In Happy Broccoli Games’ next title, Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, you play a “dumb” detective who isn’t particularly good at solving crimes at first. You start in a room where the user is informed of a sinister conspiracy. With the help of the suspects and their magical magnifying glass, you must discover the secrets that each animal hides, each more curious than the last.
The title starts, as is usual in any puzzle genre, in a very small room full of places that are inaccessible. As the information flows through the notebook of our clumsy and careless bird, different entrances are unlocked. Once practically all the information is revealed, you can now access the entire room, which is not too big to say the least. However, in my opinion it doesn’t get small either, it’s just the right size so you can go through it from start to finish looking for information you might have missed without it getting boring.
Behind every big discovery there are quite entertaining little puzzles that have to be solved one by one. At first the solution mechanics seem a bit confusing, but as the minutes go by it becomes more very intuitive and simpleYes indeed, you have to get used to it. In fact, I would say it becomes something simple that doesn’t require too much thought. At first, you feel a little lost because you don’t know where each word or aspect you discover goes. But over time, once you understand the mechanics, you start to think you’re the best detective in the world, until you realize you’re not a genius, you’re just a simple title. However, it’s short enough that it doesn’t seem boring, and if you’re someone who misses small details, it may complicate things a little for you.
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Throughout the game, the way the clues work is always the same, each character offers you three options: examine him with a magnifying glass, ask him about something specific or talk to him. Each of these actions (I recommend doing all three with each one and several times during the game) provides information that the duck automatically enters in his agenda. Later, in his diary there will be puzzles with missing words and we will have to fill in the gaps with the detective’s notes. At first glance it may seem a bit complex, but all the areas contain a drop-down list with the possible options, so with a little logic
Personally, I played it on Nintendo Switch and it didn’t give me any problems. Yes, it’s true that the explorer got a little stuck at a very specific point (one or two), but nothing, a few thousandths of a second. The rest went perfectly, without further arguments. I would even highlight the elegance of the movement, because despite being a 2D character in a 3D space, similar to Paper Mario, far from giving him a strange appearance, it managed to give him a rather comical look and give him his personality.
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As for the negative points, there are not too many aspects to highlight. It is more important to note that it does not shine spectacularly in too many aspects, but that most of them dance between the two GOOD and that remarkable. However, there are some spots and aspects that need improvement. Firstly, durability, as it is a game that can be completed in more than two hours. If you are not a normal person in this genre, it can take three hours at most. Durability itself isn’t a problem, but in the end you’ll want more. Specifically, I thought, “Now? Is there no more mystery, no twists in the script?” On the one hand, it’s a good sign, because you want to continue enjoying the story, although the point is not to continue playing, but rather to extract more nectar from the mystery. On the other hand, a fact closely related to the previous one, it lacks difficulty. In fact, as I mentioned, I’m grateful that it’s so short. Despite the simple ending, it left a good taste in my mouth. I don’t even want to imagine what I would have thought if it had been dragged out for another hour at this level, I guess it would feel boring.
In summary, Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is a highly recommended title for what it is intended for: entertaining yourself for an afternoon. Of course, don’t look for a moving story with a mystery to ponder because you’ll be disappointed. However, it is very funny and entertaining, and for a while you even feel like a good investigator. Likewise, it has a dark and comical aesthetic that combines 2D and 3D and might even make you laugh. Although it is a little simple and shortmore than fulfills its function and gives you two entertaining hours in which you help a duck discover a secret.
A second opinion on Duck Detective: The Secret Salami by Magnus Groth-Andersen
First, let me say that the central concept of Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is pretty good. It’s important to stress this because this analysis could easily come across as a complaint because while developer Happy Broccoli Games has the right template, a sharp mix of aesthetic, narrative and mechanical elements, the connective tissue between them is just too disjointed to recommend it wholeheartedly.
In Duck Detective, you are, oddly enough, duck detective Eugene McQuaklin, in a world full of anthropomorphic animals in the best Pixar style. He’s recently gone through a brutal divorce because of an addiction to white bread (yes, it’s a recurring theme throughout the game) and needs a case to distract him from his depressing life, as well as money for everyday life.
Suddenly, a mysterious employee of the bus company Bearbus presents you with such a case and you rush there to see what’s going on. Here you also get on the trail of the Salami Bandit, who plays several Bearbus employees off against each other, and then the wild treasure hunt begins. It’s up to you to identify the bandit, because you are… well, Detective Duck.
The game uses an isometric perspective and you gradually move through Bearbus, interviewing a relatively limited number of characters. As the case becomes more complicated, you’ll be given more rooms and, by and large, you’ll be constantly presenting new information to the same characters, which will then lead to new revelations. This is developed through a series of relatively predefined systems that, while giving the feeling that you’re a detective on the trail of the case, cannot be manipulated or organized in any creative way.
At a more structural level, the main game mechanic is the accumulation of words created by observing suspects, examining their personal belongings, or asking them specific questions. You can add these words to your notebook and get closer to a real solution. This isn’t a bad idea, because as you form the sentences yourself it seems like you’re slowly unraveling the mystery, and it’s quite satisfying to have understood some aspect of the general case enough to be able to quickly fill in all the right words an unbroken sequence.
The problem is that the game doesn’t keep track of what those characters actually said and what actually happens. You just have your words, which when broken down can be as unimpressive as the names of individual employees, and then you have a rather superficial collection of evidence described with only a brief note. In other words, the game doesn’t give you a satisfactory overview of the contexts the employees have placed you in, and so can quickly become pure guesswork, as you don’t have the information necessary to solve the puzzles the game gives you. . The so-called “Deductions” are a great idea, but unfortunately they quickly fall apart when the other systems in the game can’t keep up.
For example, there is a summary of “suspects”. But here there are only three general headings for each character, such as Rufus, the janitor, is a “science fiction fan”, he is a “practitioner” and he is a “janitor”. Yes, these three pieces of information are useful at certain times, but nowhere is there a summary of what I discussed with Rufus or what I later learn about his relationships with the other employees, with Bearbus in general, or with Rufus’s actions in The Salami Bandits . Things get even more frustrating in the middle when the code you have to crack is who delivered what gifts to a co-worker named Sophie. There’s just not enough information being given, and the only thing McQuaklin has to offer is that it would probably be wise to “talk to the staff.” Thanks for that, duck.
The game lasts just over three hours and consists of a single case. With everything taking place indoors, the concept of using a duck in a raincoat in the rain to a noir soundtrack quickly fails as there is no “noir” iconography in Bearbus’ cozy workplace. The whole noir idea quickly takes up space in the back of the room and never comes to the foreground. I could have easily imagined a crime novel set in a more detective-friendly environment, preferably with different buildings to provide more aesthetic variety. But the game quickly adapts to this single location, making it feel a bit clunky.
But all ideas are there too. Anthropomorphic animals are always a fun and whimsical way to play with certain character traits. The word-in-note plot could easily become a deeper puzzle with a lot more freedom for the player, both in the voice acting and the Paper Mario type The graphics were spot on.
But “Duck Detective” falls short, even though it works somewhat. It’s not bad, but the whole thing reeks of wasted potential, and I really hope Happy Broccoli gets the chance to give this formula another chance, because the concept is nothing short of brilliant. It’s also much better than the game that came from it.
Usage: 6
The best: Always good ideas. Great visual style. Word searches sometimes work.
The worst thing: It doesn’t go far enough in the “noir” genre. It lacks sophistication in the implementation of ideas. Too linear for the genre.
