I am not a hater; I have played and enjoyed a lot of games on Rain Code's family tree. Some of them I liked (Danganronpa 1/2, the various Ace Attorneys, Somnium Files), some I loved (Danganronpa V3), some I REALLY REALLY loved (Zero Escape 1/2/3). So I am quite bummed about how much I don't like Rain Code.

It's just not very fun to play. The player character is the most "confused amnesiac child whose only character trait is not understanding anything" imaginable, and every exchange of dialog goes on about 3 times longer than it probably should. This is one of my biggest problems with this game, so I want to really hammer it home: Everyone in this game talks so much, and repeats everything all of the time. Nothing is said once that can be said 5 times.

It's not that there's nothing here to like - it LOOKS incredible, the visual style of the city is off the charts, and there were some cool "a-ha" moments during the "solve the case" segments.

But it's less than the sum of its parts, and the sum of its parts already isn't very good. The Chapter 2 case is conceptually cool but the solution is completely obvious right away, and then you still have to spend like 2-3 hours going through the motions of having your guy go "HUH???! WHUH?!?!" as he slowly figures it out. All of chapter 3 could have been cut without the game being any worse for it. I think it might actually literally be true that nothing that happens in that chapter has any bearing at all on the rest of the game, and the case itself is such a weaksauce pile of nothing that I'm still a little mad about it.

Unlike the Danganronpa games, this one actually has an antagonist whose motives make sense and who you might even catch yourself sympathizing with. It is a shame, then, that more than half of this game is made of disconnected murder cases that do not dovetail into any kind of bigger picture, and so this antagonist really only has any real presence during the last bits of the very final chapter (which, the final chapter is also bad. Most of the non-trial bits of this game are "walk to the yellow exclamation mark on the map", but the final chapter really takes that to new heights).

The "side quests" (massive sarcasm quotes) are pointless and boring, and if you do play this game, you should feel enormously free to ignore all green exclamation/question marks on the map. They are painfully uninteresting. They're also incredibly short though, so I guess that cancels out.

I was going to write something about how poorly written the game's conclusion and epilogue are, but I don't think I need to say anything more to get my opinion across. I regret giving into the sunk cost fallacy and actually playing this game all the way through, instead of playing something better and more interesting instead.

Already 100% the PS5 version and currently recording an 100% walkthrough for steam here but this is my favorite game of all time. 6 years of development really shows as this is Kodaka best work, even more than Danganronpa 2.

My genuine wish is for the game not to be forgotten. I love the setting, the voice acting, the mystery labyrinth. Rui art really does shine here despite the 3d models taking up most and only having face portraits but man when yuma sad, you really feel it - highly recommend the full art book of raincode as well -

The PLUS version doesn't add too much - still graceful for the track names and the digital art book commentary - but being on multiple platforms really does help. I also do wish that the Yakou novel was included in some way. They should of made new 10 tracks like, urgh, the bad summer camp game cause having the SAME 10 tracks - if you got the switch/ps5 versions - despite the full game having the full soundtrack does suck.

STORY

⬜ Masterpiece
⬜ Amazing
⬜ Great
✅ Good
⬜ Average
⬜ Bad
⬜ Awful
⬜ None
🔶 7/10

GAMEPLAY

⬜ Perfect
⬜ Amazing
✅ Great
⬜ Good
⬜ Average
⬜ Bad
⬜ Hot Garbage
⬜ None
🔶 8/10

VISUALS

⬜ Realistic
⬜ Modern
✅ Anime
⬜ Pixelated
⬜ Unique
✅ Impressive
✅ Good
⬜ Average
⬜ Bad
⬜ Gross
🔶 7/10

DIFFICULTY

⬜ Press A
✅ Easy
✅ Medium
⬜ Hard
⬜ Easy to Learn/Hard to Master
✅ Puzzling
⬜ Difficult
⬜ Dark Souls
🔶 7/10

MUSIC & SFX

⬜ Heavenly
⬜ Amazing
✅ Great
⬜ Good
⬜ Average
⬜ Bad
⬜ WTF
⬜ None
🔶 8/10

VOICE ACTING

✅ Superb
⬜ Amazing
⬜ Great
⬜ Good
⬜ Average
⬜ Bad
⬜ Cringy
⬜ None
🔶 10/10

GRIND

✅ Little
⬜ Average
⬜ Lots
⬜ So... Much... Grinding
✅ For 100% Completion
⬜ For Side Quests
⬜ For Leaderboards/Ranks
⬜ None
🔶 8/10

EXTRAS & SIDE QUESTS

⬜ Outstanding
⬜ Amazing
⬜ Great
⬜ Good
✅ Average
✅ Bad
⬜ FETCH ME THIS AND FETCH ME THAT!
⬜ None
🔶 5/10

GAME TIME

⬜ Infinity
⬜ 100-200 Hours
⬜ 70-100 Hours
✅ 30-50 Hours
⬜ 20-30 Hours
⬜ 10-20 Hours
⬜ 5-10 Hours
⬜ FOUUUUR HOOOURS?!
🔶 9/10

END-GAME CONTENT

⬜ Infinite
⬜ Large Amount
⬜ Fair Amount
⬜ Small Amount
⬜ End-Game > Main Game
⬜ Not Worth Playing
⬜ There SHOULD be an End-Game :'(
✅ None
🔶 N/A

REPLAYABILITY

⬜ OVER and OVER and OVER!
⬜ Replay it a Few Times
⬜ Replay it Once
⬜ For Gameplay
⬜ For Story
⬜ For Challenge Runs
⬜ With Mods
✅ None
🔶 3/10

PRICE

⬜ BUY NOW!
✅ Recommended
✅ Buy on Sale
⬜ Not Recommended
⬜ STAY AWAY!
⬜ Free
⬜ HORRIBLE MICROTRANSACTIONS TO PLAY!
🔶 7/10

BUGS

⬜ None
✅ Very Minor
⬜ Some
⬜ Annoying
⬜ Cyberpunk 2077
⬜ Unplayable
🔶 8/10

PC SPECS

⬜ Potato
⬜ Windows 95
✅ Decent
✅ Fast
⬜ Very Fast
⬜ Supercomputer

AUDIENCE

⬜ Kids
✅ Teens
✅ Adults

REVIEW:

I'm Yuma Kokohead! Or.. maybe I'm a Kokohead for liking this game? This game, with the story created by the great mind of Kazutaka Kodaka (Danganronpa), gets a lot of hate. Some of that hate is very unnecessary. Sometimes it's best not to compare one thing to another, or it can really shroud a person's opinion on something. Therefore, I will defend this game!

Yes, there are some flaws. But the good outweighs the bad. It's not a wonderful game, but at times it can be. It's not a bad game, but at times it can be. The story can be wishy-washy, but I was still intrigued to continue playing. I was interested in "the truth" most of the entire game.

Maybe I'm biased because it's more of Kodaka's work; Danganronpa 1, 2 and V3 are some of my all-time favorite games. Maybe it's because I was craving more of a detective styled game. Or maybe I am seeing the game condemned for the wrong reasons. Of course, there are flaws in this game. It's undeniable. However, I can happily admit that I would recommend playing through this game.

It's got a lot of love poured into it and that fact is very obvious. From the story, to the voice acting, to the wacky environments - it's a wonderful step in the right direction for Kodaka. I hope he takes some criticism to heart and goes all out on whatever he may create next.

Thank you, Kodakahead. I will continue to play your games until I die.

RUNDOWN:

STORY

The story, at times, was good. And I liked the main story. But the primary appeal of the game are the actual cases & Mystery Labyrinths, even if they can be predictable and don't have the same special "twists" Danganronpa has.

The characters were mostly pretty great! Everyone hates on Yuma and says he's a boring protagonist - I disagree. I think he's perfect for this story. I ended up liking Shinigami, but I never loved her. The main detectives were mostly good, too; especially Halara, Vivia and Yakou. Some side characters were good, others bad. I didn't care for any of the Peacekeepers "bosses." They were forgettable.

There’s a TON of potential for a GREAT next game, if they focus less on Shinigami (maybe even straight up not including her, just create an entirely different world and story that’s NOT a sequel) and create a better overall main story plot, with a truly twisted story that can blow your mind.

I have a lot more to say about the story. For more of a deep dive into the good and bad, click the link at the bottom of the page, for more of my compliments and complaints!

GAMEPLAY

Probably the reason I liked this game the most. Sure, there are some easy Mystery Labyrinths, but sometimes I would get stumped until thinking it through. The mini-games during the Mystery Labyrinths were fun and it was such a cool idea to have a "battle system" that dodges "lies" and strikes with "truth." I wouldn't mind playing Rain Code 2 with this same system!

VISUALS

The world was very nice looking, but towards the end I got burned out exploring Kanai Ward's cities. It was pretty, but too flashy and samey feeling throughout most places. Sometimes it even felt uninspired, like the Mystery Labyrinths. I'm just glad that there were at least some differences during the Mystery Labyrinths or I would've got burned out quick.

The character models looked great, except their.. noses? When faced forward, some noses looked strange, almost resembling skeletons. It kind of bugged me. The anime portraits were mostly fire, resembling Danganronpa. I didn't love the Mystery Phantoms looks, though; uninspired, like a unicorn vomited them out.

DIFFICULTY

The game is sometimes easy, so I HIGHLY recommend playing without using Skills. I'm glad I didn't. It would've been a flat out cake walk with some of the broken abilities. Why make the game easier than it is when I can figure things out myself and feel smart?

MUSIC & SFX

The music has Danganronpa vibes (same composer), so it's great. However, it wasn't super memorable and didn't give me the same hype feeling as Danganronpa did.

VOICE ACTING

Almost phenomenal. The actors assigned to the characters did a fantastic job. Lucien Dodge (Yuma) provided great voice acting as the protagonist!

GRIND

The only grind is for 100% completion of the game.

EXTRAS & SIDE QUESTS

There are side quests, but they are BEYOND uninspired. It's where the game fails the most. They're just, "talk to this person" and... "talk to that person." Luckily, they're short, so not too much of an issue. But it would've been cool to see some quick mystery solving side quests with mini-games..

The 5 Substories were okay-ish. Some of them were mildly interesting, but mostly felt sloppy/rushed. Yakou's one was good. It slightly pulled on my heartstrings; but then it ended abruptly... I was like "what?" I'm glad they were included in this version of "Plus" because paying $5 for each extra story would be a sin.

GAME TIME

It'll take you around 35 hours to beat it and 5 more hours for the extra stories.

END-GAME CONTENT

N/A

REPLAYABILITY

I liked the game a lot, but I would *never* want to replay it by myself.

PRICE

If you're a fan of detective games with eccentric characters and cases, I'd buy it. Otherwise, wait for a sale.

BUGS

There’s sometimes some awkward character movement and some clipping, but it didn’t really affect my experience.

PC SPECS

You'll need a semi-good computer to play this game.

AUDIENCE

Should be okay for teens and adults.

MY SCORE AVERAGE: 7.3/10

MY PERSONAL SCORE: 7.5/10

Click here to check out even more of my compliments & complaints on this game![anotepad.com]