CaseCracker
- December 19, 2022
- BlackRobe
- 9h median play time
Get on Steam"CaseCracker is a single-player Role Playing game that offers a complex and engaging experience, similar to real police cases. The game takes about 9 hours to beat and includes a built-in system to save time and improve gameplay. The sequel, CaseCracker 2, continues the story and can be enjoyed as a standalone game."
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a challenging and immersive detective experience, with interconnected cases that require attention to detail.
- Many players found the puzzles satisfying and enjoyed the logical deduction required to solve the mysteries.
- Despite some translation issues, the game is praised for its engaging story and well-crafted mysteries, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of the genre.
- The English translation is often poor, leading to confusion and frustration when trying to decipher clues and instructions.
- The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult to navigate and input the correct phrases needed to progress.
- Some players reported that the hint system is unhelpful, often providing vague guidance that does not assist in solving the puzzles effectively.
- story14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The story has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the overarching narrative and well-planned mysteries, while others found the plot unengaging and at times absurd. The puzzles are praised for their quality and difficulty progression, but the lack of investment in the story led some to rely on walkthroughs to finish the game. Overall, the narrative's effectiveness seems to vary significantly among players.
“Loved the puzzles requiring deduction and overarching story that ties all cases.”
“Great story and well-planned mysteries.”
“So far, the cases are interesting with a seemingly overarching story-line.”
“Those problems, coupled with a plot I didn't become quite invested in, make it hard for me to recommend the game.”
“The whole murder plot often ends up being ridiculous nonsense, like in the last case [spoiler] this guy finds out his target has a coronary disease and kills him by lowering the temperature in his room during the night?”
“I used the walkthrough for the last two cases because I didn't care for the story anymore and just wanted to get it over with.”
- gameplay12 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The gameplay is criticized for its poor tutorial and mechanics that are not well explained, leading to frustration and reliance on hints. While the setting is appreciated and the mechanics allow for a detective-style experience, issues like translation errors and tedious text copying detract from the overall enjoyment. Despite these flaws, some players find the gameplay thoughtfully designed, striking a balance between challenge and accessibility.
“I appreciate the setting; the mechanics are very simple, but lend themselves to an armchair detective type of solving crimes.”
“The gameplay was also quite well thought out, not impossible to play, but not spoon feeding you clues.”
“There are some tiny problems with translation, but there are some bigger problems with the mechanics. I tried several times to search for details on an item, but it required a very specific name to be found.”
“Terrible tutorial; the mechanics are barely explained, and you end up having to use hints just to figure them out.”
“Copying and pasting text is tedious. I'm glad the mechanic exists, but a lot of the time, it will miss the first letter or just not copy more than one character.”
- music4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Users express a strong preference for the music in games like "Orwell," "Song of Farca," and "No Case Should Remain Unsolved," indicating that these titles excel in their musical composition. However, some players find the music less engaging in the context of specific gameplay challenges, particularly in case 5, where they struggled with a particular puzzle. Overall, while the music is appreciated in certain games, it may not enhance the experience for everyone.
“I much prefer The Orwells, Song of Farca, or No Case Should Remain Unsolved in this category.”
“Couldn't get past case 5's end case, as I couldn't get any combination for 'How did you identify Song Jianye's murderer?' working.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is impacted by the hint system, as requesting a hint negatively affects the player's performance. This mechanic encourages players to rely on their skills rather than seeking assistance.
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding mechanic to be tedious and frustrating, often experiencing issues such as missing the first letter or only copying a single character, which detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.
