I have been musing about detective/mystery games for the past week or so because I’ve been obsessed with them lately. Here is my post from yesterday in which I griped about more things I hate in detective games.
In this post, I’m going to try to focus more on what I want from a detective game, not what I don’t want. But, there will be some of the latter because it’s unavoidable. At least for me. I tend to think of things in terms of what I don’t want. It helps me discard the chaff and focus on the wheat.
What I want, what I really really want.
1. Characters that I really care about. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, there was a character who really touched my heart. When they turned out to be the murderer, I felt so bad for them. I did not want to turn them in, but I knew I had to.
By the way, I was given three choices of how to present the evidence. I picked two of them, thinking they would be gentler than just turning them in. Joseph (the prrosecutor) told me that those were not acceptable, so I chose the third one. It turned out to be the most lenient of all, but I had no way of knowing that just by reading the choices.
I was lamenting about this yesterday, and I will continue now. Why am I given choices if there really is only one correct choice? And, while I’m happy that I don’t get a penalty for choosing the wrong one, it makes the choice meaningless.
2. To put it in a more positive way, give me meaningful choices, but ones that don’t have an objective right and wrong answer. Yes, I know that the point of detective games is to ferret out the truth, but there can be room for gray, right?
3. Simplified deductions. I don’t want elaborate or tortuous trains of thoughts that are the mental equivalent of ‘combine a piece of yarn, a tire iron, a broom, and a can of pop to make a key’. I still love Murders on the Yangtze River (OMEGAMES Studio), but I love it despite itself. It can’t help being a big ol’ pain in the ass when it comes to laborious inferences and obscure clues that make no sense.
Or, if it the devs have enough money, then I would be down with them having two ways to solve things. One, the elaborate, fifteen-step deduction that takes greater leaps of faith than I am capable of making. Two, simple, clear steps with maybe just a few twists that are juuuust hard enough to make me feel clever.
I have to say that The Roottrees Are Dead (Evil Trout Inc.) is still engaging, clever, and satisfying to figure out. Briefly, it’s a game about a very large and intricate family (the Roottrees). They are candy moguls, and the current president, his wife, and their three daughters die in a plane crash. I’m a private detective who is down on my luck. At least, I assume I am because all private detectives are–at least in fiction. A mysterious figure comes to me with a packet of information and tells me to start unravleing and figuring out the Roottree family tree.
I was skeptical when I started because where was the fun in that? And the first time I played it, I didn’t really get why it was so popular. When I tried it again, though, I quickly understood why it was so addictive. It’s set in the late ’90s, which means it was when the internet was in its basic form. This game created its wown search engine in the game, and setting it in the late ’90s is great because they didn’t have to worry about deep fakes, AI, etc.
I will say it’s a bit frustrating to look something up, say a name, and get nothing. I realize that they can’t include everything, but you would think that there would at least be one entry for each of the names on the list.
I will admit that I have used the hint buttons when I’m really stumped. I like that they have a hint button with increasingly specific hints for each hint (does that make sense? It does in my head). I will say that it’s a tad bit frustrating to have so much information. I am now taking notes, and the search engine retains all my previous searches. But it’s still an almost overwhelming amount of information. Plus, there are so many similar names. Lauren, one of the characters, even notes it in her book. Their are five Elis, full name Elias, for example.
I will say that when I make a connection and properly lock in a name, it’s such a good feeling. I have over half the names locked in, and I feel like a genius each time.
That’s the beauty of this game, and it never gets old. When I first started, I thought locking ten in place would never happen. Now that I’m more than half way done (just), it’s just a question of time.
4. This is a tricky line to toe, but the clues need to be seeded in a way that feel organic. One of the issues I have with many of these games is that the clues are either obviously A Clue or there are so many objects mentioned, it’s hard to know what is a clue and what isn’t. A well-written red herring is one thing, but just strewing false clues all over the place is another.
5. This is a personal one, but don’t suddenly pull out the supernatural when there is no hint of it earlier on. This is oddly specific, yes, but it has happened in more than one game. I am not saying I’m anti-supernatural all the time, but I am if it’s not earned.
I think this is something in general that irks me in any medium. I can’t stand a deux machina that fabricates anything out of one’s ass. Whether it’s clues, suspects, or the actual murderer–it’s just not what I want in my mysteries.
I’m tired and need to go to bed. I’ll probably write more about this tomorrow.