Video Game Reviews: Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter

Developer & Publisher: Frogwares

Genre: Adventure

Reviewed For: Nintendo Switch

Also Available On: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Writing a game or a story featuring a famous character is something that cannot be taken lightly. For example, anytime a developer decides to add another chapter to the Pokemon saga, they need to consider how the environmental changes and fluctuations of the different Pokemon breeds affect the history of the games as a whole. Likewise, if you put Mario into a new situation and then add something silly to justify a new character, like a special crown that turns Toad into Peach, you now have an onslaught of horrifying pornography that fans say you brought to them, not the other way around. Taking a famous character like Sherlock Holmes, then, is no minor feat when bringing a video game to life in his visage. Thankfully, the people of Frogwares were not using a light touch when it came time to craft the latest adventure for the famous detective. As a result, Switch owners are now privileged to finally be able to participate in the most devious set of cases yet with Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter.

The premise is fairly straightforward, or at least as straightforward as it can be. Holmes is now in possession of a ward, a young girl named Katelyn. Seems that Moriarty’s death in a previous game lead Holmes to become a father figure, and things should just be interesting enough from there. Instead, the player is now thrust into a series of five different cases that gradually present themselves, seemingly disconnected until the threads delicately and lethally cross over time. While keeping an eye on a suspicious new neighbor named Alice, work with Holmes as he hunts for lost fathers, investigate burglaries and solve murders while also being aware that he, himself is being dragged into a brand new, terrifying mystery of his own. Will you solve the riddles in time? And will Holmes learn who, exactly, is the Devil’s Daughter?

Fans of the Phoenix Wright games and other crime solving mysteries will feel right at home with this title. As Sherlock Holmes, you’ll set off in five different cases to investigate clues, ask questions and gradually draw together a “deduction board,” which, depending on how the player works the pieces, will allow you to arrive at the correct conclusion or the terribly wrong one. Players will have to start over again if they get the information wrong, but don’t be too discouraged: failure is expected, particularly in later cases, and you’ll always have another chance to try again (with one very glaring exception). Along the way, Holmes will have a chance to deliver some dry wit, interact and trade intellectual barbs with colleagues and pedestraians, and generally be the character we all want him to be. Also, it’s all done in a seemingly gorgeous environment which I have to appreciate right this very moment.

Players will immediately notice that Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter is a massive undertaking, clocking in at 16GB which dwarfs games like Dragon Quest XII, Breath of the Wild and even Xenoblade Chronicles. This is due, mostly, to the customization engine that let’s you build your own Sherlock Holmes from the ground up, which I must admit was quite nice. Additionally, the landscape of merry old England looks fantastic under the right circumstances. It’s a charming title to behold, but I must insist that players who are invested in trying to enjoy the game play docked and not in handheld. Besides the smaller screen, players also have to suffer a bit of prolonged load times and some minor stuttering when playing in handheld mode, and it just takes away from the experience overall. I know there’s some sacrificing happening as it is, but the line is overdrawn when you give up the power of being grounded and also the expanded real estate of the television.

Once you make that merry decision, the game opens up before you and really becomes a delight. It’s a fine feat to walk around and investigate in 3rd party mode, and Frogware has done their damndest to make players feel like they’re actually investigating, trying to spring the right questions on people and noticing the fine details that occur when the clues arrive. While you won’t get the same bullet vision feel that Robert Downey Jr. brought to the role so many years ago, the level of Beautiful Mind that occurs as you begin to tie evens together is equally engaging and puts you properly into the seat of this infamous detective.

Additionally, players have almost a better connection here than they would with the Phoenix Wright games, as that’s the closest frame of reference I can think of. That’s because you get to work outside the immediate crimescene and get a gritter feel for the world. There’s fighting, and you need to actually be pretty bangup on your fisticuffs to make it effective. You can poke around in potential deadends and wild goose chases because that’s more like what you’d expect to see in actual investigations. Hell, you can sit there and have Watson take the wind out of your sails, just like if he were actually fed up with you!

Now, naturally, the game isn’t perfect. The downside of a more open world approach is that, if you’re trying to get to a conclusion in a timely fashion, the adventure becomes meandering and sometimes frustrating. Holmes and Watson do their best to stay on course, but I had to consult a guide a couple of times to get me back in the right direction. Also, since this game already has existed on PC for quite a while, the thirty dollar price tag is a little prickly to swallow, especially when they’re trying to nickel-and-dime you with a three dollar DLC costume pack that isn’t just included. Also, in that same vein, the game does run much better on PC, even older units: ports for the Switch are a tricky science, and this one isn’t fully baked. It has moments where the seams are really exposed, and that can drag you, kicking and screaming, out of the experience.

Having said all that, it was quite spectacular to have such a large scale adventure as Sherlock Holmes: the Devil’s Daughter to carry around with me wherever I go. Much like Skyrim or The Witcher 3, it’s the ability to say that you can do it that makes the case, not whether you can do it optimally. The dialogue is superb, the plot is still a fun and heady situation, and I would highly recommend owning this as a fan of mysteries and a fan of Sherlock Holmes in general. Just be watchful for a price drop in the future if you’re hesitant to buy now: after all, patience is the greatest tool a detective has.