Endless Rain is a first-person mystery game and a sequel to my narrative game
You play as Takeru Maeda, a criminal psychologist who came back to Japan to track down his childhood friend who killed his entire family. His search leads him to a station where he last saw his friend Kaito 20 years ago. Following the lyrics from their favorite song "Endless Rain" scattered throughout the area, Takeru finds hidden messages.
My inspiration for the level came from an art book, "Tokyo at Night" by Mateusz Urbanowicz, where I saw these two locations. ​
I found both on Google maps (by environmental clues) for further analysis and sketched them a few times merging into one coherent level
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Train
Train
platform
All assets for this level I created in UE5.
In-world UIs were designed in Photoshop.​
The level starts in a dimly lit metro train with a cool, dark palette, creating an isolated atmosphere.
Lighting and color guide the player, with the glowing yellow building in the distance serving as the focal point and goal.
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As we step onto the platform, the cool blue tones of the train give way to a warm yellow glow.
station
outside
I added decal graffiti from Quixel to key spots where we’re certain to see them as we move further into the station. They make us wonder who left them behind, as though someone is trying to tell us something, or warn us.
As we follow the graffiti and the song lyrics scrawled over metro signs, we’re led further into the station, going down into the metro hall. Here, the lighting shifts to an vivid red, heightening the tension.
As we exit the station, the cool blue tones of a rainy Tokyo night return. A lone streetlight highlights a photography poster, the first of many that appear more frequently as we progress. Takeru's inner monologue reveals his childhood friend was a photographer who took pictures of victims' belongings before killing them.
under the bridge
Exiting the metro, we walk down a slope towards two warm-lit paths.
One path leads to a dead end, where we uncover a piece of Takeru’s past
The other path, the main route under the bridge, reveals more song lyrics and graffiti, guiding us to the building glimpsed from the train
photo booth
We enter the photo booth area, the final destination.
All the booths are brightly lit, except for the last one. We know it’s the one we need to check, but as we move through the others, we see more strange graffiti.
When we finally approach the last booth, inside, we find the final piece of the song's lyrics on the wall, along with a photo of Takeru's bracelet.
Now we know that Takeru's childhood friend has been one step ahead all along and plans to make Takeru his final victim.
you've just unlocked secret data
retrospective
Since I have a whole backstory for Takeru, from when he met Kaito to their last meeting, it was difficult to decide which part of their story to focus on. Choosing this particular moment let me explore both the narrative and level design. Their shared favorite song ties them together across the games, and the bridge in Endless Rain symbolizes the boundary between their past and present. Building the metro station was a huge learning experience for me. Without any architectural training, I felt like I had to invent my own architecture, which actually got me interested in an actual one. I went to a local metro station to study how everything worked together, taking pictures, measuring steps, and heights. I wanted to get the details right, and now, after finishing the prototype, I always carry a measuring tape with me.