"How could this get any worse?" I found myself saying this aloud time and time again throughout my playthrough of this game. And to my amazement, Rain Code always managed to outdo itself. It's incredible how the game is capable of pulling this off, I honestly must applaud.
Everything about this game is made to undermine something else, and it is one of the most brilliant ways of writing a story. Mysteries that seem difficult to solve? Don't worry, the core mechanic of the game, the Mystery Labyrinth, will spoon-feed the answers to you. Solving a mystery means killing the culprit, what a cool idea that could be used for some heavy moral decisions later! Not to worry though, most of the culprits are either petty criminals or already dead. Partner characters enter the Mystery Labyrinth with the protagonist, meaning a sizeable chunk of their screentime, and therefore development, happens there. Too bad they lose their memories of everything that happened within when exiting said Mystery Labyrinth! I could go on.
How could this get any worse? These mechanics being at odds with each other is bad enough, but how about some of the worst gameplay in a visual novel yet? Not only are the controls themselves incredibly sluggish, but there are horrendous copies of minigames that were in Danganronpa that serve little to no purpose other than to rehash things people seemed to like about those games. In-between these minigames are sections of nothing but mindlessly walking forward in a straight line until getting to the next one. There are boring and forced side-quests as well as points you earn that go towards a skill tree, both of which serve zero purpose other than to make the game longer and have the appearance of there being more to do.
How could this get any worse? All of Rain Code's problems culminate in one of the most absurd and atrocious final chapters of any story I have ever experienced. Every issue is dialed to the max, and Rain Code isn't afraid to jump the shark and go completely off the deep end. But in a strange turn of events, it was the most enjoyable part of the game. I didn't enjoy it for the reasons that the creator, Kazutaka Kodaka, wanted me to, however. This was an entertaining train wreck that somehow kept getting worse and worse, and I grabbed my popcorn and watched it go up in flames. I am astonished at just how bad it got, and because of that, I enjoyed laughing at everything this game tried to do.
With enough noise, anything can become a symphony. Rain Code conducts this orchestra with such fine attention to detail, making sure nothing is consistent and nothing is harmonious. It walks a thin line between the amazing bad, and the just bad. And what an orchestra it is. I found myself appalled at every twist and turn this game took, and I would once again repeat: "How could this get any worse?"
And yet, it does. After suffering through this piece of shit for hours on end, I reached an epiphany. Among the chaos, I became enlightened: "This is one of the worst games ever, which is why it's one of the best games ever." No game, nay, piece of media will ever achieve what Rain Code has done. While being one of the most inconsistent and infuriating things ever, with awful gameplay, minimal thematic tones, and ideas that constantly undermine themselves, Rain Code is able to use its absurdity to rise above the standards of what makes something "good" or "bad" and become something uniquely its own. The best part? It's not meant to be absurd. It's supposed to be serious. This game fucking sucks in every sense of the word, and at the same time, it is one of the most entertaining games ever. I laugh at this game, not with it. And it feels goddamn amazing.
So, Kodaka, I ask you: How could you get any worse?
Everything about this game is made to undermine something else, and it is one of the most brilliant ways of writing a story. Mysteries that seem difficult to solve? Don't worry, the core mechanic of the game, the Mystery Labyrinth, will spoon-feed the answers to you. Solving a mystery means killing the culprit, what a cool idea that could be used for some heavy moral decisions later! Not to worry though, most of the culprits are either petty criminals or already dead. Partner characters enter the Mystery Labyrinth with the protagonist, meaning a sizeable chunk of their screentime, and therefore development, happens there. Too bad they lose their memories of everything that happened within when exiting said Mystery Labyrinth! I could go on.
How could this get any worse? These mechanics being at odds with each other is bad enough, but how about some of the worst gameplay in a visual novel yet? Not only are the controls themselves incredibly sluggish, but there are horrendous copies of minigames that were in Danganronpa that serve little to no purpose other than to rehash things people seemed to like about those games. In-between these minigames are sections of nothing but mindlessly walking forward in a straight line until getting to the next one. There are boring and forced side-quests as well as points you earn that go towards a skill tree, both of which serve zero purpose other than to make the game longer and have the appearance of there being more to do.
How could this get any worse? All of Rain Code's problems culminate in one of the most absurd and atrocious final chapters of any story I have ever experienced. Every issue is dialed to the max, and Rain Code isn't afraid to jump the shark and go completely off the deep end. But in a strange turn of events, it was the most enjoyable part of the game. I didn't enjoy it for the reasons that the creator, Kazutaka Kodaka, wanted me to, however. This was an entertaining train wreck that somehow kept getting worse and worse, and I grabbed my popcorn and watched it go up in flames. I am astonished at just how bad it got, and because of that, I enjoyed laughing at everything this game tried to do.
With enough noise, anything can become a symphony. Rain Code conducts this orchestra with such fine attention to detail, making sure nothing is consistent and nothing is harmonious. It walks a thin line between the amazing bad, and the just bad. And what an orchestra it is. I found myself appalled at every twist and turn this game took, and I would once again repeat: "How could this get any worse?"
And yet, it does. After suffering through this piece of shit for hours on end, I reached an epiphany. Among the chaos, I became enlightened: "This is one of the worst games ever, which is why it's one of the best games ever." No game, nay, piece of media will ever achieve what Rain Code has done. While being one of the most inconsistent and infuriating things ever, with awful gameplay, minimal thematic tones, and ideas that constantly undermine themselves, Rain Code is able to use its absurdity to rise above the standards of what makes something "good" or "bad" and become something uniquely its own. The best part? It's not meant to be absurd. It's supposed to be serious. This game fucking sucks in every sense of the word, and at the same time, it is one of the most entertaining games ever. I laugh at this game, not with it. And it feels goddamn amazing.
So, Kodaka, I ask you: How could you get any worse?
2 Comments
based af
Spudster
9 months ago