It has been years since Sherlock Holmes have been missing and a young lady who presents herself as Ms. Holmes have been making the rounds. And once again there has been sightings of an unnatural hound threatening the Baskervilles. Who could be behind these attacks? What they want? Or perhaps the legend is true?
Elephant Games is a rather prolific game developer with twenty years of experience focused on Hidden Objects for years with many different series, like the Grim Tales, Chimeras, and Detective United. So how did their foray into the world’s greatest detective's legacy go?
The idea of mixing a Hidden Object Game with a detective story is one that makes sense all things considered; most of Sherlock Holmes and other private investigators stories focus on attention to detail, to notice things that others would overlook and put into a context. This is why detective stories are so popular among these games and some of Ms. Holmes’ scenes have elements of interactions to contextualize it; it isn’t just about finding the object but solving small puzzles in order to keep continuing the investigation. An elegant solution to integrate the story with the gameplay without taking the player from it.
The inventory is also used in smart ways: not everything has a key, and sometimes a well-placed feminine charm will do. Or a rock. It is always intuitive, there aren’t any leaps of logic that require the moon logic of the old adventure games and the fact that the chapters are self-contained and have a few screens makes the pace brisk and agile, without the padding that some games can have.
The mini-games and puzzles also make sense in the context and there are even fighting scenes with Candy Crush mechanics to shake things up and other varied types that keep the player engaged at some points there is a mini-logic game similar to the Frogwares’ Sherlock Holmes or Blazing Griffin’s Hercule Poirot titles that also works as a small summary or catch up that helps if the player isn’t too sure where the story is going.
Visually speaking, everything is very high quality with a very solid art direction. Some titles can get busy at times, or straining to look at, but everything in this game do look amazing and pleasing to look at, the cool colors helping with a cozy but somewhat mysterious atmosphere. The sound design is also very efficient, with background music that enhances the atmosphere without being too intrusive and the sound effects are also enjoyable.
The bonus game follows what happens with another character in the game, but mentioning it would be spoilers. It gives some extra information that compliments the main story.
While I think the final plot twist might be a little “out there” for people looking for an experience closer to the source material, it is still an enjoyable title that could be worth your time.
