Master Detective: Rain Code, the latest offering from popular mystery, puzzle, and visual novel developer Spike Chunsoft, centers around an intrepid crew of detectives dedicated to solving all the world’s unsolved mysteries. Described by creator Kazutaka Kodaka as a “lucid-noir adventure,” Rain Code pairs a dark, spooky aesthetic with varied gameplay options including investigating crime scenes, utilizing special deduction powers called Forensic Fortes, and exploring the bizarre Mystery Labyrinth in search of solutions.
New screenshots released by the developer focus on several in-game locations which protagonist Yuma Kokohead and his spectral assistant Shinigami can explore. These include the bustling Kamasaki District, the polluted Riverbank, the high-class Ginma District, and the opulent Kanai Station Square. At the beginning of the game, the Nocturnal Detective Agency find themselves evicted from their previous headquarters in Kamasaki District and forced to operate out of the Riverbank area. What could have happened to the Agency? Hopefully, more on this will be revealed when Rain Code releases.
The dark, rainswept Kanai Ward is not the only place players can explore in Master Detective Archives: Rain Code. Whenever Yuma and the other detectives investigate a case, it generates a special location known as a Mystery Labyrinth. The Mystery Labyrinth will be filled with puzzles and traps that players must solve in order to arrive at the truth of the mystery. The more clever and dangerous the criminal, the more difficult the Labyrinth will be!
Questions that the player must answer about the case will manifest in the Labyrinth in the form of various puzzles. For example, one puzzle shows Shinigami trapped inside a barrel. Using the clues they have collected, players must pick the right letters on the barrel to form a word related to the case. However, they must be careful, because if players mess up, Shinigami could get badly hurt!
Once the players have solved all of the puzzles in each Mystery Labyrinth, they will enter a confrontation with powerful beings called Mystery Phantoms. Mystery Phantoms want to obscure the solutions of each mystery and seem to serve as the game’s equivalent to bosses. Yuma and Shinigami will have to battle the Mystery Phantoms in showdowns called Reasoning Death Matches. Dodge the Phantoms’ incorrect statements while Rebutting with correct statements of your own to reveal contradictions and bring the truth to light! But beware, because unrelated statements – known as “Noise” – will also appear, that must be slashed away before the truth can be addressed. Screenshots released by Spike Chunsoft show that the Reasoning Death Matches bear some similarities to the Class Trials found in the developer’s Danganronpa series, which means they will probably be quite tricky indeed!
Master Detective Archives: Rain Code will release on June 30, 2023 for the Nintendo Switch as well as PC. It is currently available for preorder in both Standard Edition and the exclusive Limited Edition. Limited Edition comes with a number of goodies including a digital novel, a plushie of Shinigami, the Book of Death artbook, and more!
