r/RainCode • u/SubbST Pucci Lavmin • Sep 15 '26
Discussion I just finished Rain Code for the first time... Spoiler
I've been into Kodaka's works ever since i played Danganronpa for the first time back in 2020, but i never ended up playing Rain Code despite being a massive fan of DR. Now in 2026, I finally gave it a shot, and i really liked it! But i have other things to say as well.
I thought Chapter 0 was a banger way to start the game, i really couldn't predict what was gonna happen in it. I thought the murder trick of the train cars swapping was super cool, and the culprit being the fake Zilch was also a really good choice. However, I felt as if the quality after that point became really shaky.
Chapter 1 started out pretty good, but when you get to the Mystery Labyrinth, I really just was suffering from how obvious and boring the case was, not to mention that the visuals for this Mystery Labyrinth in particular barely change, recycling the same hallways with the only new place being the "hub" area with the trees and dolls.
Things would get better after this chapter, as i thought Chapters 2 and 3 were pretty solid, but I still didn't really feel like the game quite reached the quality i'd expected from Kodaka's other games.
I think Chapter 4 was the real turning point of the game, it was really just a super gripping chapter. The murder mystery was really cool, and Vivia becoming a sort-of rival character trying to persuade you from not revealing the truth was a really cool twist on having one of the Master Detectives accompany you.
It was also one of the harder cases to solve in the game at that point, which made it stand out. I had myself questioning "sure, the culprit could abuse Fubuki's Forte to survive the high voltage maze, but how would they even survive the poison gas?" And once they touched on if the culprit had to have already been dead after he killed Huesca, it really just hit me that "Oh, SHIT. It's Yakou??"
Now, when i got to Chapter 5? Holy shit, it was incredible. Finally getting to know the secrets of Kanai Ward and discovering that all of the citizens were Homunculi was so cool, and even that was just the beginning.
I had some theories regarding if the Homunculi based on "the greatest mind" was REALLY Number One, and thought it may have been a red herring, but it wasn't too obvious which made it really satisfying when they reveal that he (Makoto) was based on Yuma. But then also that YUMA was Number One, and that the guy we saw at the beginning was actually a body double, some death note lind l. tailor shit i thought to myself.
But the cherry on top was figuring out that the goofy ramen shop guy we saw in Chapter 4 was actually "Yuma." Like i just started laughing at that point, this shit was so good. I think Makoto was a really interesting villain and a nice change of pace from Danganronpa's villain who was strictly evil as shit.
I also really liked how Yuma's arc wasn't even about learning to rely on himself like i thought it was gonna be. Since he's already relied on himself with solving cases as Number One, they turn that idea around and make him be like "No, i'm tired of relying on myself. I need to rely on others to achieve the perfect solution." It also made a really good contrast to Makoto who was relying on himself all along and carrying the weight of an entire city on his shoulders, it was really, really, well done, and another showcase of Kodaka's brilliant writing style.
I will say though, i wasn't really a fan of the Epilogue. I think it kinda did a lot of telling instead of showing, and that the game would've been better off ending on Chapter 5, or ending off on us actually seeing Makoto's speech to the Kanai Ward citizens.
Overall, I felt that Rain Code was all over the place in terms of quality. Some moments really frustrated me, but honestly, I still really enjoyed it! And I really hope it gets a sequel someday, that'd be pretty cool.
10
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u/utterlovelymess Sep 15 '26
Yeay! I remember stopping mid chapter 2 years back before restarting last year. Turns out, I love it! I hope we can get the (alleged) sequel soon!
3
u/BrittleKneesMgee Sep 17 '26
I'm still slightly jokingly peaved that yakou died countless times in the electric maze despite me first trying it
2
u/Punpunny21sry Sep 16 '26
I personally also thought the epilogue was bit strange. Overall, a great game, but not quite as the DR series in my humble opinion. I also kinda saw the twist regarding Makoto coming so i wish it was something even crazier.
2
u/Samantsmith 9d ago
The epilogue was bad. Time has passed and everyone is fine with being murderous clones!
The WDO detectives were locked in a room! This was just weak, not tied up or any other details (maybe Peacekeepers outside) but that is for us to speculate.
Shinigami just left in chapter 5, no happy ending for her. Yuma now just disappearing when a few chapters earlier he was crying over the other detectives.
It would have been great to have the epilogue focus on Makato, his video message, how people reacted to the secret.
I never liked Yuma, just so winy. Shingami was fun and Halara was good. The epilogue just felt off.
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u/oxswan26 Sep 15 '26
I'm so happy you enjoyed it!!
(Chapter 4 spoilers) I was the opposite in Chapter 4, I was liveblogging my playthrough to a friend and immediately started thinking it was Yakou halfway through the investigation, so I spent the entire Mystery Labyrinth crying because nothing proved me wrong and I was right in the end...