return, you offered your memories; that’s why you can’t remember anything. She tells you to check your pockets to find some clues as to what you are doing there. He discovered a note from the WDO — World Detective Organisation — addressed to Yuma Kokohead, who is apparently a detective, and the note is dispatching him to the Autonomous Zone of Kanai Ward. He is to board the train and rendezvous with the other Master Detectives on-site once you arrive at the Nocturnal Detective Agency. 

Shinigami feels bad for you and decides to teach you how to be a detective. The controls are quite simple, move with the L thumbstick, use the R thumbstick to control the camera, and A to inspect items marked with an exclamation point. You also have the ability to fast-forward through dialogue, and cinematics can be skipped if you so wish. When you perform abilities like investigating and gathering information, you earn Detective Points. These points increase your Detective Rank, and Shinigami tells you that something good will come from this, but she doesn’t tell you exactly what. The map in the corner of the screen has exclamation points that mark all of the characters that you need to speak to, so it is easy to see what you need to do next. Yuma carries around a Notebook that has its own menu and is updated constantly with your casefiles, the info that you have collected so far and tells you what your current objective is. This is also where you can save your game and load your save or a different one if you need.

The train that you have boarded is called the Amaterasu Express, named after the company that is in control of Kanai Ward. This five-car train is fully automated and has no conductor to operate it. The only people on board are you and the Master Detectives that you meet that are also part of the WDO. These characters are a colourful bunch, they all have crazy personalities, and each has their own Forte that they use in investigation. A Forensic Forte is a special ability that is supernatural in nature: one can control animals, one can possess corpses to find out what had happened to them, and another has Audial Aptitude that allows her to hear distant sounds like footsteps, whispers, and even heartbeats. Yuma doesn’t remember if he ever had his own power, but if he does, he should have a Detective Deed. Your licence will say if you are a Master Detective, because if you are, that means that you do have a Forte.

Besides exclamation points on the map denoting characters you need to speak to, areas on the minimap will be glowing if there is an investigative objective or destination at that location. I don’t want to spoil anything in the story, but I will tell you that Master Detective Archives does a good job of letting you know where you need to go and what to do so you don’t feel lost. Shinigami will try to give you advice and tips as she has now taken on the role of your mentor and will make you into a proper detective. As you progress, you will get to see her human form, which is total eye candy compared to the purple blob spirit form she regularly appears as! She takes on this form when she takes you to an alternate universe where you visit the Mystery Labyrinth. This maze materialises mysteries from around the real world; get through the maze, and the truth will be revealed along with the true identity of the culprit. The more difficult the case, the more difficult the labyrinths you encounter will be. Shinigami tells you that "if you have questions, just stare at her boobs for eight seconds, and it will make your worries disappear!"

These labyrinths aren’t just mazes like you may think. You will have to find Solution Keys that will be used to clear the Mystery Labyrinth. These keys are materialised clues that you discover from Investigating. You go through what you currently know of the case, and Shinigami will throw up all the keys that you have discovered thus far. You can acquire more keys or update the ones that you currently have by investigating the case more which will cause the story to move along. The keys can be viewed in the Notebook and if you get stuck it may give you some more useful information.

Yuma can also learn abilities that can help you get through the Mystery Labyrinths. You unlock them by spending the SP — Skill Points — that you earn when your Detective Rank increases. You learn the abilities by going to the Abilities section of your Notebook. You can select which of the ones you want, but you only have the Memory to learn a certain amount at a time. You can also unlearn the ones you selected and pick something else if you change your mind or find it more helpful to concentrate on something different. Some of the abilities increase your health for battles, while others make it so that when you are asked a multiple-choice question, one of the wrong answers is taken away. 

The labyrinth is a playable loop where the path just keeps going, and you can’t move on until the scene plays out, so you just keep following the path. You will encounter Mystery Phantoms that appear if someone in the real world is trying to mess with the case. Shinigami gives you the Solution Blade, which has special powers that only affect things that you find in the Mystery Labyrinth. You face off against the foe in a Reasoning Death Match (RDM). The Phantom will attack, making statements about the case — the ones that you can prove are false you slash with the blade. The others you will have to dodge to avoid getting hit; if you do get hit, you will take some damage. Once your health bar is depleted, you will have to start over again at the last checkpoint.

The visuals in Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE are great. The backgrounds look realistic, with great anime characters, and when you get to Kanai Ward, the neon lights on the buildings have beautiful lighting effects that make them glow. Each person that you encounter has a great design with a unique wardrobe and crazy hairstyles; their look matches their eccentric personality making it a perfect combo. I played with English voice acting, and I felt that they did a great job matching the voice with the vibe of the person they were portraying. Accompanying this is a soundtrack that manages to be relaxing yet mysterious and intriguing in areas where you are investigating and walking around, but battles are high-energy and work great for motivating you during the fight.

There is so much more I could say about Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE, but I really don’t want to spoil anything about the mysteries you will discover in this title. It is such a unique combination of different elements that I have never experienced in a game before, with an over-the-top sense of humour (which is expected with a name like Kokohead) that you wouldn’t expect when you are talking about grisly murders and death. My only gripe is that the main character walks really slowly, and sometimes during the RDM battles, it’s tricky to figure out which of the sentences you should be destroying and which to avoid, so it may take a couple of attempts to figure out. Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE is a must-play game for anyone who wants to take on the role of a Master Detective and hang out with a cast of colourful characters!