REVIEW: Master Detective Archives - RAIN CODE is an incredible adventure

A great mystery will respect your intelligence, offering satisfactory answers to every question while leaving you craving more with each new clue and challenge that you discover. Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE combines all of those aspects in a fantastic adventure that blends an intriguing and mature story with an over-the-top cast, capped off with an exhilarating way to solve mysteries.

The story takes place a city where the rain never stops, Kanai Ward, a place fully controlled by the megacorporation known as Amaterasu Corporation. Kanai Ward has also been completely isolated from the world for years, giving birth to multiple mysteries that no one has been able to solve. Hence why the World Detective Organization (WDO), an extralegal organization dedicated to solve the world’s mysteries, decides to send a handful of their best detectives to Kanai Ward, including the protagonist – detective-in-training Yuma Kokohead.

Unfortunately, before Yuma arrives to Kanai Ward, he loses his memories and is also being haunted by a spirit, Shinigami. Therefore, Yuma has to solve the mystery of what he did in the past and why Shinigami is haunting him, in addition to understand every enigma he encounters in Kanai Ward. In order to decipher those conundrums, Yuma and the other WDO detectives must first explore the rainy city and then solve every question by entering the Mystery Labyrinth.

In the first half of every chapter, Yuma can freely explore the city. Exploration is great: the many districts of Kanai Ward offer a different feeling while preserving the common theme of rain and cyberpunk. The neon lights that cover the city give the game a very unique aesthetic. You are also given a mission at the beginning of each chapter, but you can (and should) explore every nook and cranny before heading to your destination. Doing so will allow you to encounter Sidequests, find Memory Shards, and accumulate Detective Points (DP).

Sidequests are clearly marked on your map and they provide you with a closer look at the lives of locals. In later chapters, you can even receive Sidequests from characters that were involved in major cases, letting you see how their lives progress after Yuma’s interactions with them.

Memory Shards, on the other hand, are not marked on the map; instead, you have little clues about where to find them. A clue like “Yellow Car and Lion Statue” encourages you to look through the city for both landmarks together. Looking for them was extremely fun, which is enough of a reward by itself, but every time you find one you unlock a memory. Those memories are not related to Yuma’s lost past, but instead depict little moments that Yuma shared with other WDO detectives. These extra scenes were a welcome addition, since you get to know the members of your team better throughout the game.

Additionally, interacting with certain points of interest that you find throughout the districts let you win Detective Points. You can use DP to increase your skills, which in turn will help you solve mysteries in a Mystery Labyrinth.

Before heading to a Mystery Labyrinth, though, Yuma must collect enough evidence and clues to solve the mysteries that appear in each chapter. However, he will not investigate alone but with the help of the other WDO detectives and their Forensic Forte.

The Forensic Forte is a special ability that allows WDO detectives to solve mysteries in unique ways – and Yuma, in some situations, can use them as well. These supernatural skills range from having the ability to see a crime scene at the moment the crime was first discovered to hearing the most imperceptible sounds within an area, or even the ability to disguise yourself as any other person. By using these abilities, plus following the helpful advise of Shinigami, Yuma can then collect enough clues to solve any mystery he finds.

Nonetheless, Amaterasu Corporation will do everything in their power to prevent Yuma from finding the truth. Fortunately, Shinigami will be able to take Yuma to a Mystery Labyrinth where he will put together all his findings to solve the mysteries at hand.

A Mystery Labyrinth is a mystic realm where Yuma will have to face challenges, quizzes and fights in order to discover the truth. Once inside, all clues that Yuma found will materialize into Solution Keys that will allow him to open doors, solve riddles, and face Mystery Phantoms in Reasoning Death Matches (RDM).

RDMs are another highlight of this game. In them, you face Mystery Phantoms using logic. Those Phantoms are representations of real-world people that are trying to interfere with the case. Overall, the character design and art direction of the game are great, but Mystery Phantoms go a step above the rest. Just like when a character suffers a breakdown in the Ace Attorney games, the Phantoms’ design is an over-the-top representation of their most significant characteristics. Battling against them in stylish sequences using logic and discovering contradictions in their statements is so satisfying and adds an action element to the deductions stage of the game.

In case any section of a Mystery Labyrinth feels particularly challenging, the player can spend DP that they accumulate during the exploration section of the game to increase their Detective Rank and acquire Labyrinth Skills. Such skills can lower the number of options to choose from in a quiz or make your character move faster in RDMs, for example. Also, if the player fails any challenge, they can quickly try again while fast-forwarding any dialogue. In fact, the fast-forward option is available at any time, even for new dialogue, but it would be unwise to use since skipping story bits will be equivalent to skipping the most important part of this game.

Supported by the fun gameplay loop of exploring the city and solving mysteries in the Mystery Labyrinth, the intriguing story is both the backbone and the star of this adventure. Why is Kanai Ward, the city of eternal rain, home to so many unsolved mysteries? Why is Amaterasu Corporation interfering with the WDO? Why is Yuma plagued by amnesia and haunted by Shinigami? Those, and so many other questions, will arise as you progress and learn more about the fascinating and outlandish cast.

The characters that you find, both enemies and friends, are a collection of over-the-top personalities that will make you laugh and cry. Some you will come to love, while others you’ll completely despise. Their designs, too – including their ever changing dialogue portraits – are full of interesting details and are crafted with the highest quality. The character development for many of them is also great, and the writing is just superb, delivered by great voice acting and an outstanding localization. This is a game where nearly every line of dialogue matters.

Every moment feels important because it tells a story, explains some lore, or simply makes you laugh. The game respects your time to the point that, even when you’re just exploring locations, Shinigami will interact with the background to provide hilarious moments. Furthermore, the amount of references to other media was too much to count: video games, movies, manga, anime, game shows… The game manages to hook you in a number of ways, which really speaks to the great level of storytelling on display.

The game also respects your intelligence with its smart writing. Any deduction is logical. Any out-of-place situation will be explained. Any mystery will have a satisfactory resolution within the fantastical realm of RAIN CODE. The game is engaging and very entertaining, making you go through a huge range of emotions in just minutes, while simultaneously challenging your beliefs about truth and justice.

The story is very mature and dark, and sometimes a character’s sense of morality may differ broadly to the standard. The game also uses profanity and some suggestive themes, and while there are no visual representations, there are mentions of very extreme cases of violence – so be aware before starting this adventure if any of that sounds objectionable to you.

Loading times are sometimes a little bit long, but absolutely nothing game-breaking. In fact, some hints and terms pop up while loading, including terms that are about to show up in the story, so it is great to read them to understand the lore better. In two occasions, a menu showed button prompts that didn’t apply to it, but nothing that affected the game.

Joining the ranks of great detective adventures like Ace Attorney, Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE is a game full of smart writing, memorable characters, and intriguing mysteries. Your trip to the rainy city of Kanai Ward will be enjoyable from beginning to end and will, in fact, leave you wanting for more adventures with the World Detective Organization.