Original and full of ideas, its playable proposal is complemented by a well-written and better executed plot. More than remarkable.
That the independent scene has become the main source of original proposals in the video game industry is something that is less and less surprising. The surprising thing is that, with very few resources in most cases, works can appear that transcend and become authentic references for large productions. Murder by Numbers does not reinvent the genre of puzzles, but it does know how to become independent and define itself as a more than remarkable proposal that any lover of Picross and detective conflicts will know how to appreciate.
We are not going to deceive you: we were very surprised by Murder by Numbers when we saw it in Nintendo's Indie World last December with a wave of new Nindies. In this newsroom we are devoted to Ace Attorney, so when they tell you that their composer was Masakazu Sugimori, once in charge of making Phoenix Wright sound: Ace Attorney, Ghost Trick and Viewtiful Joe, we knew that we had to play this proposal developed by MediaTonic in Nintendo Switch and PC.
This London team, which is even based in Madrid, has achieved the most difficult in any self-respecting video game with the aspiration of being something more or less similar to Picross: being addictive. And it is. It is so because its plot approach, divided into chapters, allows us to read the game as if it were a novel; but, in addition, its original way of mixing the genre of pictograms with mathematical logic is a delight. It goes without saying that we can only recommend this title to those who find interest in solving puzzles of this style over and over again; if not, no matter how well told its story is and how long each chapter lasts exactly how long it has to last. If so, have no doubt that this game will meet your expectations. Hopefully, seen the seen, that there are more iterations and it becomes a saga.
Honor and SCOUT, a couple with potential and chemistry
But let's put things in context. Los Angeles, 1996. We meet Honor, a not-so-prominent African-American actress who participated in a detective television series back in the 1990s. For different reasons, his life changes and now, some time later, he is in trouble both personally and at work; she has neither her side nor her family, which does not support her decisions in the way that she would prefer. Apart from a good friend of yours, the meaning of your life is not entirely located. But one day SCOUT appears, a robot capable of verbal communication and that gives meaning to the game because it is through it that the whole story is born. Who created it? Where are you from? Why was it abandoned? We already have a partner, Honor and SCOUT, who fit together wonderfully as a detective duo. There is spark.
Reminiscences with sagas like Ace Attorney are inevitable, a comparison that has been established in a very respectful and differentiated way; They are not Phoenix and Maya, but there is something of Phoenix and Maya in them.
Using hints ruins the experience – we don't recommend it.
As a visual novel, Murder by Numbers has a team that shows that it knows how to tell stories: a problem approach while presenting the main characters and their derivatives, storylines, a well-told knot and, finally, the outcome that allows to answer all the initial questions. Along the way, investigations where we have to go to the crime scene, question possible witnesses to collect evidence and analyze situations of tension. Does all this sound familiar to you? If to this we add production values in the purest Japanese anime style for the design of the characters, although with a more westernized approach to presenting the scenarios, the result of the work led by designer Ed Fear and Hato Moa (Hatoful Boyfriend) as the main artist is at least colorful and particular.
Playable also highlights Murder by Numbers, as much as we have previously noted. A total of four independent cases (it has lasted us about twenty hours in total) although closely related, that maintain a certain correlation and that maintain a premise: everything ends up being solved through these curious nonogram puzzles, which we have already seen in the saga Picross. Broadly speaking, we must create an image by checking boxes on a grid. There is a mathematical logic behind where, through the five boxes in each row, the indicated number of boxes must be marked above and to the left. It is not easy, however, because it all depends on how the base table on which the puzzle is represented is. Not to mention the gaps that fill each column.
Some dialogues are memorable; others exaggerated.
The difficult task of finding the balance between novel and puzzle
The difficulty curve of the game is well measured, with a complexity that increases in each chapter, without too high peaks but moments of doubt in which, surely, we have to start again. We wouldn't be surprised if the game ends up seeing the light on mobile devices in some way; However, it is on Nintendo Switch where we believe that it best fits due to the nature of this platform, which allows you to enjoy the experience in both a portable and a domestic environment. In our case, to carry out this Reviews, we have opted for a standard Nintendo Switch for games on television and a Nintendo Switch Lite for playing on a laptop. We are left with this last option due to the comfort it offers and how well the interface has been adapted due to the chosen aspect ratio.
But not everything is as we would have liked. Unfortunately, as is often the case in many of these titles, the number of puzzles is far less than the proportional part of the dialogues. If you are willing to read, read and not stop reading, you will surely chain him long gaming sessions until the end; If you are looking more for a derivative of Picross where precisely this stands out … you may be disappointed. Balance is virtue and, unfortunately, the main problem of this work is not having known how to find that balance, something that perhaps will be achieved in an eventual second part that, incidentally, we would love to see happen.
Other aspects to consider in this production edited by The Irregular Corporation is that it is completely in English. It would have been a surprise if a game as humble as this and in a genre as niche as the one that brings us together today in this Reviews would have reached localized into Spanish; there has been no luck. Because we are not just talking about menus and a few conversations, but about a title that revolves precisely in its script. If you master the language of Shakespeare there will be no problem; otherwise, the number of phrases made and references specific to British English may be too great a barrier. Otherwise, an accessible, colorful title with a soundtrack to take off your hat. Of those that we will not forget at the end of the year within the independent scene.
CONCLUSION
Murder by Numbers is more of a visual novel than a derivative of Picross, but everything it intends to do is done wisely. With music composed by Masakazu Sugimori and absolute respect when imitating referents of the narrative genre in video games mediated by puzzles, Mediatonic has known how to tell a complex story, with interesting characters and a rhythm that does not fall in a single moment through of its four cases. Entertaining, agile and intelligent, he has the problem of giving excessive prominence to precisely that, his story, and he forgets the enormous potential of the gameplay, so similar to Picross despite its simplicity. If we add that it comes entirely in English, perhaps the barrier is too high for those who hoped to be able to enjoy the history in Spanish. If the language is not a problem and you are a lover of the genre, we can think of no reason not to recommend such a fresh and original video game.
THE BEST
- The couple of protagonists; we want to see you back
- Impeccable difficulty curve
- Soundtrack and artistic style oozes originality
WORST
- Does not arrive in Spanish: only in English and with a lot of dialogue
- The potential of the puzzles is not exploited
Okay
It meets the expectations of what is a good game, it has quality and does not have serious flaws, although it lacks elements that could have taken it to higher levels.
