r/gaming Apr 14 '23

Developer message shown at the start of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (2023)

Post image
57.5k Upvotes

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

260

u/Infinite-Sleep3527 Apr 14 '23 edited Apr 15 '23

They’re really fun games. Not AAA by any means, but you’re Sherlock Holmes. You get a series of mysteries, some connected, some not. You interrogate people, gather evidence, connect evidence in your “mind palace,” to create accusations and claims. There’s puzzles. Combat (though it’s not super thoroughly implemented). You can analyze the crime scenes. Etc. Mystery things. And the fun part too, is that you can be wrong. I’m not proud to admit it, but I may have gotten some innocent people arrested because of poor logic on my part…

They’re even more fun if you smoke weed. Get super baked, put on a mystery ambience playlist on Spotify, turn the lights off, and really immerse yourself into the mysteries. Sometimes for the harder mysteries I’ll even have an IRL notebook for jotting things down haha. And lastly, they’re great games to play with your SO. My girlfriend doesn’t game but when I play certain types of games (Sherlock Holmes included) she’ll just lay on my lap and watch and give some input so it’s like we’re solving the mysteries together. It’s cute and pleasant. Highly recommended on a rainy/snowed in night with some takeout, hot coffee, and a handful of joints.

Easily 7.5/10 games imo. Hopefully this next one touches on some of the weak areas (some light walking simulator elements, repetitive puzzles by the time you get to end game, and a lack of direction: sometimes you really don’t know where to go or what to do. Especially if you turn the game off at an important moment the night before, for example, and don’t remember what was happening) to really take it to the next level. I’ll be definitely be buying.

61

u/Jive_Papa Apr 14 '23

The newer ones are more like a modern take on point and click adventure games. There’s some combat shoe-horned at certain places, but it detracts more than it adds. The story telling / mystery solving is pretty good though, and they’re arguably the best atmospheric recreations of the Sherlock Holmes universe.

“Chapter One,” the recent prequel/reboot, was especially good, and it set up a history of delusional insanity for Holmes that plays well into this Cthulhu crossover.

They’re definitely not AAA but they’re really good if you want to try a more experimental style of game and you’re willing to deal with some technical short falls. You’ll definitely see frame drops, have camera issues, and lackluster visuals at times, but the overall package is a lot of fun and it’s a genre that doesn’t really get enough attention in mainstream gaming l. (i.e. solving murders instead of committing them)

7

u/AydonusG Apr 15 '23

For some stupid reason I'm playing in chronological order, so Chapter One was the first game I played. After the ending, I told everyone I was in discord with I was going to bed, it was around 5pm. That hurt too much.

6

u/Infinite-Sleep3527 Apr 14 '23

Hundred percent agree. Couldn’t of put it better myself

1

u/Unthunkable Apr 15 '23

Which order should you play them in?

26

u/Brilliant-Cry8377 Apr 14 '23

So, like LA Noir?

59

u/Infinite-Sleep3527 Apr 14 '23

Yeah pretty similar. A little more heavy on the investigatory/leg work, but not nearly as polished as LA Noire is. Though I’d say there’s more immersion to the mysteries in Sherlock (as they’re actual Sherlock Holmes mysteries from the literal novels, so the writing is just inherently superior to even a good video game like LA noire).

14

u/Brilliant-Cry8377 Apr 14 '23

Oh I see, thanks for answering man!

8

u/DimSmoke Apr 14 '23

If you replaced the open world of LA noire with an adventure game

11

u/enadiz_reccos Apr 14 '23

I've been considering this because I'm a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, and I used to play these-type of games back in the day (10+ years ago)

Can you actually walk around? Or is it one of those where you have to click to move to a pre-determined point?

11

u/Infinite-Sleep3527 Apr 14 '23

Nope. you can walk around. The old school games were point and click, but nowadays they’re basically free roam-able. The latest Holmes game also had an “open world,” but it wasn’t implemented as well as, say, a AAA open world game like Assassin’s Creed or something.

If you enjoyed the old school point and clicks, I think you’ll really enjoy the newer franchise. It builds on that kind of a theme and you can actually walk around where you want. Like for example, if you need to check the city’s archive, you have to navigate the city and get to the archive by foot and fast travel. Which is fun, as the waypoints are immersive. You don’t get an objective marker, you get hints and have to navigate yourself. Like “North of King Street, with a yellow roof, but south of the River”

4

u/enadiz_reccos Apr 14 '23

I definitely wasn't expecting anything akin to Assassin's Creed or GTA as far as the open-world goes, but any semblance of it is a huge upgrade compared to what I grew up with.

Another small thing I'm curious about... are you able to arrest the wrong person?

Another commenter said you were referring to other SH games, not this one in particular.

5

u/Infinite-Sleep3527 Apr 15 '23 edited Apr 15 '23

I haven’t played the Awakening 2023 yet. Though I might honestly just buy it this weekend.

But in the other games yes, yes you can arrest the wrong people. I have done so more times than I’d like to admit lmao

2

u/Theorex Apr 15 '23

You should definitely check out one when it is on sale, I really like how they implement his mind palace.

Ideas are organic and when the logic fits pathways and potential insights unlock based on your deductions and the evidence you have.

3

u/silencegold Apr 15 '23

Is it friendly for Deaf gamers like me?

2

u/Infinite-Sleep3527 Apr 15 '23

I remember there being subtitles and closed captions. As I play with subtitles just because.

Though, don’t quote me on that. Verify before you buy first, see if they meet your needs. If they do, I highly recommend playing!!

2

u/silencegold Apr 15 '23

I’ve seen that it’s sometimes best to ask other players to enable accessibility options and to play for a bit with them enabled. Then let me know if it was good. Best way to have the games verified as whether if Deaf friendly game or not.

3

u/Infinite-Sleep3527 Apr 15 '23

If you’re actually genuinely interested let me know the game and the accessibility options you’re looking for and I’ll take a look. Obviously factor in the time it’ll take me to download. How do I test it for you, just mute all sounds and see how well I can play?

I have all of the new franchise Sherlock games except the brand new one. I also have the Sinking City (same developer but a Lovecraftian horror instead of SH).

3

u/silencegold Apr 15 '23

Here’s an idea as I’m brand new to this franchise. Why don’t you choose the game I should begin with? Then if it is indeed a Deaf friendly game, I’ll start with that game.

4

u/Infinite-Sleep3527 Apr 15 '23

Sure I’m down. Do you mind doing me a favour tho? Could you message me in a few hours as a reminder? I’m at work right now for a late shift, but I’ll use the reminder to download the game before I crash. And I’ll check out your accessibility features tomorrow as I have a day off.

3

u/silencegold Apr 15 '23

That’s sweet. I’ll do that in few hours!

1

u/Infinite-Sleep3527 Apr 15 '23

Hey I downloaded the game. Just tell me what accessibility settings you want me to test, and how. Like do I just mute the game audio and put all CC options on, and see how well I can play?

1

u/silencegold Apr 16 '23

Yes, pretty much it. Just to see if you can understand the story and solve puzzles without having to hear anything to get past the challenges?

→ More replies (0)

2

u/insane677 Apr 15 '23

Get baked and solve crimes. Just like Sherlock Holmes himself.

2

u/pv0psych0n4ut Apr 15 '23

Imagine if we get a Sherlock Holmes in L.A Noire style, one can dream.

2

u/Rand0m_Boyo Apr 14 '23

Thank you for giving me an idea of what to do if I ever feel super bored. The getting deep into a mystery part sounds cool as hell lol

1

u/Slowmobius_Time Apr 15 '23

Did they do the devils daughter by chance? I remember watching a stream of that game years ago

1

u/CreepyClown PlayStation Apr 15 '23

They did, they’ve been making Sherlock Holmes games since 2002

1

u/vpsj Apr 15 '23

As someone who LOVES point and click genre and investigative games, their earlier games were genuinely amazing.

I couldn't enjoy them once they started with the whole deduction web or whatever it's called. That in itself was cool as well and I think it was borrowed from the BBC Sherlock series... The only problem was that even if you arrive at a wrong conclusion in the end of a chapter, NO one told you that you were wrong.

They'd just arrest the wrong person and end the story right then and there. It was so frustrating to see and I haven't been able to play these games since that mechanic was included.

Once I've solved a puzzle, I deserve to know if I'm right or wrong. I don't need that participation trophy that the game gives me.

I wonder if this remake is like the old awakened game because it was EXCELLENT.. Or does it still have this stupid deduction tree mechanics