Sherlock Holmes Chapter One Reviews
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One should, on paper, be the best game out of Frogwares yet. It brings back all those satisfying detective features of the past and couples them with new mechanics and interactions. However, many of them are either surplus or frustrating enough to where they sometimes detract from the overall experience. And with a lifeless open world that doesn't run particularly well at even the best of times, it's not an easy recommendation. What fans loved from past Sherlock Holmes instalments is still there, but you'll need to do a bit of overtime to find it.
We are facing a great work of Frogwares with Sherlock Holmes in his perhaps less explored variant: that of his youth. Maybe the character at times you do not like it, or you find it unfriendly, but I think there you can also see the hand of the writers who portray a stage of more insolence in the human being and from which the great detective is not exempt either.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Despite a few missteps in terms of the combat, if you're a fan of detective games then Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is a pretty easy one to recommend. Getting to do things like interviewing witnesses or performing chemical analysis on suspicious evidence is an absolute blast. The island of Cordona is chock full of cases for you to investigate and while there are a few technical issues with the open world setting it's easy enough to forgive when sleuthing around is this much fun.
Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is a pleasant tale of origins and investigation, which continues frogwares' extremely intimate and introspective approach to the character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The game often stumbles upon the narrative errors of its predecessor, not sufficiently delving into some crucial ideas in the epilogue of the adventure.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A lot of the issues with Sherlock Holmes Chapter One can be resolved with updates. The performances issues can be ironed out, John's obnoxious behavior can be toned down, and an improved hint system could remove the frustration of being lost during a case. With a few tweaks, Sherlock Holmes Chapter One could be an interesting open-world twist on the detective genre. As it stands, the game at launch still needs work before Sherlock Holmes can fully embrace his role as the greatest detective of all time.
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One takes the series in a completely opposite direction of its predecessors, souring its potential in favor of adding gameplay elements that pad runtime and take away from the investigations. Fans of the series may find some joy in getting to experience the original content or solving clues the hard way, but I was certainly not one of them.
Despite some rough edges, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One has its heart in the right place. Frogwares is taking the classic Sherlock mythos and spinning off some impressive original work here. The story is well-presented, with the partnership between Sherlock and Jon particularly pleasant. Other cases show some interesting new puzzle types that I have not yet seen before. Whilst the two strengths of this title are separate, which annoys me somewhat, it’s the annoyance I feel when a game is a few decisions short of me showering it in unqualified praise. As it stands, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is a standard-setter for open-world mystery games.
Quite possibly developer Frogwares’ most accomplished crack at the iconic detective yet, Sherlock Holmes Chapter One combines a compelling story, detailed world, and involving investigation mechanics to great effect.
Which is to say, colourful and challenging writing exists within the confines of this archaic setting, so you might hear antiquated dialogue or come across situations that make you uncomfortable.
Although there are still some problems with Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One as an innovative work, there is not much to blame for in terms of big play and storylines.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Overall, while not perfect, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One provided an incredibly entertaining and challenging experience that detective fans, especially Sherlock Holmes fans, will be happy to experience.
A fresh and emotional take on the Sherlock Holmes property creates the best narrative in the series yet, but it’s let down by some ambitious design choices.
Technical issues and an excessively padded out plot makes Frogwares' open-world rendition of its Sherlock Holmes games a disappointing experience.
This is easily my favourite game of the year. I haven’t been this captivated by Holmes since I began reading the original works by Doyle.
Way better than Devil's Daughter, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One has a captivating focus on Sherlock himself, but the open world feels there just for the sake of it.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The strength of Frogwares previous works is retained within more ambitious, freeform packaging. Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One can be abrasive, both in gameplay terms and in its depiction of an iconic character, but it offers such rich and rewarding depth to its detective drama that it's much easier to accept.
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One has weak combat and an empty open world, but its excellent detective gameplay and powerfully emotional story easily put paid to these issues.
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is a solid entry into the franchise with well written characters and strong investigatory gameplay. Some distracting visual issues and poor combat sully the experience.
I've struggled to properly rate Sherlock Holmes Chapter One. On the one hand, it does some great things in terms of the cases and the provided tools to solve those cases. I enjoyed that it never gave me an answer, and I had to arrive at my own conclusions given the evidence I'd found. On the other hand, the game is in a rough technical state with frequent frame rate issues on the PS5, basic animations that feel robotic, an empty open world, and voice acting that can pull you out of the experience at times. Fans of Sherlock Holmes or adventure games can check out Chapter One, simply for everything that it does right.