I’ve at hand it to the event workers of Rain Code: They’re very expert at utterly upending your expectations from the get-go. I definitely anticipated to be shocked and shocked, on condition that these are the minds behind the beloved Danganronpa series–they know a factor or two about throwing gamers narrative curveballs out of nowhere–but even I wasn’t anticipating what occurred after about half-hour of introduction. I needed to place the Swap down and provides a bit of “Properly executed!” clap. It is a bit of a disgrace, although, as a result of after that, not one of the different circumstances ever attain the identical excessive, regardless of some nice moments. That is Rain Code in a nutshell: It will possibly’t fairly attain the greatness of what got here earlier than it.
Rain Code begins with a younger man waking up in some kind of storage room. All he can bear in mind is that his identify is Yuma Kokohead and he is received to catch a practice that is headed to Kanai Ward–a company metropolis minimize off to many of the exterior world, shrouded in perpetual, neon-lit darkness and rain, run by the Amaterasu megacorp, and managed by the militarized Peacekeeper power. It is not lengthy after he boards the practice that he finds out why he is going there: He is a part of the World Detective Group, which is sending a number of brokers in to analyze Kanai Ward’s ugly secrets and techniques. He additionally quickly discovers why he has amnesia: It seems he made a cope with a demise god for particular powers and supplied up his recollections in trade.
That demise god, Shinigami, principally hangs round within the type of a tiny ghost that solely Yuma can see. It reads his ideas and makes sarcastic feedback till there is a thriller to be solved, which is when Shinigami stops time and transforms right into a buxom demon maiden to whisk him away to mind-palace Thriller Labyrinths the place issues get buck-wild. Right here, he should battle logic monsters, evade dastardly false-solution traps, and unlock doorways with Proof Keys that Shinigami barfs up in a bathe of rainbows. And in addition possibly crush thought limitations using Shinigami as an enormous kaiju. And play Pop-up Pirate together with her in a barrel on the seashore. Yeah, it is all only a little bizarre.
A lot has been fabricated from the truth that Rain Code’s growth group helmed the beloved Danganronpa journey recreation sequence, which you will see (and listen to) clearly within the character designs, music, and delightfully outlandish character ideas. The similarities are greater than skin-deep, nonetheless: Rain Code’s gameplay construction is clearly modeled after these video games. Every of the sport’s six prolonged chapters has a plot-heavy setup, a homicide, an investigation, after which a set of minigames to catch the culprit–only, as a substitute of a mass trial run by a malevolent bear-thing, you are braving an extra-dimensional detective dungeon. Even the Logic Deathmatch battles you struggle within the dungeons are primarily a remake of Danganronpa’s contradiction-hunting Nonstop Debates, however with a sword as a substitute of gun to chop down falsehoods.
Yuma, being each a detective trainee and an amnesiac, has some massive hurdles to beat. Luckily, the opposite WDO members–a motley crew of quirky weirdos with love-or-hate persona traits–all have a singular supernatural skill of their very own, starting from sensing life vitality or revisiting against the law scene from when it was first witnessed prior to now, to separating soul from physique or phasing by stable partitions. Yuma quickly finds he can share these particular expertise with their wielder, and so they turn into essential in the course of the course of investigations to collect clues and proof. For instance, Yuma can use obnoxious would-be casanova Desuhiko’s disguise skill to infiltrate an elite non-public faculty the place a suspicious homicide has occurred within the drama membership. Getting to make use of these talents is a neat twist, although the instances you’ll be able to truly mess around with them are very restricted.
As host to the entire darkish happenings, Kanai Ward itself is a key factor of the sport: a moist, murky, and foreboding place lined with neon lights and winding passageways. A number of thought has been put into the artwork design of town and its assorted areas, and most chapters give you a portion of time to discover and admire the varied components of town freely and speak to NPCs. Sadly, that is about all you are able to do; there are no retailers or actions to be discovered right here. You’ll be able to tackle some facet quests to construct up your Detective Rank (and study useful Thriller Labyrinth expertise through a talent tree), however these quests are universally bland, with bog-standard fetch-quest aims and wholly unmemorable NPC dialogue, finally feeling like useless padding.
In distinction, the Thriller Labyrinths that Shinigami creates to shut out every chapter are very well-designed and have loads of intriguing twists and turns, together with charming banter (and loads of downright weird bodily interactions) between Yuma, Shinigami, and different characters who get sucked in for the journey. The portrayal of a logical puzzle as a bodily dungeon is an gratifying conceit that enables the artists and puzzle designers to create some actually memorable traps, options, and liminal areas to journey by. Whereas the Swap generally struggles with muddy-looking textures and slowdown, the general artwork design is a excessive level, as are the number of obstacles and glammed-up enemies Yuma should overcome. The number of obstacles and puzzles is nice, too. At one second you will be preventing a literal battle of phrases towards a Thriller Phantom opponent who shouts assaults at you, and the following you will be reconstructing crime scenes or taking part in a QTE-type occasion the place it is advisable to appropriately reply a query rapidly with the intention to escape hazard, solely to then be confronted with Shinigami in a rotating barrel you throw swords at to make a phrase, adopted by a finale by which an enormous Shinigami should crush all psychological limitations that stand between you and the reality… amongst different issues. The mechanics in every of those sub-sections differ however are very straightforward to know and get the grasp of, making for consistently shifting gameplay that retains you in your toes.
As cool and wild as lots of the character designs are in Rain Code, there’s merely not sufficient character interplay so that you can really feel a powerful connection or animosity in the direction of anybody. Each buddies and foes alike are inclined to get a delegated chapter to point out off their talents and persona quirks, solely to be relegated to minor supporting roles afterwards. As an alternative, many of the in-game interactions are solely between Yuma and Shinigami, who do have a really entertaining rapport with each other. You’ll be able to see little facet tales with different main characters by discovering collectibles, although this requires additional legwork and nonetheless would not treatment the difficulty.
This lack of character growth and attachment is among the predominant the reason why Rain Code would not hit the identical sweet-spot that the Danganronpa video games did. Danganronpa video games have been extraordinarily character-driven, and that fed into the forever-tense, emotional ambiance: At any second, a personality you actually preferred might wind up killed horribly, or–perhaps worse–turn out to be a cold-blooded assassin. That worry and inevitability of loss was pervasive and highly effective, making each second really feel weighty.
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Rain Code would not have the identical pressure and urgency. The victims of the murders are characters you barely know, the specter of a tyrannical mega-corp’s unethical experiments is generally oblique, and a few of the massive story revelations simply do not hit as exhausting as they need to. I additionally felt just like the Thriller Labyrinths, as gratifying as they have been, tended to tug out their conclusions. I would often discovered the who and the way by across the midway level in every, that means I solely needed to puzzle out how the sport needed me to place every thing collectively. The result’s a narrative-driven recreation with a narrative that lacks affect the place it wants it most and leaves you saying, “Wait, that is all there’s?” (An ending that wraps issues up just a bit too properly given the messy revelations of the ultimate chapter would not assist, both.)
However though it is not fairly nearly as good as Danganronpa’s dizzying roller-coaster highs, Rain Code is a stable detective journey that entertains and engages for almost all of its runtime. It is received an intriguing idea, gratifying dialogue, an attention-grabbing and loads of daring, outlandish strangeness to carry a participant’s curiosity. I, for one, definitely hope this is not the final we see of Shinigami’s elegant snark.