Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot: The First Cases
- October 5, 2021
- Blazing Griffin
- 10h median play time
First Cases is a significant change of direction from The ABC Murders, Poirot’s last outing also published by Microids. Stepping comfortably into visual novel territory and casting aside the puzzling that would hold back narrative flow, your fantasy is one not of being Hercule Poirot but rather of enjoying a Poirot novel. The Switch let’s you indulge in that as you would a great book, whether in the wingback of your stately home’s library or, indeed, on the toilet of your bedsit. For storytelling, the game format is ideal – even ingenious. The trademark Christie web of connections between events, evidence and the psychology of the characters is planned out in front of your eyes – either to pore over on a diagram or to stroll through in the neatly presented settings. The game’s main limitations are the inanimate world and workaday writing that fail to lend the sparkle of life to a well-machined story. Nonetheless, while puzzle-loving gamers shouldn’t pick this one up, visual novel fans and Hercule-heads won’t be able to put it down.
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games Store"Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot: The First Cases" invites you to experience the early investigations of the famous detective. As Poirot, you'll delve into a murder mystery at a family gathering during a snowstorm, uncovering secrets and rivalries in this complex case. Play as the young detective and solve your first challenging murder.
Mac OS
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Steam Deck
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- Engaging story with interesting characters that captures the essence of Agatha Christie's work.
- The mind map mechanic adds a unique twist to the deduction process, allowing players to connect clues in a visual way.
- Good voice acting and a charming atmosphere that immerses players in the mystery.
- Gameplay is overly linear, with little room for exploration or player agency in solving the mystery.
- The deduction system can feel frustrating, as connections often seem arbitrary and the game provides hints too easily.
- The game is relatively short, with only one main case and a prologue, which may leave players wanting more content.
- story270 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The story of the game is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating its engaging narrative and character depth, reminiscent of Agatha Christie's works. However, some found it predictable and linear, often feeling more like a guided experience than an interactive mystery. While the plot features intriguing twists and a well-crafted atmosphere, it can also become tedious and overly reliant on a mind map deduction system that detracts from the overall gameplay experience.
“The story is captivating and the design and art is beautiful.”
“The story is excellent, full of twists and turns and most of the characters are interesting.”
“I really enjoyed the storyline, characters, character conflicts, the twists of the story, etc.”
“The plot wasn't really strong enough to remain interesting for the full length of the game.”
“This is not a game, just a point and click story.”
“The story is as basic as it gets and the ending is extremely predictable.”
- gameplay114 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay in "Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot: The First Cases" is primarily focused on investigation and deduction, utilizing a mind-map mechanic to connect clues and evidence. While some players appreciate the narrative and visual elements, many criticize the gameplay for being linear, simplistic, and at times tedious, with a lack of meaningful challenges or replayability. Overall, the game offers a casual experience that may appeal to newcomers to the genre, but seasoned players might find it lacking in depth and engagement.
“Surprisingly satisfying in both story and gameplay.”
“The bulk of gameplay consists of investigating scenes, interviewing subjects, and making connections on a mind map.”
“The gameplay loop is mostly 1) investigate areas for clues 2) talk to people and finally use the cool 'mind map' to link together alibis, events, and deductions.”
“The gameplay is boring, or one might even say non-existent.”
“The interface is clunky, and the gameplay is tedious.”
“Sadly, the gameplay this has to offer amounts to clicking every on-screen prompt there is to click, then fiddling with a very arbitrary 'deduction' system where you connect nodes on a mind map.”
- graphics60 mentions
- 52 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the art style and cozy settings, while others criticize the dated visuals and lack of animation. Although the graphics are not considered groundbreaking, they are often described as charming and suitable for the game's narrative, with some users noting issues like choppy cutscenes and basic character animations. Overall, while the visuals may not impress everyone, they are complemented by strong voice acting and an engaging story.
“The art style is very pleasing.”
“On the plus side, the actual graphics and design is superb.”
“The art style is phenomenal and the colors are very warm, which I enjoy.”
“The graphics are not the best out there; the characters look emotionless with basic animation.”
“The graphics are dated, to say the least - it comes off as a 2011 game ported into a 2021 engine.”
“The visuals were weird (no doors, etc.); it felt like a really old game, and considering the others in the series are really old but 100 times better, I was just really disappointed!”
- music20 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful soundtracks and fitting atmosphere that enhance the gameplay experience. However, some players find the music repetitive and minimalistic, leading to a lack of memorability. Overall, while the soundtrack and voice acting are highlighted as strong points, the music's impact varies among players, with some considering it pleasant but not particularly remarkable.
“The music is good enough to keep an earphone in, and hearing the characters' tone helps infer what's going on.”
“The game is gentle and relaxing, the music is fitting and overall it’s quite pleasant to play through.”
“This is an engaging point and click game with a great atmosphere and fitting music, the story has so many twists and turns it's hard to guess where you'll end up next.”
“I had to turn the voice effects down to 50% (leaving music and speech at 100%).”
“The music is minimalistic; the characters are unique in their own way.”
“Opened the game, clicked new game, got a loading screen. After leaving it open and listening to the music for half an hour, it still didn't load.”
- grinding18 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has been widely criticized for its tedious and unintuitive deduction system, particularly the mind maps that players find clunky and frustrating. Many reviewers noted that the gameplay feels slow and repetitive, often requiring players to make illogical connections or engage in trial-and-error to progress, which detracts from the overall experience. While the story is well-written, the tedious nature of the gameplay has led to a lack of enjoyment for many players.
“An incredibly tedious slog.”
“The inference chart links are tedious, unintuitive, and unrewarding, and breaks the flow of gameplay.”
“The mind maps are boring, tedious and many times lack sense.”
- replayability7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is criticized for its lack of replayability, with many reviewers noting that the weak story and gameplay, along with the absence of features like chapter select and multiple saves, significantly diminish the incentive to replay. Despite some potential for a more engaging experience, players feel that the game fails to offer meaningful choices or challenges that would encourage revisiting it.
“Would give the game a lot more replayability.”
“As an interactive story goes, there are many mobile games that do it better and have higher stakes and better replayability.”
“I will say one final gripe, however, the lack of any kind of chapter select or multiple saves, coupled with the inability to bring up previously read text, something that is pretty standard for most visual novels, kills any replay value this game might have had.”
“That being said, there isn't much replay value to this.”
“However, there is hardly any replay value as you cannot fail to solve the case, and the UI, especially the mind map, is rather clunky to navigate.”
“I will say one final gripe, however: the lack of any kind of chapter select or multiple saves, coupled with the inability to bring up previously read text—something that is pretty standard for most visual novels—kills any replay value this game might have had.”
- atmosphere5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its cozy and engaging qualities, enhanced by fitting music and strong narration. Reviewers appreciate the believable portrayal of characters and the intriguing plot twists, creating an immersive experience that invites players to return and savor the story. Overall, the atmosphere contributes significantly to the game's appeal, making it a standout interactive experience.
“This is an engaging point-and-click game with a great atmosphere and fitting music; the story has so many twists and turns it's hard to guess where you'll end up next.”
“To be brief: the moment-to-moment writing, the characterization, the overall plot, the believability of the crimes, and the atmosphere are all good to excellent.”
“The atmosphere is cozy and makes you want to return to this game and savor it slowly.”
“It has a similar atmosphere, music, narration, and gameplay.”
- character development3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is praised for its engaging story and well-crafted personal arcs, complemented by solid character portraits and effective voice acting. However, some users noted a disconnect between character designs and their portraits, which detracted from the overall experience. Despite these inconsistencies, the narrative and character twists are considered strong points.
“The content of the story is great, and the character designs in the portraits were solid, including color palettes for characters relating to their associations and alignments, the twists of each character and their personal arcs, and the overall mystery. I think it's a solid story.”
“I do like the art style and character design, and the voice acting was very good.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a gradual buildup of tension as players uncover hidden truths, leading to intense conflicts among characters with rich backstories. The narrative evokes a strong sense of immersion reminiscent of Agatha Christie's writing, enhancing the emotional stakes and player engagement throughout the experience.
“As your investigation reveals more truths hidden within the house and its denizens, what starts as an emotionally tense yet physically docile reception begins to escalate as opinions grate and histories clash with deadly consequences.”
“You can feel Agatha Christie's writing style throughout the story, to the point where it truly made me feel like I was playing through one of her novels.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game suffers from poor optimization, leading to high resource consumption that is not warranted by its simplistic graphics. This has resulted in a less than satisfactory performance experience for players.
“The game is poorly optimized, resulting in high resource consumption that is not justified by the game's plain graphics.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has been criticized for being buggy and tedious, indicating a lack of polish and reliability in gameplay.
“The game is incredibly buggy and tedious.”
“Frequent crashes make it nearly unplayable.”
“I experienced constant lag and stability issues.”
Critic Reviews
Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot: The First Cases Review
First Cases is a significant change of direction from The ABC Murders, Poirot’s last outing also published by Microids. Stepping comfortably into visual novel territory and casting aside the puzzling that would hold back narrative flow, your fantasy is one not of being Hercule Poirot but rather of enjoying a Poirot novel. The Switch let’s you indulge in that as you would a great book, whether in the wingback of your stately home’s library or, indeed, on the toilet of your bedsit. For storytelling, the game format is ideal – even ingenious. The trademark Christie web of connections between events, evidence and the psychology of the characters is planned out in front of your eyes – either to pore over on a diagram or to stroll through in the neatly presented settings. The game’s main limitations are the inanimate world and workaday writing that fail to lend the sparkle of life to a well-machined story. Nonetheless, while puzzle-loving gamers shouldn’t pick this one up, visual novel fans and Hercule-heads won’t be able to put it down.
70%Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot: The First Cases Review – The Start of Those Little Grey Cells (PS4)
80%Whomstdunnit - KeenGamer
80%
