My Sherlock Holmes senses went off again after hearing about Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE being released on Steam/PC, Xbox Series X|S and the PS5. I was on a mission to get my hands on this release, and thankfully our friends over at Spike Chunsoft graciously gifted us a PS5 key~ Let’s gather all of the clues and lay them out before getting started on what’s new with RAIN CODE+.
Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE was initially released for the Nintendo Switch in June 2023. The new release of Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE+, released in October 2024, will take us on a journey to discover Kanai Ward’s Ultimate Secret! Before we continue, let’s lay out the facts about RAIN CODE – it is a dark fantasy detective action game mixed with a lucid-noir detective vibe and a whole bunch of elaborate whodunits (Who Did It). From the makers of Danganronpa , Spike Chunsoft & Too Kyu Games introduces Yuma Kokohead and his partner Shinigami – a cute spirit haunting him in his journey to become a detective while solving all sorts of mysteries in the isolated and ruthless Kanai Ward, the headquarters of the Amaterasu Corporation. With the help of other true master detectives, Yuma and Shinigami find themselves (sometimes willingly) pulled into all sorts of trouble.
RAIN CODE is played in a third-person view, with chances to solve mysteries and assist the people of the Kanai ward by doing tasks for them. There are also several instances where you are investigating various crime scenes, recreating the crime scenes, participating in Reasoning Death Matches, running for your life, falling into traps in dungeons and more.
Of course, with all of the clues that you discover, Shinigami will help you put those to good use in the Mystery Labyrinth – the place where Yuma brings the truth to light! While the base game is the same, it still feels good to solve an elaborate murder and bring the “truth to light”. The same feeling of anxiousness or “Did I remember that correctly?” or “Am I overthinking this?” pokes at you just like Shinigami when you take too long to solve a mystery.
However, there are two notable changes. The first being five new sub stories that focuses on the other five Master Detectives, it is recommended that you play the base game first but it isn’t a requirement. I found that it was all right to play the sub-stories after the specific Master Detective was featured. Which I love since each of the other Master Detectives had their short moment to shine, and at the time, I wanted to know more about them besides their moment and some of the banter. These five sub-stories deliver that in a way that fleshes them out more and of course, made me more of a fan of Halara Nightmare, and Vivia Twilight
Something else to note is that they added an option for you to listen to the game’s original soundtrack by the composer Masafumi Takada for those who are really into video game music. There is also an art gallery for people who like character designs and costumes.
The third and most noticeable change is the substantial graphical upgrade. The enhanced graphical quality of RAIN CODE+ shows an incredible difference between the Switch and the PS5. The colors are more vibrant, the details on the characters are more noticeable, and you can see that their raincoats are wet and not just shiny. Most importantly, there isn’t a dingy gray filter acting as rain.
Also, the PlayStation 5 version has a 4K compatibility option. Can you say crispy details? In my humble opinion, this is how the game was meant to be seen.
While I loved the original release of RAIN CODE, RAIN CODE+ felt more enjoyable. While the main story has not changed, I will say that the game’s graphical improvement just made it so much better. I wasn’t a fan of the dark grayish, dingy filter that was supposed to rain in the Kanai Ward, let alone unable to see the details of essential characters very well. The blurred and weird filter didn’t do the game justice, but I know the PS5 is a newer system. Its upgrade makes a difference in how much a game can be enjoyed even if the story is good.Â
If you were interested in Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE before, I would suggest purchasing RAIN CODE+ on PS5 or Steam/PC!
