Master Detective Archives: Rain Code Plus

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The Switch! It’s old! Games that have to include it in their development tend to be worse from a graphical and performance standpoint because of its lack of power! I’ve said it a billion times and, alas, I’m probably going to have to say it a billion more. That said, at least this makes for a great surprise whenever a previously Switch-locked game makes it to a platform with a little more open space to roam.

That’s definitely the case with Master Detective Archives: Rain Code Plus, a mystery adventure from the creators of Danganronpa that was already good on Nintendo’s platform but shines brightest when given a little more of a spotlight.

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After waking with no memories and few possessions, amnesiac Yuma Kokohead finds himself on a train to Kanai Ward, a city beset by endless rain and equally endless crime. Yuma will have to team up with the Master Detectives, investigators gifted with supernatural powers called Forensic Fortes, to seek out and eliminate every mystery in the city. His first investigation might involve finding an umbrella, and his second might be finding out a little about his own past. Thankfully he’s got a little help in the form of the spirit Shinigami, a mystery-hungry death deity capable of visualizing mysteries and enabling Yuma to literally fight his way through them.

Rain Code, unsurprisingly, has a lot in common with the Danganronpa series. Yuma’s adventures tend to involve complex investigations followed up with a bombastic denouement to wrap things up. If you’ve played Phoenix Wright or any similar titles you’ve got an idea of what you’re in for here, but Rain Code leans a little more heavily into the occult and the supernatural. As mentioned, the Master Detectives are capable of using superpowers to aid in their investigations, from remote viewing to time manipulation, and understanding the options these abilities open up tends to play a key role in solving each case. Unlike many detective games, you’re able to explore Kanai Ward as an open world, allowing a little more freedom in searching for clues and making deductions.

Beyond simply investigating, you’ve got to actually wrap things up when you’ve got an idea of what’s happened in a given crime, and this is where Rain Code gets a little weird. Mysteries are solved via the Mystery Labyrinth, a sort of psychic dungeon representing the twists and turns of a case that Yuma actually enters in order to battle foes representing conundrums. This is a cute little spritz of action on top of all the head-scratching puzzles you’ll be solving, but fear not: compared to something like Yurukill, the detective-shmup mix, action’s definitely a side gig here and the focus is on detectivery.

All of this comes together to make for some fascinating moments, and players are bound to be glued to their seats. That glue’s even stickier here in Rain Code Plus, since the game’s no longer fettered to the ever-weightier chains of the Switch. Even as a more stylized experience, Rain Code definitely suffered on Nintendo’s underpowered platform, and playing on beefier hardware is a breath of fresh air. Turn those graphical settings up and go to town! Beyond that, there’s also a new gallery mode with art to check out, all of the original game’s DLC is included, and there’s even an additional novel about one of the Master Detectives if you’d like a little more reading material.

Wannabe sleuths and narrative adventure fans alike would be well advised to check out Master Detective Archives: Rain Code Plus. This is a fantastic story that shouldn’t be missed, and without question you’re getting the definitive edition of a game that was fine on Switch but excels on better hardware. Grab your raincoat, maybe an extra umbrella just in case, and think twice about who you trust. There’s detectivery afoot.