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| Master Detective Archives: Rain Code | |
|---|---|
 Promotional art | |
| Developer(s) | Spike Chunsoft Too Kyo Games |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Director(s) | Takahiro Suzuki |
| Producer(s) | Shohei Sakakibara |
| Programmer(s) | Kiyoshi Nagata |
| Artist(s) |
|
| Writer(s) |
|
| Composer(s) | Masafumi Takada |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 4 |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Master Detective Archives: Rain Code[a] is a 2023 adventure video game developed by Too Kyo Games and Spike Chunsoft, and published by Spike Chunsoft. The game, created by several members who worked on the Danganronpa series, including scenario writer Kazutaka Kodaka, character designer Rui Komatsuzaki, and composer Masafumi Takada, was first released for the Nintendo Switch on June 30, 2023. An enhanced version was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on July 18, 2024, in Japan and October 1 worldwide.
The story centers around Yuma Kokohead, a detective trainee with amnesia, and his shinigami ally Shinigami investigating an isolated, rainy city called Kanai Ward controlled by a corporation known as the Amaterasu Corporation. Yuma's mission in the city is to solve Kanai Ward's Ultimate Secret alongside a team of gifted Master Detectives, to solve the Great Global Mystery. Finding the truth is made difficult when Amaterasu's enforcers interfere with the cases Yuma investigates for their own malevolent reasons, requiring Yuma to use the supernatural Mystery Labyrinth summoned by the shinigami and solve the cases there by gathering the evidence needed to prove the culprit's identity.[1]
Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is a fantasy-mystery adventure game taking place across six chapters. Players control Yuma Kokohead, an amnesiac detective trainee who solves incidents with the help of Shinigami. Gameplay alternates between Kanai Ward in the real world, where the story unfolds, and the Mystery Labyrinth, a dungeon formed from the mysteries surrounding a case.[2][3][4][5]
During each chapter, the player explores the Kanai Ward area, where they can either progress the main story or partake in optional side quests known as Requests. By interacting with objects, speaking with characters, and completing various tasks, players earn Detective Points that increase Yuma's skill level and rewards Skill Points. Skill Points can be used to unlock various abilities that can be used in the Mystery Labyrinth. Additionally, the player can find statues of Shinigami, which can unlock optional dialogues with side characters. When an incident occurs, players search for information and clues, which are converted into Solution Keys for use in the Mystery Labyrinth. Players may also be required to take part in quick time events or minigames, some of which involve the abilities of Yuma's fellow detectives.[6][7]
Once enough Solution Keys are gathered, the game moves into the Mystery Labyrinth, the spiritual manifestation of each case. Here, the player must use their wits and Solution Keys to solve the various mysteries behind a case. These involve choosing the correct route, answering questions with the correct Solution Key, and reacting to quickfire questions. Occasionally, players will face off against Mystery Phantoms, manifestations of characters trying to hide the truth, in Reasoning Death Match sections. Similar to the Danganronpa series' Nonstop Debate sections, the player must dodge statements shot out by the Mystery Phantom before striking a contradictory statement with the correct corresponding Solution Key. Players are also able to repel certain statements without evidence and call upon an ally's help to shield them from damage. The Shinigami Puzzle segments require the player to spell out the answer to a question by hitting letters on a rotating barrel within a time limit. Clues can be offered by feeding Shinigami a Solution Key, but irrelevant ones will result in less time.
When the true culprit is cornered, the player takes part in the God Shinigami section, in which the player controls a giant Shinigami as she dodges and destroys obstacles laid out by the culprit. Finally, the Deduction Denouement requires the player to fill in panels of a comic summarizing the case. The player has stamina, which decreases if they make mistakes or are hit by obstacles, with the game ending if it is diminished or if the player runs out of time. Abilities unlocked by Skill Points can be equipped to give the player benefits, such as more health or fewer incorrect Solution Keys. At the end of each chapter, players are ranked on their performance in the Mystery Labyrinth, earning Detective Points based on how well they did.[6][7]
Amnesiac detective trainee Yuma Kokohead awakens at a train station, learning that he is to board the Amaterasu Express, a self-driving passenger train en route to Kanai Ward on an assignment. Due to Yuma's amnesia, he is suspected as an impostor among the Master Detectives on board, who are members of the World Detective Organization (WDO). Zilch Alexander, one of the detectives, encourages Yuma to rest when he starts feeling ill. After being knocked out in the bathroom, Yuma reawakens to find a self-proclaimed god of death named Shinigami, who claims she is visible only to him due to an agreement they made in exchange for his memories. Yuma finds his fellow detectives dead, and is framed by Amaterasu's Peacekeepers for their murder upon arrival at Kanai Ward. Before Yuma is executed by the Peacekeepers, Shinigami pulls him into a Mystery Labyrinth, an alternate dimension formed by the mystery of the case, which the duo traverse to solve the mystery of the real-world murders. Within the Labyrinth, Yuma and Shinigami discover the true culprit behind the murder, a hitman impersonating Zilch hired to sabotage the Detectives' journey. This fails to prove Yuma's innocence, as solving the case kills the true culprit. He is rescued by Yakou Furio, the agency’s chief, who acquits Yuma of the murder, and informs him Kanai Ward is an isolated city of eternal rain under control of the Amaterasu Corporation.
Yakou takes Yuma to the Nocturnal Detective Agency, now stationed in a submarine due to eviction from the previous site, where he meets four other Master Detectives: Halara Nightmare, Desuhiko Thunderbolt, Fubuki Clockford, and Vivia Twilight. The detectives inform him of the WDO’s goal of solving global-scale mysteries using powers called Forensic Fortes which assist their investigations. The WDO's leader, Number One, calls the gathered detectives to solve Kanai Ward’s Ultimate Secret, which will help them solve the Great Global Mystery, but does not provide information on what either of these cases entail.
The detectives search Kanai Ward for this secret, investigating several cases such as: a serial killer priest avenging the victims of his targets, which inspires a churchgoer to commit a copycat crime, with both men pretending to be the legendary Nail Man killer; theatre club student Karen being poisoned by three of her peers, Yoshiko, Waruna, and Kurane, during a school play rehearsal in a plot to avenge Karen's murder of their friend Aiko; and traitorous anti-Amaterasu resistance movement member Icardi killing the group's leader Shachi and framing Yuma for a terrorist attack on the city so he can steal enough money from the city's bank in order to escape Kanai Ward. The Detectives are frequently hindered by the Peacekeepers, lead by their sadistic Director, Yomi Hellsmile. As the Detectives resolve the cases, Shinigami reaps the culprits' souls and the other Master Detectives lose their memories every time they exit the Mystery Labyrinth upon solving each case. During Yuma's investigations, he meets and befriends Kurumi Wendy, the city's informant, and the habitually masked Makoto Kagutsuchi, the CEO of Amaterasu Corporation.
With only rumours about Amaterasu's homunculus research lab to go on in their investigation of the Ultimate Secret, the Detectives investigate Amaterasu Corporation HQ, only to receive no information as Yakou kills Amaterasu's head researcher Dr. Huesca, who Yakou blames for the death of his wife, leading to his reaping by the reluctant Shinigami.
During the investigation into Dr. Huesca's death, Yomi's conspiring with Dr. Huesca to leak Amaterasu's technology is revealed, giving Makoto the pretext to remove Yomi from his position. Upon returning to the agency, the Detectives receive a report from Number One, who finally informs them the Great Global Mystery is a series of global-scale kidnappings, just before the WDO is suddenly bombed, seemingly killing Number One. Makoto knocks the Detectives out with sleeping gas in a gift he gave Yuma, and takes him and Kurumi to the restricted area of Kanai Ward.
Yuma discovers from his investigation in the restricted area that Amaterasu Corporation was hired by the Unified Government (UG) to create an immortal army of homunculi. The UG set up their own facility ten years ago and created the first homunculus, Makoto Kagutsuchi, out of Number One’s DNA three years ago. Makoto is revealed to be a clone of Yuma, and Yuma is the real Number One. In response to Makoto's creation, Amaterasu made homunculi out of all of Kanai Ward’s residents, only for defective homunculi to awaken en masse and kill their original counterparts upon exposure to sunlight, forgetting about their massacre when Makoto returned them to their senses by blocking out the sun in Kanai Ward using a rain cloud generator. To save Kanai Ward and its homunculi residents, Makoto blackmailed the UG with their homunculus research to force the Amaterasu CEO to delegate his position to Makoto, which was initially meant to be given to Yomi. As the CEO, Makoto froze Dr. Huesca’s homunculus research, masterminded the mass kidnapping of death row inmates using his identity as Number One's clone so he could turn them into meat buns for the homunculi to inadvertently feed on, and concealed that the homunculi revive as zombies upon death. To prevent the Ultimate Secret being exposed, Makoto reveals he planned to oust Yomi by requesting Master Detectives come to Kanai Ward to sabotage Yomi's plans to leak the existence of the homunculi. He then attempts to kill Yuma in the Mystery Labyrinth, thereby taking his place as Number One of the WDO and permanently isolating Kanai Ward.
Yuma convinces Makoto to tell the citizens the truth of their identities as homunculi in order to solve Kanai Ward’s issues, and Makoto follows through after the two safely exit the Mystery Labyrinth without having to reap Makoto's soul, at the cost of Yuma breaking his pact with Shinigami and losing all memories of her as a result. With Kanai Ward's Ultimate Secret and the Great Global Mystery solved, Yuma resigns as Number One and travels the world to solve mysteries, leaving the Book of Death housing Shinigami in Kurumi's care. While the other Detectives return to WDO HQ for future assignments, its bombing having been faked, Kurumi leaves Kanai Ward in search of Yuma.
Rain Code was co-developed by Spike Chunsoft and Too Kyo Games,[2] a company formed in 2017 by ex-employees of Spike Chunsoft.[4] It was written by Kazutaka Kodaka and Takekuni Kitayama, and features music by Masafumi Takada, and character designs by Rui Komatsuzaki and Shimadoriru; several key staff members previously worked on Spike Chunsoft's Danganronpa series.[3][8]
Kodaka began the planning for the game in 2016 while he was still working at Spike Chunsoft.[3][9] It was designed to be different from Danganronpa, with a dark fantasy setting influenced by the work of filmmaker Tim Burton,[4] and uses 3D models throughout as opposed to Danganronpa's blend of 3D environments and 2D characters, although still features a similar psycho-pop aesthetic with neon colors.[10] It was developed using the Unreal Engine.[3]
The game was first teased by Too Kyo Games in 2018 with a piece of concept art showing a rainy city and a ghost,[9] and was officially announced in November 2021 as Enigma Archives: Rain Code.[8] It was later retitled Master Detective Archives: Rain Code and released on June 30, 2023, for the Nintendo Switch by Spike Chunsoft.[11][12] The physical and limited editions of the game include a digital novel prequel, How To Be a Master Detective: A Yakou Furio Case, which was written by Yoichiro Koizumi with supervision by Kodaka.[13] A series of downloadable content consisting of four substories revolving around Yuma's fellow detectives was released monthly between July and October 2023, with chapters available individually or as part of a season pass, which is also included with the digital deluxe edition of the game.[14]
On May 7, 2024, Spike Chunsoft announced that an enhanced version of the game, titled Master Detective Archives: Rain Code +[b], was scheduled for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows via Steam on July 18, 2024, in Japan and on October 1, 2024, worldwide. The game supports resolutions up to 4K and includes all the downloadable content from the Switch version, as well as additional content such as a gallery.[15][16]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 77/100[17] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Eurogamer | 3/5[18] |
| GameSpot | 8.1/10[19] |
| Nintendo Life | 7/10[21] |
| Nintendo World Report | 8/10[22] |
| The Games Machine (Italy) | 8.1/10[20] |
| TouchArcade | 4/5[23] |
Master Detective Archives: Rain Code was the bestselling retail game during its first week of release in Japan, with 55,339 copies being physical.[24] By the end of July, the game had sold over 300,000 copies worldwide.[25]
Master Detective Archives: Rain Code received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[17]
