#literally yuma from rain code don’t @ me

[elina-sakura]

💜Why I love Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE💜

Happy anniversary to my favorite video game I’ve gotten last year, and impacted my life for the better! For the anniversary, I’ve decided to do a list of why I love the game so much (alongside doing a separate post of ranking my top ten favorite Rain Code characters). Warning for Spoilers for anybody who hasn’t played the game before.

A Cyberpunk Noir/Dark Fantasy Mystery

I have been really getting into mystery novels for the last few years, been collecting and reading a lot of them pretty quickly. Just the suspense of what could happen and what mysteries lies for the characters and overarching narratives. And especially in rewatch with the context leads to new depths for the characters and world-building.

And one of my favorite aesthetics I love to view pictures of are Cyberpunk, especially with their color palettes having my favorite colors (pink, blue, and purple). Plus, the mixing of dark fantasy into the sci-fi setting makes it into a science fantasy hybrid genre, which I absolutely love. It leads to so much creativity in world-building and storylines and characters to be made. Combining that with the mysteries, it creates such an enriching environment and atmosphere that really draws me into the game before even playing it.

The Story

The thing that always gets me attached to the game are the storylines. Whether it’s the main storyline, the side quests we could do, or just the overarching narrative, I need the story to draw me in. Especially mystery stories on what mysteries lies ahead, and if they pay off well. And of course, they did! From the mystery of our protagonist’s amnesia and his deal with the Death God herself to the isolated city of endless rain to even the grand overarching Great Global Mystery that needs to be solved. The themes also really hit hard once you get to the end of the story, one of the biggest examples being “don’t handle everything on your own.” Which is super fitting for certain characters like Yuma, Makoto, and even Yakou. And the side mysteries were fun to solve of course, even if we only had a few to solve. Chapters 4 and 5 especially hits hard for obvious reasons. But of course, there’s also the side quests with little mysteries and character expansions and world-building that really also helps to make the city feel alive.

The World-Building

We only ever stayed in one setting, which is the isolated city of endless rain, Kanai Ward. Yet there is so much depth and character to the just one setting alone. From the different districts we explored with its own unique settings to the structure of the city to the many inhabitants that resides in the city. I mean, even if they don’t have names and only called by their genders and personality traits, the interactions with them reveals a lot of how living in an isolated city of rain ruled by a corrupt police force and corporation. And the kinds of interests and backstories they have, even if it’s just by little crumbs. Honestly makes the side quests more important since they help to flesh the world-building and the city itself much more than the main story can give. (Plus Kanai Ward’s OST is the perfect song to listen to over and over again).

And even outside the city, there is many world-building that really leaves a lot of questions and rooms for exploration and expansion. Like that there are people with paranormal powers like the Master Detectives (and makes you wonder if there’s more besides Master Detectives). Or that there is a literal unified government in the world, meaning there is much original world-building to be found. Or if there is more supernatural forces besides the Death God and spirits in the world. It leaves room for more side contents to expand the world of Rain Code, or add something like vampires in fanfictions or something. Though I’m really hoping for more side contents of the game like the Japanese mangas that hopefully could get translated to English soon.

The Characters

And of course, what clings me to the game and its story the most are absolutely the characters we followed along. Yuma Kokohead, the kind-hearted yet anxious ‘trainee’ detective, the dirty-mouthed yet tough loved Shinigami, the cowardly yet loyal Chief Yakou, the unique misfits of the Nocturnal Detective Agency, the mysterious yet silly Makoto Kagutsuchi, and even the adorable high school informant, Kurumi Wendy. Following their journeys, seeing them bond together, seeing their struggles, learning more about their backstories and motivations and characters overall, it makes me grow attached to all of them and want to see more of them. Of course, some of them took a while for me to warm up too like Shinigami, or see past some certain flaws that were over-exaggerated for comedy for some reasons (*ahem* Desuhiko *ahem*). I do plan to go more in-depth on my liking of the characters in my top ten list of the Rain Code characters.

As one of the writers’ sayings I follow by, “Characters are what drives the stories.” I wouldn’t love the stories I followed if it weren’t for the characters we were following, and seeing them fall and rise from the challenges. And I especially wouldn’t want to write fanfictions about them if these characters were bland and unlikeable.

Writing Rejuvenation

I have been writing and planning to publish fanfictions for a long time for other medias, but I never ended up finishing them due to my time in real life, the fics I planned being pretty big, and my wavering motivations. It honestly started to feel like it became a stale routine of just planning fanfictions, but never write them out fully. Until I played the video game, become attached with the characters, and came up with many one-shots that can be done quicker than my other fanfictions. These one-shots were fun practice to write full short stories and finally be able to complete them, and practice my writing style.

I have many fanfictions planned out still, including one for a Rain Code anniversary prompt week in just a few days, and a bunch of AUs as well that while may take time, are ones I hope to publish in the future, whether far or near.

The Fandom

I am definitely going to get mushy over this, but this is one of the main reasons why I remain attach to the game, which is the fandom. Although small, they are full of kind and talented people that I love to interact with, or see their talented works in fanfictions, edits, and/or fan arts. I hope in the future I could interact with more of them, and hopefully stay friends for a long time. And I’m excited for many creative works and interactions that I hope to come, and possibly more that will come in the future (as long as they’re good people and not toxic shippers or homophobic or anything else).

💜Happy Anniversary to Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE💜

[troofless]

thoughts on Master Detective Archives: Rain Code

Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is a mess and I hate Kodaka so much. I had hoped my fears would be erased - no butchering of characters like what happened to Chabashira Tenko, god - but it was obvious his fetishes were kept, to my great dismay.

Spoilers under the cut, so be warned.

First off, let’s talk about characters.

Yuma

Yuma is the classic betamale wishywashy protagonist that Kodaka likes to write. In an interview for V3 (iirc) he says he likes to write this type of character because the player can see their growth and cheer for them. The problem is that Yuma is a worse copy of Shuichi who has too little time to develop any character at all and even at the NEAR END of the last mystery he still hesitated at the last moment and had to have Shinigami kick his ass to be ‘encouraged’ into revealing the truth. My opinion of him is neutral-negative at best because he is literally bland, basic, and boring as hell. 

The problem is that his motive isn’t made clear at all - at first he sets out to find his memories, then he pursues the truth to be a proper detective, along the way hiding from the truth and then regaining his determination to find the truth, then he says he’s trying to find the truth to make everyone happy...? And then it stops there...? He leaves the most important part - revealing the truth that he fought so hard for - to Makoto and basically says aight peace out...? This writing is so bad on so many takes I don’t even know what to say, and worse off IT’S A COP OUT BECAUSE HE DOESN’T EVEN DIE. What’s the point? He just left everything to Makoto and dipped from the role. The climax became a fucking disappointment because it was taken out from right under our noses, as if once we solved the mystery the mess, the Pandora’s box we opened by figuring out the truth was magically cleared up by someone else instead of having Yuma taking responsibility for it.

Shinigami

SHINIGAMI HAS NO PLOT RELEVANCE WHATSOEVER AND IS ANNOYING AS HELL. THE GAME WOULD BE 10000000x BETTER WITHOUT HER. I HATE HER AND SHE IS THE WORSE CHARACTER IN THE ENTIRE GAME BARRING NONE. SHE IS KODAKA’S WAY OF PROJECTING HIS FETISHES UNTO THE PLAYER AND I HATE IT.

Shinigami has an assholish personality that endears herself to no one except for people who have a fetish for teenage girls with a goth aesthetic verbally abusing you 24-7. Because that’s what it feels like. She insults Yuma and then constantly insults everyone around Yuma, calls the girls around Yuma skanks or whatever creative stereotype insults you can think of for females, gets annoyed and jealous whenever Yuma so much as breathes around a girl, makes sex jokes around Yuma, who LOOKS LIKE A CHILD. 

Because of this literally Chapter 3 is a living hell with her insulting Fubuki every opportunity she gets.

Every scene with Kurumi is so uncomfortable because she insults Kurumi every opportunity she gets.

I fucking hate Shinigami.

Shinigami constantly doubting people like Vivia, Makoto, and Kurumi is so annoying, she keeps saying ‘See!!! We shouldn’t have trusted them!!! I am your good conscience, listen to me!!! uwu’ when she has literally never done anything helpful for Yuma or endeared herself to him once.

Shinigami literally repeats everything we say or someone says to Yuma like an explain-it-like-I’m-six help forum that I don’t need. I thought there couldn’t ever be an incarnation of Genshin’s Paimon that could be worse but holy fuck.

Shinigami doesn’t have her origins touched upon - What is the Book of Death? Why was she locked up? Why does she have a relation with the Mystery Dungeon when she isn’t even a mystery nut or like solving mysteries??? The fact that this isn’t explained means that we could go this whole time without Shinigami and replace her with a Persona 5 Mementos-like explanation for how Mystery Dungeons exist and it would change nothing. Yuma could be an amnesiac who gave himself amnesia through some drug and it would change nothing about the plot. In fact, Mystery Dungeons are just a rip off of how Mementos and stealing people’s hearts work, complete with Labyrinth Bosses looking like Shadow Bosses and whatnot. Except the gameplay is shittier than Persona 5 (which isn’t a great game) so it sticks out a lot more.

Desuhiko

Desuhiko is amazing and is absolutely carried by his English VA who did a wonderful job. He was only nerfed because his writer felt the need to insert him with his own fetish. Outside of his fetish moments, he is a really cool dude who is proven at least twice to look out for his friends when critical moments come to it and it’s actually refreshing to see him freak out at blood because his job sphere is outside murder cases, which points to some world building and reasonable explanation as to why he’s relegated to Yuma’s assistant in his starring Chapter.

Halara, Vivia and Fubuki are all amazing characters that add so much to the world and I love them and are proof that Kodaka can make good interesting characters without stupid personality flaws (Fubuki’s airheadedness sucks tbh but I can turn a blind eye because she is so sweet and her English VA killed it) when he wants to. 

I like that there was a reasonable explanation to why all these experienced Master Detectives are relegated to side roles and they let Yuma solve the case - in Halara and Vivia’s case it’s because they already know the answer but Halara is actively mentoring Yuma and trying to make him solve the case on his own and Vivia is doing the same for Yuma but while trying to test Yuma on his determination to find the truth no matter what. Desuhiko is not involved in murder cases as a detective but more for undercover roles, and Fubuki was mainly inducted as a detective because of her cheat time powers (which now that I think about it are completely useless unless she has a partner honestly seeing just how useless she is at any type of investigation on her own).

Chief is mid (given a shitty role in Chapter 4), Kurumi is mid, and everyone else just doesn’t exist lol. Yomi is an amazing scumbag of a villain that doesn’t get a satisfying payoff at the end. Instead we get a ‘surprise’ villain, because everyone loves surprise villains, right? No.

Sidequests

Sidequests are boring and don’t ultimately do anything or give any satisfaction or real benefits because the only time it will ever help gameplay is in Mystery Dungeons which are so easy you would have to be a child or a mystery braindead person to not be able to solve. And if you’re playing for the gameplay and not the mystery, well, don’t play this game because the gameplay sucks.

I’ll write up chapter analysis and gripes later but for now I’ll just stew in silence waiting for AI the Somnium Files 3 to release and hoping to god Uchikoshi doesn’t fuck it up like the ending of AINI.

[troofless]

SPOILERS FOR RAIN CODE YEAH

bro wtf is rain code 

the mysteries were so easy to solve and the final chapter was so rushed and completely isolated from the first 4 chapters and the ‘surprising’ reveal was so easy to deduce from just one clue (the moment i saw the meat buns). the only time i was ever impressed with the game was when they told me oh yeah the pink blood was a fakeout all along. otherwise i literally hate the game

3/6 of the chapter mysteries are all the same fucking archetype of locked room murders, like c’mon. don’t be lazy. actually, there are 3 more because chapter 1 has 4 ‘locked room’ mysteries!!!! all 4 of chapter 1′s locked room mysteries are the same ‘supposed locked room murders that are not actually locked room murders but lock the door/escape with a gimmick’. and they’re executed so badly it’s an insult to the locked room mystery genre. then chapter 0′s and chapter 4′s locked room mystery are actual locked room mysteries but at this point i’m just tired of using the same formula, like dude we can have murder mysteries without using locked room, but noooo

shinigami and desuhiko’s butchered personality are obviously a result of the director’s fetish

i hate shinigami so much she didn’t add anything at all and is basically a worse copy of tama from ai the somnium files nirvana initiative who is actually funny and competent and has good chemistry with her master and can make funny sex jokes at the same time

yuma as a character is literally shuichi babyman betamale archetype but 100x worse because shuichi at least managed to deduce actual hard mysteries

im just gonna go back to appreciating umineko now