Should I get this first or some other Sherlock Holmes game?

[Empu]

Title, are they stand alone or will I want to play the previous games?

[Bjørn]

I haven't gotten this one yet, so maybe I shouldn't be writing here (I loved the original The Awakened game, though).

But if you're new to the Sherlock Holmes games, I can highly recommend Crimes and Punishments for good gameplay mechanics and such:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/241260/Sherlock_Holmes_Crimes_and_Punishments/

I thought I had played all Sherlock Holmes games, but discovered relatively recently that I hadn't played it, even though it had been in my library for years, and it turned out to be the best Sherlock experience I'd had

And also several other of the older ones are good, but maybe someone else would like to make suggestions.

Also, I still have to play Chapter One (the previous one), which I've bought, but only had time to play a little of yet, but looks good (I tend to play too many games at the same time, and keep getting sidetracked). But that is different from the others in that it's about Sherlock Holmes when he was young.

[agrumpycoconut]

I've only really played the new Sherlock Holmes games, so i don't know if what im saying about the older ones are accurate, but story wise, only "Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One" and "versus jack the ripper" comes before "the awakened", but I wouldn't recommend Chapter One as your first one to try out, because the game and gameplay is very different than the others. It's also kinda broken (at least it was when I played idk if its been fixed), but the story is really amazing, so I would still play it).
There are some small details and references in the awakened that you might not understand if you haven't played chapter one, but it isn't anything major. Its totally playable stand alone.

I haven't played "versus jack the ripper", but I've heard other people recommending starting there or with "nemesis". I recently played the start of nemesis and I could definitely tell that it was a bit older, as pacing was a bit off, looking past the graphics. (I would assume versus jack the ripper is the same, but I could be wrong as it came out 2 years after nemesis).
I would definitely not start here, but play them later on.

I would recommend starting with "crimes and punishments", just like I did. Timeline wise its right after "the awakened", but you get a nice introduction to the Sherlock Holmes games with easy to understand mechanics and 6 different cases that give you a good understanding of the characters and the gameplay. Its probably my favourite game ever. The cases are really interesting and the condemn or resolve choices are cool.

I've played the new games in order of release, first "crimes and punishments", "the devils daughter", "chapter one" and then "the awakened". I've now also started the older games.

I recommend playing the games in this order (only including "the testament of Sherlock Holmes" of the older games):
Crimes and punishments
Chapter one (if you have the commitment to play a longer game).
The Awakened
The testament of sherlock Holmes (the overarching story in the devil's daughter is really confusing if you have not played testament)
The Devil's daughter

I hope this can be of help

[NeverSleeper]

Chapter One is kind of a reboot and the new version of The Awakened follows right after.

[Bjørn]

Interesting to see this thread pop up again.

Originally posted by Bjørn:

I haven't gotten this one yet, so maybe I shouldn't be writing here (I loved the original The Awakened game, though).

(snip)

Also, I still have to play Chapter One (the previous one), which I've bought, but only had time to play a little of yet, but looks good (I tend to play too many games at the same time, and keep getting sidetracked). But that is different from the others in that it's about Sherlock Holmes when he was young.

I've completed Chapter One now, and I loved it! The open world and all the different missions and cases made for a totally different experience compared to the other Sherlock games. Very extensive game, and so much fun.

I've also gotten The Awakened now, and played a few hours, and liked that as well (I liked the younger version of Sherlock in Chapter one, so was happy to see him there as well), but decided to save it for later, so I know I have something good to look forward to for some rainy days.

Also, another Frogwares game, The Sinking City has also recently been updated here on Steam, and mechanics-wise it reminded me quite much of Chapter One and The Awakening, so I'm looking forward to finally playing that one as well soon.

[wicked lester]

I've heard Chapter One makes detective work obsolete as there are no wrong deductions - is that true?

[Bjørn]

Originally posted by wicked lester:

I've heard Chapter One makes detective work obsolete as there are no wrong deductions - is that true?

It's more about moral choices. You can choose if you want the guilty ones go to jail or go free, for example, based on what you think they deserve, in a nutshell. You'll get comments from John based on your decisions.

It's quite an emotional game, I think, and deeper and more serious than the other ones, where you play a young and quite emotionally unbalanced Holmes, so to speak. I was pleasantly surprised of how much I liked the game. And the open world style compared to the 'fenced in' areas from case to case in the previous games appealed to me.

[ArchLobster]

Originally posted by wicked lester:

I've heard Chapter One makes detective work obsolete as there are no wrong deductions - is that true?

Basically yes, and I really disliked that aspect of it. It felt like CW Sherlock.

The games have gotten away from having a "correct" decision and that's kind of boring IMO. You should be able to convict the completely wrong person and at least have a cutscene that hints at how wrong you were.

Crimes and Punishments was *really* good though.

[MaxxGold]

As others have said, get Crimes and Punishments, or even start earlier with Jack the Ripper. But, Crimes and Punishments is the best Sherlock Holmes game. The game lets you get it wrong, and to me that makes that game so right :)

All the other games are fine, but this one is the worst as far as gameplay goes. It still has a good story IMHO, but it's more of a movie game, and your decisions just don't matter like they do in Crimes and Punishments. They have steadily dumbed down the series in order to try and get more sales, but the game suffers for it.

[Fantoche]

If you want the previous Trilogy, it's Testament (still rough on the edges), Crimes and Punishment (masterpiece) and Devil's daughter (Same, just fantastic).

Chapter one and this are sort of... prequels?

[Bjørn]

Originally posted by Fantoche:

Chapter one and this are sort of... prequels?

This one is a remake of this one:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/11140/Sherlock_Holmes_The_Awakened_2008/

I don't remember much now (but I see I have 44 hours in it), but he is an adult in that one.

I haven't played this one enough yet for me to really make up my mind about it, but yes, Chapter One is from when he was a student (I think?), before becoming a detective. And this version of Awakened seems to be set shortly after the events of Chapter One, with the same voice actor, so it seems to be a re-written remake, so to speak.

But someone correct me if I'm wrong.


(Looking at the description of the 2008 version now, it seems also that was a remake of an even older one? Yes, it says remaster lol)

[Fantoche]

Originally posted by Bjørn:

Originally posted by Fantoche:

Chapter one and this are sort of... prequels?

This one is a remake of this one:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/11140/Sherlock_Holmes_The_Awakened_2008/

I don't remember much now (but I see I have 44 hours in it), but he is an adult in that one.

I haven't played this one enough yet for me to really make up my mind about it, but yes, Chapter One is from when he was a student (I think?), before becoming a detective. And this version of Awakened seems to be set shortly after the events of Chapter One, with the same voice actor, so it seems to be a re-written remake, so to speak.

But someone correct me if I'm wrong.


(Looking at the description of the 2008 version now, it seems also that was a remake of an even older one? Yes, it says remaster lol)

I know that, I finished the old one too (wow, 2008 is... old?). I'm saying that this remake constantly acknowledges the previous game, Sherlock calling out for his imaginary friend, references to Cordona, Mycroft being the father figure.. These two games are prequels. He is an adult early forties in the original. In this one, he's young, about 25-30

In fact, I believe the ending is even... explaining Sherlock's famous cocaine/morphine addiction

[Bjørn]

Interesting! Made me curious, so I think I'll finally continue playing it now, thanks