This is really cool little detective game. I'll talk about some aspects while keeping it spoiler-free.
I'll start with the story. Detective Grimoire is tasked with investigating a murder in a mildly popular tourist-attraction in a swamp, one themed around a local cryptid. The main suspect is that very cryptid (not an ogre). While looking for clues and interviewing the people who were in the vicinity during the murder, he uncovers what really happened. Yeah, sorry, I can't really say anything else about the story. It'a a well-written murder mystery and it keeps you guessing for a good while before you really get a clue about what really happened.
Next are the characters. They are really well done. Everyone has their own specific traits, likes, dislikes, interests, and at times secrets that not only make them fun to interact with and believable as people who exist in this world, but also define their role in the mystery. Grimoire, the protagonist, is really likeable, he is kind of like Gumshoe and Phoenix Wright from Ace Attorney had a teleporter accident and merged together. A detective with a sharp mind and sarcastic wit but also a dork who is less cool than he thinks he is (in an endearing way).
Speaking of Ace Attorney, the gameplay is fairly similar. You investigate the area to find clues and talk to suspects and witnesses, showing them evidence you found to gather further clues and advance the game. Sometimes you are repeatedly asked to choose out of three options in a dialogue to make a deduction during the dialogue.
There is also a bit of Professor Layton in there, with little puzzles to complete, though those are fairly basic.
What is, at least for me, a new way to get you thinking is the segments where you have to fill in the blanks choosing from various options (some of them more as little jokes, though), to the point where guessing would be extremely time-consuming, so you actually have to use your brain. As a little bonus, these segments are voice-acted, so you can also let Grimoire say some delightfully stupid things.
Difficulty-wise, I wouldn't say it is a difficult game, but you do have to make the connections between the hints you get yourself, this is not one of those games where the case solves itself once you advance the plot enough.
Though there is where my only real criticism comes in. The game has a mechanic where you can adjust the "suspicion-meter" of the witnesses by marking information about them as "suspicious" or "not suspicious". That way, I suppose, you are meant to slowly eliminate suspects by investigating those details and judging them suspicious or not. There even is an achievement for having the perp as the only one marked suspicious.
Only...this really didn't work for me. Rather, there was one moment for each innocent character where I could rule them out. From simple things like "there is proof they were nowhere near the crime scene" or "they have neither a motive nor any real connection to the victim" to "a very specific, well-established trait of theirs clashes with the way the crime was commited" or "they have obvious abilities or knowledge the killer clearly didn't". Since it is a well-written mystery, you can reach those conclusions perfectly fine in your head, so you really can ignore this feature, like I did for the most part.
It is also a game that is really nice to look at and listen to. The visuals are very "Laytonesque" without being too derivative, the areas are detailed without being cluttered. The music is really good and the voice cast is also doing a great job in bringing the quirky cast to life.
So all things considered, this is a great indie detective game, perfect for one of those days when you want to spend an afternoon playing a game that makes you use your brain without being stressful.
