Indie Light

Kathy Rain is a point-and-click adventure video game, it was developed by Clifftop Games, and published by Raw Fury Games. It was officially released to the public on May 5th 2016 (with a Directors Cut which has a extended story, additional puzzles, and new areas to explore being released on October 26th 2021). The game follows the titular Kathy Rain, a college student who returns home to confront the mystery of her deceased grandfather. I was lucky enough to get an interview with Joel Staaf Hästö the creator of the game, and you can check that out here. 

When I first booted up this game on Steam I genuinely had no idea what to expect, unlike the bulk of games I end up reviewing which I’ve already played before, or at least I’ve heard a ton about, this one was a complete mystery to me, it was just something that Tori B Bearly picked out as they know I love detective and mystery games and to be completely honest I think that added to the intrigue and mystery as I went into it completely blind. I really had no expectations, although when the loading screen first popped up with that amazing, spine tingling music I knew that I was in for something special.

I want to say upfront that I tend towards being positive when writing these reviews, it’s my intention while still being fair and honest to also uplift where possible so I want to quickly discuss the two issues I had with this game which was otherwise incredibly engaging and enjoyable. First off, and I’d like to add that this could easily be because I enjoyed the actual game so much, but it was a little shorter than I’d like. I didn’t sit down and binge it, instead I completed it over a few days, playing it for an hour or so each day after work, but even taking that into account it still felt briefer. Not that I didn’t feel like I got my monies worth, or even that it was paced poorly, but I finished the game and wished I was still playing it, which if anything is a testament to how good the actual game was.

My other issue, and I was endevour to discuss it without spoilers, but there is an incident towards the end of the game where the main character Kathy Rain, is forced to confront some demons from her past, and deal with a difficult choice she made. I want to make it clear before going on, that my issue with this section isn’t that the decision itself could be deemed controversial, but rather it just wasn’t developed enough overall to be as impactful as I would have preferred. I am being very careful not to spoil anyrhing, but other than a dream sequence which I’d actually forgotten about which referenced the aforementioned event, the finale felt like it came out of nowhere. I do have to add, that despite that issue I didn’t dislike the final section of the game, it was very atmospheric and was a very interesting ending to the story, and had there been a little bit more lead in with the story point I’m referencing then I would have been completely satisfied with the narrative.

Okay now onto what I liked about the game, and there was plenty. First off the art design and graphic style was great, and I liked that it served not just as a pleasing nod to the classic point and click games that we all nostalgically remember, but also it helps to reinforce the whole 90s setting of the game. That reminds me, when I talked with the develop he said one of the main reasons for setting the story in the 90s was, and I’m kinda paraphrasing here…was that telling a detective story was far easier before we had internet in our pockets. As someone attempting to write their own crime fiction novel I can agree with that.

I discussed the soundtrack just a little in my intro but lets dive into it properly now, the audio throughout the game really added to the scenes, and helped to build up the atmosphere perfectly. I should discuss this more in games, but in addition to the overall sound design, by which I mean the music and special effects, the voice acting was also very impressive. I think what was even more impressive though was that for an indie project, they programmed in, wrote and recorded a lot of ‘extra’ dialogue. For example occasionally you’ll do the standard point and click thing of trying this object with that object and get the stock ‘I don’t think that will work’ soundbite, but with this game more often than not you’ll get a unique and entertaining piece of dialogue courtesy of our main character, Kathy Rain.

I think that is as good a segway into talking about the characters as any, I will add that I could easily go into great length during this section, but I’ve been told that while not necessarily unenjoyable I tend to ramble when I write these review so I’m trying to practice brevity. First off, and obviously, I really enjoyed Kathy Rain, she was strong, confident and sassy, and yet all of that belied a very real, authentic and human vulnerability that helped me to engage with her. Of course I also loved Eileen Summers who was sweet, caring and just relentlessly positive, even after she is almost lost. Moving on from the main characters, even the background characters felt more real than you’d expect. I personally really loved Goober, who easily could have been annoying, but I felt that he was funny and likeable, he was down on his luck, but you get the feeling that he likes it that way and has a hundred different stories about how he got to where he is as well.

The mark of any good point and click game are it’s puzzles and maybe I’m just not much of a linear thinker, but on at least three occasions to my recollection I was really stumped and just hads to keep trying answers until I succeeded, but that was almost definately a me problem rather than a problem with the game itself. I think the challenges and the puzzles themselves were good, and maybe I’m just bad at puzzles. I think they were just difficult enough that you felt proud of yourself for progressing.

Speaking of a sense of accomplishment, the game at least on Steam has some interesting achievements you can earn, including one you get for just straight up messing with a homeless person, which you can feel free to do if you are so sadistically inclined.

Now before I give my final rating I want to very quickly discuss the story, again hopefully without spoiling anything. We follow Kathy Rain, the titular main character as she returns to her childhood hometown of Conwell Springs for her grandfather’s funeral. When she arrives she starts to piece together the final years of her beloved grandfather and what happened to him that confined him to a wheelchair and left him unresponsive to the world. She puts her Journalistic skills to great use as she slowly the mysteries that Conwell Springs has to offer and faces off against her own demons at the same time. Of course few things ever go well, and she ends up embroiled in something that boggles the mind and makes her question the reality of the world around her.

Overall I think Kathy Rain earns an 8/10, it’s a truly engaging and enjoyable game and it’s one that I will be playing again, but it’s not perfect. I am super excited for a potential sequel, as I’m ready to dive back into the complex world of Kathy Rain.