Any good detective games out there?

A game where you actually have to search for clues and think hard to connect the dots and solve the case?

Thanks!

There's the Phoenix Wright games on DS/ 3DS and LA Noire. Apart from that I got nothing.

LA Noire

Also, aren't the DS Professor Layton games about investigating things (sort of Sherlock Holmes like). You could check along with Phoenix Wright games on the same platform.

Sega CD had those Sherlock Holmes games back in the day. They were actually pretty decent. You would collect clues, interview people, and at the end of the case when you were ready to solve, you'd have to face a judge and answer the questions correctly. I wish they would re-release those games or something similar for current gen.

LA noire. Its on sale now too on psn for $4.99.

Yes, it would be amazing if someone would only release a Sherlock Holmes game on modern hardware...

So, yeah, the Sherlock series is probably your best bet. I haven't played them yet, but from what I've heard they are fairly difficult and there are degrees of success in your investigation based on how well you do. LA Noire is also good.

Beyond that, what platform are you thinking of? There's a lot on the DS that's been already mentioned, plus fun stuff like Hotel Dusk. Most of the "detective" games you'll find out there (especially on PC) are going to be more like Adventure games where the protagonist is a detective. These are OK, but they tend to be very linear and you can't really "fail" at the investigation in a lot of these.

-Byshop

@ Byshop

Actually The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes developed by Frogwares are not actually difficult (from my experience with The Testament of Sherlock Holmes) the problem with that series and with literally the entire Adventure Game Genre revolves around the game using complex internal logic, Pixel Hunting and messy puzzle design.

You can even find these of issues in classic Survival Horror games that make you go through a series of convoluted (my 1st time using that word) sequences for the simplest of tasks like trying to unlock a door. Its no wonder the genre has fallen into niche territory. But its far from dead, although its rare to see big budget developement of them.

Anyway, all the games I know of have already been mentioned although I will add that Heavy Rain's Norman Jayden is essentially a detective game but its only 1/4 of the whole game.

Upcoming Games include Crimes & Punishments (Sherlock Holmes), Murded: Soul Suspect and The Vanishing Of Ethen Carter (PC Only, so far).

Best Sherlock Holmes games were the ones by Mythos.. Case of the Serrated Scalpel and The Case of the Rose Tattoo.

Cognition : An Erica Reed Thriller.

Had me scratching my head plenty of times trying to solve the puzzles and get the clues.

Why has no one mentioned Persona 4 Golden or Wolf Among Us? Also Murdered Soul Suspect is also coming

Yeah definitely L.A Noire. Great game.

I guess this raises the question of is the op looking specifically for a game in which you play a detective, or a game in which you are solving a mystery?

-Byshop

@The_Last_Ride

I mentioned Soul Suspect :( !

But I think he wants games that are already available

LA Noire i'd also suggest this. Although you really can't lose even if your a crappy detective like i was in the game.

also, how is Bioshock Infinite a detective game? u run around the whole game shooting people, you never detect anything

@Old_Gooseberry

I think LA Noire is a blessing in disguise... Imagine if you could lose and had to start over again ? I think its one of those design decisions that people take for granted like Mass Effect 2's better gameplay or Beyond Two Souls lack of Death or Failure.

Moebius, Cognition, Blackwell and a shit ton of other adventure games and indie adventure.

LOL what are you talking about?

you mention 2 of the biggest non-detective games in the history of adventure games, so when you want to troll at least try to dont make it so obvious.

Ok thanks for all the suggestions! I'll try some of these for sure. I think I'll start with LA Noire as it's made by Rockstar, one of my fav devs.

Thanks again

@blackember36x

Just bare in my mind that its Open World is lackluster and even though its not necessary to get all the questions correct your experience will be much better if you avoid doing the bare minimum and really play like it matters.

From released games i say LA Noire is your best bet..Though upcoming detective are looking good especially Soul Suspect.

Because you do in all of the games i mentioned?

Because both games are not detective games particular not Wolf Among us.

The game solves the mystery for you, you do not do anything yourself.

@Jacanuk

Theres been a trend thats been Keeping Adventures Games alive by repurposing them, using them to tell stories intstead of solving mysteries. :) cool huh ?

Yeah, it's the distinction between what one might call a detective game versus an adventure game in which you solve a mystery.

-Byshop

Wolf Among us and Walking dead are not adventure games. they are a whole new genre of P&C games.

And Adventure games don't need those to keep alive, they have plenty of amazing real detective adventure games out there, Blackwell, Cognition, Face Noir, Moebius, Broken age, Sam&Max, Hector, Still Life i could go on but you get the picture.

@Jacanuk

Not on Consoles.

But yeah I get what you mean.

@Lulu_Lulu: yep, and there are pretty amazing games, so if your bored check them out :D

@Jacanuk

Moebius was critisized quite badly. Theres alot wrong with it.

Blackwell is the Exact oppasite.

Oh, who has said anything bad about Moebius?

But yes there is some things that could be better, but for a indie game in that genre its pretty good.

And Blackwell is a tribute to the old style P&C adventure games, but is way to easy and some of the puzzles are not really puzzles.

But nevertheless its good games and worth playing

I really like the Nancy Drew games on PC. :P

His Name is Adrian Schmielarz... And he makes some good points.

gamasutra.com/blogs/AdrianChmielarz/20140430/216597/Seven_Deadly_Sins_of_Adventure_Games.php

@Jacanuk

Its up there....

Just read the gamespot&Polygon review and as usual they found someone who have absolute no freaking clue what the game is about or even like that genre to review it.

But honestly don't let them scare you off Lulu, if you want a decent story adventure game, Moebius is fine, has its flaws but nothing so major it ruins the story.

Actually he clearly have no idea what he is talking about.

Adventure games didn't die, they have been running steady for the last 20 years like always, what has happened though, is that the major publishers EA, 2k, Activision, jumped on the mainstream FPS/action wagon and pretty much scrapped all other game genres, instead of being diverse they narrowed their field and posted most of their cash into one genre FPS/FP/TP-action games so all the kiddies with short attention spans could keep up. So did that mean the game genre died, of course not it just moved to the smaller more independent studios outside the major labels. Which he then later kinda admits but still keeps up the fantasy that its dead.

Also each of sins tells me he had a dislike for Moebius from the start, in particular when he later in the review begins to praise Blackwell, which is i admit a good game, but has huge flaws, some so big that if you look closer is even bigger than the ones he names in Moebius, to mention one, in the first Blackwell there is a doorman strike and the new guy won't let you in because you "don't live there, and he knows everyone, but hey you can get in if you go find another resident, who knows you instantly" or when you need to go see someone,, you give a false name to the same guy who just 2mins earlier heard your real name and let you in to see your Doctor.

So sorry i cannot take this guy serious at all.

L.A. Noire, Duh.

@Jacanuk

LOL ! Yeah... Reviewers don't get Adventure Games at all, they have no experience with them and don't understand the criteria necessary to review them properly.

But me and Adrian think alike. I think my experience with Moebius might end up just like his, but I won't let it turn me away from trying it... Even the Testament of Sherlocks was good despite the fact that it violated everysingle one of those sins.

You know.... I've got several links just like this that back up my hate for RPGs.... I have 2 specifically for Dark Souls.... But I never post them... Its not gonna change people's minds. All I can do is sum up what little logic I have and get people to see what I'm talking about... So far it hasn't worked, not even once :(

But you know what they say... Keep hope alive ! ;)

no love for Heavy Rain in here? :( also Fahrenheit

@groowagon

I mentioned Heavy Rain earlier. But Quantic Dream and Tell Tale Games are repurposing the adventure formula for story telling instead of mystery solving.... even though Norman Jaden's entire Plotline is very detectivesque in its design and execution... The entire game itself is only 1/4 a detective game. I played the Fahrenheit demo and it was pretty cool, your job was to get rid of the clues... not find them, and that was pretty freaking cool. I really wish Quantic Dream's next Project is Multiplatform... Everybody should get a taste of the Cage ! :p

999, Virtue's Last Reward, Danganronpa.

Heavy Rain is not a adventure/detective game neither is Fahrenheit.

i didn't see the word "adventure" being mentioned in the topic?

@groowagon

All Detective Games are Adventure Games. :)

but Not all Adventure games are detective games.

It said Detective game, but you're right so i corrected my previous response.

Anyways Heavy rain is still not what you would normally connect with what the op asked about, Heavy Rain and Fahrenheit are way too linear and rail based to be a actual "adventure/detective" game.

@Jacanuk

Heavy Rain is most definately not linear. I think....

Still life is pretty good, and I also like most of the csi games

Both are mysteries, so it goes to my previous point of I don't know what the op is looking for: a game where you specifically play a detective or a game in which the goal is to solve a mystery.

Regarding Heavy Rain and Fahrenheit, I'm a little bit confused by your statement. I would agree that Fehrenheit is actually much more linear than it appears to be since most of the choices you can make in the game don't really affect the narrative that much in the end. However, Heavy Rain is far less linear and certainly has more story branching than your average adventure game. Literally every main character in the game can potentially live or die depending on your choices or success. One of the most entertaining parts of that game was talking with my friends who had played it to see how differently their games had turned out.

-Byshop