Arcane Investigations

Alright. [i]Arcane Investigations[/i] is done and dusted. I think the product description does a good job of describing this game. [i]It's after midnight on the Quartzway Express, and there's been a MAGICAL CRIME! Investigate the crime scene, question suspects, and defend the accused through unique cross-examination puzzles in this "Phoenix Wright" inspired mystery comedy.[/i] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3669112130 This is at its core a goofy PnC that switches to a courtroom battle pretty early on. Although when I say battle, it's really a bunch of goofballs deciding the guilt or innocence first of a witch named Ismeta and then her entrepreneur brother, Foley. Who happen to be fish people, btw. The magical crime in question is the theft of a Power Gem and the use of teleportation to both enter and exit the safe room from whence it was stolen. You play as Kabiri, who, in keeping with the tone of the game, is a barely competent new investigator on a train to be officially hired as such by the Magisterium Bureau of Investigation. Tomorrow in fact. But, of course, a crime did happen on the train. Oberon, your nemesis for this little courtroom drama, suspec…

Cute little detective visual novel.

Fun story, if a little short for my likeing.

Yet another case of 'I wish we could give neutral reviews'. The writing is great, and it definitely hits that Ace Attorney feel. Unfortunately, this is far too short. I was hoping for a few cases - even a second case would have been nice - but we get one 'tutorial' case and then that is it. I would hope that they are going to write more cases in the future so we can get a meal rather than just a taste. As it stands, I can't recommend this as it feels more like a demo rather than a full game.

Super cute and very fun!!! The characters were all quite compelling and easy to follow. There were enough clues to foreshadow the next step, but there were still some surprises along the way. I will admit that I think I figured out the ending before I was supposed to because [spoiler] I'm always keeping an eye out for queer romances in my games, [/spoiler] but honestly that only made it better because I got to figure out exactly how to confirm my hunch!

It's a five dollar game. I would like to see more games that combine detectivizing with nonsense magic rules. Nonsense magic rules are the best part of every original fantasy IP!