THE SHAPESHIFTING DETECTIVE

Face to face – but which face? – with a killer

You arrive at the guest house on a rainy evening, the chief’s promise ringing in your ears: find the killer and he’ll make that little problem from your past disappear. Thankfully, in this FMV mystery you have a unique advantage in that you can wear the faces of those you question. Additionally, you can choose to delete dialogue options because, as all good investigators know, some suspects may seek to fill the silence with something that turns out to be incriminating. The compelling core gimmick is perfectly matched to a heavily noir-inspired mystery that you’ll want to devour quickly. When it’s at its best you’re running in and out of your rented room, making more costume changes than an early noughties pop princess, shifting into either supporting corner of a love triangle, and digging a little deeper into suspects’ secrets. At its worst, it can descend into the familiar adventure game shuffle of trying every tool at your disposal on everything else until something new happens. Thankfully, you’re able to progress into the next chapter more or less at will, avoiding getting stuck in any long-term adventurer’s rut.

While Doctor Dekker, D’Avekki’s last game, featured one location, this one is far more ambitious and places you as a man about the town of August. It’s a limited view, mind, but the town’s radio station floods the halls of the guest house with texture and atmosphere. Trust us, you won’t want to touch that dial. That said, from the amateur sound mixing to the slightlytoo-closely-cut edits, it’s easy to see and hear the limits of this small production.

KISS OF DEATH

The mystery’s engaging but concise, and a successful resolution to the case takes the form of a victory lap where you’re given the option to chastely kiss a number of characters. While endearingly dated, it does seem at odds with the route your investigation takes, by which you come to learn far more about suspects’ sex lives than you probably care to know. That, alongside the often uncomfortably straight noir trappings, is just as old-school but becomes far less endearing.