Game Review - Hercule Poirot - The First Cases

Game Review: Hercule Poirot - The First Cases by Blazing Griffin / Microids

Score: +2/-11/FAIL

"Discover the early cases of the legendary detective Hercule Poirot. In his early years as a detective, Hercule Poirot is invited to a reception by the influential Van den Bosch family, for the announcement of their daughter’s engagement. But tensions amongst the guests run high as a snowstorm descends on the town, trapping everyone inside the manor. The happy event is soon marred by the murder of one of the guests… In the right place at the right time, Poirot immediately begins to investigate. What buried secrets and deadly rivalries will he uncover?"

SPOILER WARNING

There are basically two parts to Hercule Poirot - The First Cases:

• Point-and-click game
• This plays out exactly as you expect: Go to various locations, click on things to reveal more things, and keep clicking in a basically on-rails order until you finish the scene.
• Mind Map
• This is a graph where your discoveries are mapped out as nodes and you have to form links between them to make "deductions".

• FAIL/-1 Some very obvious things are not addressed, such as interrogating everyone including servants.
• For example, in the Denouement (chapter 9, when Poirot reveals the murder solution to everyone) Poirot confirms that he believed the murder to be committed during the first course at dinner when all the guests were at the table and no one left. So why did he interview the guests first when the ones without an obvious alibi are any servants not constantly present during the first course? Servants weren't closely interviewed at all until much later even though a servant found the body.
• +0 The graphics are passable although the character portraits are really not.
• -1 The portraits in the promotional artwork/title screen are also nothing like the in-game portraits. These have much more character and aesthetic, sadly, than what you will see in-game.
• +1-1 Almost fully voiced (except some of Poirot's conversation choices), which really adds to the atmosphere and immersion, although some choices were curious.
• E.g., Angeline has an ESL accent but her mother with whom she grew up with most of her life has just a British English accent.
• +1 The mysteries are decent when you finally play through it, although you may solve them much more quickly than when forced to complete the often arbitrary Mind Map.
• Mind Map: If you can put up with this long enough, you may have a chance to enjoy the story. But at every step, it irritates or outright hampers you from proceeding in various ways:
• -1 You must complete the Map to progress even when the connections are obvious or pointless.
• For example to get the deduction "Some guests arrived already", it is not enough that you have already spoken to a guest lounging around or seen luggage for guests (which have their own nodes on the Mind Map). You must link only the two nodes "Someone reciting a speech" and "Audible music".
• -1 Seemingly meaningful connections often cannot be made so it's hard to tell which connections need to be made, and when you make a "mistake" you are berated for it with a voiceover from Poirot.
• For example, Zakariya gives you various hints about where your room is which have nodes on the Mind Map. But you cannot link them. However, you must complete the Mind Map and all the other nodes before you can enter your room and conclude the chapter.
• This means you might be looking for a link that provides a deduction for where your room is, when the remaining link might have nothing to do with it. For our walkthrough, the last link to be made was "Some guests arrived already"--which as discussed, has its own problems.
• -1 Some links are outright bad deductions that shouldn't have been linked.
• For example, a blackmail letter that creates the node "Handwritten" is linked to a "Quill pen" node from a pen in a display case, with the deduction that the pen on display was used to write the blackmail letters. But surely there is more than one fancy quill pen available in a fancy mansion? And almost immediately afterwards, you find out the pen in the display case is also almost certainly non-functional.
• Another example: The Major took out a Loan for 6000 and the link is to a "Ransom value" node. But there wasn't yet evidence of how the Major spent the money from the Loan.
• -1 Links are not only for nodes because they are related, but because they are NOT related.
• For example, instead of simply not linking Inge to being part of the staff coverup, you have to link her node to "Staff ARE involved in the murder" when the deduction is that she is NOT involved.
• This confuses the purpose of the Mind Map and makes it unlike the typical charts you might see in a murder mystery where they form connections with red lines. If Inga is ruled out, you would expect to cross her off the chart instead of forming a link.
• Overall it feels like the Mind Map is not so much an aid as a separate minigame. And it was designed by putting down the various clues and joining them semi-arbitrarily so that players have another minigame to complete.
• A highly unsatisfying waste of time when the basis of the game appears to be making deductions, but most legitimate deductions or connections cannot actually form any links at all.
• -1 Some events / plot points are simply not plausible or contradictory.
• For example, a conclusion/deduction involves the Major being blackmailed for a not-secret dishonorable discharge from the military.
• After discovering who the blackmailer is, new evidence suggests the Major also wrote a blackmail note (because his handwriting was recognized) but there's no immediate follow-up.
• All elements of the murder scene are not yet accounted for but Poirot declares the murder solved.
• -1 Obvious spelling mistakes in English, such as "kiled" instead of "killed". Surely there are more than enough automated tools to highlight even probable spelling mistakes?
• -1 A long, contrived ending with no save points that
• Forces you to conclude the dialogues in a certain way to see one of two outcomes
• Once you conclude the scene, you cannot simply go back to try it again. You have to replay the game to try it again. (Hint: If you abort the chapter before it ends by force-closing the game, you can retry the dialog choices).
• Four characters are unreasonably hostile and the others basically say nothing at all.
• -1 Achievements unlock concept art sketches and sometimes a cutscene/video from the game. It seems these lengthy videos can't be aborted, so if you click on the achievement to see what you got, and realize it's something you've already watched, the only way to stop it is to force-close the game or go get a coffee while the video wastes your time.