Chinatown Detective Agency Reviews
Though the occasional bug or out-of-place mechanic bogs down the experience, Chinatown Detective Agency delivers a fulfilling investigator fantasy with real-world sleuthing.
If you’re in the mood for a cyber noir soaked old-school point and click, then no further. Chinatown Detective Agency does justice to the old school vibes it aspires to while also setting itself apart by having a fun and unique way to solve puzzles. It can get a bit overwhelming at times, especially as the clock starts ticking down, but the satisfaction of cracking a case is worth the extra stress.
Chinatown Detective Agency is a solid hardboiled detective adventure with a unique DIY approach to clue-solving-but it's most impressive as a cultural artefact.
Chinatown Detective Agency is an engaging point-and-click adventure with gorgeous art direction that falls just a bit short.
Chinatown Detective Agency is a title that anyone who loves taking on the role of a gumshoe in a futuristic, pixelated world will enjoy. With clues, ciphers, and other mysteries to solve, this title will make you use your brain and challenge you!
Chinatown Detective Agency poses an interesting premise for a point and click adventure but ultimately falls flat on the execution of its core ideas.
Chinatown Detective Agency is sometimes a little too clever for its own good, but it's well written and charming with it. If you can overlook the issues with the save system, it's well worth a look.
General Interactive deserve applause for their unique approach to detective work in adventure games, but the central mechanic in Chinatown Detective Agency feels like it deserves to be in a more substantial game.
Chinatown Detective Agency is a detective noir point and click adventure inspired by Carmen Sandiego. It involves real world sleuthing that will take you out of the world in order to solve puzzles. It has great art and character designs. It also has good voice acting during most major cutscenes.
Chinatown Detective Agency is a superbly told story with memorable characters and incredibly engaging gameplay. The unique noir-style take on Carmen Sandiego presents a strong, admirable protagonist that strives to be the hero even in the darkest of times, while provoking the question of what heroism really means. The game's case-cracking gives the player a true feeling of accomplishment and justice-served, with the added bonus of learning about interesting new topics. The game's greatness makes the fact it cannot be finished even more disappointing - without the large bugs, Chinatown would be a nearly flawless game. However, under the assumption the development team is able to make the necessary changes to the game, Chinatown Detective Agency has the potential to become a great modern point-and-click adventures.
Chinatown Detective Agency has amazing potential, and while it may not be 100% accessible to a wider audience, it challenges you in ways that other games do not.
Chinatown Detective Agency does some interesting and noteworthy things with its take on the point-and-click adventure game, between its reliance on external tools and your own deductive research ability, some solid story and character work, and a strong commitment to encapsulating a country and culture that is unique to video games by default.
Chinatown Detective Agency is a stylish cyberpunk detective game with a wonderful cast, and it has a cool real-world aspect to puzzle solving. But it does feel a bit like doing homework sometimes.
Having had our share of classically-styled adventures on the Switch that have veered more in the direction of classic LucasArts games with their sense of humor, it's always nice to hit one that takes things a bit more seriously...
Chinatown Detective Agency is a disappointing miss, that, with just a little more time in the oven, could so easily have been a compelling hit.
It is a game that is completely unafraid of letting you make mistakes and wasting your time and money, and this ties flawlessly into its well thought out setting and very memorable characters who will regard Amira with the results of your effort. The pixel art that makes up environments is gorgeous and expressive, with the nighttime streets of Singapore being my personal favorite to just spend time looking at. While it is disappointing how common the minor UI and audio bugs are, this is nothing that can't be fixed with a few patches and does not take away from what is a mystery-solving experience that fans of this genre absolutely should not miss.
Nonetheless, it’s impossible not to be charmed by Chinatown Detective Agency. Mei Ting, in particular, is exuberant and spirited (she particularly enjoys the promise of cash), and the motley crew of characters who accompany you in your detective work is far from atypical, as you work together to unravel conspiracies and convoluted schemes. The treacherous plot at the heart of the game, too, will probably take repeated playthroughs to uncover, given the several routes and choices you can pick throughout the game. For all of Chinatown Detective Agency’s imperfections, this is still a case I’d gladly take on, over and over again. Of course, with a web browser and notebook in hand.
But it’s that homework element that will make or break the game for you. If you have a truly open mind, and you want to look up the source of some weird quote, you will learn a lot, experience a well-realized world, and put away some fictional bad guys. You’ll get to see moody lighting, hear some catchy bleeps, and have the satisfaction of a mystery well solved. This is a genre without a lot of greats, and Chinatown Detective Agency comes pretty close.
While the plot and characters are entertaining and engaging, there is nothing else in Chinatown Detective Agency that seems quite as captivating. Amira Darma's exploits and relatability carry the story to its conclusion, but the way is obstructed needlessly by deleted or bugged voiceovers, confusing puzzle solutions, and an unnecessary money system.
Those small - or big, depending upon your personal view - irritations aside, there's a lot to enjoy about Chinatown Detective Agency, and the story's just about worth the ride. Personally, I'm a little tired of the penchant for retro pixel art, but if you can make your peace with the other lightweight or frustrating mechanics, Chinatown Detective Agency introduces you to a memorable cast and takes you to some striking places. What a crime it is, then, that such a promising premise doesn't quite do enough with them.