Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter

Many of the negative reviews are focused on how bad the Epping Forest `action' section is in the first case of the game. These reviews are accurate as this section is very painful and cannot be skipped. However, if you persevere and get through this section, the rest of the game is really very good. The voice acting, graphics and mood of the game are really good. It captures the feeling of being Sherlock Holmes and the atmosphere of Victorian England. There are some annoying `action' sequences in the later cases, but they can all (thankfully) be skipped. What you are then left with is an excellent Sherlock Holmes adventure game.

I cannot help myself to compare this title with previous Crimes and Punishments. What is obvious is, that this title is greatly influenced by movies with Robert Downey Junior and Jude Law and it affects all parts of gameplay. In terms of game design, Frogware added a lot to the game. The essential from previous game is still there (clues, interrogations, deduction) but added a lot more action, getting closer to the action adventure classification. Which is not bad, just different, but I personally enjoyed it a lot. Characters changed a lot in every aspect, visuals, voiceovers and even character is changed to match better the recent movie adaptation. I leave verdict about this decision in your hands, but if you enjoyed the movies you won't be angry. If you didn't like them and prefer the original Arthur Conan Doyle's version of characters, you would be disappointed. The story has a lot more action scenes but cases still makes sense and it fits well the set atmosphere. However, Frogware tried to link all cases to one bigger story, with consequences and decision and it didn't played out that well. I actually felt less weighted by consequences of my decisions than in the previous game, where it wasn't an important part of gameplay. Overall, this title is rather good, enjoyable and I don't regret buying it.

I was hesitant to get this game until it was deeply discounted since the reviews were all bad. But the reviews are a little misleading and there's one thing that I found 50% of the way through that I wish I had known earlier. I like Frogwares' other Sherlock games a lot. PRO: - If you skip all the garbage action scenes (there's a skip button!) the game is basically fine as an adventure game - There is a FIRST PERSON mode, which transforms the experience. The game world comes much more alive somehow. I play on all settings maxed and the world looks great in First Person. But kind of meh in 3rd. - The overall presentation is still good; decent voice acting & production values CON: - The action elements are garbage. You can't make an Uncharted game if you don't have an Uncharted budget. Just skip them and the game is OK. There's a Aztec level bois!!! Skip button. - The cases are pretty weak overall. The first ~3 I thought were interesting but they seem to become more cinematic as you get to the end. - The character models are horrible. No one looks British, lip-sync is wonky, Sherlock's outfits are ridiculous. The disguise system makes it even worse. - Of all the garbage mini games I thought the lock picking was actually pretty interesting. But skipped it anyway. Just skip all the action scenes and the game is decent and reminds you of the old Sherlock.

While the game is still enjoyable as a Sherlock homes narrative driven game with some detective work - a lot of the "features" that were added in this new title are poor. In particular those are.. Quick time events (a lot of them) and a variety of poorly stolen/implemented gameplay from other titles like precision running with poor controls while platforms around (and in front of) you keep disappearing, bland stealth observation, other imprecise environment interactions that lead to instand death, a kind of bowling/golf (boule) minigame with lmissing indicators for distance/power and a bunch more. The core game of deduction via clues is still here and still feels great but the fluff around is poor at best and theres just too much of it. A lot of it can be skipped but not all. Maybe this was an attempt of widening the target audience? If that is the case then attempting to please everyone left noone pleased as a result. Maybe some varied gameplay would improve the game overall but what was added here is of such poor quality and so poorly implemented that it just makes the game worse overall. I hope they studio will go back to focusing on the overall narrative and deduction/clues part of their game in the future. Those are the strengths and that is what sells the product in the end. I personally also felt that the voice actors for holmes/watson were worse than in the previous titles but not by so much that its not just a matter of personal preference.

I was a little hesitant of buying this game because of all the negative feedback that I have read, but given that the game reminded me very strongly of the previous installment - "Crimes and Punishments" (which in my humble opinion is the best Sherlock Holmes game) I decided to give it a fair try. The core mechanics are all still there, you can still build character portraits, gather clues and make deductions which lead to solving a case, but unfortunately this is where the positive suff ends. Overall for a point-and-click adventure game I felt that there were too few puzzles and most of them weren't even that hard. There were some very strange sections which tried to blend elements of other genres into the mix, but I would not say that the result was good. Some of these sections included stealth, trailing a suspect, finding cover while being shot at and a segment with a very strong "Tomb Raider" vibes to it. I am not sure that these elements are needed in a point-and-click adventure game. Also very frequently the game turns in an absolute Q.T.E. fest. Graphically I liked the visuals. The world looks beautiful, although you practically explore rather small maps. There is some "free roam" around your apartment and in some other locations but with the exception of a few trivial mini games there is not much to see or do. I found the cases in "Crimes and Punishments" to be much more memorable. Here the story is a continuation of the story in "the Testament of Sherlock Holmes". For a full playtrough I think that you will need around 12-13 hours, and this version does not have achievements (neither in-game nor in GoG Galaxy) unlike the previous installment so I really do not see much replay value. Still if you are a fan of the previous game I would recommend giving it a try but don't keep your expectations high. Also I advise you to wait for a sale, because the full prize is not worth it, given the length of the game and its quality.