#MDA:RC Spoilers

[snivyartjpeg]

born from you

[luckysheikah]

Just finished chapter 4 of Raincode and

While I was playing, I noticed something weird on Yomi's mystery phantom. I couldn't tell what but it looked... wrong? For it to be Yomi?

However. If you separate the two halves of the mystery phantom, you can see that the white side does look very much like Yomi...

And the other looks like Yakou.

[fragments-of-despair]

Also, this I felt needed to be a separate post from my overall thoughts on Rain Code. Spoilers ahead.

Speaking as a nonbinary person. Halara Nightmare is one of the best nonbinary characters I've personally seen in a video game in quite a while.

They have a personality and interests unrelated to their gender identity. They're a human person. They live to the end of the story and go on to have a life after the game, able to move forward with the others in the WDO. They're a competent, confident, and really cool adult who knows themself and what they want in life. And I love them for it.

I know there's probably better written NB characters out there, and that my current bar is pretty low all things considered, but when most of the NB rep is non-human, villain, a child, or dead? Don't get me wrong, I love my non-human, villain, and child NB characters as much as the next person, but it's nice to have someone like Halara once in a while, you know?

Also, this is a nonbinary character in a game from the creators of Danganronpa of all people. Considering their track record of inclusion of Queer characters in their games, Halara is like being presented with a pavlova from god after living with stale McDonalds for a decade.

Halara is one of the best parts of Rain Code for me. Hands down.

[caeboa]

Isn't this... what you wanted? Been a month so I thought it was about time I shared my page from @neondownpourzine the Rain Code zine! I pitched a chapter 4 mosaic because all the moving pieces in the location and the people there felt like a fun one to represent! A year later since I finished this game and I still really like it! Check out the zine if you can, it's a free download with lots of great content.

[loremaster]

hi rain code fandom. i finally finished cleaning up some months-old doodles about an au that has been living in my head rent free this whole time. i call it “boba au” off this image i made during the game (and also took months to finish). the concept is that they all get off the train and get boba, and then everyone joins the nocturnal detective agency and yuma gets TWO assist characters per case. many things change.

^ above: chapters 1-2

v below: minor spoilers for chapter 3, BIG spoilers for chapter 4

and now you understand why i have been going feral with this au sitting in my head for so long. yes there is more where this came from. this is just the beginning of boba au. be afraid

(also yes that is zilch alexander the real zilch alexander, with the world’s most expensive hat)

[renavi0]

VIVIAKOU WEEK

Day 1: Death

Viviakou week has started! And I decided to start it with something quite sad...

[weemopuu]

hiko's comment kinda did smth for me orz

↓↓ Bonus Undercut! ↓↓

imagine settling with holding hands ^q^

also here for ref:

[the-number-of-all-time]

Raincode Chapter 5 spoilers!

I was playing animal crossing forever ago and Shrunk started a joke and my thought with it was "Oh I think Number One would say this" and so I take photo and make a quick doodle wahoo

[wackpedion]

this is how chapter 4 went right

[alfiely-art]

A little animatic for the chapter 5 fight! Please turn on audio :>

I very much dislike some of the frames but it's okay

[snivyartjpeg]

yes i would fuck my clone. sorry for party rockin

[liliacult]

!!!SPOLIERS!!!

HEHESUSUJJ HERES MY NUMBER ONE REDESIGN!!!!! I really wanted to draw him in action too and I’m really proud of this one!! (Even if the back ground sucks ASSSSSS)

I especially love how disinterested she looks AAAUFHHHH

[fragments-of-despair]

Done with Rain Code. And my thoughts are....conflicted. Not too negative, but still pretty jumbled, so everything I go over will be all over the place.

If you want my TLDR thoughts now: Is the game good? Yeah, I'd say it's good. Is it worth the $60+ price tag? Absolutely not. Base game is a solid $35. If all the upcoming DLC were included at the start or they filled the game more, then I'd say it would have been worth the $60 or higher price tag. It's a solid game, but it's better to wait to get it on sale or as a present for your birthday.

Anyway, spoilers below the cut. And it'll be pretty spoiler heavy, so this is your last chance to back out.

First, the twist: The good old "Soylent Green is People" twist. On the one hand, didn't expect it here. On the other hand, it's not the first time cannibalism appeared in something Kodaka worked on (I mean, we all remember what happened regarding Despair!Teruteru, right?), so I really shouldn't be surprised. And figuring out how they got the bodies made enough sense. Overall, it's an okay mystery to solve. But I honestly think in comparison to chapter 4, this was a bit of a let down. Maybe if we got more hints to it or something or maybe if they didn't just drop the idea of the homunculus in chapter 2.

Overall, okay twist. Okay mystery. Could have been better.

As for the characters that actually appeared were pretty solid this chapter. This was probably the best Shinigami was the entire game, and I really wish we'd gotten this quality of writing for her more consistently through the entire game. Her sacrifice at the end actually did start to tug on my heart strings, and this was the first time I actually believed she and Yuma had any sort of bond.

Makoto made for a solid antagonist at the end, and the reveal of Yuma being Number One and had taken someone else's identity was interesting in concept. But I am really disappointed in how the path there was set up. We get one flashback to when Yuma sees Number One for the first time back in chapter three, and I knew immediately that our Yuma was Number One because the memory didn't do anything to hide the fact. You could tell by the silhouette of Number One that it's the Yuma we play as. And because at that point we knew about homunculus research, Makoto's line when Yuma leaves the tower after their initial meeting made it obvious he was a homunculus clone of him. But I thought that overall, the interactions between Yuma and Makoto and the conflict presented was a solid 6/10.

Kurumi is a fine enough member of the cast and I like her well enough, but I just don't think she and Yuma had as strong a connection, and I really didn't buy the whole "aw, they're crushing on each other" aspect of their relationship. To be honest, I think Yuma had better romantic chemistry with Desuhiko of all people in comparison. Maybe if Kurumi was utilized in the story better, I'd have more to say, but really, she's just kind of there to drop plot points in our laps every so often. I wish they'd done more with her.

And as for the ramen shop owner reveal......

Honestly, the reveal of the ramen shop owner being the real Yuma Kokohead embodies the biggest issue with Rain Code as a whole. And that issue is the fact that the characters aren't properly utilized in the entire setting. You don't get to know them. You don't get to build meaningful connections. You don't get the chance to really remember them. I cannot tell you how many times I've gone back trying to find all the times Yuma said he interacted with this guy and all I can really find is the one time in the beginning where they bumped into each other.

What made Danganronpa work is that it's biggest strength is it's Characters. The Characters are the core that lead the story, and everything from the mysteries to the overall themes are carried on their backs. We get to know them and spend time with them, and as a result, we care about the story and the mysteries because we care about most of, if not all of, these characters. We care about them, so we care about what they care about.

With Rain Code, we care about maybe a small handful of characters, but that's it. We aren't given a reason to care about the victims. We aren't given a reason to care about the culprits. We do care, but that's more because the way the plot is written tells us we're supposed to without showing us why. It gets close with some (Kurumi during Chapter 2), and outright does wonders at it in other cases (chapter 4), but most of the time we're just told "you need to care about this now hurry up and get it done" (this is especially egregious in chapter 3).

If Rain Code were a bit more open-world/sandbox-esque, where we go around getting to know people and solving smaller cases before moving onto the major story cases, we could have had something incredible. I mean, we're part of a detective agency for crying out loud. They could have done something more with that concept alone. Imagine what we could have gotten if we took on multiple client cases, working with different detectives and slowly growing our stills before moving onto the major story cases. We could have had something so good.

And then there's the ending...…

I'm sorry, but if you're going to present a choice like "kill your clone and destroy the labyrinth" and "stay in the labyrinth and sacrifice yourself", you need to commit. Here, it doesn't matter which choice you make, Yuma just decides anyway to stay until Shinigami offers to break the contract and send Yuma back to the real world. As a result, the epilogue stays the same regardless. I get that it's supposed to be culminative of the themes and Yuma's experiences, but as a player, as a writer, such an ending doesn't work for me in this particular case.

I think it would have been more powerful if Yuma's choices were presented and you either:

Pick an ending, and have the epilogue reflect that ending, letting the players decide how the mystery should end based on how the player interprets Yuma's journey and reflects all of what he's experienced up until now. Then we can see the aftermath and where Yuma plans to go from that point forward, taking on the ideals he's gained as this amnesiac trainee detective.

Have the options be presented, being told these are the only options, and then Yuma cuts them all down saying "No, the truth is that we can find a better solution than this", building on the concept of finding the truth while also bringing happiness to others using said truth, like the game keeps bringing up. Despite being the only ending, it'd have more weight because it really does hold to the core idea that Yuma, the Detective, lives by.

The ending is fine as is, I guess, but it's honestly a bit of a let down in comparison to what it could have been.

Final thoughts: Master Detective Archives Rain Code, as a whole, is an okay came. It had great music, amazing art, and some really clever mysteries. However, the lack of proper character relationships, the racist sprites in chapter 3, the underutilization on the concept of Fortes and the detectives in general leave a lot to be desired. Killing off half the detectives in the first hour of the game I feel really hurt the overall story, and the fact that you don't get proper, smaller cases in which to get to know the extended cast hinders and instead are left to try and find little statues in a completely optional mini game/side quest to unlock the one-on-one feature took out a lot of the overall enjoyment for me. The quality of writing for some of the characters is amazing, but that quality did not extend to the rest, and that's disappointing.

I want to love this game. And if we get a sequel I hope they really work hard to flesh out the world and make it more robust, lean hard on the concept of it being a mystery solving game with more smaller mysteries to solve, and give us more meaningful connections to the characters that allow us to care about them on a deeper level.

But as it stands, Rain Code feels empty, and really needed more time to really simmer and build itself into something more. Had they taken the time to ask "how can we make this feel more alive?", I think we could have gotten one of the best games of the 2020s.

I like this game. But I don't love it. And I am very hesitant to recommend it to anyone who isn't already a hardcore Danganronpa fan.

Overall, Master Detective Archives Rain Code is just....okay. A solid C-. A 6/10. A fine way to pass a weekend if nothing else. If you can get it on sale, borrow a copy, or if you need to round out your list to Santa Claus, this will do you fine and will scratch just enough of that itch for mysteries or for Danganronpa-eque content. But I don't think it's worth the hype, the high price, or the energy if it's not immediately calling to you.

Maybe my opinions will change in the years to come, but right now, I don't think I'll be coming back to Rain Code anytime soon. Or if I do, it'd probably be for a major fic rewrite.

Well, if you've made it this far, thanks for reading. If you agree with what I said, cool. Glad we're in agreement. If you don't agree, that's cool too. This is just my silly personal opinion, and I'm glad you're able to form your own conclusions on the game based on your experiences.

Have a good day.

[biggie-chcese]

what if we kissed 😳😳😳 in the mystery labrynth 😳😳😳 and we were both girls 😳😳😳

[zingeralmighty]

This is just how Rain Code Chapter 4 ended right guys?

Stills under the cut

[loremaster]

Spot the difference!