#the Frogwares Sherlock Holmes series is one of my fav game series and this is definitely one of the best in the series probably my favourite

[starkidlabs]

Playing a video game you really love is so difficult sometimes. On the one hand you want to play through it as quickly as possible because you’re so excited to see what happens next, on the other hand you know you need to play it slowly so it isn’t all over too quickly.

[elionwriter]

Sherlock Holmes the Awakened: a Review

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Sorry, sorry, sorry, but I just NEED to talk about this game! I have been a Frogwares Holmes fan since the very beginning and 'The Awakened' was always among my favourite titles. Not to mention one of the games that had scared the wits out of me. So I have to speak about the Remake now.

First and foremost, I think it needs to be reiterated that this game was made DURING THE FU****G INVASION OF UKRAINE! During such dark times, the team kept working on this. I would have supported this game even just for this reason alone.

Now, let's be honest: Frogwares never had the most marvelous graphics nor the most polished of gameplays and this entry is not an exception. I still feel the map system is a bit difficult to navigate (I may be an idiot, but I had the same issue with Chapter 1) but I really appreciated the added help the game gives you when you're recreating a scene, letting you know which passage you got wrong. Last game I found myself changing everything trying to hit the right combination so I really liked this fix.

This needs to be said: the game doesn't feel under any shape or form a product for a new fan. Everything from dialogues to game mechanics sort of take for granted that you've at least played 'chapter one'. Honestly? I'm ok with this, I hate having to always go through nearly identical tutorial stages for games I know inside out (like Pokémon) and I believe that most of not all people who are going to get this game ARE old fans!

I wasn't originally a big fan of the new Holmes and Watson models when the last game came out but....I dunno, they have grown on me. I find myself liking them now for, I suppose, no other reason than 'they are very expressive' and 'I've gotten used to them'. I think it's gotten to the point that these might be my favourite models of the two to date. Please ignore how fickle I am! (In honesty, just to draw a similar parallel, when Roger Craig Smith was first announced as Sonic's voice I hated it and now he's my fav Sonic v. actor)

This game has something.....compared to its predecessor, that makes it less scary. I can't really put my finger on it, but I distinctly remember the feeling of claustrophobia building in me when I was in the Black Edelweiss. Or the sheer jumpscare I got when the sacrificed American detective on the altar had tentacles coming out of it and severing his head making it roll to the ground. I remember almost not wanting to paddle the rowboat under the tree of hanging men in the Bayou. I remember how viscerally sick I felt at the lighthouse by all the gore and blood depicted. This time round.....I just didn't. I'm honestly not sure why this didn't hit me nearly as hard as its 2006 predecessor did!

And talking about comparisons, one thing I'm a bit disappointed they didn't grab the chance to do in this remake was fix the loose ends that were left hanging in the 2006 version. I mean....they still abandoned completely the search for that one Maori servant, what happened to all the people they managed to rescue? Who hired the private American detective that was killed? Why give out the cheap pendants? I know I'm a bit dumb and need extra explaining than what is necessarily needed but...I can't be the only one right? Sometimes you want to be told just a bit more.

Now, getting into the really good bits, that make all of it worth it!

'Chapter One' acted as a 'de facto' reboot of the Frogwares Holmes series, and I honestly think that was for the best. I don't really see where they could have gone with things after 'Devil's Daughter' and their Holmes had changed too much to be the same guy from 'The Silver Earring'...let alone Watson. But like this? They have a fresh, clean slate to start off from and they can rebuild the two mains' relashionship and lore from the ground up in a more strictly consequential manner. And the way they are doing it? I think it's state of the art!

The fact that they poke fun at themselves on certain points like Watson stating: "What about when you used to roll up only one of your sleeves? Did you get bored halfway through?!" I think the Devs themselves realized this was a cringe design choice and I like that they said so out loud.

The meta-conversation they wrote in towards the end, 'because yes, this HAS Happened before and the story still has the same outcome', is brilliant. I don't think I've ever seen another remake that acknowledges that it is a remake, and in the general madness that is mounting in the narrative this makes perfect sense! It adds one more layer of horror and inexplicable to the tale. The villain's warning 'that the Final Problem is coming and Sherlock will fall in the abyss too' is such a powerful way to use Canon. The prophecy is only made more real and dreadful by the fact that this person is aware of what has already happen in a similar but different scenario!

Also, not them using that one quote from 'The Valley of Fear' novel which happens to be one of my all time favourites!

I say, Watson,’ he whispered, ‘would you be afraid to sleep in the same room as a lunatic, a man with softening of the brain, an idiot whose mind has lost its grip?’ ‘Not in the least,’ I answered in astonishment. 'Ah, that’s lucky,’ he said, and not another word would he utter.

I think the thing that has most benefited from the Remake is Watson's character. Compared to the 2006 version, this Watson is a truly compelling character in his own right and this time round he's not just along for the ride. In this version, you simply cannot imagine how Holmes would have done it on his own. Watson was in every way a key component to the solution of the problem and the reason why Holmes didn't drown in madness. That point is driven home by Rochester asking 'How did you defeat me?' and Holmes answering 'I made a friend!'

Much of the narrative in the game was focused on Holmes truly learning to accept Watson's friendship and him as a person when he was still clinging so much to his old imaginary friend. You can see how, at first, Holmes refuses to be honest with the Doctor about what he thinks and feels and it's only as they move forward in the adventure that they both open up to each other. You can see as the adventure progresses that Holmes shifts his desperate cries from 'Jon' to 'Watson' to 'John' and the Doctor goes more and more often from 'Holmes' to 'Sherlock'. Mycroft also points this out when he says that Sherlock 'went from one Jon to another'. But this one, John Watson, is real and there to stay. In the context of a story that happens mostly in the detective's mind, Watson's friendship is really what turns the situation around!

I could add of little tid bits which were so random and on the nose that somehow worked, like the possessed 'Heidi' doll or the fact that you had to actually 'Kill Holmes' with the booby traps instead of avoiding them.

Also, "The director Guygax was randomly killed.....by a doll?!????!?!?! Yeah, let's just walk out of here no questions asked. That's too deep a wormhole even for this f***d up Adventure to go down. I'm sure nobody is gonna ask us questions, suspect or stop us as we go out the main doors!" 😃 -Holmes, probably.

So, yeah, I loved this game despite it not being perfect and my love and support goes to Frogwares more that ever!

[r2y9s-notartblog]

Hi R! I notice that you reblog a lot of mystery games and I was wondering, which ones are your favorites? ☺️

so the only mystery type games i've really been obsessed with lately are the ace attorney games and the frogwares sherlock holmes games haha but lemme see if i can remember some other ones that i like. (this actually turned out to be a bit long so lemme put it under a cut lmao)

Murdered: Soul Suspect is a short and sweet fun one I played where you're the ghost of a detective trying to solve your own murder. Very supernatural and takes place in Salem, Massachusetts and even touches on the witch trials a little.

Darkside Detective (there are 2 games in this series!) is an AMAZING 2D pixel art detective pointy click indie game that's hilarious and full of fun paranormal mysteries and quirky characters. The banter between Detective McQueen and his investigative partner Officer Dooley is also hilarious I love their relationship so much. Also every case is about 1 hour long and the devs Spooky Doorway specifically wanted to make episodes that busy people could pick up and finish in about one sitting. Like reading one chapter a night of a good book.

If you're going to go through the frogwares Sherlock Holmes games, I very much recommend the The Awakened (BOTH the 2008 and 2023 versions), The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, and Sherlock Holmes Crimes and Punishments. Lately, I've been replaying Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, and while it's probably not the best iteration of Sherlock Holmes that I've seen canonwise, as an investigation game on it's own I love the characters and the story. it's open world and you play as a sassy and overconfident young Sherlock who investigates mysteries on an island he grew up on in his youth with his equally sassy childhood friend Jon (not watson).

speaking of frogwares, i've got The Sinking City lined up to play next on my To Play list and i've played the first 15 mins of it and I absolutely love it. It's in the same style of gameplay as Sherlock Holmes Chapter One but you play as a disheveled PI who is also a wwi navy veteran invited to a city that is literally sinking slowly into the sea to try to discover the cause of his nightmares that are weirdly similar to the nightmares that the citizens of this sinking city also are being plagued with. if u like the cthulu mythos aesthetic this might be a fun game for you. (Don't buy it off steam. if it has the Nacon name on it don't get it. Frogwares is the one ur looking for and afaik it's only on the consoles rn.)

to go back a little further, i have fond memories of Trace Memory and Time Hollow which both came out for the nintendo DS and i played those for HOURS. So if u can find an emu those are some good choices too. Both also pointy click sorta games, but both made full use of the DS touch screen and even the console itself as a way to solve puzzles.

idk if you were asking for a whole list of mystery game recs but here are some of my favs and thank you so much for the ask! i love word vomitting about my favorite games :)