Chapter One for the Xbox Series

221B Baker Street Detective Returns With New Adventure

Over the years we have seen Sherlock holmes, one of the most famous fictional detectives, to navigate a large number of facets, situations, environments or eras. Likewise, their stories have been adapted for various formats, including video games. And it is precisely in this sector where Frogware, a Ukrainian studio, has built a good reputation for its very high quality storytelling adventures on this charismatic character.

It rained a bit, and a lot has happened since 2016; year we appreciate Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter, the last great opus of the franchise. And until now, it had been just that, the last. But it’s over, because recently we received his return to the ring with Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, a very special service that risks, catches up with and somewhat reinvents the formula established to date.

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One acts as a prequel to anything we’ve seen before from the detective. Plus, the story and the storyline it develops are brand new, so there are some liberties you can take that you might not otherwise be able to. The Holmes pictured here is a younger and less experienced detective, but with very good basic skills and added arrogance. The first chapter signifies a starting point, from the origins of the character which until now had not been shown to us and which are very interesting. It is therefore not a delivery of episodes as we initially thought, but rather this: a beginning of the journey.

In this way, the game takes us to Cordona, a fictional island in the Mediterranean where Sherlock is said to have spent much of his youth. Here, all events take place, as our detective returns to the island to visit his mother’s grave. This fact sets off a series of events around which the whole plot will revolve, since Holmes will be summoned to uncover a plot

which is linked to the death of his beloved mother. And no, in this adventure will not be with us our inseparable friend Watson, because at this time our protagonist still did not know him. Therefore, We will be accompanied by a friend named Jon which will fulfill both its functions and its role, which also has a fairly significant weight in all this mess.

The Adventure Ahead presents the facets and characteristics that have worked so well for Frogware in his works. However, the Ukrainian study collects experience from its most recent work as Devil’s Daughtero the sinking city, and pour it into the first chapter to modernize and reformulate new mechanics or gameplay approaches that give the franchise a twist. Although despite these changes which we will now comment on, the the game continues to build its foundations on the design of a classic old-school adventure point and click.

We are therefore faced with a playable section with a lot of interaction with the environment, as well as a great demand for attention from the player. That is, the game constantly gives us the tools we need to solve cases, like a concentrated perception with which Holmes can focus on the smallest details of any individual or object, with which our protagonist can extract the slightest hint of guilt or remorse from the faces of the culprits … or even the classic mind tree of our detective with the one that consists of connecting the various clues to develop a coherent and convincing answer or conclusion. Therefore, we have to be careful enough to know how to see all of these clues in the storylines while we are exploring them, as well as when we are solving puzzles.

To all these elements, already traditional in this saga, we must now add greater freedom of decision or movement thanks to the integration of an open world. This inclusion opens up the possibility of introduc ing many more NPCs to interact with, interrogate, and report as suspects, thereby in turn introducing the possibility that we may go wrong in resolving our cases. In this way, we will blame an innocent person, which will trigger different moral outcomes or ramifications of events. However, as good as it sounds; no … it doesn’t assume that this feeling of freedom is real as such and that we have different sides of the story no matter what we do. In fact, if we are wrong in closing a deal, it is not that it has devastating consequences.

The open world that Frogware we present is quite similar to that of The sinking city, hence the reminiscences of which we have spoken with recent works. On this occasion, the studio left the dismal universe of Lovecraft to recreate an island a little more limited and limited, but very alive, colorful and endearing. In this sense, we believe that the decision to limit or fix the action on this small island was totally successful. Thus, one does not have the feeling that exploration becomes tedious by going from one place to another in long and interminable walks, but rather one is invited to cover short distances with rather concise objectives.

The main story is fairly well guided and very well shot, since the story is one of the strengths he has always demonstrated Frogware. However, its development gives rise to other small additional plots which lead to side missions, which we can complete freely, or not. The duration of the video game is approximately 15 hours approximatelyIt all depends on our expertise in solving the puzzles and additional puzzles that we solve.

The open world element did not come on its own, as its inclusion also introduced another, which on other occasions has not been implemented very well or has simply not been considered: the action. This element has been incorp orated with great care, as our detective, although we have seen him repeatedly use guns, is not very inclined to take lives. Thus, the fights with firearms are carried out to neutralize the enemies, although it is also possible to kill with somewhat harmful consequences … When we draw our weapon is trigger a small QTE

which allows us to target traps or elements of the environment to neutralize enemies, or even specific non-lethal points on their bodies.

In the end, there’s nothing revolutionary about this addition, and in many cases it’s even easier to go unnoticed and continue to opt for stealth. It’s not that it’s poorly implemented, but let’s say it hasn’t been as organic or fluid as you might expect. So sometimes it’s an interesting point depending on which strategies, but it’s not a resource that you want to use all the time. And it seems that Frogwares was not very convinced of this section either, because even allows you to deactivate it in the game options, just as you can choose to be more or less helped throughout the adventure.

Regarding the graphic part, the title has good artistic direction. We say this because otherwise the game wouldn’t look as good as it does. Indeed, the evolution of this section compared to previous works such as The devil’s daughter o The sinking city is rather rare, thus leaving some performance issues such as appear, jerks or difficulty in certain loads of textures … However, the title manages to recreate stunning impressions thanks to a crisp lighting system and stunning exteriors.

Finally, the sound section is simply there. It does not particularly stand out from one more inspired composition than another, it simply accompanies the action correctly. Which does not indicate that it is bad, far from it. And as for the voices, they are perfectly dubbed in English, so you have to be satisfied with very good localization of texts in Spanish.

Conclusion.

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One He comes back in force with a very interesting adventure which manages to catch us with his story from the first moment. This episode introduces changes that suppose a good breath of fresh air for the saga, although some that another, like the action not, just come together completely. The open world they created is a success and makes the adventure less corseted, which leaves us a better feeling with the exploration. The truth is, seeing such a different side to the detective was a very pleasant surprise, as well as a new, outdated goal, with note, for Frogware.