13 people found this review helpful
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 3.5 hrs on record
Posted: May 29, 2019 @ 12:48pm
Updated: May 29, 2019 @ 5:21pm
Product received for free

I'm totally subjective here, but in my case Detective Di has managed to scratch several itches at once. It's a classic point-and-click adventure, a rare modern case of following the canons of the genre to the letter, but without those quirks the games from the 90's suffered from (you don't even get an option to highlight active objects, but you won't really need to, pixel hunting is not an issue in Detective Di; as for puzzles, they are very much here, and they are logical and satisfying).

Are you in search of a quality detective, an exciting story with grim murders, political intrigues and a brilliant protagonist on the trail? Check! True detective, magistrate Di feels very much Holmes-esque, and that's totally a compliment; he is always able to find a right approach to a witness or a suspect (be that a nice cat-loving soup trader or a mighty general, head of opposition to the empress herself), he never misses a clue or a connection, and, of course, he's absolutely unstoppable on his way to delivering justice (an important notion: laws written by possibly corrupt men don't necessary equal justice for Di Renjie). My only small disappointment in this department was the so-called deduction board: it's not an actual puzzle (like in Frogwares games), just a way to track your progress.

Another aspect I can never get enough of is a skillfully recreated historical setting; while not everything is smooth in this ancient China being actually ancient (the way characters speak is often immersion-breaking, and I've got a strong suspicion that justice departments in the seventh century China didn't look exactly like modern police stations in Hollywood movies), the attention to details in this tiny indie game is quite impressive (not to mention its visual perfection). I like dystopian or Viking setting as much as the next guy, but to tell the truth, we are rarely spoiled by something truly exotic, and that's exactly the case here.

Overall, Detective Di is an easy recommendation not only to classic point-and-click fans, but to everyone who appreciates a well-written story.

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