Noir Chronicles: City of Crime

It's the worst Artifex Mundi HoG I've played. The story is what it is, damsel in distress, and only the manly man can fix everything. It's real messy and all over the place. One place you need to loosen a grate for the aircon, but the one RIGHT BESIDE it you can't loosen but need to do something different. One time you need to fix a fuse box for an elevator, the main character tells you that it broke again, and you fix it by doing something completely different. Several Hidden Object areas, you find what you actually need to solve the puzzle, but need to find the object some other place. And the ending is just straight up stupid and lazy. The technical side is fine and works, but the puzzle is just weird or stupid. The voice acting is quite good IF you like that over the top acting. It was an ok 3-4'ish hours gaming session, that I have NO desire to ever return to. There are MUCH better HoG out there, some of the best is from Artifex Mundi, so it's not good to see that the QC was so bad on this.

A functional game Boring story bland puzzles Whole game lacks polish

This is a decent game. The main guy is hilariously expressionless but the voice acting and story are both good. The hidden object puzzles are fun and while there are a few repeats of minigames and it gets old after a bit, they were also good.

Hidden object... hidden object? hidden object! :)

Noir Chronicles: City of Crime is a hidden-object detective tale that leans fully into the familiar trappings of the noir genre, presenting players with a moody city drenched in shadows, rain, and unresolved secrets. At its center is Alfred Fox, a private investigator whose weary demeanor and complicated past make him a natural fit for the story’s smoky atmosphere. His routine existence is abruptly disturbed when an urgent call from his former lover leads him straight into a murder case filled with corruption, betrayal, and personal stakes. The game wastes no time establishing its tone: dimly lit alleys, flickering neon, and a lingering sense of danger set the stage for a mystery that unfolds in a classic but digestible fashion. The gameplay is driven by a steady alternation between hidden-object scenes, environmental puzzles, and episodic mini-games that serve as milestones in Alfred’s investigation. Each area presents a collection of interactive hotspots, with objects to collect and combine, simple mechanisms to manipulate, and clues that unlock the next piece of the story. The hidden-object segments follow traditional genre patterns—finding listed items across busy, cluttered e…

This game is actually pretty good. I was hesitant to play due to the plethora of negative reviews this game has, but honestly, I'm glad I gave it a try. It's just your typical HOG- nothing more and nothing less, and quite frankly, it didn't disappoint me. If you're just a fan of the genre and like to play these games regardless of stellar storyline or graphics, then I'd recommend it. It's really just your average HOG, and better than some of the higher rated ones I've played.