Developer: Frogwares
Publisher: Bigben Interactive
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Tested on: Xbox One
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter – Review
When we think about detectives, one of the most popular ones that pop into our mind will be Sherlock Holmes. This British rascal has its particular methods to solve cases, which can be marked as unorthodox and risky. In the end everything seems to work out, thanks to his exquisite senses and deduction skills. These abilities will certainly be useful when tackling cases and the problems in his personal life.
Story
As the title suggest, you are following some cases of the amazing Sherlock Holmes. It is your task to solve puzzles, track missing people or deduct certain conclusions with found clues during your investigations. The latter will have its influence on the rest of the game, as it is your call on who is the culprit. Even though the game presents you with a handful of different cases you’ll have to tackle, there is also a thread that runs through the entire game. It seems that Sherlock’s daughter is thrown into the mix, but how and why, we’ll leave that for you to find out.
What we can tell is that you’ll get the help of your good friend Dr. Watson and the young Wiggins. Even Toby, the bloodhound with the best smelling sense, is at your side. Also, you have an arsenal of information in your possession and you’ll certainly need it to crack some clues.
Overall, the game has enough story value to keep you entertained for a while. Next to the intel you receive during cases, there is also a more overall narrative that will pop up now and then. The combination of these two elements give the game a rich storyline in which you’re always craving for more.
Graphics
This part has both its good and bad aspects. First of all, the environments are really amazing and detailed. At the beginning of the game, you’ll probably be dumbstruck by your surroundings. Entering the streets of London might feel like you’ve been taken back in time. The developers also did their best to get everything right, such as the crinkles in a mat or the shininess and authenticity of an armor. On the other side, the characters do stand out in this rich world. The clothing and accessories aren’t the problem, but the facial features and emotional expressions are out of place. The quality of these graphics are bad, considering the beautiful surroundings.
A downside of the amazing environment and the world you can explore, is that the loading times really run up. This is partially countered by showing your carriage ride, giving you the possibility to take a look at your notes and clues or to get to the deduction area. If you know the case by heart and aren’t in need of combining clues, it is going to be a long ride.
Sound
The ambience of a game is certainly as important as the graphics and it is good to see that Frogwares took their time to get this part right. Each area has distinct quiet background music with a lot of background tumult and happy chattering, especially when you’re venturing the busy streets of London. Crime scenes or more remote areas have a more tense or tranquil tune. Something that will get your attention is that you can hear parts of conversations while passing by, which is certainly a fun element.
Voice acting wise, every conversation is guided by some great voices which gives the game that bit extra. Even more, the emotions can be heard clearly, giving that extra dimension to the discussions. It would have been nice if the lip-syncing would have been a bit more on point but this is something small.
Gameplay
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter is an action adventure game where you need to solve cases while getting your own problems in order. These incidents always seem to find their way to our detective and gradually the clues are piling up. The flow of the game seems to be different from each case but the first step is to find every piece of evidence. This can be done on several different ways.
First of all, clues can be found when talking to suspects or other interesting people. When you approach someone for the first time, you can perform a character portrait by detecting distinct characteristics. For instance, rings with emblems or dirt on their sleeve can give an indication on where they have been. This inspection is validated afterwards and it could be that you have an incomplete or partially wrong deduction. At any rate, this first step is quite important as it can help when questioning your interlocutor.
One other cool feature is that you’re able to nose into other people’s property without (mostly) any consequences. This means that you can find important notes or specific items that can bring up a new lead. Some of these objects need further examination, which is done in your own personal library or analysis lab. Your archive is quite extensive, spread across three cabinets. Also, your lab has equipment that some hospitals in that time could only dream of probably. In the end, these resources can be utilized to discover some secrets. To make everything more realistic, there is a certain sequence that needs to be followed if you’re analysing something. This is one of the elements that make the game interesting.
Next to the analysis sequence, there are a lot of other puzzles or riddles that need to be attended. One example is the lockpicking part, where you can choose between different picks to open the door. The further you advance in the game, the more you notice these popping up but you’ll never have the same repeating over and over. These puzzles might seem quite innocent, but you’ll be running for your life too. At least, you’ll have Toby or Watson helping you out at times which is a nice change of pace.
If you have gathered clues, you can start combining them in the deduction screen. If two pieces are related, they pop up as a node and you can start to play around with them. Some of them are just a statement, whereas others are a choice. Choosing one side will result in another conclusion and has its effect on the end of the case. Sometimes, you can also find an assumption before having gathered all the clues. It is your choice if you stop there or if you continue the search to the truth. Sometimes, you have multiple choices and some of them might be in conflict. This means that there is a mistake somewhere and that you need to revise certain decisions. In the end, your deduction will have its influence on the rest of the game so it is important that you’re sure of your case.
One remark is that there is almost no explanation at the beginning. For example, Wiggins is tracking someone and has to go through a chimney to do so. At first, it wasn’t very clear that you actually had to sweep the chimney at the same time. In the end, poor Wiggins choked and the mini-game had to be redone. One big advantage is that you can select the difficulty level before you start a new game, as this makes things easier or harder, depending on how your detective skills are.
There is one feature that hasn’t been brought up yet and that is the possibility to change Sherlock’s disguise. Certain events are in need of an appropriate clothing style or visual appearance and thank goodness that this cunning detective has a wardrobe full of costumes. Even more, he can grow facial hair like no other or get bald in seconds. Nevertheless, it is fun to play around with.
While this game might be about solving mysteries and tackling serious cases, the game does embed a hefty load of different mini-games or action sequences, to make sure a proper change of pace is presented. Arguably, many players will like the mystery solving, but having something else to do from time to time is certainly fun as well, especially when these sequences are so well brought as they are here.
Conclusion
Sherlock Holmes is certainly a vivid character that has some peculiar methods to find the truth, both in his cases as his personal problems. You’ll be stunned by the beauty of the graphics if you leave the facial characteristics out of the equation and the ambience will give you a bustling feeling. The gameplay itself has some fun features and the combination with the story make it hard to stop playing. At any rate, get ready for a bumpy ride.
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter - Review,
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[…] Frogwares has a bit of a history with Sherlock Holmes. Since 2002, they’ve released several titles starring the world-famous detective, on a variety of platforms. Although Wikipedia lists these […]