Rain98, a lo-fi psychological thriller 18 years in the making, gets a free 3-hour Steam demo

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Eighteen years in development! Studio C#4R4CT3R has released a free Rain98 demo on Steam, with about three hours of play.

Tokyo, 1998, and rain that never stops

This lo-fi psychological thriller follows your days with Reina Amehara, voiced by Rio Tsuchiya, in an increasingly restless Tokyo. It mixes visual novel storytelling with minigames, collectibles and exploration sections where you talk with Reina and wander the city.

The demo runs from the start of the story to the middle of Chapter 2, unlike the event builds, which began mid-story. A future update will add the second half of the chapter. The full game should last 10 to 15 hours.

The demo arrived with a new trailer shown at The MIX Fall Showcase, which also revealed Mamiko Noto as the voice of Kyoko Yose. Steam lists a 2026 release.

Our take

A project nearly two decades in the making, a late-90s aesthetic and a demo that starts at the beginning? That is love for every pixel. Save it for a rainy afternoon.