Detective Grimoire

I'm usually more an RPG or strategy game kind of player, but I thought I would give a different genre a go just for a change. I am really glad I picked Detective Grimoire: Secret of the Swamp as my inaugural point & click adventure game. I must say I really have much fun playing this. Things I enjoyed: Graphics - definitely easy on the eyes. At first, I was a little worried over the cartoony designs being too cartoony, but as I enter the first couple of game scenes, it quickly turn into a plus point. Voice acting - this is the most enjoyable part of the game. You could feel the characters! The humor, the sarcasm, the I-don't-quite-care-about-you voice acting really stands out. It's almost like watching a movie. Great choice of voice actors. Gameplay - easy interface, idiot-proof. I especially like the part where I can decide if a clue is suspicious or not. I enjoy being the detective myself. lol Storyline - good pace, good story. It was well thought out. You don't feel like anything is forcibly added to the storyline just to bulk things up. Every character plays a part. The ending was great! Some things that I thought could be better: Game time - I completed the game only in a couple of hours. It could have been even faster if I haven't spent the time analyzing each clue. I just wish it lasted a little longer. Mini puzzles - these could have been better. Not the most challenging, but I suppose this is not where the main attraction of the game lies. Overall: I'm giving it a 5* and highly recommend the game to anyone who enjoys a point and click adventure game or if you are like , trying out this game genre for the first time, I know you won't regret it.

Detective Grimoire is a point-and-click adventure. You'll be playing the titular detective as he investigates a murder in a rather quirky game world. The game manages to keep its mystery interesting despite the comedy and the wackiness of the setting, which is commendable. The gameplay works as you might expect, you find clues around the world with some pixel hunting, you interview the various suspects with a set of fixed questions (more unlock as you progress through the game), and you can also ask them about all the clues and the other suspects to gain more info. More interestingly, you'll be some time tasked to make logical conclusions connecting items/characters/locations in a sentence with the given options. Sadly, not all the puzzles are interesting. The strength and weakness of the game is how easy it is. You'll hardly find yourself puzzling over any given clue or situation. On the other hand, this also makes the experience quite fluid, and enjoyable, with quick progress. The game is also quite short, you can't really expect more than 2 hours out of the game (unless for some reason you get really stuck somewhere). The story of the mystery is overall good, but I'll say that despite its short run time, I feel it reaches a little bit with its conclusions near the end, and some of the clues could have had more interesting and informative details to them. You shouldn't have problems guessing the culprit, however. The visuals are stylized, and I think help quite a bit with the game's charm. The music, voice acting and comedy are all solid, boosting the charm even further. UI could be better, but it's not egregious. In short, the game is a fun experience, but extremely short and simple, which limit its ability to really be something special. Still, its personality carries it past its gameplay/narrative minor flaws, and delivers an enjoyable ride in the game's world. The game also has a sequel, but it doesn't use the Grimoire branding ("Tangle Tower").

Fun with good voice acting and charm, outstanding character animations. Short, so the price is right if you get it on sale.

Super fun, super cool, has EVERYTHING: animation, mystery, voice acting, jokes, color, lovely color palette, and a KILLER plot twist. Totally child appropriate, can play with siblings or niblings - "We all enjoyed it very much. Awesome totally cool very fun and it is very mysterious."