Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE finally arrives exclusively for Nintendo Switch, bringing all the creative genius of Kazutaka Kodaka into a new era.
The arrival of a new product on the market Kazutaka Kodaka it should always represent a small but important moment of joy for the medium. We have asked ourselves many times what differentiates the Eastern video game vision from the Western one, what it means to develop video games on the Japanese island, in which direction this new era pushes those few remaining Japanese authors. Kodaka, for his part, is a singular character in the expression of his art more than in his way of doing, we already talked about it a few days ago.
Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE fits perfectly into his precise way of making investigative video games: the pace is relatively slow and punctuated by enough text, the characters are extravagant, the setting embraces a dark atmosphere that disorients with its curious mix between eccentricity and darkness. If the reader knows the author, certainly one of the most interesting and influential in the recent-and growing-niche of Japanese graphic novels, he will hardly be interested in learning more because he will have already pre-ordered it. This text is probably for those who have barely heard of Kodaka’s mad genius.
Follow us in ours recensione di Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE.
Stories and mysteries
The underlying style of Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE is delicious and takes a lot from past manga authors
Danganronpa first, World‘s End Club then, a sprinkling of some other projects in between: for the RAIN CODE project, the developer Too Kyo Games he is actually more of a Spike Chunsoft consultant and it can be seen from the technical and stylistic weight, that he will certainly have engaged a considerable staff. Let us not be surprised, therefore, if Kodaka again chooses a Nintendo console to publish his product. There’s little you can do: this is also one of those softwares that in portability give so much more than a couch approach that it’s almost redundant to underline it again. Enjoying a graphic adventure of this depth anywhere and without thoughts adds a significant amount of points in favor of the experience, also by virtue of its investigative essence sometimes hit and run, with more or less short sessions.
We are in Japan, in the role of an forgetful Yuma Kokohead: after waking up in a train station, the small, genuine, pleasant and affable protagonist soon finds himself Master Detective, a sort of world elite club of investigation geniuses. Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE takes off immediately: the first tutorial case is just the appetizer of what awaits Yuma in his solitary adventure. Lonely? Not too much: to accompany him will have a goddess of death, Shinigami, who both in the form of a ghost and an attractive girl helps him by virtue of a secret pact sealed in Yuma’s past.
The first case anticipates the crazy quintessence of Kodaka because the ingredients of the work are immediately revealed: murders, powers, crime scenes, clues, assumptions, surreal elements that just don’t add up. In his acceptance of the invitation to go to Kanai Ward, a metropolis almost out of time, Yuma finds himself against his will in a plot bigger than him made up of crimes, subterfuge, deductions and ruthless enemies with very few allies by his side. What happened in her past? Why did he make a pact with Shinigami? Who are the Master Detectives and who is Amaterasu, this megacorporation that makes good and bad times in Kanai Ward?
It’s up to you to find out, we can only tell you that advancing in the RAIN CODE plot is extremely pleasant: Too Kyo and Spike Chunsoft sublimate their vision of graphic novels by giving birth to an important and stylish evolution, a sort of evolution that unites them with the charge of style and flair that Persona 5 brought to the traditional JRPG model. There are all the typical elements that you can expect but they are presented better, the interface works, the general aesthetic is captivating, there is really a great desire to express a new creativity that shows a furrow with one’s past.
Alternative metropolis
Kanai Ward is full of rather peculiar characters, a trademark of the works of Spike Chunsoft and Too Kyo
Although Kanai Ward is the core of the experience, with its neighborhoods, streets, characters, dialogues and clues with which to enrich our inventory of awareness, it is interesting to note how thesetting is almost more conceptual than physical. The dreamlike but dark air, the gaudy but exaggerated colours, an aura of widespread sadness and melancholy, the incessant rain, six different sectors, the resignation of its inhabitants: Kodaka does not betray its style, delivering an environment generally consistent with the general design of the author, but at the same time full of that typical Japanese videogame essence, a constant hyperbole of stylish social pessimism in which it seems you can’t trust anyone. And then there’s Yuma, in the midst of this maelstrom of corruption and heinous murder, who shines with her youthful simplicity, a small gleam of honesty and positive values that acts as a counterpoint to it all.
You will have to play several hours to understand what is happening but already from the way Kanada presents Amaterasu, its perverse relationship with Kanai Ward, the inability of the local government, the isolated essence of the metropolis, the widespread antics you should perceive an intelligent criticism of society, its machinations, general corruption and cover-ups that the system absorbs with apparent simplicity. We will often meet at wander around the cityask for information from the inhabitants or any witnesses, gather clues as well as get help from other Master Detectives who, like Yuma, possess a single and unique power: there are those who excel in disguise, in memory, in summoning spirits, in using of animals, going back in time.
The style of Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE is unmistakable
The world of RAIN CODE incorporates many fantasy elements, some more typical than others, amplifying the spectrum of playful opportunities available to solve cases. It must be said that the flow of clues and deductions tries to accompany the player, clearly showing what to do to complete the clues in a room. In addition, Kodaka also wanted to invent something else: as he gradually advances towards the truth, Shinigami will open the Labyrinth of Mysteries, an alternate dimension that changes as the case progresses. Inside, the authorial genius of Too Kyo’s staff expresses its full potential: the labyrinth is a succession of choices, ideas, situations and deductions that make exploration a continuous renewal of gameplay, which is joined by JRPG-style clashes but approach it in a completely different way. There will be some tentative situations, but it is part of the typical equation of graphic adventures, both Japanese and Western.
Clashes with real deduction
The combat system is quite unique, but you’ll need to be ready to operate your brain
RAIN CODE offers a decidedly particular system to advance in the labyrinth and reach the truth about the cases. Too Kyo and Spike Chunsoft have implemented a sort of real-time clash based on deductions, real sentences to dodge, jump, avoid and sometimes fight thanks to the keys of the case that we will have to have in our possession. Net of the weirdness and the question marks that will have arisen in your head, we are talking about a real JRPG mechanism with statistics and life points in which, however, the shots of the antagonist of the relative case are sentences, assumptions, true statements and other wrong. The goal will be to fight the contradictions, using everything we have in relation to the case and sometimes even the help of allies, to defeat the bad guy, often representations of someone’s will not to let you get to the truth. The system works, there’s a whole tree of characteristics to unlock to increase points of view, reaction times and much more; the only note is that a system like this is much more exciting in the early stages than in the medium to long term, but it’s probably tastes.
Kodaka’s desire to make the deductive element physical also appears clear within the exploration of the labyrinth itself when we will have to make quick choices (such as on mine carts) or choose where to continue at a crossroads. In short, there is a lot of meat and style at the heart of the actual play system of RAIN CODE, capable of having its own well-defined soul, entertaining, keeping hooked and force the player to think really to a solution of the case. Let me be clear, there are not only major cases: the underlying JRPG essence of RAIN CODE is also told through typical deduction quests or moments of narrative insight, which make the playful offer even more substantial. From a technical point of view, the sum of the parts helps to enjoy an artistic experience that is certainly passionate, particular, packaged very well and with great competence: the polygons do not win, but the creative flair, the use of the palette, the combinations and sometimes even some nice piece of technical prowess achievable with apparent ease from the Unreal Engine that drives the software.
Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE masterfully uses the color palette
It will take you several hours to fully enjoy Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE, but luckily the picturesque cast of supporting actors designed by Rui Komatsuzaki and the sound accompaniments of Masafumi Takada, senior figure of Japanese musical composition and historical collaborator of the Kodaka team, will accompany you to the best.
Conclusions
Digital Delivery
Nintendo eShop
Prezzo
59.90
€
Kodaka again manages to deliver a complete, intriguing, interesting and profound product thanks to a series of absolutely non-trivial intuitions. The labyrinth of mysteries is a notable addition in playful terms, just as the combat system – albeit perfectible – offers a definitely unique approach to the genre. Story, characters and setting combine to please longtime fans of the prolific author; it is more complex to recommend it to those who have never chewed it but it is sure that if you are looking for a first experience with Kodaka, this is certainly the most suitable product.
PRO
Even after years, Kodaka’s vision remains very authorial. Exciting cast and narration. Full-bodied and long product
AGAINST
Combat feels a bit tired in the medium term The huge amount of text doesn’t help newcomers