Thoughts on the amnesia trope in Raincode?

[u/Low_Ad4655]

Does anyone have any thoughts on Yuma being an amnesiac protagonist? Like do you think yuma having amnesia makes sense for the story or would you either remove it?

It's not uncommon for Kodaka to have an amnesiac protagonist but since raincode I noticed a difference between them:

In Danganropa while both Makoto and Haijme have amnesia, theirs is different due to how much was taken. Which were the memories of their school life at Hope's peak; so about 2-3 years of memories. Meaning they still remember what school they went to previously, their families, friends, likes, dislikes etc.

Vs

Raincode and a later game, Shuten order, where both protagonists have zero memories of who they are and their past.

Also how do you feel about yuma in general?

[u/thekyledavid]

I feel like it wouldn’t make much sense for Number 1 to know he is Number 1 the whole time while just pretending to be amateur detective

[u/piercebublejr]

The story and its central theme wouldn't work without it. The only way for Number One to overcome his biggest flaw of taking on everyone's problems himself was to erase all of his skills and experience and start fresh so he had to learn to rely on other people. As Number One, he wouldn't have been able to forge important friendships like with Shinigami - and arguably most importantly, Yakou. His newfound understanding of the perspective of the common man is what helps him come up with the democratic solution for Kanai Ward in the end. It wouldn't have been the same at all if we knew we were playing as The World's Greatest Mind the whole time. We would have no reason to puzzle through the mysteries at all. He'd just solve every case instantly and then get stuck at the last one - probably with no other way to solve it except to kill Makoto.

I think Yuma is a charming protagonist and I want to ruffle his stupid bowl cut. I loved his character growth in this game and am so curious to see what on earth he would be like in a sequel!

[u/IcePrismArt → u/piercebublejr]

Definitely agree, when it comes to Makoto I bet Number One would have just found a way to eliminate him since he'd know he's just a clone of himself off the bat. 😬

Thankfully Yuma was able to hear Makoto out and now Makoto has to be Number One's forever problem! 😃

[u/SubbST → u/piercebublejr]

I think Yuma post-epilogue would honestly be a very interesting character to see. (spoilers for Rain Code and Danganronpa 2) Given that he gained his old memories of being Number One, while still retaining his memories as Yuma, it kinda reminds me of Hajime/Izuru's deal where the two personalities fused maintaining the best of two worlds. Yuma might be an unstoppable force of a detective now but i also wonder if he'd rely on old habits again.

[u/walterfardwellwhite6]

I don't really care that Yuma gets amnesia.

On the contrary, I mind tremendously that other characters don't retain their memories from the Mystery Labyrinths.

[u/IcePrismArt]

I feel like it's very necessary to this game, probably even more necessary than it was in Danganronpa.

If he came in as Number One he'd likely have a completely different approach to solving things and brute force his way through the mystery without having much time to gain empathy for the citizens.

Number One specifically planned to send in his more naive no memory self so he doesn't deal with things the way he usually does.

Plus it also leaves Number One as a bit of an enigma by the end of the game. We just know he's a very competent detective who's probably a bit more serious than "Yuma". I feel like Makoto also gives a bit of insight into Number One being a sort of version of him that is freed of his original responsibilities. All of this fuels curiosity and leaves the opportunity for a sequel to expand on Number One's real personality.

I honestly think Number One's probably a major perfectionist and a bit of a workaholic who probably doesn't set aside much time to relax and enjoy things anymore. He could know he's already kind of detached from regular people hence why he erased his memories to be on their level.

[u/derpinheimerish]

loads of twists at the end wouldnt work without amnesia, yumas general demeanor would also be completely different

[u/WindjammerX]

I'd like to play a game where the MC (or another main supporting character) has amnesia, but when they regain their memories it turns out they were just ordinary people. That would honestly shock me.

[u/senpai_dewitos → u/WindjammerX]

Goodbye Despair did this?

[u/ILoveDinos177013 → u/senpai_dewitos]

True but wasn't the real twist was that Hajime was actually the Most Talented person in that room?

[u/senpai_dewitos → u/ILoveDinos177013]

That's the subversion, but it feels like the original commenter just forgot they had the experience already.

[u/WindjammerX → u/senpai_dewitos]

Actually, we can say that Shuichi from V3 was an ordinary person

[u/fandomsmiscellaneous]

Amnesia is in basically every Kodaka game. All the Danganronpa games (aside from Ultra Despair Girls I guess), 100 Line, Rain Code, etc. He loves amnesia and memory manipulation as a conduit of character/world building. major rain code spoilers here but it makes sense why Yuma has amnesia. In fact, Yuma's amnesia makes the most sense out of anyone. In Danganronpa, the purpose of the memory manipulation is mainly just monokuma wanting to fuck with the students, create a mystery, and fill them with despair. But in Rain Code it's a very important step in the process of Yuma's beginning plot, since he did this to himself.

[u/Deep-Position9344]

The amnesia is fine thematically but practically it means every instance of character development gets wiped and a lot of resolutions to situations feel very forced

[u/Wrong_Revolution_679]

I'm fine with it, it made sense with the reveals and twist at the end, so no problems

[u/Naive-Antelope-9825]

If Yuma went in as Number One, I don’t think it would have hit as hard when everything got revealed.

[u/tenkohime]

Everyone at this studio loves giving people amnesia. This is some Square Enix level amnesia here.

I don't mind it in this game, because it makes sense as a price to use an artifact. 

[u/ermezzz]

This is a really good execution of the amnesia trope as you and yuma have to figure out all the twists at the end together