With a lead creative team consisting of powerhouses of the ever-popular Danganronpa series, you might think that they would look at releasing a fourth, fifth or sixth instalment. However, the more you look into Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, the more you get the sense that they had explored the idea all they could or wanted to, and wanted to try their hands with something new. At least new narrative-concept-wise, with Spike Chunsoft and the development team at Too Kyo Games presenting a new murder mystery game titled Master Detective Archives: Rain Code on the Nintendo Switch. With a new setting, forgoing the iconic killer teddy bear, brand new characters and a whole new approach to investigating and solving mysteries – is Master Detective Archives a strong start to something new, or a one-hit flop? Read on to find out!
In Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, you fill the shoes of Yuma Kokohead, beginning the game by waking up in a storeroom of a train station, with no memories of the past, a letter indicating you have been accepted as part of the legendary ‘World Detective Organization (WDO)’, and oh, there is a shinigami who is now tethered to you by a contract you don’t recall signing. Following the instructions provided in his letter and boarding a train – he is immediately drawn into a mystery. The train he is on, destined towards the controversial company city ‘Kanai Ward’, has one too many WDO guests. And as the stench of murder begins to penetrate the cabin, it falls to Yuma and his death god companion to discover the culprit. Leaving little time between starting a new game and the first mystery being afoot was a smart decision, helping get players invested in the darker world of Master Detective Archives: Rain Code.
After hooking players in with an extensive prologue which helps set the scene for the game ahead, the narrative is broken into a further five mystery chapters and an additional epilogue chapter – each of which features a different case that, while not all may be related at first, all build upon the overarching mysteries surrounding the Kanai Ward and the Amaterasu Corporation which runs and exiles it from the rest of the world. Each of the mysteries meets or exceeds the quality of those found in the Danganronpa series, although do occasionally fall into the same tropes found in the visual novel series. From murder atop a clock tower to a mysterious cold case in an all-girls school, there is much variety awaiting Yoko, the other detectives of the WDO and most importantly, you.
Outside of the story cases, the social link-esque system of forming camaraderie with NPCs has been removed, understandable given the more serious, mature nature of the characters and the game itself. Instead, between cases, Master Detective Archives: Rain Code takes full advantage of its more open (but not open world) environments by letting you undertake missions. These are usually just simple tasks but help provide context and complexity to the world that would otherwise fall through the cracks.
The major issue with the narrative, which ultimately is a theme I found throughout the delivery of Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is just how slow-paced everything can be at times. Long drawn-out cutscenes, needing to go back and forth for seemingly no story benefit, and slowly navigating environments tend to be the norm. While I can understand this reflecting a pace appropriate for those who need to take in everything to understand a case or reflecting the pace of an unknown murder case, whether for this reason, padding out the game time or for technical restraints – it didn’t ruin the game by any means but left me mildly irked.
One of the more substantial differences between Danganronpa and Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is that the game takes place in a fully 3D environment, and while taking advantage of 2D character portraits and CG artwork on occasion, features full character models, rendered environments and 3D cutscenes of a quality I would expect. Although it may not compare to the latest modern-day hardware, Master Detective Archives: Rain Code takes full advantage of what the Nintendo Switch is capable of, presenting the striking neon-lit streets of the Kanai Ward, accented by a continual stream of rain. While the design is good overall, reused assets in the Mystery Labyrinths do get dull quickly, and the animated cutscenes are greatly hampered while playing with English dubbing enabled, with no syncing of voice acting with the mouth flaps. Given the quality of the English voice acting, it is clear they didn’t half-ass that component, but it boggles my mind why they didn’t at least include alternate video clips with the correct mouth flaps…
Regarding music backing, with composer Masafumi Takada at the helm, you should know what to expect. The soundtrack is up to their normal standards – offering a diverse range of tracks complemented by cyberpunk techno undertones that suit the highly-technological and secretive nature of the Kanai Ward and Master Detective Archives: Rain Code itself. Voice acting, whether you opt to go English or Japanese, is also strong aside from the aforementioned cutscene issue, and it was nice to see the English dub voice cast credited in many places in the same way the Japanese cast are – namely promotional materials.
The best way to describe the gameplay of Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is ‘Class Trials…. but’. Because you are controlling a character who is at least expected to be a master detective, the cases are arguably much more complex and require a bit more interaction and engagement than with Danganronpa. Typically, the featured secondary character of each arc will also utilise their own special ability to assist with the case. For instance, they might use post-cognition to see the crime scene as it was when first discovered. Ultimately in the discovery phase, you are always guaranteed to find what you need and is a linear experience with some semblance of player autonomy… as one would expect lest the next stage be useless.
In place of ‘class trials’, solving the mystery is much more involved. Yoko and Shinigami have access to the Mystery Labyrinth, formed in a metaphysical realm by a mystery, within which the answer can be discovered, although should you fail, you will be left wandering its labyrinthian halls forever. Using the clues you uncovered during the discovery phase, you will answer questions, partake in Reasoning Death Matches against figures seeking to obscure the truth from you (most akin to the Class Trials of old), and take part in mini-games akin to those of Danganronpa (Such as a pop-up pirate game themed word puzzle and the piecing the mystery together a la manga style). Nothing too dissimilar from what you may have found in the creative team’s past works, but what I liked was that each labyrinth had its own unique mini-games – that did not overstay their welcome but also offered arguably some of the best, unique experiences. While the game’s pacing during the labyrinth could sometimes be monotonous, the developers have most certainly improved upon their formula. A focused approach to a limited cast size in each scenario also contributes to this improvement.
The two major game modes together unify and present some competently constructed mysteries, and help players take the clues and their own interpretation of the events that could have unfolded, and progressively nut out the truth. Alternatively, if you are a bit confused, you can use a range of unlockable skills to increase your health or provide boons during different labyrinth challenges, to assist in weeding out the correct answer so you can go forward. As with the investigation mode, there is only one hard truth, and the game mostly prohibits you from going off on unplanned tangents.
Outside of these labyrinths, most of the gameplay consists of going place-to-place, progressing through the narrative, completing side-quests and interacting with the world. Why do this? Many actions you do in the game will net you at least a small number of Detective Points or DP, allowing you to purchase the aforementioned optional skills to assist in clearing the labyrinths – whether by making it easier to get an SSS rank or aiding in a conundrum you are stuck on. There is a lot of great flavour text and optional scenes between Yoko and secondary characters to unlock so I would recommend doing this anyway, but it is nice they have rewarded players with a few trinkets for taking the time to enjoy the creativity the game world offers.
By completing everything Master Detective Archives: Rain Code has to offer, you are looking at a playtime of around 25-35 hours, give or take depending on your playstyle. A pretty good playtime, even if the game feels a tad padded in places. Plus, thanks to a season pass, optional DLC chapters around each of the other Master Detectives are in the works, so am excited to see what Spike Chunsoft and Too Kyo Games have in store to take advantage of their own distinct boons.
Though there’s certainly a desire for Too Kyo Games to develop a fourth instalment of Danganronpa, their effort in creating Master Detective Archives: Rain Code provides a refreshing and distinct take on the murder mystery genre. By blending familiar elements with innovative concepts, they’ve delivered a rewarding gaming experience rich with compelling mysteries. While there are areas that hinder the overall experience – notably its slow pacing and the synchronization of English voice acting with the animations in cutscenes – these elements don’t critically detract from the overall quality of the game. With the introduction of Master Detective Archives, Too Kyo Games has set a solid foundation for what could potentially become a new franchise, with intriguing lore that could be adapted to more environments than just locked-down schools and a murderous teddy bear.
Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is now available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
