One of the most creative mystery games to release on theNintendo SwitchandPCthis year has beenMurder By Numbers. The game includes picross puzzles to reveal clues along with a compelling visual novel story to solve several murder cases.
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Combine this gameplay with unique characters, including a cute robot named SCOUT, and players will see why this game can be enjoyed for hours while giving them a challenge. No game is perfect though, andMurder By Numbersis no exception. Here is a list of some of the reasons why this game is excellent, and things that fans might wish were fixed or included. Spoilers ahead.
10Great: Using Picross Puzzles
It’s not every day that picross puzzles make it into the gaming world outside ofmobile games. There have been a few that have made it onto console games, but it’s even rarer to see them used to find clues to a murder mystery. The use of thesepuzzlesis refreshing compared to other avenues that murder mystery games take sometimes, like seek-and-find mechanics.
For those who haven’t played these kinds of puzzles before, they might take some getting used to as players try to make a picture out of squares. However, the game has options that give players hints if needed. Just be careful to not use too many or else the detective score goes down after a few uses.
9Could Be Better: Difficulty Levels
There are only twodifficulty levelsin this game. There’s “Easy,” which gives players hints for each puzzle right away, and it crosses out unused squares once players finish filling in a row. Then, there’s “Normal,” which just lets players do the puzzle on their own with the option to ask for hints if needed.
Regardless of what difficulty level players choose, thepuzzles themselvesseem fairly simple and easy for the first few cases, and then they seem to stick with larger, moredifficult puzzlesfor the rest of the game. Whether hints are active or not, it would be nice to get a mix of smaller and bigger puzzles to help players that might feel frustrated by the difficulty at times.
8Great: Interesting Story Line
The overarching story here is that the robot, SCOUT, has lost his memories, and he wants Honor to help him get them back. A murder at the TV studio where Honor used to work throws a wrench in that plan though, but SCOUT knows how to help out and solve the case with Honor.
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The game is a nice mix of individual, short stories for each new case while following the larger story of Honor and SCOUT recovering SCOUT’s memories. It makes it easy to not get bored by the story, and get players sucked into solving each case while helping out their new robot friend.
7Could Be Better: Choices Don’t Really Matter
Honor occasionally has different dialogue options. Sometimes, these are just questions to help with the investigation that players should want to ask. Other times, Honor has the option to let players choose more of her personality based on whether she cracks a joke, genuinely seems happy, or even snaps at some characters.
Still, if players choose the wrong suspect to arrest, the game won’t let them follow through with the decision. Instead, one of the other characters will point out how that suspect couldn’t have committed the crime, and this continues until players pick the right person. It takes some fun out of making these decisions, and it would’ve been nice to see more possible endings about what happens if players choose wrong by mistake.
6Great: Memorable Characters
The character design in this game is impeccable, especially when it comes to showing off the style ofthe ’90s. Besides looking great, these characters all have different and unique personalities, so players can get invested in each one even pick some favorite characters on the way.
Characters inMurder By Numbersalso use a lot of humor that’s entertaining, but they also share important messages. This game can teach players a lot about friendship, family, and it even features LGBTQ+ representation. The personalities on screen are so easy to love or hate, and it’s easy to want toplay the game over againjust to see the characters fans have come to appreciate.
5Could Be Better: More Background Information
While many of the characters feel well-developed, and more information about them gets revealed throughout the story, some players might feel like there’s not always enough details. For instance, players will see characters referencing Honor’s ex-husband, Ryan, and he even shows up in one case. Still, their divorce and relationship seem to get quick explanations, leaving it feeling a bit glossed over at times.
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In other instances, it would be nice to have more information on some of the unique side characters. How did they get to where they are when Honor meets them? If they were the ones who committed a crime, maybe a flashback or even more of an interrogation scene would give more insight on their motivations rather than the quick explanations that players get as the criminals are being arrested.
4Great: Sense Of Suspense
Murder By Numbersis filled with twists and turns that will keep fans on the edges of their seats. From the very first case, tensions are high when it’s revealed that Honor’s boss was killed by someone who was trying to blackmail him into firing Honor from her acting job. Plus, Honor has to escape a lot of other near-death experiences, including a shootout with a suspect and a huge fire.
While things are bad for Honor, it’s later revealed that the reason that SCOUT lost his memories has to do with the fact that he has weapon capabilities and he killed someone. Now he has to fight his programming when it tells him he should take out his weapons and start firing.
3Could Be Better: More Showing, Less Telling
Yes, this is a visual novel game, so a lot of the story depends on reading what the characters say. Still, there are quite a few instances where characters interact that show them outright explaining their reactions to things instead of letting players infer what’s happened.
The game does a lot of telling rather than showing, like how the first case has multiple characters bringing up Honor’s ex-husband and talking about their divorce before Ryan even shows up in the game. Maybe a mention that she’d been divorced would’ve been enough, and then players could see what a jerk he is in the next case and feel like they understand why they’re not together anymore.
2Great: Music
The soundtrack for this game is one of the highlights of theMurder By Numbersexperience. The music was composed by Masakazu Sugimori, who fans might recognize from his musical work onPhoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
From the music that plays while players solve puzzles to the intro song that’s so upbeat and catchy that players might not want to skip it, this game’s songs convey emotion so well throughout the story. Every event has the perfect musical score to accompany it. When Honor talks to her friends, everything is cheerful, but when players should get the feeling that something’s not right, the music will be the first thing that gives them an uneasy feeling.
1Could Be Better: More Variety In Puzzles
While there’s a decent bit of variety when it comes to the size of puzzles at the beginning of the game, thosedifferent puzzlesseem to come few and far between as players get closer to the end of the game. Nearly all the puzzles in later cases are 15 x 15 in size, making the puzzles bigger and more difficult.
Not only that, but the game hardly uses its fun challenges of solving smaller puzzles in a very short time limit that only pop up when SCOUT has to hack something. Adding more puzzle variety would’ve added to the atmosphere of “be on your toes” that this game has. At least players can still enjoy a challenge, but it would be more fun to be challenged in different ways.
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