In 2010, Kazutaka Kodaka gave birth to a franchise with a pretty controversial premise – teenage murder. I’m referring to the brutality that is the Danganronpa trilogy. You know the deal; students known as Ultimates are trapped and need to kill to escape. Honestly, it’s a deranged, yet intriguing concept. Kodaka-san has other projects that he has done but nothing of similar quality. Then in 2023, he craved success, returning to the topic he knows best – slaughtering anime characters. Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE initially came to the Nintendo Switch. I skipped as I was afraid it would be plagued by piss-poor performance. That was until I heard about this enhanced port. 

The Plus edition of Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE comes with a couple of new features. Chief among those is, of course, better resolution, but it also sports five additional sub stories to further flesh out the cast. I’ve spent about 45 hours in Kenai Ward and in that time, I’ve rolled credits, but haven’t done the extras. It’s a beefy boy, and it tips towards being a visual novel, so if you need reading glasses, go get a pair.

You know what they say: thick thighs save lives!

You’re Yuma Kokohead and your journey begins with you waking in a storage room. The gaming pandemic of amnesia has overtaken your mind but you’re not alone. A ghost companion is by your side by the name of Shinigami. She knows why you’re struggling to recall what’s happening but won’t tell. All that’s revealed is she’s a Death God and that you two have made a pact. Oh, you’re also a detective that works under the World Detective Organization – WDO. What’ll follow is an assortment of shenanigans as you meet others like you, continuously get called a pervert, and a couple hundred pints of blood. Your goal is to uncover the secret that Kenai Ward is hiding, but the road to doing so will be rough.

Plainly, the mysteries are captivating. My curiosity compelled me forward to the outcome. It left me glued to the edge of my seat as I was faced with twist after twist. It was superb, but it’s thanks to that unrelenting attention that I noticed two flaws. The first is minimal in that there are minor leaps in logic. Granted, it made sense within the video game realm but in reality, it’s loose. It left me scratching my head but hey, at least it doesn’t sour the encompassing scenario. Be that as it might, I struggled a bit, particularly when thinking about it logically which lead to being wrong. Luckily, RAIN CODE is quite forgiving. It fully embraces the trial and error methodology for my ease.

Yuma, eyes are up here, mate. Remember those words.

Secondly, I wanted to call the narrative convoluted but by definition, it isn’t. I could follow the storyline without any issue. Eventually, I settled on Kodaka-san having just gone wild with details. As a literary nerd, I appreciated that but it’s a double-edged sword. While I adore how dedicated he got to world-building, he tends to also over explain. Sure, I admit it ensures that we, the players, understand what’s going on. It tackles every perspective to give us a well-rounded conclusion. The thing is, I’d sniff out the culprit before RAIN CODE at times. I had enough information and yet, it still took the scenic route to meet me. Again, I enjoy it but I worry those that hate word vomit will be deterred.

Since RAIN CODE focuses primarily on dialogue, you naturally want personality. It has to be entertaining, and I can emphatically say that, yea, it’s damn entertaining. The banter between Shinigami and Yuma truly shines. Her constant teasing or jealousy whenever he speaks to another girl is weirdly endearing. Sure, I could see folks labeling it immature trash and alright, that’s valid. When she’s calling women she’s threatened by flat-chested, I see your point. I can’t dispute that RAIN CODE targets a specific niche. If you don’t fit within it, the writing may feel cringe. However, if you do, I reckon you’ll see the charm that I did. In fact, there are laugh-out-loud blurbs that left me smiling.

Damn, my exes were right about my stamina.

Honestly, the dynamic that Yuma and Shinigami share is something else. Hell, I’d say it’s probably what stuck with me the most. I won’t get into spoilers but that last act did me in. I wasn’t ugly crying but I did feel a tug at my heartstrings. Witnessing the relationship develop is magical. You see it changing in real-time until it culminates. While on that wavelength, there’s a case that left me genuinely affected. It made me sympathize, which is a pretty massive deal for any title to accomplish. I guess what I’m trying to say is RAIN CODE manages emotional responses. If you were to couple that with the moments where I chuckled, then it’s fair to say I was felt satisfied with my experience in this universe.

That sentiment stretches to the supporting characters. They each come with unique quirks that make them distinct: be it a boy that’s a flirt, shooting his shot on anyone of the opposite sex, to a dunce that acts as the comic relief – it’s due to her that I was so tickled. Again, this goes back to my belief that RAIN CODE caters to a specific niche. It channels common stereotypes of the genre but what sells me on it is the commitment. It leans into how ridiculous it is. I mean, we’ve got nuns that are inexplicably hostile and a villain that’s just over-the-top evil. These coded husks have been injected with life and it has me so giddy.

Huh, I think I’ve discovered something about myself.

Let’s discuss the last chapter. If you’ve indulged in Danganronpa V3, the structure will feel familiar. It’s near-identical, having tons of 180s to keep you on your feet. I wanted to cherry-pick this aspect since it proved divisive before. I can, with 100% confidence, say that history is likely to repeat. Whenever it felt like the climax was coming, I got blindsided by another twist. It’ll feel like random ideas being thrown at a wall but the madness has purpose. I’m chuffed that it takes every thread and ties them nicely in a bow. It ensures that my questions get answers. Although, I’ve got to say that even I think it does venture a tad overboard.

RAIN CODE’s gameplay loop consists of examining murder scenes and gathering evidence. It’s like Ace Attorney, only there are visual cues indicating where to look. It’s nifty because it guides my eyes to whatever needs to be searched, be it a box or blood splatter. It helps the pacing, preventing it from coming to a complete stop. See, that’s an issue with Ace Attorney. There were examples of me trying to find the final clue that allows me to advance but try as I may, it wasn’t the cakewalk I expected. In fact, it sometimes took twenty or so minutes. That said, and this might be a hot take, but I kind of prefer having my hand held. Eliminating that factor of tedium made it less frustrating to deal with.

Is this what they mean when they being attacked by a wall of text?

After I’ve investigated, RAIN CODE shifts to a new gear. Shinigami will teleport Yuma to a Mystery Labyrinth – a place where mystery is materialized. This maze will represent the current case and to reach the finish line, I have to rush through, using the leads that I collected earlier. It, however, won’t be without obstacles. See, I’m not the only one walking these corridors. I’ll be confronted by enemies wanting to keep me from the truth. They’ll attempt to gaslight and lie, hoping to convince me of alternate events. To defeat that, I must use the tools in my arsenal to find the contradictions. Think of it like a combat system where my mistakes harm me. By refuting the fibs, though, I’ll emerge victorious. 

Something I failed to realize was how I should pay acute attention to what’s said. It’s actually genius how Kodaka-san did it. What I mean is that each statement, even if uttered in passing, could be important. It’s then possible to harness the tidbits to challenge a claim made by suspects. It encourages engagement since I’m invested, but as a man with a goldfish memory, it posed a problem. Bluntly, I couldn’t recall anything. I had to brute force it whenever, which fortunately is aided by the trial and error approach. I could keep trying, over and over, and if struck, it didn’t matter. Yuma’s generous defense meant not losing a ton of health. Then again, it may have been that way thanks to another factor.

See mom, I am trying to branch out…

RAIN CODE is a VN adjacent romp with a Skill Tree, granting me a variety of perks. For instance, the branch in the middle is linked to an increase to HP. There’s a variety of passives to select, with the points being earned after capturing the culprit. My performance will then be ranked from C to SS. It’s a neat element of arcade goodness but there is a second function. It’s a pseudo-difficulty setting, too. I can decide to implement a handicap or, if I’m hungry for a challenge, I can forgo the upgrades. It adds customization to the mix, allowing me to tailor my session, thus letting me make it as painless or as hard as I think I can manage.

This tasty gaming souffle also comes with side-quests, mostly of the fetch flavor. It’ll have me running between Person A and B, giving advice or making deliveries. The rewards aren’t terrible but I would say they aren’t incredible either. What made them worthwhile for me was how they gave further context to Kenai Ward, making it feel like a living, breathing city. If the constant meandering gives you pause, never fret. I’m able to fast travel anywhere which is available straight from the main menu. I tried manually walking to the objective and it was grating. I threw in the towel fast which is why I can say that this one feature saves it. Without it, I think folks would, like me, get fed up.

Uhm, Shinigami, that’s not going to answer my…wait, did I have questions?

Perhaps it’s only me but the soundtrack seems heavily influenced by Danganronpa. The melodic nature of these tracks are reminiscent. Hell, the main theme sounded like the exact riff. Another had me anticipating Monokuma to suddenly poof into existence. Apart from those, there’s classical songs that rehashed trauma I have from 2017. What’s crucial, though, is if I was vibing, and you’re damn skippy I was. I found it meshed beautifully with RAIN CODE’s aesthetic. Sure, a few are a miss, blending into the background, but when the majority are bangers, the scales balance. Frankly, the music is simply wonderful.

As for the dub, it’s without exaggeration when I say it’s sublime. Scenes demanding emotion got the cadence it needed. I could sense the trembling fear or sincerity in their tone as they spoke. Much like the music, it matched these characters perfectly. I couldn’t imagine them not having those voices. Credit to the actors who really took to the task of making their parts their own and birthing these creations. They poured themselves into ensuring the sarcasm wasn’t tough to discern or that I could detect when someone was feeling flustered or anxious. I can see the stupidity Shinigami says getting annoying but I found it great.

Okay, I’m starting to think RAIN CODE is simply horny.

Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE+ is phenomenal on the PS5. I tinkered with it on the PS Portal and having that portability with the raw power of this behemoth of a console made for a pleasure like I’ve never felt before. Moreover, this is Danganronpa, but with the various mechanics jumbled. The spirit of the trilogy is intact and it’s potent. You’d actually have to be blind not to see it. There are faults to it, of course, but nothing that derailed my session. I never felt like jumping ship. People might feel the fan-service is grotesque and the plot is too long-winded and to that, I reiterate that RAIN CODE is for a specific niche and it nails it.

Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE+ is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Reviewed on PlayStation 5.

A copy of Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE+ was provided by the publisher.