Sherlock Holmes: Detective Advisor. One of the literary figures who has most permeated popular culture around the world. Novels, stories, films, series … and of course a good list of video games in which we play the famous Baker Street detective. The latter were commissioned by Frogwares, a study that also tried to adapt Lovecraft’s stories but didn’t go that well. So after the half-failing The Sinking City, I really wanted to see if the studio had made a step forward with their Sherlock franchise, and the result is satisfactory, but with a bittersweet note that may not leave the best in your mouth.
Chapter one takes us to the fictional island Cordona, lies somewhere in the eastern Mediterranean. This is where the game begins and a young Sherlock Holmes approaching puberty lands who, while already possessing his formidable powers of observation, does not yet have the experience and fame that will make him known around the world. He has Dr. Nor have met Watson yet, although he has him by his side another jon, a mysterious imaginary figure who is at our side with advice and action in cases. In his company, we have come so far from London to seek answers to the dramatic events surrounding the death of our mother Violet Holmes at home and the memories blocked in our early childhood. We won’t go into the main story any further as it is the most important part of the game right now. (elementary), but we point out that our friend Jon’s existence seems to have something to do with it.
Cordona Island offers an extensive map that functions as an open world, with multiple neighborhoods and areas well defined both by their buildings and by their aesthetics and the people of different nationalities who populate them. It means a change for the better from other titles of the study in terms of the care and attention given to the NPCs, for now we see much more variety both in their clothes and in their facial expressions and comments (although they are still very limited, yes). Interacting with them depends on their relevance in the cases we studied and, most importantly, how we do it. Because Sherlock Holmes is not only a master of deduction and investigation, he is everything a costume designer.
We will have all kinds of outfits, makeup, hats and beards available to characterize ourselves, infiltrate and hide our presence, creating new dialogue and clues about the investigation. It is certainly one of the game’s strengths to add a new level to an otherwise consistent formula from its two previous adventures: Crimes & Punishments and Devil’s Daughter. We will find tailoring and clothing stores where we can stock up on all sorts of men’s and women’s clothing that we can buy or rent depending on the expense (young Sherlock is never very economical financially with what we have verified). We also have a good selection of collectibles for sale that will help you restore the glory of our old family home and that also provide valuable background information on the life of Sherlock that will appeal to the most enthusiastic Conan Doyle stories. We will get money through the secondary missions, including solving minor cases helping the local police, treasure hunts, and completing the bandit hideouts that defeat the criminal gangs scattered around the city.
At this last point I have to stop, and not just to praise Holmes, but to take it out on everyone who may be the worst part of the game: its combat system. In diametrical contrast to the agility with which Sherlock moves through the stages and streets of Cordona, the battles against these criminal groups are crude and clumsy to handle. To kill the enemies you will have to shoot their weak spots with our revolver or first disarm them from their body and head protection, then shoot or incapacitate them with environmental elements such as lamps or gas extinguishers that will give us a few seconds to get one Quick time event
Luckily though, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One isn’t about fighting, it’s about research, and there is solid momentum there to keep our brains paused and our curiosity satisfied. It is very gratifying to be able to solve each of the cases, even the “smallest” and most secondary, with our skills. The research process is based on observing places or people where we develop a hypothesis to start with. Sometimes we need to use our knowledge of chemistry (Sherlock Holmes was a professional chemist in the original stories) and we use it through a simple mini-game with substance quantities and combinations. The gathering of evidence across town, as well as the interrogations and interrogations of witnesses and suspects, put the pieces of the puzzle on the table that gradually clear up, even if there is always a hint of doubt in the final allegation. What if I convict an innocent man? Did I miss any little clues that released the killer?
We don’t know for sure, but through the newspapers we can buy we can see the final size of the cases closed. Often times, it comes down to interpreting not just the physical evidence, but the characters’ background as well. It’s this sense of progression that makes him incredibly satisfying as a player. I have to applaud here the great narrative by Frogwares who managed to create a series of interconnected stories with a variety of well-constructed and well-defined characters. Chapter One is also the main storyline, deepening Sherlock’s origins and already allowing us to see the man he will become Sherlock’s best episode yet.
Proof of this is also the technical part which, without being outstanding, actually erased some of the dark memories of The Sinking City’s poor performance. The new generation allows for very detailed and sophisticated character and landscape modeling, but aside from the extremely short loading times in the Analytics version that we used on the PS5, the haptic or sonic advantages of the cases can be a plus. There is still a lot of room for improvement, especially in combat, but The Detective’s Adventures on Baker Street continue to offer great moments of fun and mental exercise in video games, and I hope that will be the case in many more cases as well. “The game has started.”
