REVIEW / The Darkest Recordsdata (PC)

The Darkest Recordsdata dares to go the place few video games have the heart to tread: post-war Germany. You placed on the heels of a younger prosecutor, Esther Katz, who’s on a mission to convey literal Nazis to justice. Sure, it’s heavy. Sure, it’s essential. However let’s not get forward of ourselves, as a result of this sport is equal elements good and buggy.

With out contest, the uncooked, historic storytelling of The Darkest Recordsdata is its greatest power. The instances are based mostly on actual post-WWII investigations, and the writing doesn’t flinch. You’re not fixing puzzles for the sake of enjoyable; you’re piecing collectively horrors buried by forms and denial. The voice performing and emotional punch are actual. The builders had the nice sense to make use of German voice actors even within the English dub, which makes it really feel grounded and genuinely respectful.

Stylistically, The Darkest Recordsdata goes for a graphic novel vibe with cel-shaded visuals and noir comedian panels. The muted blues and yellows are so on level. The entire sport appears to be like prefer it was pulled straight from a post-war political cartoon, and I’m right here for it. It’s trendy with out being flashy, which fits the subject material excellent.

Gameplay-wise, it’s investigative drama 101: collect proof, interview survivors, join the dots, and prosecute the scum. Assume much less “shouting objection” and extra “connecting testimonies with paperwork from archives.” The tempo is slower than your typical whodunit, nevertheless it’s deliberate, not uninteresting.

Now, let’s discuss size. This sport is shorter than a responsible plea. With solely two full instances, you’ll wrap it up in about six hours and go away you wanting extra. For a title this considerate and distinctive, it’s a disgrace it doesn’t go deeper or provide extra content material. It could be good if future DLCs would come and allow us to discover extra instances.

The interface of The Darkest Recordsdata is nothing to jot down dwelling about. Attempting to sift by way of the reviews and transcripts feels clunky, and typically pages don’t even seem like they’re there (however they’re there and simply hidden). There’s a bookmark system that ought to make issues simpler, however with the hidden pages glitch, the system finally ends up being extra convoluted and irritating..

Nonetheless, even with the glitches and UI mishaps, there’s no denying that The Darkest Recordsdata is doing one thing uncommon. It’s not simply entertaining, nevertheless it’s instructional. It forces you to interact with uncomfortable historical past and asks you what justice actually means. That’s greater than you’ll be able to say for 90% of video games that drop as of late.

The Darkest Recordsdata is a gripping historic courtroom drama with highly effective storytelling, trendy comic-book visuals, and powerful voice performing. Its investigation-based gameplay is considerate however held again by a clunky UI, occasional bugs, and a brief runtime with solely two instances. Regardless of these flaws, it’s a novel and significant expertise value enjoying for those who’re into critical narrative video games.

This evaluation is predicated on a retail copy of the sport supplied by the writer.