The Shapeshifting Detective Reviews
The Shapeshifting Detective is an adventure based on Full Motion Video that tries to escape the confinement of this format through a clever identity change mechanic and a random choice of the culprit to find. An intriguing story with noir influences and supernatural elements that help give development variety. The acting of the actors is correct, although amateur, with some over-acting, but generally with a minimum of quality. Despite not being a popular format, the game is solvent and its story has enough hook to catch us to the end, despite some fluency problems that we will encounter. Game recommended for all adventure lovers, and let's hope to see more developments using Full Motion Video from the guys at D'Avekki Studios.
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If you’re down for a somewhat unusual narrative where you’re a very active participant, able to hit characters from a variety of angles to tease out the truth, The Shapeshifting Detective may appeal to you. As long as you walk in with the expectation that there’s only so much room for player choice it may not be too disappointing. Compared to previous titles as a whole this entry feels a bit more jerky with the camera work and isn’t quite as cohesive, but it is certainly a novel experience with some decent acting propping it up. To get a taste for it’s style it is definitely recommended that you check out some video of the gameplay first to see if it suits you.
In respect to the murder mystery theme and The Shapeshifting Detective is a shining light in immersive story-telling. It may lack in gameplay variety but the shapeshifting mechanic and how it is integrated into the story really sets it apart
I can only recommend this if you feel like something different, or you’ve got some company around to enjoy trying to figure it out with. It’s not groundbreaking, it’s not a fast paced roller-coaster of suspense. But it is a delightful, self-aware romp that plays more like Clue! and less like Identity, so have a laugh with it.
The Shapeshifting Detective is yet another really fun and innovative whodunit from D'Avekki Studios. At a glance, you may think it looks like a simplified FMV adventure based on their previous game due to the fewer number of questions you can ask and the removal of the manual questioning mechanic. However, the removal of that has allowed the developers to create many more branches and outcomes as they know the choices you can make and plan accordingly. My advice, play the game through to the end about three or four times, make different choices, refuse to talk about certain things, and be a complete nob to everyone instead of being nice, you'll end up with a few new and often hilarious dialogues.