Emily Whiteley is invited to join a detective academy for assisting in the recovery of the Queen’s cat. Emily hopes to solve her parent's murders while assisting her schoolmates with their cases.
I wasn't especially fond of the protagonist. Emily was predictably naive and emotional, running into dark alleys alone at night or being lured into a carriage by complete strangers. They kept trying to play her off as a bleeding-heart whose lack of rationality and impulsiveness would lead to moments of "unintentional brilliance". Considering the protagonist is just a child (16 I think), the way she acts makes sense I suppose. I just wish Emily could've rose above the role of a helpless damsel in need of constant saving and protection. If it weren't for Emily's suitors and her butler Pendleton, she'd be dead for sure. Only in Lupin's route did she display some level of competence - observing her environment, noticing inconsistencies, and drawing (correct) conclusions all on her own. It's also the only time Emily wields a weapon.
The common route is quite long - nine chapters in all. Each chapter plays like an episode with a self-contained story detailing Emily's days at school or time working a case. This means that each case only lasts for the entirety of the chapter and is concluded once the chapter is done. They take the time to introduce each character and build up a bond between Emily and her classmates. The individual character paths are satisfying in length - about five chapters, and contain one good ending ("destined end") and one to three bad endings ("ill-fated end"). On top of that, each suitor has an epilogue that will unlock after reaching their good ending.
The common route was uneven in how it presented certain character chapters and setup the story-arcs that would follow. Jack and Lupin were the only ones that were properly introduced in the common route with an arc that naturally flowed over into their own character routes. Akechi was the most out of nowhere (highlight to read); he literally just shows up on a boat one day. You could lift him right out of the game without consequence because his entire arc lacks any connection to the rest of the story. Even the villain in Akechi's arc just arrives one day on a boat, and is never seen in any other route. Then there is the issue of Emily's parents. Their mysterious murder is teased quite a bit in the common route, and all but forgotten in the branching character paths. There is even a "grand end" that acts as the true ending, the perfect moment to reveal everything! Instead what we get is an open-ended answer. We don't even learn anything new about Spellbound, except that they are stealing national treasures. What that has to do with the murder and larger picture is never explained.
In terms of the quality of writing and narrative relevance, some routes really outshone others. The epilogues were especially hit or miss because not every character route left a plot thread to follow, so they compensated with a lot of unimportant throw-away incidents. Lupin's after story was easily one of the worst in this regard - (highlight to read) Emily gets kidnapped over spoons just so Lupin can rescue her... again. Its straightforward and doesn't serve much of a purpose. Out of the epilogues, Jack was the one that felt the most organic. He had previously made a promise to Pendleton that he wouldn't get in the way of Emily finding a husband that was of equal class to her, and Jack's route is that promise running its course Other times the epilogue had something really good to work with but squandered the potential. Akechi's route for example, ended with him and Emily going to Japan. This could have been a good bonding experience for the both of them; Emily getting to struggle through in Japan what Akechi had to deal with in London. Instead she is locked up in a room for the entire trip and then gets shipped back to London. What a waste!
The "true ending" has an epilogue that ends in a cliff hanger. A lot happens and the group splits up for two years to better themselves. One member gets locked up and beaten, and Emily promises to get stronger by developing skills to make herself more independent. New characters are even introduced for seemingly no reason. By the end of it we're left with more questions than answers, and the promise of a sequel to tie up any loose ends. Images of an older cast are even teased, but since the game's release back in 2013 there has been no indication of a sequel in the works.
In total there are five romance routes, three friendship routes, and a true ending. The recommended order is:
• William H. Watson Jr (romance)
• Herlock Holmes Jr. (romance)
• Akechi Kenichiro (romance)
• Jack Millers (romance)
• Jean Lupin Jr. (romance)
• Sara Marple (friendship)
• Seiji Kobayashi (friendship)
• A Performance for Three (friendship)
• True Ending
There are a fair amount of player choices to be made in-between all the reading. During dialog choices, the player is able to increase their detective grade by selecting correct answers. A chibi version of Emily will show up in the right corner to indicate a correct choice. A note with a heart pops up to indicate a correct love choice. A timer to the left counts down how much time is remaining for you to make a choice. It is a pretty pointless feature because you can easily go back and choose a different answer. There is also a fast-forward feature that stops automatically whenever new content or choice options appear.
Interestingly, there is a huge lack of detective work in this detective game. The crimes are all easy to solve - culprits will make contradictory statements or behave suspiciously, and not subtly either. They even introduce a system for recording witness testimony in the first chapter that goes completely unused. At most the player will need to select the correct suspect. The game basically solves every case for you.
London Detective Mysteria is a good game with some noticeable falls. I really liked the episodic feel of the chapters and the whole premise of befriending the children of famous literary characters, although, some were noticeably better than others. Jack was an easy favorite, being the only one from the slums, which set him apart from the others (especially his distinctive way of talking) thanks to his unique set of problems and skills. On the other end, I couldn't stand how Lupin jerked Emily around like a yoyo and generally acted like a creep. The individual character's time onscreen was also uneven; it was a bit telling that the devs had favorites, like Watson who appears inordinately often in just about every route. The plot derailed pretty badly during the last act of the game too, getting lost amidst unrelated character arcs for each suitor, and the number of one-off villains only further helped to highlight the lack of cohesion in the story as a whole. I had some mixed feelings about the art direction. The backgrounds had a stunning amount of detail; top notch. The male character sprites were alright, but the female character art had freakishly unnerving bug-eyes that was very off-putting.
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