Developer: Paintbucket Games
Platforms: Mac, PC (Reviewed)
Genre: Adventure, Simulation
Publisher: Paintbucket Games
The Darkest Files is a mystery/detective game. This game was developed and published by Paintbucket Games. This review was done on the Windows version, but the game is also available for Mac.
The Darkest Files is a historical investigation and courtroom game set in Germany during 1956, during a period when the country was struggling with the aftermath of World War II. At first, I assumed the game would just involve comic strip slides with various point-and-click interactions, but I was surprised by the first-person interaction. You start the game by playing as Esther Katz, an ambitious prosecutor working under the guidance of the real-life figure Fritz Bauer, Hesse’s Attorney General known for his efforts in bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. ​In the game, Esther is tasked with investigating unsolved cases from the Nazi era. The narrative of The Darkest Files follows true crimes that were committed during the Nazi era and were investigated in the young Federal Republic of Germany.
The Darkest Files story consists of three chapters, one of which is an epilogue. In each chapter, players have the option to choose between three different modes: story mode, investigator mode and prosecutor mode. Each mode becomes more and more challenging, giving players the opportunity to tackle the puzzles by themselves. I found it best to play this game more than once, each time whilst giving each mode a try. The story mode is nice and easy, where you get to truly focus on the narrative being told, but going from that point of view to that of an investigator/prosecutor is so much more interesting. Besides the default difficulty, there are even more customizable difficulty settings. The Darkest Files does a great job of making the game accessible for players and allowing them to adjust the settings to their liking. As I said previously, good accessibility does not just stop at the difficulty and settings, but it can also be applied to gameplay/control settings. For instance, options such as a one-handed mode (primary action can be toggled with right click) or highlight interactable objects. I found that one of the best settings was, in fact, the highlight of interactable objects, as you would not miss out on any clues or items.
The controls for The Darkest Files are easy to understand, with mechanics that are thoroughly explained. As you start the game, you are given a pop-up tutorial that highlights the purpose of each keybind with detailed explanations. The game thoroughly walks players through how to carry out interrogations and come up with conclusions with solid evidence. I do have to say that the UI for this game is simple yet super effective. A communications-like wheel makes it easy for players to access their notebooks, dialogue logs, and case files. These utilities are not just added to the game for visuals but serve a great purpose in progressing with the story. Now, the game itself follows a narrative, and it is up to you to solve case files. This requires players to pay close attention to the details in dialogues, the choice of dialogues and the overview of characters. I especially love the addition of the dictionary that notes the meanings of important words that may not be familiar to players. The notebook will keep players on track with a list of tasks that need to be completed.
What I enjoyed so much about this game was the visuals. The Darkest Files captures a unique sense of style that effortlessly blends 3D graphics with 2D pulp-comic-like elements. Some aspects of the game reminded me of the game ‘Escape Academy’ but with more of a Noir and muted colour palette that reflects the post-war era. I love the attention to detail that the paper-like features add, which makes the game seem like a pop-up book. So many different visual elements are blended together so nicely that it keeps the player intrigued. In some instances, you will notice expressive pop-up strips for certain characters’ responses that are always a nice contrast. The character designs are simple yet abstract; each is distinctive and has a sense of emotion that is conveyed through body language and expressions. The Darkest Files captures investigative aesthetics by having elements such as old case files, typewritten documents and more. Even the atmosphere in the courtrooms is paid close attention to, which adds a significant amount of detail to this game.Â
The voice acting that is featured in The Darkest Files makes a huge difference to the game. Each voice actor is perfectly matched with the character design, and I love how, for some characters, the accents differ. The full English voice acting truly brings the characters to life with emphasis on their tone and diction, which can help with the investigation process. I do wish that there was some type of soundtrack in the back as it seemed that the only source of audio was the voice-acting and sound effects, but that did not take away from the experience as much.
As someone who is not a big fan of historical topics, I found this game to have a big impact on emphasising the actuality of events that took place during a rough period by creating a story through several different points of view. Being able to converse with other characters, interrogate them, and collect evidence allows the player to be put in their shoes first hand which makes the story itself even more impactful. What this game does beautifully is that it gets the player to play a prosecutor’s role, like in real life. For instance, unlike any other detective game, you are bound to go through a heap of documents to find evidence that could help the case, but The Darkest Files gets players to have a much more interactive role by going to courtrooms and interrogating suspects/victims.Â
What I like about this game is that it goes through a series of steps for you to actually build up a case and potentially resolve it. The first is gathering the testimonies from witnesses. These occurrences where witnesses begin to recall events from the past actually bring the players themselves into the past. You get to play out what happened as the witness tells their story, getting Esther to be put in their shoes and get a better idea of how the story unfolds. The Darkest Files does a wonderful job of getting players to interact with their surroundings to get additional pieces of information. The memories hold many different things that can be investigated, but sometimes, it is hard for players to get to all of them. I found that the best way to approach this situation was to tackle information that seemed the most important. I am aware that this may take away from the whole ‘explore your surroundings’ experience, but it seems that the memory has its own running time. The second step is to come up with a conclusion with supporting evidence. Depending on the accessibility option you have equipped, some cases require three pieces of documents to be submitted, whereas some cases will be okay with just one document. I found that this was the hardest part of the game, as players would need to flip through a series of documents to find what is the most important information. I do like that the game does not let the player go in completely blind, giving them guideline questions to help them think about what piece of evidence truly correlates to the case.Â
If you are looking for a narrative drive game that focuses on solving cases based around the post-World War II era, then this game is just for you. The Darkest Files has stunning comic-like visuals, spot-on voice acting and a narrative that gets players interested in brutal historical events. Play as Esther Katz and interrogate witnesses, relieve memories and build case files to submit to court. Be sure to check out The Darkest Files!
Overall: 8/10
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