detective instinct: farewell, my beloved
review
the DS era of visual novels are defined, at least visually, by a couple of things. rudimentary 3D graphics, grainy animated cutscenes, and diorama-like environments to explore. hotel dusk, trace memory and last window all used blocky 3D environments mixed with 2D spritework to create a distinct feel, while ace attorney, professor layton and 999 focused on a 2D base with some 3D mixed in.
outside of the games’ aesthetic similarities, though, all of the games previously mentioned are wildly different in their storytelling patterns. ace attorney takes on smaller, individual mysteries with an overarching story, similar to procedural dramas like house (i also just like house a lot). professor layton and 999 tell linear mysteries with more emphasis placed on a specific type of puzzles (being logic puzzles and escape rooms), and the cing games (being the first three games mentioned earlier) are closer to old point-and-clicks in both format and puzzle style.
detective instinct: farewell, my beloved picks and chooses elements from a couple of the previously mentioned games. its visual style takes mostly from hotel dusk, character interactions and the moment-to-moment gameplay is closest to an ace attorney investigation, and the story is extremely linear, similar to a layton game. despite pretty shamelessly taking from so many well-known sources, the game feels surprisingly fresh, feeling less like a hodge-podge of stolen ideas and more like a love letter to the genre as a whole.
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narratively, the game has a pretty simple premise: you are college students on a research trip, and a murder occurs at your hotel on the final night of your stay. you’re given some time to investigate (mostly due to an extremely lenient head detective), and the case gets too serious for you to keep looking around. you hop on your train and start heading home, but the mystery follows you. a woman disappears on the train, and you’re too curious to not investigate.
the game masterfully manages its scope, locale, and time. you’re only on the train for so long, the train is cleanly divided into different distinct locales while not being too big, and you never really have to prove anything to anybody for any reason other than convincing them to give you more details. since you’re just college students, you don’t have access to any advanced materials or information, and roadblocks often come up simply because people don’t really need to give you any information. it’s a reasonable premise that allows for the pace to slow down or speed up on a whim.
the player-character, despite not having a distinct name, does have a pretty distinct personality, alongside a fantastic dynamic with deuteragonist emma. again, they’re reasonable, real people who aren’t superhuman in their intellect or emotional maturity. there are moments where emma breaks down, and moments where the player-character has no clue how to help. they feel like real friends who are just curious about something biting at their subconscious, and the lack of romance is extremely appreciated.
the side characters are also really fun! since there’s only so many of them, the cast is given time to feel distinct and… maybe not fleshed out, but at least not two-dimensional. both martin and daltrey are pretty fun characters, with really solid character development for such a short game. both duos have pretty silly dynamics, and the (definitely not peter lorre) bartender consistently provides the game’s best investigative segments.
the story is a little heavy-handed in its theming, though. political instability between two fictional countries comes up extremely often, and while it’s the driving force behind most of the game’s plot, i just couldn’t bring myself to care about a lot of the finer details, especially since a good chunk of them really didn’t matter too much. i also can’t really tell if the light political commentary is talking about immigration policy in general or just about one country in specific. it’s pretty vague and definitely not the game’s strong suit.
without spoiling too much, i actually thought the mystery was really nice. not too complicated or over-the-top to clash with the more down-to-earth vibe of the game, while providing enough intrigue and complexity to feel like a real mystery. the game’s Big Twists are handled really well, and consistently given the right level of emotional impact.
i think that’s what this game does best. the writing feels really human. characters hide things for valid reasons, some people just don’t care all that much about the mystery at large, and crimes aren’t treated like they can only be committed by some heartless monster. things often go wrong because the reaction the characters expect differs from what actually happens. it really does feel like the player-character and emma are genuinely smart college students, with both the good and the bad that comes with being a young adult.
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exploring the train is also good fun. each room is visually distinct through some pretty fantastic lighting changes. the lighting of each area is different, but that lighting also changes with the time of day, allowing for certain plot beats to feel more tense, or freeing, or calm. it’s a really masterful use of a natural cycle to play with tension in a story.
i mentioned earlier that this game is similar to an ace attorney investigation segment, and that’s… partially true. you can interact with characters in specific, present specific evidence or give them specific items and whatnot. instead of having one specific item create one specific interaction, though, detective instinct treats its interactions with certain characters more like trial segments: present a litany of evidence to keep the interaction flowing, while the character you’re grilling slowly breaks down, letting more information slip. it’s fun, and the few times you get longer interactions with a character/set of characters are all great.
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i don’t mean to diminish this game with the constant comparisons. what detective instinct does well is knowing what elements would work nicely together and combining them seamlessly. the story stands out through pretty staunchly different character dynamics and some fantastic environments. this doesn’t feel like someone trying to copy; it’s clearly made with passion and love for a specific era of investigative mysteries that have taken a new form in the modern day. that love seeps through each and every ounce of the game, and i just couldn’t get enough.
score
9/10
notes
- developed by Armonica
- published by Armonica
- released in 2025
- played on pc
- crossposted to backloggd