Case for Three Detectives

"The more that you read, the more things you will know."

"I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!"  

I know I haven't been keeping up with my video game reviews lately, partially simply because I have found it more difficult to find the time to play games, and when I do finally finish them, I forget about writing the review. So err, Staffer Case review, I'll get to it one day!

And yes, I did also play Toshi Densetsu Kaitai Center, or as it's better known outside of Japan: Urban Myth Dissolution Center. I had of course already played the Wakaidou Makoto games by the same developer in the past and reviewed them here, so I been looking forward to playing Urban Myth Dissolution Center when it was first announced, and I did get it on the release date. Long story short, I loved the game overall, though it's definitely a game that was better in atmosphere and mood than the actual gameplay, which can be very tedious and repetitive. The game has been well received in Japan, with a lot of merchandise being produced, the series seeing a manga adaptation and a novel adaptation and it also won a Japan Game Award earlier this week.

Anyway, I have been really into the game, so I had been looking forward to Toshi Densetsu Kaitai Center - Danpenshuu (2025) or as the cover also says: Urban Myth Dissolution Center - Collection of Fragments, which released last week in Japan. While there is a "straight" novelization of the game events available too, Collection of Fragments is a short story collection by five different authors, each presenting a completely original story. These stories are "fragments" set before, during and after the events of the actual game, so fans of the game who long for more material, should defnitely look into this book. For those who haven't played the game, the basic premise is that there is a shady organization called the Urban Myth Dissolution Center, a kind of detective agency specializing in abnormal occurences that are related to urban legends. The center is led by the enigmatic Meguriya, an absolute nerd for all things urban legend, but also cunning and manipulative in the way he controls his employees. The center has two "field workers": Jasmine, who provides transport and support and recently hired (duped) Azumi, a college student who has a weird ability that allows her to see ghosts of the past, a power that proves useful in solving the cases she and Jasmine investigate under the supervision of Meguriya. One warning however is that this book is best played after playing the game, as it does spoil certain key events and character reveals of the game. Also: you play the game from the perspective of Azumi, but the three stories of the five that focus on the center, are told from the POV of Jasmine, and because of that, certain things you only learn later on in the game, are revealed right away to the reader (as obviously, Jasmine herself would know about herself). So reader, be warned.

The first story, Ten wo Tsunagu Mono ("Those who Connect the Dots") is by Van Madoy, who mentioned on Twitter (what doesn't he mention on Twitter) that he did his best to make sure it was a proper puzzle mystery story. His story is set soon after the first case in the game, and starts when Azumi and Jasmine are asked to investigate a fried chicken restaurant's security footage, which for some reason has been leaked on the internet. The footage is of the owner closing his shop, but after the shop's closed, a mysterious animal-like creature walks by, sparking rumors of genetically modified chickens being used in the shop. As Azumi and Jasmine investigate the rumors and the footage however, they learn there's more behind this case than meets the eye. Of all the five stories in this collection, this is definitely the most orthodox mystery story. Because the story is told from the point of view of Jasmine, the story feels different from the game: important segments in the game where you'd play as Azumi and solve certain mysteries, happen off-screen while Jasmine is relaxing in the company van, and things like that, but overall, the mystery is decently constructed (though a bit obvious) and while the identity of the mysterious creature is a bit silly, it kinda works in this world, considering the theme of these games and the use of the social media aspect of the game in this story is pretty clever.

Shikku suru Bourei ("The Racing Phantom") has Jasmine and Azumi investigate a famous urban legend: the headless motorcycle racer! A video of an influencer has been gaining views lately, as the image of a headless motorcycle racer was spotted in the background, and more witnesses claim to have seen this racer on the mountain roads. Is this headless racer really a ghost, or is it the handiwork of a man? This story by Tsukinami Kira is very faithful to the atmosphere of the game, following the same structure of Azumi and Meguriya first determining what the urban myth is they are dealing with and the subsequential dissolution of the myth, and also includes the social media investigation aspect of the game; while the Madoy story use the social media aspect in a more clever way, the use here feels more like the game. While the trick behind the racer itself is not super surprising, I think as an Urban Myth Dissolution Center story, this one was by far the most succesful at providing "more content like the game." 

Ki no Mori, Tatariishi ("The Forest of Taboos, The Cursed Stone") by Miyamoto Mirei and Hibe Seika's Shinrei Flamenco ("Ghost Flamenco") both focus not on the center trio, but on fan favorite characters, going by all the fanart on social media: in the former story, we see the influencer Kinoko and Yamada Gasmask go on a camp together, while in the latter, we follow a certain tour guide soon after he returns to Japan after living abroad, and his experience with a ghost haunting the place he lives at. The first is barely a mystery story, but the tour guide story is actually a pretty fun, if predictable horror-mystery story that is also genuinely funny. 

Tomariki ni Kyuusoku wo ("To Perch") by Okita Yoshihito is set some months after the climatic finale of the game, so even more spoiler warnings here. The story once again opts to follow Jasmine, who this time is on her own as she's hired to help transport the young child of a high-ranking official to a safe place. The boy however claims he saw a ghost. Jasmine has no powers unlike Azami and Meguriya, so she doesn't feel like she's the right person to be doing this, but the reader soon learns she can certainly hold her own when t comes to investigating seemingly supernatural cases. The case itself is not super exciting, but it proides an adequate explanation to why the boy saw a ghost. While the story is set after the main game, it works perfectly as a bridge to the epilogue of the game, so definitely recommended reading for those who like Jasmine as a character.

Overall, I'd say Collection of Fragments is a pretty fun read... if you're a fan of Urban Myth Dissolution Center. It does the bare minimum to explain the basic setting/characters of the game, but on the other hand, it is not afraid to spoil certain twists of the game early on, so it really knows it audience. This also means the mystery plots are not that complex, as they were not like that in the game either. In that respect, I do think Madoy wrote the most complex one (even if on a scale, it's still fairly simple). The second story is the best Urban Myth Dissolution Center-esque story though, and the one you must read if you long for more of the type of stories you played in the game.

While I am at it, I wanted to very briefly discuss two other game-related stories I read earlier this week: they are so short they don't really warrant their own post, so I might as well talk about them here. The first one is Kamaitachi no Yoru: A Novel (Night of the Sickle Weasles - A Novel", 1995) by Abiko Takemaru. This was a completely original novella included in the Kamaitachi no Yoru Official Fan Book and acts as another "variant" of the basic story of the first and very influential Kamaitachi no Yoru game on the Super Famicom, a game that plays as a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure and which revolves around a murder that happens in a small lodging house that has been snowed in. Abiko was the original writer of the game, and so it's only fitting he wrote this extra scenario, which again revolves around murders happening in the pension Spur. The story is presented as a Guess-the-Culprit scenario, with seperated "problem" and "solution" parts and a Challenge to the Reader, but the story is fairly short and Abiko spends a lot of time focusing on the clues necessary to solve the mystery, making it too obvious what the main trick is about. This scenario was included in certain later ports/remakes of the game (I believe the GameBoy Advance port, as well as the PS Vita remake), but it's not something you're really missing out on if you happen to have a different version that lacks this story. Interestingly, this novel is actually printed "backwards" in the Kamaitachi no Yoru Official Fan Book: if you start from the normal "front" cover, you get all the fan-oriented content like interviews and things like that, if you start from the "back", you simply start reading Kamaitachi no Yoru: A Novel. 

The other story I wanted to discuss is Kitayama Takekuni's Choutantei no Narikata - Halara Nightmare no Baai, or How To Be A Master Detective: A Halara Nightmare Case, which is a short story Kitayama wrote for the enhanced release of the game Rain Code (Rain Code +), with Halara being one of the master detectives who works with game protagonist Yuma as they investigate the curious incidents in the Kanai Ward. This story is set in the past and starts with Halara being transported in a prison van. He infiltrated the prison in search of missing mafia money, but things went wrong, and now he's being treated like a real prisoner. An accident later means an escape not only for him, but also for the other inmates who were being transported. It's snowing heavily outside though, so they seek shelter, but when they arrive at a little cabin, they find the murdered body of another fellow inmate who was being transporte. Who is the killer? The story is fairly short, but I think Kitayama did a great job at presenting a story that builds on Halara as presented in the game, but used in a way the game couldn't do. I was actually surprised by how neatly he pulled it off. If you already have vanilla Rain Code, I wouldn't say it's worth upgrading to Rain Code + just for this story, but if you can read it, definitely do!

I didn't really manage to write too deeply about the mystery plots of today's books, but the main theme is the same for all three books: these books are definitely meant for the people who have already played the games they are based on, so don't even consider reading them if you haven't played them. Of these three, I think the Urban Myth Dissolution Center and Rain Code ones do have interesting points about them that make them worth a read, while the Kamaitachi no Yoru story fails to add something substantial or original (and you can actually play it in game form in certain versions of the game anyway).

Original Japanese title(s): 『都市伝説解体センター　断篇集』:円居挽「点を繋ぐ者」/月並きら「疾駆する亡霊」/  宮本深礼「忌の杜、祟り石 」/ 日部星花「幽霊フラメンコ」/ 尾北圭人「泊まり木に休息を」 

我孫子武丸『かまいたちの夜　A Novel』 

北山猛邦『超探偵のなり方 ハララ＝ナイトメアの場合』

He Came With the Rain

"All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... Time to die"
"Blade Runner"

It's been a while since my last game review! Especially of a recent game...

A young man awakens in a room, having lost his memories about his own identity. However, based on his clothes and the documents he's carrying, he quickly realizes he is a Master Detective, member of the  World Detective Organization. As per the instructions on the letter he found, he quickly makes his way to the express train headed for Kanai Ward. Kanai Ward is a special city where it never stops raining that is governed by a private company: the Amaterasu Corporation. The Amaterasu Corporation is so powerful not even the Unified Government has any say in Kanai Ward, and the city is generally actually kept closed off, not allowing outsiders to enter, nor people from Kanai Ward to leave. The young man learns his name is Yuma Kokohead, and that the World Detective Organization has sent several Master Detectives into Kanai Ward to investigate the Ultimate Secret of Kanai Ward, which is likely connected to a major crime that has been taking place all over the world, though the leader of the WDO refuses to give the few detectives in Kanai Ward any more information about it to not color their views. The detectives are all assigned to the Yakou Detective Agency, the only detective agency in Kanai Ward, though the boss, Yakou, is quite reluctant to make too much waves in Kanai Ward, as he's having trouble staying in business anyway: the Security Division of the Amaterasu Corporation act as the de-facto police of Kanai Ward, and have been controlling he city with a rather cruel hand.  As the detectives dig into the secret of Kanai Ward however, they get involved in various murder cases they have to solve, something not particularly appreciated by the Security Division. However, Yuma has one card up his sleeve. While he may have lost his memories, it turns out he made a deal with the devil. No, to be precise, he made a deal with a death god. Shinigami-chan is a supernatural being who made a deal with Yuma before he lost his memories and she has granted him the power to enter the Mystery Labyrinth: a supernatural world which allows them to solve a mystery in the real world, if he manages to find the way out from the Mystery Labyrinth. Can Yuma with the help of Shinigami-chan figure out what the ultimate secret of Kanai Ward is in the 2023 Nintendo Switch game Choutantei Jikenbo Rain Code, released in the West as Master Detective Archives: Rain Code?

Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is the latest game by the creators of the Danganronpa series, and quite literally so. While Danganronpa creator and writer Kodaka Kazutaka left Danganronpa developer/publisher Spike-Chunsoft to start his own company Too Kyo Games (creating games like Death Come True), Rain Code is co-developed by Spike-Chunsoft and Too Kyo Games, And you can really tell this was made by the Danganronpa creators, with art by Komatsuzaki Rui, but also lots of design choices and story telling beats that will be very familiar. Long story short: if you like Danganronpa, you're likely going to like Rain Code too, and if you didn't like Danganronpa, I doubt very much Rain Code will change your mind. The main set-up is very similar, with a multi-chapter story structure where you solve murder mysteries (often of an impossible nature), but also delve into an on-going mystery, which will get resolved in the final chapter. 

The at-times psychodelic pop art design we know from Danganronpa is also present, creating a very unique, but also very recognizable look for this game. When I first saw the game in a trailer, the world already looked very memorable, but having played the game, I can definitely say Kanai Ward, as a physical location, looks absolutely beautiful. It reminds a bit of Final Fantasy VII's Midgar, being a major city ruled by one big corporation, but the various city areas ranging with mostly office buildings to slums and a downtown area do look very memorable, especially with all the rain falling constantly, and the main area in particular has Blade Runner vibes going on. Art-wise, the game looks really cool.

Gameplay-wise, the main beats will not sound very surprising. At the start of each chapter, you control Yuma (in a third person view this time) walking across town, interacting with the various characters and sometimes even doing little sidequests to help the citizens of Kanai Ward. Once you had advanced, you'll get involved in a murder case, where your first priority becomes having to collect evidence. Sometimes, you'll have access to the crime scene, but often this will be a bit tricky because Yuma is actively locked out of an investigation by the local authorities. Enter the various Master Detectives who have joined the Yakou Detective Agency with Yuma: Master Detectives possess special, supernatural powers which they use in their investigations, ranging from being able to hear the slightest sounds in a certain radius, like even a heartbeat of a person hiding in a different room, to being able to use a kind of psychometry to visualize how a crime scene looked like when it was first discovered. Using these powers (often functioning as a kind of minigame), allows Yuma to collect the necessary evidence to solve the mystery, which is always done by having Shinigami-chan move Yuma (and often an ally) into the Mystery Labyrinth. I have to admit I wasn't really that impressed by the gameplay implementations of the various Master Detective powers in the investigation parts of the game. They provide for a bit of variety, but barely so, and while sometimes they did allow for unique mysteries, these moments were rare.

The Mystery Labyrinth is where the actual solving of a mystery takes place, being a supernatural realm that physically represents the mystery at hand. Abstract design representing the case makes these Mystery Labyrinths a sight to behold, but at the same time, I have to say I really, really think the Mystery Labyrinth is a failed attempt at a concept I think I can agree with in terms of ideas, but the execution in terms of gameplay is just not fun. Which is a bit of a shame, considering how good it feels to solve a mystery in well, a mystery game is pretty important. I think the basic idea behind the game is that they didn't want the player to ever get bored with the mechanics of solving a mystery, so they designed this part so there's always something happening. The main meat of these parts are the Reasoning Death Matches, where you have to "battle" with the mystery you're struggling with personified. This mystery-man will try to prove your deductions are wrong, but by using the correct evidence to prove they are wrong on the correct utterances, you can point out contradictions in their story, and thus "defeat" them. This is of course very similar to the Danganronpa games, in turn taken from the contradiction mechanic of the Ace Attorney games, so little surprises here. As in Danganronpa, there's an action element here, as timing and "evading" utterances is also important, as taking too much damage will kill you. But, this is not all, and that's the biggest problem I have with the Mystery Labyrinth. As said, they don't want to bore you, so basically everything is constantly presented with a different "mechanic" (often it's just the same mechanic of having to pick between three options, sometimes with a timer, or having to present a piece of evidence already in your possession). But because they want to make it look exciting, they present these questions in over the top manners in the Mystery Labyrinth, from having to pick the correct answers quickly while falling in the sky or fighting off a bad guy or riding a mine cart through a maze The Temple of Doom style. The questions themselves are perfectly fine, and I'll talk about that later, but every time the game switches to a different minigame, it has to load. And the load times are strangely long. Like, sometimes, you're waiting 20 seconds just for the next question to load, just because the presentation needs to be so over the top. It creates an incredibly bad flow for the game, as often you're physically forced to wait, even though answering the question correctly is rapidly leading you to the truth. After the first two chapters or so, I really got fed up with having to constantly wait for the extravagant presentation to load, even though the questions themselves are fairly simple.

Also: I have to admit I used the fast-forward button a lot on the banter and post-mini game discussions where you walk through the corridors of the Mystery Labyrinth after a while, because often, the game just needed to automatically go through all the banter before it allowed you to move on to the next gameplay segment... Each chapter also ends like in Danganronpa, where you have to do a short reconstruction of the timeline of the murder to show you really understand what had been happening. I still like them conceptually, as they will help people really order all the many events into a chronological story in their mind, but for some reason these parts (the voiceover of the reconstruction) can't be fast-forwarded....

The thing is, even though the Mystery Labyrinth can be so tedious because of the constant waiting, I do like the basic concept behind it. In games like Ace Attorney and Danganronpa, a lot of the story has to move forward via longer conversations and via contradictions, because that's the meat of the gameplay. Here, the idea is that the Mystery Labyrinth can just suddenly throw questions at you, which don't require as much of a natural set-up dialogue-wise, but which are still relevant to solving the mystery. I think this is related to the difference to a prose mystery story and a mystery story presented as a game: a mystery game will often have to be designed to have the mystery be able to be solved mainly through the core game mechanic, whereas a prose story, can provide starting points for solving the crime in a lot of different ways. In Rain Code, they basically have a magical explanation for why a certain question will pop up at this certain point, which might seem a bit artificial, but you don't really question it because of the supernatural background, and it allows the mystery solving process to be pretty streamlined. For example, Rain Code has a few stories where the mystery will be solved through an elimination method similar to Ellery Queen, where you have to identify the characteristics of the culprit and compare them to the suspects. That set-up works pretty good with the Mystery Labyrinth, because it can pose these questions that allow you to tick off those characteristics at the right time, without having to rely on the classic contradiction mechanics of Ace Attorney and Danganronpa, allowing for different kinds of mysteries, and different types of chains of reasoning to be presented in a game. I was quite pleasantly surprised to see that in a mystery game, so the idea of the Mystery Labyrinth really appealed to me, which in turn made it even more frustrating I had to wait for the game to load constantly for every single moment

The individual cases are pretty fun too, often slightly inspired by famous detective stories. The prologue for example, which introduces the player to the gameplay mechanics, takes place on a running express and is titled after Murder on the Orient Express, while the first proper case in Kanai Ward is about a horrible serial murderer with a title that reminds of Shunou Masayuki's Hasami Otoko ("Scissor Man"). There's even one set in a highly secured lab reminscent of Mori Hiroshi's stories. While I think in terms of complexity, the cases in Rain Code are nowhere near the more complex ones in the Danganronpa series like from the second or third game, I generally like most of them for their set-ups and the way they use the world of Kanai Ward, and the way the chains of reasoning are laid out for the player to solve these cases. You'll be solving quite a few impossible crimes (locked room murders) in this game, most of them with elements you'll recognize one way or another, but still presented in a fairly entertaining way. The Ultimate Secret of Kanai Ward on the other hand is not really a "conventional" mystery, and your mileage may very well vary on how much you like it. I kinda saw it coming, and I do think a few of the clues are quite clever, but it didn't come as shocking as it was probably intended, and the last chapter is quite bad in the sense it's basically one gigantic information dump on the player. The side-quests though are pretty boring, where you're not doing any real detective work and just doing errands across town (talk to A, then talk to B, return to A), which will feel very much as out-dated game design, similar to PlayStation 2 era Ryuu ga Gotoku/Yakuza games.

In the end though, I think that Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is a fairly interesting mystery game, even if it's hampered by atrocious loading times. It is basically what you'd expect from a game of the creators of Danganronpa and I assume many who read this blog will have played at least one of them, and thus have an idea of whether they'll like it or not. For those with no Danganronpa experience, I think it is a good game, but certainly not as comprehensive as the later entries of Danganronpa (which are cheapter at the moment), and some game design ideas do feel a bit dated. It's certainly not a epoch-making mystery game, though save for the loading times, it is a pretty solid designed game with interesting, even if not very complex mysteries for the player to solve. I had fun spending time in Kanai Ward at least, and if there's even a sequel, I'll definitely be very interested.

Original Japanese title(s): 『超探偵事件簿 レインコード』