Case Files: Behind Closed Doors

I've always loved detective games, but this one, despite being simple, delivers! Case Files Behind Closed Doors is an FMV game with an investigation aspect. The story about the murder of an abusive boyfriend, four suspects are being interviewed to get answers. Unlike other FMVs, you'll play in first-person perspective as an investigator in the back office, helping your fellow investigator, Martin Ruiz, who is in the interview room. You watch the suspects being interviewed on the screen; observation is key to detecting any lies in their answers and body language. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3626240502 Most of the gameplay involves replaying video recordings, reading text messages, and checking crime scene, police, and autopsy reports, all crucial to the decisions of your investigation. There are key questions to help you proceed with the interviews, either getting them right or wrong. The interviews continue, but the suspects' reactions will differ. The best part is spotting the contradictions between all of their stories. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3626240452 I loved the acting. Despite being an indie game, the actors and actresses did a good job; they made me believe their story, and they delivered all the right emotions. Kudos to them and RIP to Lacey E. Bingham, who played Janice; she was amazing. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3626240533 Pros: +Well-written story. +Amazing acting. +Murder mystery. +Intersting characters +Detective style of reading notes and spot the contradictions. +Multiple endings. +Steam achievements. Cons: -You are only in one room doing everything from there. I loved this game, and I'm sure whoever played Her Story would love this one too. Recommended to people who enjoy investigations and FMV games. [i]Other Reviews: [url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198071375554/recommended/1939640/]Case Files: The Death of Paulette Williams Review[/url] [url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198071375554/recommended/3233260/]Case Files: Internal Affairs Review[/url] [/i] [quote]𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑐𝘩𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒 [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/32399565/]𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑎'𝑠 𝐶𝘩𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒[/url][/quote] [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/] Follow [b]IndieGems[/b] [/url] for more reviews like this one. [/quote]

This game was really fun. It was very cozy and straight-forward. It was pretty linear and that doesn't have to be a bad thing. It really was a good police detective mystery. There were over 2 dozen video clips to watch and the acting was excellent. There was some evidence to review and reports to mull over. Overall I really enjoyed it and hope they make more like this. Maybe add in a few more pieces of evidence. Maybe add a few more locations and let the player explore the rooms and collect photos and evidence. Tie in details within the photos to make it more relevant to the story. Lastly the couple of times we got stuck, some kind of gradual hint system would've been nice. Really hoping they make more like this!!

This is the type of game I should love. Really simple design philosophy, actors giving it their all in impressive one shots, in a game similar to Phoenix Wright, but with FMV. However, the pace is really slow, and there's not enough variety of choice, or consequences to those choices. Her Story, which has similar gameplay and tone, hits some many marks better in almost every category. The gameplay consists of document dumping, listening to a 15 minute interview, and answering ONE question, usually not the one YOU'D want to ask. Watch another 10 minute interview, be forced to deduce the game's way and make your binary choice, watch another 20 minute video- etc. You'd think your choices would matter, but they don't. He ends the interview the same way regardless, and your next interview isn't altered in anyway, working upon assumptions/confessions. Would've liked to see a question tree, or chances to fail evidence-backed counter-arguments, but instead, it just keeps sweeping you down walkway to the exit sign. Do you think this is good game design; send me a message when you're ready... ::Waits patiently for you to make a choice that only affects achievements::

I was going to recommend it as a fun simple experience, but now I see that this is the third game of this type by the dev. If it was their first game I think it'd be passible as a good experience to grow from, but as a third in a series it's pretty lacking. Very short for the $10 its asking for and very straight forward and easy. There's nothing really interesting about experimenting with different options, most of the interactivity doesn't even allow incorrect answers so you can just brute force progress if you don't feel like reviewing the footage. It could really use more interesting outcomes and more variety in both the story and game play.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Case Files: Behind Closed Doors." This game provides an immersive experience, allowing you to step into the shoes of an investigator tasked with solving a murder case. The premise is gripping: an abusive boyfriend is killed, and you must determine which of four suspects is guilty. The game excels in its interactive elements. I felt like a real detective as I sifted through suspect interviews, scrutinised home security footage, and analysed crime scene photos. The process of finding contradictions and discerning truth from lies was both challenging and rewarding. The game requires critical thinking, and I appreciated how it made me feel deeply involved in the investigation. I've logged nearly 8 hours in this game and have played through it several times. Each play through offered new insights, especially when aiming for different achievements and trying to pinpoint where I went wrong in my questioning. The achievement system added a layer of replay-ability that kept me coming back for more. Overall, I highly recommend "Case Files: Behind Closed Doors" to anyone who enjoys detective work, puzzle-solving, and immersive storytelling. It's a well-crafted game that truly makes you feel like you're part of the investigative process.

I liked the first game. But this one is actually much better! I love these games but I am also usually always wrong with my deductions. :p Not here, though. But not because it's too easy. It was just the right amount of "gut feeling" and evidence. The actors and actresses were doing a great job and made it sound really believable.

[h1][b] TLDR: A good detective game that promotes thinking through evidence at the cost of a huge lack of engaging gameplay mechanics.[/b] [/h1] [h1]PROS: [/h1] ✅Good GUI presentation ✅Well done detective experience [h1]CONS: [/h1] ➖Not enough gameplay mechanics ➖Brute force method though puzzles ➖Some questionable acting ➖Some questions are based on simple belief without evidence [h1] [b] Content (Game world/Narrative/Length) – [6/10] [/b] [/h1] Game World: Case Files: Behind Closed Doors (CFBCD) has a very simplistic game world, as the entirety of the game takes place in a single room at what I assume is a police station. Inside this room you conduct an investigation based on live-action scenes of actors portraying a group of 4 characters suspected of murder. Narrative: The narrative revolves around solving the murder of Daniel. You have four suspects each with motives and opportunity to commit murder. You must sit through hours of interviews and read files to come to a conclusion of who you think committed the murder. For the most part, CFBCD is a visual novel with strong detective undertones. While it is clear that the devs used a police correspondent to help plan the process/setup/evidence of the game, I have to wonder if there were time constraints that cut out certain parts of the investigation. For example, Daniel took a ride share home the night he was murdered and a part of the investigation was about if there were other people there with him during the murder. All of this questioning could have been avoided if they just interviewed the ride share driver. Another problem with CFBCD is the metagaming aspect. There are numerous times during the questioning where you could make decisions based on the rules of the game being a game. For example, using the above scenario where one of the suspects said Daniel brought random people home with him and one of them could have murdered him, you can assume immediately this is incorrect because you only have a choice between these 4 characters and no one else. Overall, I felt the narrative for CFBCD was good, but not great. Still, CFBCD has the setting and tools that makes it a unique detective game. Length: This is a pretty short game, I beat it in slightly under 4 hours. [h1][b] Gameplay (Mechanics/Difficulty) – [3/10] [/b] [/h1] Mechanics: There are no meaningful mechanics to be found in CFBCD. Literally the entire gameplay consists of watching a live-action video that's between 4-10 minutes, then answering a question. You have about 15ish questions to answer using a combination of the footage you just watched, along with files like the police report and phone text history. Difficulty: I would say some of the choices are actually fairly difficult. For transparency, I got 3 of the 6 character assessments correct. I think much of the difficulty comes from the choices being based on intangible evidence, meaning the game is literally asking you if you believe what they say while also not providing enough resources for you to ascertain their belief. Of course, maybe I’m an idiot, but I poured over all the files I could think of and watched relevant clips and was still unable to determine if the characters were lying or not. [h1] [b] Graphics (Quality/Performance) – [7/10] [/b] [/h1] Quality: Aside from most of the game being told through live-action clips, what remains is good. The room you're in is well done and detailed looking, but honestly that’s really it. There’s not a lot of interactivity other than the few things related directly to the gameplay. More So than graphical fidelity, I have to give kudos to the UI - It reminds me of Deep Rock Galactic how much of the interactivity takes place on in-game monitor buttons. There is no HUD, all of the UI is seamlessly integrated with what you are able to interact with. Performance: No issues with performance and I noticed no bugs. i9-13900KF | RTX 4090 | 64GB RAM | 1440p @ 240hz | installed on SSD [h1] [b] Audio (Sound Effects/Music) – [6/10] [/b] [/h1] Sound Effects: The vast majority of the sound effects are live-action, and done well enough. The actors tended to be either hit or miss. It just didn’t feel organic. How the discussions took place reminded me of a video game how only one person was allowed to ever talk at a time. Music: I didn’t notice any music. [h1] [b] Replay Factor (Longevity) – [2/10] [/b] [/h1] Not much since it's a mystery game and there is always a single culprit. There are missable achievements, but that’s it. [h1] [b] Final Verdict – [6/10] [/b] [/h1] I would say that CFBCD is an okay visual novel. The detective and mystery aspects are top notch but you have to be okay with just sitting there watching FMVs. I would say of the almost 4 hours of my playtime, 2.5-3 hours was just sitting there watching clips. When the game asks you to use your brain, the choices you make shift between easily verifiable with evidence versus having to make a gut decision. Despite these negative parts, I still think that CFBCD was a good experience and one that kept me entertained to the end. [h1] [b] Recommend? [Y/N] [/b] [/h1] [h1]Yes[/h1] You can find my curator page here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Synik_GR

It's like Her Story and Contradiction had a glorious baby. Very much enjoying it so far!

I enjoyed the twists in this game. My only problem is that I personally IRL have trouble telling when someone is lying so it can be hard to make a judgement call in this game sometimes, but also being able to catch someone lying based on evidence feels excellent. Enjoyable it you dig FMV & mystery games