Chapter One attempts to modernize Sherlock Holmes into a seemingly-AAA formula, but loses so much of what made the series great while gaining very little.
The open-world fictional island of Cordona is as expansive as it is lifeless. Very pretty on the surface, but running past the same handful of character models over and over on the way across the island to my next investigation point isn't exactly engaging. Weirdly the main questline only uses like a third of the island, and there's really very little incentive to explore the rest of it if you aren't a completionist.
The gameplay is mostly similar to previous Sherlock games, although many of the investigative elements have been streamlined to menus. It's a little simpler but I do kind of miss the goofy chemical analysis minigames from earlier games in the series. Aside from cleaning up the chemical analysis, the menus quickly become cluttered as cases pile up and were a real pain to navigate. The big expansion to the gameplay comes in combat, and it's so terrible that I wish they hadn't bothered.
I don't hate what they tried to do with the story, but it didn't land for me. Having a less experienced and confident Sherlock is great, but it doesn't feel like the story earns some of his character development, especially late in the game. The cases themselves are largely fine, and while in theory I find the idea of not knowing whether you came to the right conclusion interesting, in practice purposefully not having a correct answer really lowers the stakes when trying to piece the puzzle together at the end of each case.
Finally, please, we really need to wrest away the vice grip that BBC Sherlock Tumblr fans seemingly have on these games. I'm dying to get old Sherlock Holmes back. I just can't handle any more unsubtle Sherlock/Jo(h)n queerbaiting. Or belts.
I guess I can't fault Frogwares for swinging for the fences on Chapter One, even if they missed. But I think their last two entries have both chased a mass appeal that has ultimately been to their detriment.
The open-world fictional island of Cordona is as expansive as it is lifeless. Very pretty on the surface, but running past the same handful of character models over and over on the way across the island to my next investigation point isn't exactly engaging. Weirdly the main questline only uses like a third of the island, and there's really very little incentive to explore the rest of it if you aren't a completionist.
The gameplay is mostly similar to previous Sherlock games, although many of the investigative elements have been streamlined to menus. It's a little simpler but I do kind of miss the goofy chemical analysis minigames from earlier games in the series. Aside from cleaning up the chemical analysis, the menus quickly become cluttered as cases pile up and were a real pain to navigate. The big expansion to the gameplay comes in combat, and it's so terrible that I wish they hadn't bothered.
I don't hate what they tried to do with the story, but it didn't land for me. Having a less experienced and confident Sherlock is great, but it doesn't feel like the story earns some of his character development, especially late in the game. The cases themselves are largely fine, and while in theory I find the idea of not knowing whether you came to the right conclusion interesting, in practice purposefully not having a correct answer really lowers the stakes when trying to piece the puzzle together at the end of each case.
Finally, please, we really need to wrest away the vice grip that BBC Sherlock Tumblr fans seemingly have on these games. I'm dying to get old Sherlock Holmes back. I just can't handle any more unsubtle Sherlock/Jo(h)n queerbaiting. Or belts.
I guess I can't fault Frogwares for swinging for the fences on Chapter One, even if they missed. But I think their last two entries have both chased a mass appeal that has ultimately been to their detriment.