Of the best atmospheric games in its genre, it really is a valuable game equal to the Sherlock Holmes book and movies.

My rating: 6/10

I...I mean what was that last case...a complete 180 LMAO! Just pure chaos! I mean I still enjoyed it but this game didn't really feel like Sherlock Holmes...from what I know is that the supernatural or magic doesn't belong it in but I guess it was fun!

So much more than a classic point and click! Great action sequences, immersive environments, and wonderfully done storylines have kept me hooked on this game.

TLDR: WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?! WHAT IS HAPPENING? WHAT ARE THE CONTROLS? WHY DO I HAVE A SAILOR OUTFIT? CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT IS GOING ON?

General Thoughts/Overview:

So, let’s solve the mystery of what the hell is happening and unpick exactly what’s gone wrong.

We find ourselves in the shoes of ‘Sherlock Holmes’, or an approximation thereof. Bored as ever when not on the case, though not abusing drugs for once. That’s when his new neighbour appears, along with his next client.

Mix in the daughter he has, but isn’t his, (he stole her from Moriarty after apparently killing him but the game acts like we know this, and doesn’t tell us until significantly later that we’re meant to know her,) and…

AH-HA! Why Watson, I do believe we’ve solved the first mystery!

The game is a sequel! Now, I picked this game up in a humble bundle… I had no idea and the store page didn’t mention it either. It took me altogether too long to realise, but the clues were there: No tutorial, mini-games practice for mechanics we didn’t use - with no explanations of how to use them, overly familiar characters… but this is part of the problem of using a famous franchise. What’s that? Wiggins is here? Well of course he is! Who could forget the Baker Street Irregulars? Watson and Mrs Hudson? Staples so famous people know their names without reading a book. The new neighbour, new client, and new daughter? Well why not? May as well get us in the story straight away.

And just like the game dives into the deep end with no further words, so too shall I approach this murder.

Pros:

• The first thing to notably make or break a detective game is the deductions and conclusion system. I very much enjoyed that this allowed several plausible explanations, depending on how you evaluate the clues.
  
• There are lots of mini-games, they’re fairly diverse, and they have a skip button for if you hate them, suck at them, or are bored by them.
  
• The cases themselves are also fairly diverse and different. They didn’t feel particularly ‘Holmesy’ to me. Part of the problem is that the books are written from the perspective of good old Dr Watson… and who wants to play the sidekick? But combining the elements of mysticism and the removal of the cold logical machineman that is book Holmes left the stories a little wanting. This sounds negative, but actually the stories are engaging, interesting, and with no clear answer which plausible solution is correct feels quite good.

Cons:

• As mentioned, the characters don’t feel truly Holmes. The mysteries don’t feel Holmesy either. I think if this were a fresh new detective, in the period, and able to build their own world entirely, it could have been extremely engaging.
  
• The game has Quick Time Events. Also known as “We wanted a cutscene, but you might have gotten bored and left, so we put in a bad mechanic because we couldn’t figure out how to make it player centred.” I hate QTE’s. I’ve never met anyone that goes “Yes! A detective deduction game! I can’t wait to use my reaction time instead of my brain!”
  
• I really dislike the camera shake everywhere, especially in the fast travel scene transition. Though I really liked being encouraged to review notes, and match clues while the maps were loading, I thought that was a clever use of dead time. It was also nice that I could opt to swap the travel scene for a regular bog-standard loading screen.
  
• The game controls aren’t great, and aren’t helped by several sections of the game. Manually climbing ladders? Getting stuck on pebbles and dents during chase sequences? Short pushing actions so you need to press repeatedly? Movement in this game feels bad, leaves me vaguely travel sick, and is otherwise frustrating.
  
• The detective vision is a tired mechanic at this point. I get the balance between needing to find a hotspot and holding a players hand when they can’t… but this isn’t it- sometimes required to find something at all, and yet no use for larger hotspots. It’s like they didn’t really know how to use it.
  
• The clue combination and larger idea combination is a genre problem in general. Combining clues strikes incorrect combos, only allowing valid inputs. This allows for a lot of brute forcing of the game, rather than actually using ones intellect to solve the puzzle.
  
• The full on wardrobe change just wasn’t an engaging mechanic. Sure it was nice being able to pick a disguise, I like the idea, but it just wasn’t used effectively, and only having presets really limited the opportunities. Imagine needing to check out the tavern, then needing to go back and dress to fit in with the gang going up and down stairs, as an alternative to the minigame. Camouflage and hiding yourself as actual mechanics, the use of the outfit opening – or closing – doors. It could have been very interesting.
  
• Game is nothing like the storepage adverts, not even the cutscenes. I don’t understand why they’d make these, put them in an advert, and not use them. What a waste.

Suggested improvements:

• Fix the movement controls.
  
• More wrong options, false leads, and conclusions. An expansion of the morale choices would have been nice too.
  
• Nail down the audience. This game really has an identity crisis. It tries to appeal to action adventure enjoyers with its puzzles and minigames and chasing and sneaking and QTE’s, all the while alienating the deductive puzzle and investigation sleuths. And then it gives long winded dialogues, and detailed investigation sites, and logic and thinking puzzles with no clear answer, and a huge amount of back and forth, and “SAY THE RIGHT THING FASTER THAN YOU CAN READ IT! QUICK!” puzzles to drive those players right away again. The cross over for those audiences may well be larger than I think… but it still feels like an own goal to me.

Overall Recommendation:

My recommendation is difficult. As a generic detective game, it isn’t half bad. I enjoyed a large portion of it and I would recommend it if it were labelled and sold as such, with a giant “YOU ARE MID WAY IN A STORY, START HERE PLEASE.” Button.

But it isn’t. It’s sold as a Sherlock Holmes adventure, and this is its biggest draw and biggest failure. It simply isn’t. It lacks almost everything quintessential to such a story. It makes the man an emotional wreck with attachments that simply wouldn’t exist. It removes a huge section of logic to replace it with mysticism and often felt more Lovecraftian. And again, I’m not against the merge, I’m here for it, I thought it was good… just not in my Sherlock Holme story, please.

I don’t know who this game is for, really. If you like action adventure AND thinky games, AND you don’t mind Holmes not being very Holmesy (or are better at letting that go than I am.) then I think you’ll enjoy this. It could also be a bridge between genres if the idea sounds intriguing to you.

This game isn’t for folks looking for a ‘true to character and theme’ crime adventure with our favourite drug addict. It isn’t for people looking for a pure detective game, and it isn’t for folks who want to be taught how to play it.

Ultimately this is a no from me. Dumping a midpoint game into a bundle with no further info, simple puzzles whose only redemption is multiple plausible answers, the feeling of false advertising, and riding on the back of a great detective… It just didn’t work for me. That said, if the rest of the games go for 90% off, I might pick them up and have a look. There is so much mechanically right here, and going in having met this version of Holmes already and knowing what I’m expecting might make me a little more forgiving.

My curator page with reviews by genre. In case you want to find more games, or even reviews, like this one.

Great game