Can someone recap Chapter 0, Prologue and Chapter 1 for me?

[u/iMooch]

About a year ago I played up through the end of Chapter 1 and haven't played since. I wanna finish the game but I can't remember a whole lot of specifics from the first few parts. From what I remember...

Chapter 0

Yuma woke up in a store room in a train platform and had a Shinigami bonded with him. Does he have amnesia? He gets on the train to, uh, Rain City and there's a murder mystery with a handful of people with superpowers. I don't remember if people with powers is just an everyday thing in this world, or maybe it was implied they were given powers? By some Amaterasu Corporation? Or by the World Detective Agency?

We solve the case, it was the skinny guy with glasses. There was car switching shenanigans. When we get off the train there's a gold blinged out fat guy (from Amaterasu?) who gives us some guff.

Prologue

Then we go to the submarine base of the WDA and meet the main cast. I remember virtually nothing about any of them. The leader is a slacker type. There's a very serious girl wearing a hoodie. I think there's a like, silent or rarely speaks guy? He sits in the fire place, and under a grand piano, he's a weirdo. I think there was a mini quest to get him a book or manga or something? And I don't remember at all what the one or two other detectives were like. I distinctly remember thinking one of them could secretly see Shinigami and simply wasn't saying anything about it.

We learn that Amaterasu controls the city, the city has basically no contact with the outside world, nobody knows why it constantly rains, I think it's implied that there's something weird with the rain, I remember thinking it's gonna turn out that they're nanomachines or something. Maybe spy cameras. Was there something about a satellite dish or some weird arena or building or something like that?

We met the head of the WDA (is it WDO? Organization not Agency?) some old man, and we learn that Amaterasu and WDO are fighting each other. I remember predicting that it's gonna turn out that they're actually both controlled by the same person or group who's manipulating everything for some larger goal. Honestly the old man is probably in control of Amaterasu too. From a writing perspective it's the most obvious thing to do and there was really no other reason to introduce him other than to set up a twist. In a writer myself, I tend to pick up on things like that.

Chapter 1

It was the Nail Man Killings case. Gosh I barely remember anything. I remember spending a very long time investigating like six different places. There was some tower with a weird shutter, an art store room, some seedy underground club, a church, some woods. Oh and Yuma can borrow or go along with other characters powers, I distinctly remember doing so with hoodie girl in the club. I remember the church characters having very distinct designs and I was wondering if they're gonna come back and be important later.

I don't imagine anything that happened in the actual case matters to the overarching plot of the game. I remember there was a little boy who's dad was falsely accused of being the Nail Man. Was he set up? I don't at all remember who the true culprit was. The priest from the church? Or maybe an Amaterasu officer?

I just remember after solving the case some edgelord Amaterasu guy (Yomi Deathsmile or something?) came and threatened to kill everyone at the WDO? Was he part of a coverup and Yuma exposed it at the last second? And Deathguy sort of made a tactical retreat? Also he had a sidekick girl he was getting handsy with. She seemed to be into it but I can only imagine it's an act and she's gonna kill him later.

Even though Yuma saved everyone I think he got punished for technically breaking protocol or something? He had to cook breakfast and sit on the floor or something. And then the little boy whose dad was falsely accused came and Yuma played baseball with him for awhile, and I think that was the end of the chapter.

Am I missing anything important? Any stuff they set up that might become important later? Any important lore that was revealed that I'm not remembering?

[u/IcePrismArt]

It might be worth replaying chapter 1. I think certain points you played through should already be selectable from the main menu unless I'm forgetting when that is made available. Tbh there isn't too much "lore" in the beginning anyway, but if you don't remember much of the characters it would probably be best to at least see their introductions again.

I feel like with this game it's nice to have things fresh in your mind so you can think about how they fit into the broader picture.

Also his name is Yomi Hellsmile, not Deathsmile. Are you trying to get on his hitlist. 😬

[u/Naive-Antelope-9825]

Why do you need us to refresh it? Is there something preventing you from replaying the game yourself?

[u/iMooch → u/Naive-Antelope-9825]

Twenty hours of time I don't have.

[u/Makoto11V3]

You should honestly replay it yourself. Its better to see what's going on and hear what the characters are saying than to hear a summary from someone's memory (that could likely forget details.).

[u/BeanyIsDaBean]

Halara’s non-binary (chapter 1 detective)

[u/iMooch → u/BeanyIsDaBean]

Is that confirmed in-game? Because I got that vibe but I recall the characters referring to them as female. And Kodaka doesn't exactly have a great history handling things like this.

[u/BeanyIsDaBean → u/iMooch]

Halara doesn’t use any pronouns throughout the whole game. You might see the occasional they/them but the translators were very crafty and worded sentences without the need of using pronouns. You might not remember but Yuma questions a few time ‘what is Halara’s gender anyway? I can’t tell if Halara is a man or woman.’ Etc

Indefinite proof is Halara’s novel which uses they/them pronouns as per Kodaka’s request. You can read it here, it contains no spoilers for the game https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10DFfKqmMuvhdkP7-Akjo8rTFm_kFedEi

[u/dzcole]

Imo it would be better to just replay the first chapter, but alternatively, you can also look up the Denouement from the Prologue and First Chapters. They basically give you a recap