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I’d fairly not liken Grasp Detective Archives: Rain Code to the video games its inventive workforce is greatest identified for, however I can’t assist it when Spike Chunsoft and Too Kyo Video games’ newest homicide thriller positive does invite the comparability. Like Danganronpa earlier than it, Rain Code is a homicide thriller from the thoughts of Kazutaka Kodaka, adorned within the distinct artwork model of Rui Komatsuzaki, all to the backdrop of Masafumi Takada’s techno jazz rating. Almost each mechanic has a close to 1:1 equal to Danganronpa, to the purpose the place I play via and surprise if everybody concerned would fairly be making one other a type of titles however can’t due to Danganronpa V3’s damning meta-commentary about operating a sequence into the bottom till it’s past recognition.
Regardless of the motivation, Rain Code nonetheless has quite a lot of Danganronpa’s pink blood operating via its veins, and whereas it takes a while to begin dwelling as much as its predecessor, it had me wrapped round its finger by its remaining instances and hopeful that Kodaka could have discovered a brand new outlet to indulge his fascination with mysteries with out returning to a narrative that’s lengthy completed.
Rain Code follows a detective-in-training Yuma Kokohead in a world the place detectives are superpowered figures revered all over the world. He’s an amnesiac who’s made a cope with a loss of life god named Shinigami who takes the type of a purple puffball ghost with a love of carnage and loss of life, all whereas basking in it with lighthearted whimsy. Very like Kodaka’s earlier work, the sport makes use of the 2 characters’ contrasting views of the world to consistently oscillate between dire stakes and absurdist humor however makes use of its supernatural framing to crank the workforce’s normal antics as much as an inevitable over-the-top conclusion. A lot of Rain Code looks like Kodaka’s writing model at his most unhinged, not certain by the constraints of a (comparatively) grounded setting and free to make use of magic, superpowers, and god-like entities to justify some wild imagery, for higher or worse.
For the primary few chapters, I used to be postpone by Rain Code’s supernatural parts and the way they framed the mystery-solving. As Yuma and Shinigami stumble into fixing crimes across the metropolis of Kanai Ward, Shinigami opens up a pocket dimension to a Thriller Labyrinth. These are fairly akin to a Palace in Persona 5 in that they’re bodily manifestations of the thriller itself. Each query there may be a couple of case is given a literal type, whether or not that be doorways to stroll via to reply a multiple-choice query or an enemy that Yuma should combat with a truth-bearing blade to actually minimize via their arguments as they seem in textual content on the display.
Danganronpa represented these similar ideas via mini-games that had been extra symbolic, akin to imagining your self snowboarding down a slope and selecting paths representing solutions as you made deductions. Rain Code makes use of the Thriller Labyrinth to provide the whole lot a diegetic place in its world. I love the dedication to the bit, however the framing initially felt prefer it was the sport bending over backward to carry Danganronpa mechanics right into a legally distinct format in a approach that justified each second of deduction and reasoning in a tangible approach, fairly than a conceptual one.
It wasn’t till later chapters the place Rain Code began to actually reckon with the fact of utilizing the Thriller Labyrinth that I began to purchase in. Shinigami is a ghost when she and Yuma are in the true world, however as soon as they enter the Labyrinth, she sheds her mascot character design for her true type: which is a tall, gothic lady who reaps upon the souls of the offender on the finish of every case. As soon as Yuma is confronted with the reality, he’s additionally confronted with the price of discovering it. In contrast to Danganronpa, this methodology and final result aren’t compelled on Yuma, he simply regularly falls on it as he’s placed on his again foot. At its core, Rain Code is in regards to the pursuit of the reality and its penalties, however whereas Shinigami leaves our bodies in her wake, the sport posits that the reality isn’t meant to be morally proper or unsuitable. In exposing it, folks can construct from the reality fairly than tear themselves down additional.
Because of this Rain Code consistently invitations comparisons to Kodaka’s most prolific work. If it weren’t for all of the clear mechanical and creative parallels, that baseline perception in folks is the symmetry that connects this workforce’s previous and current work. Rain Code’s latter chapters invoke the identical outburst of feelings that this workforce is greatest identified for, even when it takes its time getting there. In some ways, its narrative and mysteries get messy, typically diluted by the supernatural framing fairly than enhanced by it. However regardless of my preliminary misgivings, I used to be shocked at how effectively it got here collectively. Given this workforce’s historical past, I in all probability ought to’ve trusted Rain Code to get me by the top.
All of the framing apart, Rain Code does really feel tough across the edges from a technical standpoint. Reasonably than utilizing the 2D sprite-based visible novel model of Danganronpa, just about the whole lot in Rain Code is rendered in 3D, and this recreation chugs one thing fierce on Change. Whether or not it’s in the course of the exploration segments via Kanai Ward or the action-oriented setpieces throughout the Thriller Labyrinth, the sport usually feels prefer it’s struggling to carry itself collectively. Whereas third-person, 3D setup provides Rain Code its personal taste and permits the sport some fairly spectacular visible moments (the neon-soaked cyberpunk aesthetic of Kanai Ward seems to be nice when it’s not in movement), there have been stretches of time the place it felt like the sport wanted one other go for technical polish.
At a sure level, I believe I grew to become desensitized to the framerate drops and acquired into the idea and was comfortable to dive into Thriller Labyrinth. Comparatively, Rain Code’s instances aren’t fairly as elaborate as its predecessor’s, however they every had satisfying mysteries and an explosive human aspect at their core. Even after I would really feel skeptical a couple of reveal, Rain Code would shortly level to a clue I’d lengthy forgotten that tied issues collectively. Some options may need felt farfetched, however throughout the world it established, these instances felt hermetic and satisfying to unravel, even when the conclusion was devastating to look at unfold.
Rain Code is constructed by a workforce that is aware of methods to make these sorts of video games, and as a long-time fan of the themes Kodaka tends to put in writing round, I used to be fairly moved by the top though it almost misplaced me to start with. If you happen to’ve by no means been a fan of Kodaka’s mixture of camp, heavyhanded themes, and theatrics, Rain Code will doubtless not seize you. However regardless of it feeling like Danganronpa’s distant cousin, it makes it clear this workforce doesn’t must lean on Monokuma’s loss of life recreation as a crutch and might construct one thing new upon its bones as an alternative. Hopefully, this implies Kodaka can proceed to let previous issues die on their very own phrases and make new issues as an alternative.
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