Kathy Rain: Director’s Cut – Spotlight
Director’s Cut editions of video games aren’t common, but for Kathy Rain, I believe we’ll make an exception. Director’s Cut marks the five-year anniversary of Clifftop Games’ inaugural title, Kathy Rain, which was released by Raw Fury in 2016. Is a second look in order?
The Director’s Cut edition of Kathy Rain doesn’t alter the film’s storyline in any significant way. Upon seeing Joseph Rain’s death notice in the local paper, Kathy returns to her grandparents’ small village where she spent a few formative years with them and unearths a weird mystery involving her grandfather that has implications for the entire community. It’s been ten years since he was killed and she’s still searching for answers about the bizarre tragedy that left him almost completely paralysed. With her grandmother’s blessing, she sets out to solve the mystery. Her investigations take her to a drowning and possible suicide of a young girl as well as several missing person reports and cases of people going insane while she deals with her own troubled past.
In terms of personality, Kathy embodies the adage “rebel without a cause never wins.” For the most part, she has little regard for other people’s feelings, but while dealing with Sue and interrogating her about the death of her teenage daughter, she’ll do anything she can to show sympathy and kindness. The sheriff is annoyed, the priest is told to suck it up, and she takes advantage of the local hobo in an unpleasant manner. Regardless of who she’s talking to, Kathy is fascinating to observe as she adheres to her own set of values.
Many other characters populate the storey, such as Kathy’s strict Christian roommate Eileen, who has the patience of a saint to deal with the troubled actress, failing actor Goober, and Kathy’s grandfather Joseph Rain, the former military man from whom she acquired much of her rigid morality. A fascinating cast is assembled, with Kathy playing off most of them admirably. Each character serves a specific purpose in the tale, and is given a smattering of background information to go along with it.
A spacebar highlights all interactable things on the screen, and clicking on one lets Kathy either view or utilise the object. The controls are basic and intuitive to use. Objects that need to be combined on screen or in the inventory can be done with click and drag techniques. Even newcomers to the genre will have no trouble using it because it’s so basic.
However, puzzles aren’t always as straightforward as they seem. Some puzzles are simple to solve, but others defy logic, and there’s no in-game help or hint system to guide you through them. Getting into the sheriff’s office rear room is a bit of a stretch, but changing the lamp to reach the attic is a no-brainer. Although the majority of the puzzles require you to use items from your inventory, there are a handful that require you to use numbers or codes.
Despite the fact that five years after its first release, Kathy Rain is still a superb video game, the Director’s Cut doesn’t offer much to improve the experience. I liked it since the basic premise is kept the same while certain minor plot points are resolved or expanded upon. However, I had no lingering concerns or questions after finishing the previous game because everything was satisfactorily wound up. Extra language and a few new puzzles and situations will delight die-hard fans, but if you enjoyed the previous game, you’ll find yourself going through it all over again in the sequel.
As always with Kathy Rain’s artwork, the attention to detail and vivid portrayal of the universe are outstanding. However, the character models occasionally appear weird, as though Kathy and her companions should be slightly taller in order to fit into their settings appropriately. Graphically, the game’s characters are excellent, and I particularly enjoy the character portraits that appear whenever someone speaks. They have a wide range of expressions that reveal the characters’ distinct personalities, though I particularly like Kathy’s portrait, which is my all-time favourite.
With Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Studio as vocal director and Arielle Siegel as Kathy and Shelly Shenoy as Eileen, the cast of the game is exceptional in terms of sound and voice acting. The Red Man is convincingly played by Matthew Cohn, while Andy Chmelko is a perfect Lenny Marks, despite his misfortune and good intentions.
To summarise, Kathy Rain: Director’s Cut is a good time, although it rehashes the same material from the first game in a fascinating tale with compelling people. The only thing on my mind after reading it was: when will there be a sequel?
