Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments | Nintendo Switch Review
Developed and published by Frogwares, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments is, as you may have guessed, a detective mystery game. Initially released in 2014 on Windows PC, PlayStation, and XBox, it now finally makes its way on to the Nintendo Switch.
Teamed with your trusty sidekick Dr. Watson, you assume the role of the great detective himself. As Sherlock Holmes, you will need to speak to witnesses, interrogate suspects, examine victims, explore crime scenes and use your best deductive reasoning in order to determine the outcome of 6 different cases. The outcome for each case is not completely linear either - you need to study all the clues yourself and try to come up with the truth. The game does allow you to make the wrong choices and it will not hold your hand while you are surveying the mounds of evidence you have accumulated, so you really have to take your time and make sure you are accusing the correct suspect. This all adds up to making you actually feel like a real detective and really makes this a joy to play.
There are a variety of puzzles to solve and mini games which you will have to complete in order to uncover clues or progress the story. If this is not your thing, then fear not, the developers have given you the option to skip all of these with no consequence and just continue on with the investigation. In my opinion however, these puzzles and mini games were a welcome addition and did add some variety to the gameplay.
The written dialogue in Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishmentsis exceptional and also extremely important in gathering information about each case. Every little detail matters as you try to solve the mysteries.
With the frame rate locked at 30fps, it did suffer some dropped frames but nothing too disastrous. Some of the textures in the environments are slow to load when you are walking through each location which does detract from the immersion a little bit. This being said, once everything is all loaded up, the graphics, textures and character models look outstanding. Facial expressions are well detailed and they need to be. One mini game in particular requires you to read the suspects facial expressions which would be almost impossible if the graphics were below par.
The loading times between map locations are too long; however, their blushes are spared somewhat by the ability to open up Holmes’ case book and study the available clues while the next area is loading up.
I found the controls and actual character movements to be quite clunky and a little bit annoying which did affect the immersion a little. I also found that the Dr. Watson's AI character did get in my way at times and became quite irritating, which, again, does affect the immersion in the game.
Overall, the world's most famous detective has made a fantastic debut on the Nintendo Switch with Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments. It plays well, the writing is wonderful and looks great on Nintendo Switch. A few minor issues aside, I thoroughly enjoyed my playthrough and would recommend this to any budding detectives out there.
PaultheBrave09’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
All of us at g1a5w3g1an.com would like to extend our thoughts to the hard-working staff at Frogwares and their families who are based in Ukraine.
For more information on Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments use the following links...
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Many thanks to Wire Tap Media for the Review Key.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments | Windows PC | PlayStation | XBox | Nintendo
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