Master Magistrate
Master Magistrate surprised me a lot. In a very positive way. When I purchased this visual novel I imagined how it was going to be having already played similar games. But it was very well written and when the whole plot came together it blew my mind. Didn’t expect what happened. The story is very good and entertaining, the art is beautiful and both the music and character voices complement the game.
The main story is divided in 4 cases/chapters. There is also a bonus chapter and it’s called Fanservice [for that reason, lol]. It can be found in the chapter selection at the menu. It’s short and can be played in any order because it doesn’t relate in any way to the main story and no important information is presented. Each one of the 4 cases consist of novel/investigation/trial parts. Case 4 is the only chapter with story choices that lead either to the True Ending or the Alternate Ending. The adult patch add 2 scenes to the Alternate Ending. That’s the only adult content available in the main story.
– Real player with 84.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective Mystery Games.
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Full game has been released, and with it a very meaty free patch that adds like 10+ hours of additional story and 5 character routes (plus a ton of R18 content…):
http://www.irodori-soft.com/steampatch.html
The game completely works without it, but the added epilogue and additional routes add a lot to the gameplay. Plus it’s free!
Disclosure: I helped test a pre-release version of this game. I did this outside of Steam so my play time is not accurate.
– Real player with 62.7 hrs in game
For the Night
A Cold War story.
”There’s a job for you. I need you to go to Stockholm. One of our people there have gone missing."
For the Night is a spy thriller, taking place during one single night at Hotel Adler in downtown Stockholm.
The player takes on the role of veteran STASI agent Lene Ulbricht, who is sent to Stockholm to find out what happened to a fellow agent who has mysteriously disappeared.
Through social interaction, deduction and lies, Lene will get to the truth about everything. The truth about the disappearance, the hotel, the war, the enemy and herself.
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Espionage thriller story, set in the late days of the Cold War.
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Point & Click-gameplay with heavy focus on dialogue, dialogue choices and problem solving.
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Gorgeous 2D art.
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Choice and Consequence with nuanced and layered impact on the outcome of the story.
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Challenging problem solving through taking note of words in dialogue. The game won’t solve the case for you.
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Focus on finding out information and social interaction.
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In-game time that actually has an impact on the story. Spend one hour somewhere, and characters will have acted or moved elsewhere. The game and it’s characters do not sit around and wait for you to find them. They act on their own.
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Multiple endings and outcomes, allowing for multiple playthroughs, trying out different paths and strategies to solve the mystery.
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Original dark, jazzy soundtrack by saxophonist and composer Andreas Ferronato.
For the Night is developed by two-man studio Pusselbit Games (Erik Blåsjö and Leo Låby)
Music is composed and performed by Andreas Ferronato.
Read More: Best Detective Indie Games.
The Shapeshifting Detective
22 karat and less of it, but still gold
Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker was a goddamn bounty of a game. My first playthrough ran in excess of ten hours of quality FMV. The unique text entry (whilst finicky) combined with the patient substories you could steer the outcome of - let you truly roleplay the power position of a psychiatrist. Finding your predecessor’s randomly selected killer was simply another consideration rumbling below the surface of every interaction. A Lovecraftian madness system was itself affirmed by a fever dream atmosphere (formed by ethereal visuals and a droning soundtrack) that genuinely unsettled over long play sessions. Perhaps it’s only because their previous offering was so good that Shapeshifting Detective pales somewhat in comparison.
– Real player with 14.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective Indie Games.
What a pleasant surprise. I never thought the game will be very entertaining especially that it plays differently than most of the FMV games. I enjoyed the game thoroughly, at the beginning it felt slow, but then I couldn’t stop playing until I finished the game. The story about a young woman named Dorota Shaw who died in a mysterious way, you were assigned to investigate the case, the prime suspects are three tarot readers who you moved to live in the same building with them to get to know them more. With your special ability, you can shapeshift into anyone you’ve met, this allows you to get more information from people as they wouldn’t share it with you as a detective but to their ‘friends’ I loved the game’s mechanics and loved how you interact with people differently, funny how when you shapeshift to someone else and get a piece of news you can break to the other person as a detective, I loved how stunned most of them looked.
– Real player with 7.9 hrs in game
Visitor 来访者
I really enjoyed this game. It’s a really pared down, simple interface and a nice use of FMV. The acting is great, it’s very tongue-in-cheek and stars the developer who’s cast himself, not as the hero, but as a gross, schlubby goon, which gives you some idea of the sense of humour behind it. Looking forward to seeing what the studio makes next!
– Real player with 4.7 hrs in game
If you like FMV games this is a must buy. The amount of quality content you get for a small price is outstanding, the actors have some loveable traits and as far as connecting the dots is concerned the main game mechanic is very similar to “Contradiction” in that you combine witness statements that contradict each other or that contradict evidence. And even if you have no prior experience with games of this kind you’ll figure out how it’s supposed to work within the first couple of steps. But beware, even small details can become important later on, so don’t blame your lack of attention on the game. This is very well made and a wholly deserved recommendation!
– Real player with 3.5 hrs in game
Femida
The game and the DLSs are worth every penny! Each case in the game is deep and raises important questions about morality. Most of the game is reading, btw. No bugs for me. I will certainly come back to play it again later to get all the endings.
10 winning court rulings/10
– Real player with 10.1 hrs in game
This is the best court simulation ever! The story is even better. It’s really satisfying to see how your decisions impact the world and the plot.
The devs keep polishing the game. The bugs and errors are getting fixed.
– Real player with 9.8 hrs in game
Grey Instinct
I am emotionally invested in this game. It’s been 20 days. I have not seen my family, friends, or civilisation in general since the dawn of this simulation. My love for Kana grows while my sense of reality dims. I am CumMaster69 and I got every single achievement in this game. Life has no purpose. I have no purpose. Until Grey Instinct 2 comes out, I shall halt my existence till my love returns. This game should be renamed Sheenz Instinct because my love for Kana is unlevelled.
I do not know who I am anymore. So I leave you with this warning. If you play, you may not live to see another day.
– Real player with 14.4 hrs in game
This game, even from just playing the first chapter, I can tell is going to be a 10/10!
Really fun, interesting, the mechanics are smooth, there are mini games within it (like in the arcade after you unlock the dating app) the graphics are great (keep in mind this is a style I like, and not just be thinking this is the best graphics engine out there. I like the 2.5-D vibe it has), it is really fun! I was wrapped into it almost immediately. The thing I liked the most was the STYLE. And this game definitely has it. I’ve also never run across the idea of using a dating app to “whoo” your potential dates with puzzles and stuff they like so that is definitely a cool mechanic that I was not ready for, but was impressed by.
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game
Pluvia - Episode I
Nice start, maybe good game, but there are some bugs in the game.
A lot of text (in the english play) are not translated from italian.
It needed ASAP a correcting patch.
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game
I love this game! Waiting for episode 2.
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
Death Mark is a Horror/Puzzle Game that relies on memories (or a piece of Paper and something to write) and requieres a bit of concentration and logic during segments of it’s story
- The Story of the Game is about 8 - 10 h but depending on your pace it will tak longer to
finish. I’d recommend to play rather slowly and to concentrate on the diffrent kinds of clues
and information that you’ll find since you’ll be presented with boss “fights” at the end of each
chapter. For these you’ll need every bit of information that you
– Real player with 28.2 hrs in game
Death Mark is a horror visual novel with point&click adventure elements, which feels indie but its also quite enjoyable despite its shotcomings. The protagonist is an amnesiac guy with a (slightly)customizable face that is invited into a dark, mysterious european-styled mansion. He will discover that his wrist has been marked with a curse, and many others like him will follow his destiny throughout the adventure. The main objective, unsurprisingly, is it get rid of the curse and free everyone else with the same affliction in the process.
– Real player with 25.1 hrs in game
School Years
Some long time ago I have heard of a Chinese Visual Novel in which the author wrote the story from his own experience with love / romantic interactions, which was actually really sad. But after I have played it I believe that this might be that game.
The story is pretty good, the OST has some very good songs, but overall is good. The voice acting is surprisingly good, even if I don’t know Chinese I can say it was pretty pleasant to hear them. The translations are not perfect, but it is enough to make you understand the story, and I believe that we should congratulate the developers for this instead of complaining. The puzzles / exercises are pretty easy, the math ones for me at least, except for the last one where I literally had to use my intuition. It also has some features that modern VNs have, the game has some 3D scenes which makes it more pleasant.
– Real player with 38.1 hrs in game
It’s a nice game. The first chapter offers you around 14 hours of game. There are at least 3 different endings, currently, I’ve only achieve the normal ending, I’m replaying the game to achieve the good one. I look forward to the second chapter!
The OST is also pretty good, I’m going to buy it plus the second chapter.
In the English translation there are some typos and I’ve found a little bug on a part of one act where previous subtitle wasn’t vanish so the last subtitle overlapped it. But the game is understandable and in spite of little bugs it’s completely playable.
– Real player with 28.1 hrs in game
Sherlock Holmes: Finding the Rooster
Sherlock Holmes: Finding the Rooster is a new installation in a series of games about the iconic detective that will tell you a thrilling detective story.
Immerse yourself in an alternative 19th century London. This is our own vision of the public domain character.
This first-person action game features superb graphics, an intriguing storyline and addictive gameplay at your fingertips.
**Plot[/]
Tony Sanchez, nicknamed “The Rooster”, is one of London’s most dangerous maniacs. He managed to escape from Coldridge Prison. Your task is to track him down and return him back to jail.
**Gameplay: [/]
Immerse yourself in the role of a detective, play in the first person as one of the most iconic characters of the 19th century. Solve puzzles, unlock locks and connect facts together.
Features:
⚫First-person view
⚫Beautiful graphics
⚫Interesting story
⚫Achievements
⚫A game about the iconic character of the books of Arthur Conan Doyle****