- As was mentioned in the developer description, you play the game as the bitter detective and the reformed criminal, plus some other characters — so, you see several different points of view in the story.
- Visual storytelling – this game could be described as an enhanced motion comic (e.g. madefire) with comic fonts and comic-book-like illustrations. Â Being a comic book fan, this works well for me but will not work for all.
- Interesting story – despite a few glitches here and there the story was interesting even if a bit predictable (and you get to help influence some of the details along the way)
- “Puzzles” – in various scenes, you have to investigate the crime scene and piece together what happened at the during the crime. Â Or, you may have to figure out how to get out of a certain situation using objects in the building or by talking to various people. Â These are fun but generally modestly challenging.
- Price! – On Steam right now, the 3 episodes cost only $5.37 – full price appears to be $17.07 which is a pretty good cost for what will likely amount to a few hours of entertainment
- Music – the music really sets the tone for the game, as it should. Â Generally somber, you can get lost in the feels.
- Speedy clicking – some times I’m impatient and just want to get to the next scene. Â “The Detail” generally allows me to speed up the dialog and get moving.
- Multiple save slots. Â Players could have several instances of the game in flight if they so desired.
- This is another game with a lot of cursing and adult situations.  I want to be able to share some of my gaming entertainment with my kids but this one is not for them (they are 11 and under). To illustrate – I won’t do a game video because I’d want to edit out so much of the language and several of the scenes.
- A Few bugs –Â Â Example: in one of the scenes (episode 2) My character A is interacting with character B. Â Character B seems to think I’ve had another non player character snitch on character B even though that did not happen in my this particular play through of the game. Â Not a huge issue but leads to feeling like the game still needs just a little more work in the Quality Assurance department. Â There are also some grammatical issues and for certain folks (including me) this can be an annoyance.
- Mouse jumps around – In the steam version of the game (I’ve not played the iOS version), depending on what you’re doing the mouse may jump around a bit. Â More accurately – if I’m clicking through some dialog the mouse sometimes disappears, then reappears in a different place. Â Again, not a huge issue but a small annoyance
- No replay from a certain point. Â After I played through the game I wanted to restart episode 2 with all the choices I’d made in episode 1. Â Can’t seem to do that.
Other observations
- No voice acting – again, like a motion comic. Â Probably keeps costs down but would add to the game if done well.
- Generally linear script – there are some game play differences based on your choices but most of the script is… scripted.
- You do not choose your character. While you play as several, you don’t actually pick them. Â The game chooses, based on the script.
Based on the above we’ll score it a 3 out of 5 – Â for the price-for-duration of game play value, this is a game to consider especially this weekend during the sale. Â If you’re interested, please do remember that there is foul language and definite adult and unsavory situations.
Update July 6, 16: Developer indicates 3rd episode for iOS will be available “early autumn”
Do you have any recommendations for episodic games or feedback on “The Detail?” – let us know!
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