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Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter

Another good chapter in a series worth investigating.

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The Sherlock Holmes series from Frogwares has slowly but surely gained recognition over the years, thanks to a gradual improvement from chapter to chapter. Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter follows the same path, improving several elements of its predecessor, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments, while maintaining the same quality as far as the narrative, script, and mysteries go.

There are several differences between the new game and the previous ones, and the most obvious is its technical quality. This is the first game in the saga designed from scratch for new-gen platforms, without being held back by older consoles. The character models are not really impressive, but the scenery is full of detail, and the atmosphere of 19th century London is fantastic. The superb environments are enriched by far superior lighting to what we saw in Crimes & Punishments. The locations and gameplay areas are also larger, allowing for more exploration. The Devil's Daughter is not an open world game, but you are free to explore streets, buildings, and so on, but there are also larger action scenes.

Although there is a technical improvement, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter is not a major production, and this is evident when you consider the little details. As mentioned, the character models don't have the same level of polish as an "AAA" title, and the gameplay comes across as a bit stiff in terms of the animations and controls. Everything works well enough, and the game does offer a solid experience, but don't expect anything beyond that. In terms of animation and the transitions between gameplay actions, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter is more in line with what was done five or six years ago in AAA, but on the plus side it doesn't suffer from any serious bugs.

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Another major difference between The Devil's Daughter and the previous titles comes from a design choice. Instead of introducing a huge case from beginning to end, the game is divided into five separate cases for players to explore. There is a general narrative arc, and links between all cases, but they are independent enough to be appreciated on their own. Imagine something like a episodic game, where u can take a break between cases and return a few weeks later if that's what you want.

As you can guess, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter is predominantly about research, exploration, and mystery. Many of the mechanics from previous games are present, and it offers a decent variety of tasks during the cases. Initially you need to investigate what happened, analyse the scene of the crime, and interview victims, witnesses, or suspects. When you meet a new character, time stands still and allows players to take a closer look at that character. Some deductions are obvious and automatic, others need a little more work from the player. For example, a character has red eyes: is it due to illness or because he was crying?

The investigation process revolves around searching areas for clues. Some are easy to find, others are only available if you use the "detective vision", which highlights hard to find items (because, for example, they are buried in a pile of papers or because they are in a jacket pocket). Usually this process is fairly straightforward, and the player does little more than follow the game's instructions. There is a higher level of difficulty, which makes the research harder, but is only recommended for players who truly enjoy the challenge of figuring things out.

As you collect clues and evidence, you may try to connect facts and make deductions. This will impact the resolution of the case, and can you can even accuse someone completely innocent. Cases are seldom what they first seem, and the best advice we can give you us to avoid jumping to conclusions.

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We enjoyed that Frogwares tried to change up the pace of the game through greater action sequences or out of the ordinary interactions. Using the first case as an example, we had to stealthily pursue an individual through the streets of London - a sequence that reminded us of Assassin's Creed - assume control of a dog while trying to follow the smell of an object, and escape from armed men in the middle of a swamp. Frogwares knows that a case lasting between 15 and 20 hours and composed only of research and deduction might become too repetitive and tiring, and these more interactive sequences are a great way to add variation. One problem that has not been fully resolved are the loading screens that last several seconds and occur with high frequency. This clearly breaks the rhythm of the game, even if Frogwares has tried to redeem the situation. In the options menu you can determine whether the loading screens should be disguised as a carriage trip, where you can review details of the case, or whether you see them through a traditional loading screen. The second choice offers no interaction but is faster, and it's up to the player to decide which option is the better fit.

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter is a game that leaves us divided. On the one hand it's clear that it's not up to the technical standard we've come to expect on the current generation of consoles. Not to the point of being outright bad, because it's not, but enough to make it feel somewhat outdated. On the other hand the experience is always solid, and in terms of what really matters to the game - the cases, the narrative, the research - Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter keeps its promises. It's not for all types of players, but if you are a fan of the series or the genre, you should give it a go in our opinion.

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Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's DaughterSherlock Holmes: The Devil's DaughterSherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter
07 Gamereactor UK
7 / 10
+
Improved graphics. Interesting cases. Allows the player to take wrong deductions. It's true to Sherlock Holmes. Varied gameplay.
-
Some rough spots. Sometimes we are guided through the cases. Loadings harm the game's pacing.
overall score
is our network score. What's yours? The network score is the average of every country's score

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