First case done. There's a lot of circumstantial evidence.

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Pezen

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Spoilers if you haven't finished the first case.

So I picked this game up yesterday as I promised myself I would give new types of game a try this generation. And boy, I don't regret it. Besides the game being just the right type of difficulty for what I was looking for (at least for now), it's got a great atmosphere and the game looks really good at times. But, the first case, it bothers me.

So as I was eating breakfast today i was contemplating if the game is revealing the "right" choice by not giving you an option to declare someone innocent. So in the first case there are three suspects with various reasons for why they might be guilty. Two of them can have the evidence be used to both say they're innocent and guilty (or guilty together). One man though can either be unconnected or guilty. I figured today that it might the game subtly telling me the old when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. But I didn't see it at the time because one of the major evidence against him is, to me, circumstantial.

I'm talking about the tobacco pouch. In your deductions it can say "proof of visit" and "proof of guilt". But the fact that his tobacco pouch is there isn't a proof of guilt. So I can't pick that with a clear conscience. But I know now that the game consider him the guilty one and I just don't see enough evidence of that fact compared to the other options. Even if you include that he's a harpooner, it's not enough and it sort of lacks real motive.

I really ike the game, but I am not sure letting people see if they are right or not at the end of the case (as opposed to the end of the game) is a good idea. Sure, it does say "may ruin experience" and that's definitely something I should have considered more carefully. But I was too cocky that my deduction was sound. I think for the rest of the cases, I'll just go with whatever one I feel is right and not look it up.

So question for anyone that has played more of it, are all the cases this gray-zone evidence wise? In a way, it's fun because it's really hard to sit there and be the judge over someone based on evidence you collected. Picking a final conclusion might be one of the harder things I've done in recent memory gaming wise.

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rethla

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If you are asking if the cases would hold up in a real court the answear is no, you will have to take it for what it is.

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Pezen

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@rethla: Indeed, and I intend to going forward. But since everything seems so meticulously put together I find the ending of that case to feel entirely too haphazardly finished. The logical leap between myself and the game seems too big. And maybe I've missed some key part outside of the specific number of clues or maybe it's just that conclusion part that is telling me "this guy is your guy because you can make the others innocent" is just not enough for my satisfaction. Actually I think what my grudge mainly boils down to is the fact that it, in retrospect, just felt too obvious and maybe I'm giving the mystery, so to speak, more credit than it deserves.

In the end though I realize the main culprit of the whole thing is my own action of finding out that I was wrong and what the right answer was. But, lesson learned! As said, going forward I'll just stick to my guns and not reveal the answer.

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BisonHero

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#5  Edited By BisonHero

I think it's crazy interesting that this game will basically accept whatever conclusion you go with when you "solve" the case, unlike a lot of "solve the crime!" adventure games/visual novels that generally just fail you if you make the wrong deduction at the end.

Like, if you never click the thing that says "reveal the real events to me" that "may ruin the experience", the game basically never tells you you're wrong? Is that accurate? It just goes along with whatever version of events Holmes chooses to expound upon? If so, that's fascinating.

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Pezen

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@bisonhero: At the end of a case once you've picked your conclusion the game plays out your choice and ends the chapter with three options; reveal whether or not you're right, change your ending or commit and continue to the next case. Because it also lists how many clues you unlocked, I am assuming you can end a case without having found all of them which would make your available conclusions fewer and your decision to be based on even less evidence.

Also it seems the game will give a summary in form of a news article in the next chapter of what happened with the previous case and I can see them altering that to fit whatever story you ended up with. I'm eager to find out where this game goes from here, or even if it just sticks to the formula.

Though if the first case is any indication, it seems you're rewarded with a longer more elaborate scene to end the chapter if you pick right than if you pick wrong. But that may very well be on a case by case basis, I haven't played enough yet. Even so, I completely agree that it's a really interesting concept for a game like this.

I suppose that's why the game seems to treat your conclusions and how you suggest the law act (harsh or lenient) to be "moral choices".

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rethla

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@pezen: Yes you can finish cases without finding all the clues or conclusions but yes if you dont get to the "right ending" the end scene will be very sparse. There also is no drawback to accusing the wrong people as everyone takes what you say as the absolute truth. You can accuse the wrong guy and send him to his death and everyone will still treat you as an bad ass detective and the police as morons ;)

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audioBusting

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I've played all cases except the last one and so far they are all even more ambiguous than the first. But I did notice there being smaller clues and evidences in a couple cases that aren't explicitly taken account of in that mind palace deduction thingy that could definitely eliminate some suspects. I can't recall any examples right now though, it's been a while. I don't know if it's intentional game design (probably is) but it's neat!

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rethla

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@audiobusting: Yeh there are some details and deductions for you to pick up by yourself if you are alert.

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Don't ever play Phoenix Wright. Your head will explode.