Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter Reviews
Another rewarding glimpse inside the mind of London's greatest detective that's a little too old-fashioned and clumsy to shine.
A better presented package overall, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter is a small step forward for the series, but still in serious need of polish and a greater level of cohesion between its disparate parts. Fewer mini-games and more sleuthing would have been preferable and played to the game's strengths. As it is, The Devil's Daughter is a solid Sherlock yarn, but one that falls well short of greatness.
Whether it's sniffing out clues with Holmes trusty basset hound, planning an elaborate diversion in slow motion like you're in a Guy Ritchie film, or dodging spike pits and giant rolling balls a la Indiana Jones, the Sherlock games are always throwing something different at you. Devil's Daughter focuses more on story, with a larger plot taking over from the case work in satisfying ways. Some extended sequences of button mashing can become tiresome and the moral choice system doesn't add anything substantial, but the overall experience is great fun.
I'd love to be able to give Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter a stronger review, but it simply isn't possible. The story is solid, if a little unusual for a Sherlock Holmes tale, and the collection of mechanics and mini-games that could easily feel thrown together actually work well together, leaving you guessing about what comes next.
A decent adventure game with lots of ropey bits. Just like the last one, and the one before it.
Sherlock's powers of deduction are as enthralling as ever, but middling action gets in the way.
Over eighteen months on from the release of Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments and there still hasn't been anything quite like it on PS4. Trust the developers of that game then to be the ones who surpass it with Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter, an effort that not only meaningfully evolves over its predecessor but also one that sadly suffers from a small handful technical issues, making it fall just shy of greatness. All the same, the fact remains that sleuthing about Victorian London has never been as entertaining as this.
If Frogware could just tighten up the good stuff and lose what doesn't work, it might just give us the ultimate Sherlock Holmes game. As it is, The Devil's Daughter is flawed but entertaining, with lots of great detective work, some fun if baffling storylines and annoying action bits you can cheerfully skip through.
Frogwares' past Sherlock Holmes games… have always been unexceptional interpretations of the world's most exceptional detective, at times displaying some moments of brilliance, but mostly held back by their ineptitude and desire for safety
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter feels about on par with previous games in the series.
"In my opinion the best title in the series to date, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter is a nice step in the right direction for Frogwares and the popular investigative series in general. Its graphics fit nicely with the current generation console even if its action sequences sometimes flatter to deceive".
While The Devil's Daughter does a lot of things adequately, it does absolutely none of them spectacularly, and feels like a bit of a misstep for the series.
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter isn't necessarily a bad game. Each individual case is written rather well, voice acting is about as good as you can expect, and some of those puzzles along the way work well enough to keep the game challenging, but fun. It still looks good and offers that "Holmes" feel, but unfortunately no game is perfect. Bad puzzles and poor performance can easily kill the pace of the game, and with only four and a bit cases you'll find the content as a whole a bit lacking for $50.
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter is a competent adventure game featuring a varied and well crafted gameplay experience, charming characters and engaging stories. The game still suffers from some issues, such as the the trial and error nature of the action sequences and the excessively long load times, which prevent it from being really great. With a few adjustments and improvements, the Sherlock Holmes formula could become the standard for adventure games of the future, as achieving such gameplay variety is no small feat. Highly recommended to fans of the series and adventure games' fans.
Nu Watson and Holmes look dangerously close to Downey Jr and Law, five years too late, and their new voices are bizarrely unenigmatic, if competently delivered. It's not a reboot, nor a refresh, right down to the repeated locations and character models of the likes of Lestrade, but rather the weirdness of the series continuing its morbidly fascinating spiraling descent into lunacy. If I find myself carrying on, I'll certainly let you know what happens next, but in the meantime, yeah, avoid.
Frogwares has taken the best bits from Crimes and Punishments and has added to them for The Devil's Daughter. The problem is that these additions aren't always good. Accompanying the improved point and click gameplay are action sequences that add variety to each case, but they are also clumsy and prone to outstaying their welcome. Unfortunately the game's engine is also showing its age and loading times can often feel interminable. This title offers a typical Sherlock Holmes storyline and an easy completion, but its issues turn this into a mediocre affair rather than the elementary experience that you would expect from Holmes himself.
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter feels like a let-down. Crimes & Punishments was far from perfect, but it felt like clear progress – this latest effort feels like treading water at best.
The base gameplay of Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter allows you to pick the brains of the great detective while testing your deductive skills. It's just a shame that long loading times and grating puzzles constantly interrupt any intrigue found within the vague stories.
Sherlock Holmes-The Devil�s Daughter is born from below, affected by a quite limited financial investment, which can be seen through its weak technical part. Yet, it has tried to remedy to this lack by offering an excellent gaming variety, with a less linear and more compelling progress. It is a small but necessary step forward for this franchise.
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