Staffer Retro : A Supernatural Mystery Quest

Played the demo during Steam Next Fest, and I really enjoyed it, so I ended up buying the full game when it was released. I'd say I LOVE it. The story, the theme, the animated sprites, etc., etc. I'm looking forward to the third installment. . . BTW, your demo save carries over to the full game, so you don't have to start from the beginning again. That's pretty nice.

Staffer Retro is an excellent sequel to the original. If you like the detective/mystery genre this is an easy recommend. If you've played other games of the genre and disliked them, you'll unlikely find this one to be fun. I do think it's easier than the original, as the leaps in logic required are not as large and narrative text often provides more context this time around. The cases in the original were also more isolated and neatly packaged, serving well as isolated stories. The narrative of Staffer Retro on the other hand bleeds into each other to tell an overarching story. As many have mentioned here, the 3rd case is probably the best one in terms of pure mystery solving. From a narrative standpoint however I think the 4th case does the best job of characterization. I was most certainly left wanting more once the credits rolled.

This game was awesome.

Great addition to the Staffer series. The story was beautifully twisted, exciting, and fun. The art style was absolutely stunning. Gameplay was fun and I loved the deduce, discuss, and explore options. I’m so excited to see what Tetrapod will bring us next!

This was a perfect sequel to Staffer Case. I enjoy both the new cast of characters, and their stories, alongside old characters reappearing (though while I played most of the games, Dice Eater is one game I couldn't stomach, so the many references this game had to it flew over my head.) To the actual game itself, it's a great successor to the original game. I enjoy how more indepth the clues you can select are, the only time I got confused was in the grid based map coordinate selection, and I will say that was more confusing than needed to be at times (especially when the game actually didn't want you to look at the grid, but other details on the map) But that's besides the point, I had very little trouble finding the correct detail to answer with, which isn't something I could say about the Staffer Case, where it felt like I had the right answer, but oops I was looking at basically the same detail on the wrong document or something. This game does NOT have that issue. The additional animations the characters have in this game help add to seeing their emotions, an amazing addition. I can say many positives about this game, but I think the worst part is the ending is…

I recommend this game, but conditionally: it's mainly worthwhile if you've already played the prequel, Staffer Case. As other reviewers have mentioned, the mystery-solving element of the game takes a backseat to the narrative development, and it helps to be invested in the setting already. For its writing alone, I found the story structure, character growth arcs, and the series' characteristic superb worldbuilding to be very enjoyable. While each case was, for me, substantially easier and more linear than the cases in its prequel, I do think that some of the reduced difficulty came from improved UI and clearer writing direction (although I can't deny that the premises often felt more straightforward as well). Overall, a great visual novel.