Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE, review

A new product arrives on the market Kazutaka Kodaka It should always represent a small but significant moment of joy for the medium. We have asked ourselves many times what distinguishes the Eastern video game vision from the Western one, what it means for the development of video games on the Japanese island, and in what direction this new age is pushing these few remaining Japanese authors. Kodaka, for his part, is a more unique figure in expressing his art than in the way he does it, we already talked about a few days ago.

Detective Master Archives: RAIN CODE fits perfectly with his nuanced way of making investigative video games: the pace is relatively slow and peppered with just enough text, the characters are extravagant, and the setting embraces a dark atmosphere turbulent with an odd mixture of weirdness and darkness. If the reader knows the author, who is certainly one of the most interesting and influential graphic novelists in the modern and growing field of Japanese graphic novels, he won’t be interested in learning more because he will have already pre-ordered it. Perhaps this text is for those who have hardly heard of the crazy genius of Kodaka.

Follow us in our area Principal investigator archive review: RAIN CODE.

Stories and puzzles

Danganronpa first, World’s End Club and then, scatter a few other projects in between: for Project RAIN CODE, developer Q Games too He is actually more of a Spike Chunsoft consultant and it can be seen from the technical and stylistic weight, that he will certainly engage a large number of employees. So let’s not be surprised if Kodaka once again chooses a Nintendo console to publish his product. There’s a little you can do: This is also one of those programs that saves in portability a lot more than sofa style almost redundant to stress over again. Enjoying a graphic adventure of this depth anywhere and without thoughts adds quite a bit of points in favor of, and also thanks to, the experience. The core of the investigation Sometimes he hits and runs, with more or less short sessions.

We are in Japan, in the role of the forgetful Yuma Kokohead: after waking up at a train station, the young, real, kind and amiable protagonist soon finds himself, the master detective, a kind of elite global club of investigative geniuses. MAIN DETECTIVE ARCHIVES: RAIN CODE STARTS IMMEDIATELY: The first tutorial case is just an appetizer for what awaits Yuma on his solo adventure. Single? Not much: to accompany him there will be the Goddess of Death, a Shinigami, who assists him in the form of a ghost and an attractive girl under a secret pact sealed in Yuma’s past.

The first case anticipates the insane essence of Kodaka because the ingredients of the action are revealed right away: killers, powers, crime scenes, clues, assumptions, surreal elements that don’t add up. In accepting the invitation to go to Kanai Ward, a city that is about to run out of time, Yuma finds himself against his will in a… Bigger conspiracy It consists of crimes, subterfuge, deductions, and ruthless enemies with very few allies on his side. What happened in his past? Why did he make a pact with a Shinigami? Who are the main detectives and who is Amaterasu, this corporate behemoth who has the good times and the bad in Kanai Ward?

It’s up to you to find out, we can just tell you that the plot progression of RAIN CODE is a lot of fun: Too Kyo and Spike Chunsoft escalate their vision of graphic novels by giving birth to an important and elegant twist, a kind of twist that unites them with the charge of style and flair that Persona 5 brought to Traditional JRPG style. There are all the typical elements you can expect but rendered better, the interface works, the overall aesthetic is captivating, and there really is a great desire to express a new creativity that shows a furrow with the past.

alternative city

Although Kanai Ward is the core of the experience, with its neighborhoods, streets, characters, dialogues, and clues with which we enrich our stock of consciousness, it is interesting to note howsession It is almost more conceptual than physical. Dreamlike but dark air, cheerful and exaggerated colors, an aura of sadness and melancholy pervading, continuous rain, six different sectors, the resignation of its inhabitants: Kodaka does not betray its style, providing an environment that is generally consistent with the author’s overall design, but at the same time full of gaming essence Typical Japanese video, a persistent exaggeration of the elegant social pessimism that seems like you can’t trust anyone. And then there’s Yuma, in the midst of this nefarious maelstrom of corruption and murder, who shines through with his youthful simplicity, a small glow of honesty and positive values ​​that acts as a counterpoint to the whole.

You will have to play for several hours to understand what is going on but already from the way Kanada presents Amaterasu, her pernicious relationship with Kanai Ward, the inability of the local government, the isolated essence of the city, the common pervasive behavior that you must realize as smart as the criticism of society and its machinations and general corruption and cover-ups that are absorbed by the system Simply. We will meet often at Walk around the cityAsk for information from residents or any witnesses, collect clues and also get help from other master detectives who, like Yuma, possess one and only unique power: there are those who excel in disguises, in memory, in summoning spirits, in using animals, in going back in time. backwards.

The world of RAIN CODE includes many fantasy elements, some more typical than others, which magnify the range of hilarious opportunities for solving cases. It must be said that the flow of clues and deductions tries to accompany the player, clearly showing what needs to be done to complete the clues in the room. In addition, Kodaka also wanted to invent something else: as he gradually progressed toward the truth, the Shinigami would unlock puzzle maze, an alternate dimension that changes as the case progresses. Inside, the composing genius of the Too Kyo staff expresses its full potential: the labyrinth is a series of choices, ideas, situations, and conclusions that make exploration a constant renewal of the game, joined by JRPG-style engagements but almost entirely approaching. different way. There will be some stand-ins, but it’s part of the typical equation for graphic adventures, both Japanese and Western.

Contradicts a real opponent

RAIN CODE offers a special confirmation system to progress through the maze and get to the truth of the cases. Too Kyo and Spike Chunsoft executed a kind of clash in real time On the basis of discounts, real sentences to dodge, jump, avoid and sometimes fight thanks to the keys to the case that we must have in our possession. Aside from the weirdness and question marks that will arise in your head, we are talking about a real JRPG mechanic with stats and life points, however, the shots deducting the relative status are sentences, assumptions, and statements that are true and other wrong. The goal will be to fight the contradictions, using everything we have on the cause and sometimes even the help of allies, to defeat the bad guy, often represented as someone’s will not to let you get to the truth. The system works, and there is a whole tree of properties to unlock to increase views, reaction times and much more; The only note is that a system like this is more exciting in the early stages than in the mid to long term, but it’s probably a taste.

Kodaka’s desire to make the deductive element physical is also evident in the exploration of the maze itself when we have to make quick choices (such as mining carts) or choose where to continue at a crossroads. In short, there is a lot of flesh and style at the heart of RAIN CODE’s actual gameplay system, capable of having a well-defined, entertaining, hooked and It forces the player to think Really to solve the issue. Let me be clear, there are no just main cases: the core JRPG core of RAIN CODE is also told through typical conclusion questions or moments of narrative insight, making the fun exposition even more substantial. From an artistic point of view, the sum of the parts helps to enjoy an artistic experience that is certainly passionate, special, very well packaged and very competent: the polygons don’t win, but the creative flair, the use of palette, the textures and sometimes some great bits of technical ingenuity that can easily be achieved are evident from Unreal Engine that drives the software.

It will take many hours to fully enjoy the Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE, but fortunately, the supporting cast designed by Roy Komatsuzaki and the voice accompaniments of Masafumi Takada, a prominent figure in Japanese musical composition and historical collaborator of Team Kodaka, will accompany you to the best.