The original Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened had always piqued my curiosity, so I was thrilled when this remake was announced. I'm happy to say that The Awakened lives up to its zany premise and has reinvigorated my love for this franchise.
The Awakened is much more of a traditional adventure game that the last several Sherlock Holmes entries from Frogwares and I think the game benefits from this scaled-down approach. There are a few more open areas to explore but they are tighter and more dense than the sprawling and empty streets of Cordona in Chapter One. Investigating and gathering clues is just as engaging as before, though I did miss the less linear conclusions of the previous games' cases. I certainly did not miss the clunky combat and action sequences of the previous titles, which are thankfully missing in this remake.
As I hinted before, the story is wild in all the best ways. This story does a much better job at presenting a young and conflicted Sherlock than Chapter One, pushing him to the absolute limit. I found John Watson especially endearing, and I hope we get to see more of this version of the character.
By bringing this new, young Sherlock Holmes back to his roots, Frogwares has produced my favorite Sherlock Holmes game since 2014's Crimes and Punishments. I have no idea how they'll continue the story from here given where things ended in The Awakened, but I'm excited to find out.
The Awakened is much more of a traditional adventure game that the last several Sherlock Holmes entries from Frogwares and I think the game benefits from this scaled-down approach. There are a few more open areas to explore but they are tighter and more dense than the sprawling and empty streets of Cordona in Chapter One. Investigating and gathering clues is just as engaging as before, though I did miss the less linear conclusions of the previous games' cases. I certainly did not miss the clunky combat and action sequences of the previous titles, which are thankfully missing in this remake.
As I hinted before, the story is wild in all the best ways. This story does a much better job at presenting a young and conflicted Sherlock than Chapter One, pushing him to the absolute limit. I found John Watson especially endearing, and I hope we get to see more of this version of the character.
By bringing this new, young Sherlock Holmes back to his roots, Frogwares has produced my favorite Sherlock Holmes game since 2014's Crimes and Punishments. I have no idea how they'll continue the story from here given where things ended in The Awakened, but I'm excited to find out.