What are some of the better Sherlock Holmes games?

[Bill the Butcher]

I have Holmes vs Jack the Ripper, is that a good one?

[harlekinrains]

Its impossible to say, without having played them all essentially. :) See:
https://www.mobygames.com/game-group/frogwares-sherlock-holmes-series

The issue is adventure games. Adventure games have been handled by mainstream reviewers differently than any other genre over time, because they are so different in terms of gameplay and how they are produced. They are usually low budget (if produced after the Lucas arts era), normal "the better technically, the better the score" metrics dont apply, and it takes a certain kind of person to draw enjoyment out of them (mainly meaning - some of them were designed for players being stuck on riddles for days on end in an age where walkthroughs werent readily available on the web).

For an adventure player overall story, and puzzle design rank highest, for the average reviewer (dudebro usually.. ;) ) they do not. So as a result "average" score, even across professional reviewers doesnt mean a thing, because it can vary by that much.

Look at review sources on mobygames - if you find a point and click adventure focused site amongst them, and want to go "by that" - you can, but again good luck finding one, that mirrors your taste and had qualified reviewers for adventures... ;)

As far as point and click adventures go, the Sherlock holmes games were considered "competent", but not "great" (has to do with them relying on gimmicks and budgetary constraints), until Crimes and Punishments hit. That game actually kind of "revolutionized" the adventure game genre (because of systems it invented) and is very good tonally (atmosphere, plot, ..). Its successor Devils Daughter was the opposite, tonedeath, kitschy, over the top, with nonsensical plot and gameplay elements, but because of a larger marketing campaign, and the publisher making sure enough dudebros got review copies, to copy the positive sentiment Crimes and Punishment got - average reviews are similar to Crimes and Punishments - which means -- you cant go by average.. :)

If you dont care so much about Sherlock Holmes and just want good (point and click) adventure games, some of the best ones are gated behind very obscure puzzle designs, that fans of the genre wouldnt mind, but newcomers would have a hard time with. For newbies, Broken Sword 1 is a good one to start with (play the original version, not the remaster, if you buy the remaster on Steam or GOG, you get the original version as a download for free, look for that and play that. Remastered adds fluff and bad character art.). Still Life (Microids) is a decent one for beginners as well (if you want to play it with a controller, Xbox version using emulation is an option), although with one crappy gimmick gameplay mechanic in the middle, if I remember correctly. Snatcher (Sega CD) still is very playable these days and rather easy to pick up. Famicom Detective Club Part II (English Patched, SNES) also is easy to get into, and actually borderline great (play the SNES version, not the NES or Switch versions, more flair). The last express is great, and somewhat "okish" to get into. (This one you will play with a guide from time to time). Some of the alltime greats, like Syberia 1+2 or Where the water tastes like wine have horribly convoluted gameplay design - so are more for veterans of the genre. So are the classic Lucas arts adventures, if you go by the attention span of an average gamer these days (easiest one to start with is Curse of Monkey Island (thats part 3)). Another Code: R (Wii) is a good one for beginners as well and can be played using emulation.

A good resource for actually good adventure reviews is https://www.adventurecorner.de/reviews?q=&c=3&d=0&l=0 but the site is german, so you'll go by ratings and flair - but their ratings are pretty fair most of the times. If you scratch their obsession with Deponia and the Whispered world and Book of unwritten tales (WHY. ;) ), but starting from their high 80s reviews, they actually are a good resource. Issue: They didnt review everything - so some of the gems get overlooked entirely by them... GOG.com reviews are actually a good resource as well, because they usually are made by genrefans, who are into older games, which cancels out some of the "clunky and I'm stuck means bad game" logic of most mainstream reviewers.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (NDS) also is an almost perfect game (tonality, whimsy) thats very accessible, and most people wouldnt consider part of the genre, but maybe a genre in itself. :) Its best played on a hacked Wii using the Wiiware version, which is better than DS emulation would be on a big screen. Right image size for a 55" TV because of about the best proper text size, and very chill gameplay using one handed wiimote controls. :) Issue, almost "needs" a good scaler.. ;) (OSSC, or Retrotink 5x Pro) to look great :) .

Blade Runner is a good in between Adventure game for when you are ready to get into the more obscure/complex ones. Most named so far are good beginner titles.

edit: Oh, and if you can speak german, the Die drei ??? (not kids, not !!!) by USM are great as well, and pretty "recent". Caviat: Has find item sections from hell to stretch playtime (but isnt a "find item search image game", because those are HORRIBLE), and you have to play them on a big screen device, because art is drawn (doesnt scale), and pixelhunting on a smartphone doesnt work. https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/cluster?clp=igM4ChkKEzcxOTA2NzM3NjMyNDI0NzYzMTgQCBgDEhkKEzcxOTA2NzM3NjMyNDI0NzYzMTgQCBgDGAA%3D:S:ANO1ljJzcYE&gsr=CjuKAzgKGQoTNzE5MDY3Mzc2MzI0MjQ3NjMxOBAIGAMSGQoTNzE5MDY3Mzc2MzI0MjQ3NjMxOBAIGAMYAA%3D%3D:S:ANO1ljI-tEM
Games are produced using the original speakers of the radioplay versions of the books, have high quality art, high production value, they are just good games. :) So good in fact, that one of them was banned from the play store because of a "tripping sequence" maybe (unclear). They went artsy over safe on that one. Good games. Easily overlooked. And only playable if you speak german. (Because the voiceover artists are such a big part of the game, localisation is basically out of the question.)

[MarkedAsRed]

Depends on the exact style you enjoy, but amongst the more recent releases, Crimes and Punishments is generally accepted to be excellent.

If you're into more dated games (and don't mind setting up emulators / DOSBOX etc), the 1995 title "The Case of the Rose Tattoo" is extremely well-loved by the community. You can find this Internet Archive iirc and the DOSBOX instructions are included there too.

There are also somewhat derivative titles like the three games, "Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective" - short, 30-ish minute games with a bit quirky gameplay but the acting therein is actually quite good, and the games are extremely cheap.

[joridiculous]

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, and Crimes and Punishment. By far the two best games in the SH (frogware)franchise.
But also the games from before testament deserves a play through, but DO skip the first one (Mystery of the Mummy), its so bad and close to unplayable due to its age.
VS Arsène Lupin and VS Jck The Ripper are quite ok.

IF you want to play Sherlock Holmes Chronologically you want to start with This game (chapter 1), then vs Jack the ripper, Awakened, Crimes and Punishment, vs Arsène Lupin, Case of the silver earring, Testament, Mummy, Devil's Daughter.

[giraffeandy]

I have all the games since Arsene Lupin so I haven't played the three oldest ones but the ones I played were all good. Even though keep in mind that the Lupin game (I think it's Nemesis on Steam) has a lot of puzzles and it's probably too long-winded for the majority of gamers these days. I would rather recommend to start with Jack the Ripper, it's true that during the investigation you have to solve many unrelated stuff in order to gain the information you need but I think it's still worth it. And it seems you already have this game.

The Testament and C&P are my favourites too, you shouldn't miss them!

[PossiblePsycho]

Originally posted by joridiculous:

DO skip the first one (Mystery of the Mummy), its so bad and close to unplayable due to its age.

It's not due to its age, I remember it being unplayable 20 years ago back when it was released. It's unplayable simply because it's absolutely abysmal.

And yes, despite being ancient (it was released in 1996), The Case of The Rose Tattoo is still the best game about Holmes (although I do enjoy Frogwares series; I'd say, Crimes and Punishments is the best among them).

[SickRamen]

Crime & punishment was clearly excellent, short episodic stories which are not linked but are really good individually.

Testament had an epic story, but the mechanics were not the best.

Devil's daughter was not universally liked, but personally I really loved it. It had both the excellent, bite-sized gameplay of Crime, with also an epic overarching storyline. The only horrible thing with it is they changed the voice actor from a good one to generic one.

I recommend you play in this order
1) Crime & Punishment to get into it with short stories.
2) Testament, so you can enjoy the story, and don't get disgusted by gameplay
3) Devil's daughter: the crown in the jewel

As for this one, wait for it to be on sale, it's not as good as the above 3 (but still decent)

[giraffeandy]

Here it shows that there's really no "right" (as "generally accepted") answer to this question, you will get as many answers as there are players... As for me, I prefer Chapter One to DD because I find the overall story much better. Also The Testament has a much better storyline.

Btw, I also forgot that I've played Awakened too, I think it's still a playable one but it always depends on your expectations. Jack the Ripper is also dated, yet I think the story is still very good, it has a darker atmosphere and I did enjoy the fact that your are investigating one crime in greater depth. But you have to keep in mind that all the games before C&P are more linear and a bit obsolete compared to the latest ones (and even more compared to today's standards graphic wise). However, if you get along with the mechanics, they are still worth playing.