The developers, Spike Chunsoft and Too Kyo Games, call New Master Detective Archives: Rain Code a “lucid-noir adventure,” which falls in line with the two studios’ prior work. Several members of the development team previously contributed to the Danganronpa series and both IPs were created by writer Kazutaka Kodaka.
RELATED: Danganronpa Creator Might Make a New Game in the Series ‘Someday’
Along with a couple of character illustrations, Spike Chunsoft has now released an introductory trailer for New Master Detective Archives: Rain Code to share a few more details about the game. The ghost, it turns out, is a young girl named Shinigami who can apparently transform herself at will into a “Puffy Death God.” In the video, she does most of the talking and reveals that “some kind of freaky, creepy thing is going to happen in town today.” While Yuma appears a bit trepidatious at the prospect, Shinigami seems to be very excited.
A bit more about protagonist Yuma Kokohead is also uncovered in the trailer. Dubbed an “Amnesiac Detective in Training,” the kid woke up in a train station and sets out to do some sleuthing. However, strange things keep happening around him, so Shinigami steps in to help him out and provide some useful detective training.
The trailer also introduces a place called the Mystery Labyrinth, where puzzling events from real life “materialize.” Successfully navigating their way through the labyrinth will lead Yuma and Shinigama to solving the mysteries, but they must first defeat Mystery Phantoms, which are bosses that stand in the way of the truth. The video ends by showing a quick montage of a number of different characters, though it’s unclear if they will be playable or simply NPCs. Along with its general quirkiness, this ensemble of characters is one reason why Master Detective Archives: Rain Code has been compared to Persona 5.
Overall, it seems like Rain Code will present an engaging, unorthodox gameplay experience that should appeal to fans of some of Spike Chunsoft’s previous games. Danganronpa, for example, features a robotic teddy bear named Monokuma who forces high school students to murder each other. Another IP from the publisher/developer is the mind-bending adventure game AI: The Somnium Files and its sequel, in which the player investigates a series of murders by entering the subconscious of suspects.
New Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is currently in development for the Nintendo Switch, with a planned 2023 release.
MORE: The 10 Best Somniums in AI: The Somnium Files - Nirvana Initiative
Source: Spike Chunsoft
