As an aside before I get too far into my thoughts on RAIN CODE specifically, I would like to state that I have a very particular opinion on Kotaka's games, specifically the Danganronpa series. I have played all three of them through to completion, and found that while they have a lot of personality and are fun experiences, they are simultaneously mediocre at best as games. I could go more into what I find about Kotaka's design philosophy that I have problems with, but I've found that a lot of the same issues are present within RAIN CODE as well, so there isn't much reason to go too far into this as it stands. I still recommend the Danganronpa series and RAIN CODE if they are the types of games that you would find interesting, but go into them understanding that you are paying for the great personality built into the games rather than compelling detective gameplay.

As for RAIN CODE, it follows an amnesiac detective from the World Detective Organization, Yuma Kokohead, as he attempts to uncover the secret under Kanai Ward, a city of unending rain that has been isolated from the rest of the world via the infamous Amateratsu Corporation. The overall story on display here is quite good actually, definitely the best of the four Kodaka games I have played. One of the things I have found remarkable about him is that he makes a genuine effort to change his formulas to improve upon what he has already made, and removing the confines of a closed space where you know the identity of everybody inside adds a lot of dynamic to how the story can unfold. It takes most of the game for much of the overall story to kick into gear, but this is standard fare for Kodaka games. If you've played all three Danganronpa games, this should not be a shock to you.

Where the game truly shines, however, is in the other primary characters. Each chapter has you investigating a different case alongside one of your detective colleagues, each with a different special ability that is uniquely suited to investigating that particular case. This is easily the best part of the game, as it drastically changes how each case feels as you gather the clues necessary in order to solve the case. Each detective also has their own personality that alters the dynamic further, which helps prevent the fluffy dialogue from becoming stale over time. This game would've been significantly worse without this, and Kodaka nailed this aspect... despite most of these detectives being pretty one-dimensional and overstaying their welcome at times.

As for the mysteries, they're inconsistent at best. The early cases ironically were harder to predict than the latter cases, with one particular example in chapter 4 negating one of the biggest plot twists being especially ridiculous. Kodaka regularly runs into the problem of having all the evidence you need being given to you before pushing you to make any progress on solving the mystery itself. This is especially frustrating because the very first case you are sent on makes a big deal about one particular mechanic that allows you to find evidence that you couldn't find before beginning the Mystery Labyrinth. This, if I remember correctly, only appears one other time in the story. It's very saddening, because a lot of the predictability comes from the fact that you gain a lot of insight into things before having to do any actual legwork into solving the case. I would like to see Kodaka attempt to create a detective game with a more dynamic back and forth between information gathering and mystery solving, such as with the Ace Attorney series.

The atmosphere is great, the music is solid, the graphics are solid. There isn't much to say about all these except that they help sell the setting adequately and have the feel of a Kodaka game despite being its own setting.

FInally, the gripes. The Mystery Labyrinth sections have a lot of the same problems that the Danganronpa games had. I had several moments during the reasoning death matches (equivalent to the debates in Danganronpa) where I could tell immediately what the correct solution key was, but the exact statement to use them on was ambiguous enough that it still took multiple tries to correctly pass that section. The barrel sections had questions that either made the answer plainly obvious or obtuse to the point of almost needing to guess letters, the latter mostly appearing in the latter chapters. Some of the labyrinth progression felt like arbitrary leaps, like you figure out an aspect of the case only to immediately have to jump to figuring out the central issue, despite it only being spelled out four questions later. There are quite a few QTE sections throughout the game, and those are about as interesting as they are in any game. The requests help flesh out some parts of the world, but otherwise are almost universally uninteresting and just a chore to get through every chapter. The gameplay overall is what drags the game down.

Would I recommend the game? Sure, especially if you enjoyed the Danganronpa series. You're not going to get a phenomenal detective game, but you'll get a fun story with quirky characters and a lot of goofy moments in between mostly bland mysteries. RAIN CODE is a fun time that will more likely than not grow on you over time, but if you're hoping for something that scratches that itch to solve murder mysteries, you're better off looking elsewhere.