Master Detective Archives: Rain Code - Switch Review
"Chaotic, over the top, very funny, and has an incredible story."
Hey you, you’re finally awake! It’s time to go solve mysteries with a pudgy ghost pal and work out your own past as you have amnesia. Welcome to Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, a game from the team behind Danganronpa which has taken the formula and fine tuned it while changing the premise where you’re now a detective solving mysteries. Dive into the beautiful world set out before you and put on those detective caps as we look into Master Detective Archives: Rain Code.
The Good
One of the most eye catching elements of the game is how visually appealing the art is, which when a lot of the gameplay is performed through exploration and conversations, you’ll have plenty of time to see all of this art. The character designs are visually unique and portray a lot of their attitudes as you progressively get to learn more about them, while all the set designs are just a wonder to explore and are immersive in their details. Speaking of exploring the set designs, you are actually rewarded for exploring each area fully with EXP towards your detective, which gives loot goblins like myself a reward for going for all the shinies.
The cast of characters you encounter are tropey but very well written and provide a lot of funny moments when they interact with each other, calling out inconsistencies in their logic. Your fellow members of the world detective agency are the primary recurring characters, and you meet all of them in the prologue mission, a stereotypical mystery location of solving a case that occurs on a train. There’s a lot in Master Detective Archives: Rain Code that I can't really go into for spoiler purposes but the mysteries in the story provide a really entertaining time and will let any mystery fan enjoy what they came up with.
TL;DR
- Stellar art
- Chaotic funny characters
- Mysteries and twists ahoy!
The Bad
In saying that, the positives put forth about characters and the mysteries can be a bit over the top, especially if you’re not used to this kind of characterisation and some really convoluted plot twists. These issues are especially prevalent within the character Shinigami who is your partner character throughout the story, and even worse during the stages where she transforms into her natural state. Shinigami is a well endowed woman and makes sure you’re aware of that through their dialogue and character actions and the jiggle physics are well very present, especially during the transformation sequence. Overall though, there isn’t a lot to say negatively about Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, it’s just a game that if you like these kinds of games, you’ll love it, but if you don’t, you won't find anything here.
TL;DR
- Can be too much
- Do you like boobs? Because Shinigami loves hers
Final Score: 8/10
Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is chaotic, over the top, very funny, and has an incredible story, however it can get a bit over the top with this energy if you’re not used to it. Shinigami is a prime example of this and is very overtly sexual, so if that makes you uncomfortable, it could ruin the game for you. But if you’re a fan of the Danganronpa series, you’ll enjoy Master Detective Archives: Rain Code as it’s taken the formula and fine tuned everything. You’ll also enjoy the game if you like mystery solving challenges, that’s for sure!
Thank you for checking out our Master Detective Archives: Rain Code Switch review, thank you to Nintendo AU/NZ for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:
- Andrew Caluzzi (Inca Studios / Camped Out)
- Bel Cubitt
- Jack Caven
- NintenVania Podcast
- RedHero