This is a thoroughly mediocre game that is probably most appealing to those who are already fans of the comic.
I came in knowing nothing about the IP other than that it existed, so something to consider.
I also just realized the subtitle makes no sense. It doesn’t relate to the story in any way?
Bless the furries, fuck ICE.
Good: The Flower Collectors
Mehs: The Painscreek Killings, Detective Gallo, Senna and the Forest
Bad: Return of the Phantom
Inside: Duskers, Golden Light, Earthlock, Surviving the Aftermath, Amnesia: The Bunker
I enjoy bad games, which is good because I play a lot of them. But even if I didn’t, playing a thousand terrible indies would be completely worth it to me just to find one this brilliant.
+: Duck Detective: The Secret Salami + Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping, Eye 4 Eye
-: The Final Print, Kona, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
The theme for the pans this time is “cultural appropriation.”
Split this from the group detective posts because I ended up having way more to say about it than I thought I would!
CW: Tons of mental health stuff in the game, including PTSD, sexual coercion, and suicide attempts. FWIW it’s not explicit and I think it’s handled pretty well, but it might be worth having someone screen it for you if those are normally triggers.
Inside: Return of the Obra Dinn, Case of the Golden Idol, Inspector Waffles, Murder Is Game Over, Tangle Tower (Det Grimoire #2), Subsurface Circular, The Samaritan Paradox
Only Tangle Tower is a rec, lol.
Expedition 33 presents a post-apocalyptic world where a monster known as the Paintress has painted a number on a huge monolith; every year the number goes down by 1, and everyone older that number dies instantly. Every year people send out expeditions to find and kill the Paintress, but none have succeeded or even come back. I was intrigued by this premise for its similarity to Final Fantasy X, the best Final Fantasy, as well as the promise of an older cast, as this sort of setup is usually an excuse to create a cast of sexy 20-year-olds (or teenagers).
It was a profound disappointment. I’m used to being disappointed these days, but this still impressed me with just how bad it was.
It’s such a treat to see a writer improve. It’s what I love about teaching stupid freshman, and it’s one of the reasons I also go through developer catalogues chronologically; it just makes me warm and fuzzy.
The remainder of the Blackwell games are pretty good. I’d actually rec just skipping the first one (or reading a plot summary) and playing the rest. The puzzle design is golden, the characters are compelling, and it’s just a great supernatural mystery series. I didn’t love the final conclusion which marred it a bit for me, but there’s definitely a lot of good stuff here.
CW, both in games and below reviews, for depression/suicide.
Spoilers abound inside, though I’ve tried to black out the more severe ones. I care less as time goes on though, sorry!
A real eclectic bunch this time.
Inside: Inspector Schmidt: A Bavarian Tale, Overboard!, Detective Case and Clown Bot in: Murder in the Hotel Lisbon, On Your Tail, Little Locked Rooms, Emerald City Confidential
The recs are Inspector Schmidt and Emerald City
CW: One of the games uses a homophobic slur and I briefly talk about it.
After Act expressed her disappointment with this game, I decided to try it myself to form my own opinion… and I’m glad I did, because this is indeed a treasure.
Inside: Brok the Investigator, Song of Farca, Chicken Police: Paint It Red
CW for alcoholism and depression/suicide in the Chicken Police review — I talk a bit about how Chandler died, largely because I don’t like how the game treats drinking as a character quirk.
This game is a masterpiece. I put 15 hours into it over the course of two days staying up til like 3 AM each time because I just couldn’t put it down. There’s really nothing better than a good ghost story.
Inside: Soulstice, Silksong, OMORI.
Good detective fiction, as we’ve seen, can use the genre to make meaningful critique of the socially constructed nature of the law and the unstable identity of crime and the criminal.
Bad detective fiction is a vigorous defense of the status quo, a reification of the mandate that the Institution in every form must be protected at all costs.