Dragon Detective: A Friend from the Shadows

不错的福瑞侦探题材视觉小说，值得一玩，7/10 作为小型制作组的独立视觉小说来说完成度很高，世界观、故事和角色设计都很有特色，可以看出创作者的热情与心血，并做到了赋予玩家体验架空世界的沉浸感。案件设计比较平铺直叙，基本搜集到所有线索就能知道发生什么事的程度，但总体质量也在合格线往上，不适合抱有太高期待。推理系统很简洁且轻量化，对推理新手来说非常友好，但是调查系统重要调查点的六个选项全要点一遍在后期章节多少有些疲劳。作为侦探小说爱好者来说20小时左右流程的大多数时间都很愉快，享受在Rivulette这个架空城市遇见各式各样的角色。 Case 1: 7/10，中规中矩的教学章，案件故事比案件设计有意思。 Case 2: 7/10，中规中矩的第二章，典型的来回跑的多场景调查型案件，但是不算无聊。 Case 3: 6/10，非常可惜的章节，核心手法有太多优秀案例，但这章最后呈现的效果有点糟糕，没能达到故事中途给我的预期。 Case 4: 8/10，收束章节，篇幅是前面一章的2倍左右，回收了前面几个案件的伏笔，也是故事的高潮，案件的综合质量最高，结局也平稳落地非常扎实。 [strike] Can't refuse a tough dragon detective. [/strike] Looking forward to the sequel!

Captivating narrative with unforgettable characters and addictive gameplay. Would enjoy seeing more of our lovely Detective!

可能是同个制作人之前的两个作品太好了，文笔和角色都很好，拉高了期待，看到这作仅仅是及格成绩，稍稍有些失望。可能作者更擅长角色塑造，悬疑和推理只能说是差强人意，故事结构比较松散，几乎没有实质性的诡计，一半线索是关于动机的，另一半是状况证据。具体的游戏过程中，有些逻辑过于跳跃，不知所云，比如第一章[spoiler] 莫名其妙猜到走私的不是货物而是人 [/spoiler]，第二章[spoiler] 全部和送报纸小孩相关的推理 [/spoiler]，第三章[spoiler] 白龙想到哪说到哪让角色智商直线下降的论战，以及意义不明的通过油漆猜犯案时间的环节 [/spoiler]，第四章[spoiler] 强行把鹰和撕毁的照片联系在一起（强行让主角降智），以及线索没有指向性直接通过排除法猜凶手 [/spoiler]，互动过程略显欠缺打磨。龙人角色较少，由于只有龙人才会用魔法，魔法设定没有被充分利用，与案件相关的魔法屈指可数，大部分时候仅仅是被当成搜集线索的工具。 从往期作品来看，作者特别擅长描绘混居物种间的歧视，特别是这种歧视有时还会被宗教赋予正当性，比如这一作里某个全程在线的角色第二章对主角说的话写的还是挺真实的。但是这部作品里，作者没有涉及自己擅长的歧视和宗教内容，而是去讨论政治、军事。故事发生在一个小国里，四个案件大部分都和军队、征兵有关，最开始还显得很沉重，但是角色的反应都很刻板，结局也很儿戏，导致整个政治相关元素观感都很差。虽然有两个结局，但其中一个的后日谈明显比另一个糟糕很多。 另外，可能是因为主题虚浮，可能是作者对动机不上心，也可能是作者往已经设定好的人设上强行把他们设定成凶手，部分角色的行动和动机看起来也很扯，或许是美式推理故事的通病吧。而且这个作品凶手很好猜，角色定位都很明确，基本上没有对探案做贡献又没有定位的角色就是凶手。 不知道是不是制作周期的问题，好多伏笔都没有回收。比如第一章[spoiler] 小孩兄弟结局美美隐身（可能是不想做外国的背景图） [/spoiler]，第二章[spoiler] 死者与乡绅为什么分手 [/spoiler]，第三章[spoiler] 邪教和月亮龙的设定意义不明（我还在猜苍白龙可能其实是月亮龙，结果根本没有这一说） [/spoiler]，第四章[spoiler] 白龙透露的帝国秘密完全与案件和结局无关，警察是首脑儿子的设定作用不明 [/spoiler]。这个作品本可以写得更好。 虽然缺点说了这么多，独游制作不容易，里头的一些角色还是挺讨喜的，一些死的很快的角色都写得很白月光，一些整体上很烦人的角色也都给了些讨喜的设定。还是给个好评吧。如果要购买的话，推荐等打折入，可能七折甚至五折才会比较值。

I'd let Noxley taste me EDIT: Ok having finished the game, I have some thoughts. I like the presentation a lot; the art is excellent and I love the soundtrack. I think the first case has the best atmosphere and use of the setting. How the ending frames a certain choice bothers me, but I get what the author was going for. I'd still let Noxley taste me

This is a game that makes heavy use of reasoning skills, particularly with figuring out how the various clues come together and with understanding the suspects well enough to know how to counter their arguments. There were several very satisfying "ah ha!" moments where the game let me figure out a big reveal instead of simply having the main character announce it. A very enjoyable game.

I absolutely loved this game. I'm a big fan of ace attorney, and obviously this game is going for something similar to that. However, in doing its own thing, the game transcends ace attorney in some ways. To some extent I regret getting this game on sale: I wish I could have given this developer more of my money (though if they have a sequel someday....) The game is still a visual novel with a linear story. You analyze clues, come up with deductions, and confront the murderers. Generally I was really impressed with the cases, though I'll admit that I figured out a couple of them before the main character did. Even so, each case was well done and was enjoyable all the way through, and I never felt like the analysis was obtuse at all. I appreciate that the primary gameplay loop of the interactive parts actually involved analysis and deduction, not just random puzzles or just telling the story. The game does the quality ace attorney game thing where it makes the rules of its world very clear and sticks to them, which is part of the logic of the cases. And there were a few twists that make my spine tingle! Where I think this game surpasses Ace Attorney is the writing. Each character feels like a real person and, despite the anthropomorphic characters, remarkably human. No one is a caricature. They all have their own backgrounds, emotions, wants, but are also experienced and reasonable. The main character himself isn't a blank slate either. He has his own goals, baggage, personality, and traits (he's a dragon, after all), which makes him feel part of the world rather than a passive observer. The worldbuilding is really well done too. Their world doesn't feel over done with nonsense information and lore, but rather is built up because it's part of the cases and the culture they're living in. The country they're in itself is a character. And I appreciate how the presentation of the country is critical, but still seen still through the lens of people who have lived their whole lives through it and know nothing else, and that the country doesn't perfectly align with any historical nation (though there are obvious inspirations). I also like how there are [spoiler] multiple endings, both with the character doing some version of the right thing with its own consequences [/spoiler]. All in all, from a random steam user who likes these types of games, I whole heartedly recommend this one.

If you're in the mood for an "Ace Attorney"-like detective game, you can't go wrong with [i]Dragon Detective: A Friend from the Shadows[/i]. A cozy art style, interesting world building, well written characters and bopping soundtrack made this a joy to play.

Sungazer has done it again. Bravo. I can't believe you can just lick people freely.

Great game, mysteries were fantastic to solve. Characters are solid and well written. One annoying bit is that you have to rely on the auto save to save your progress, so sometimes you can be sent back to the start of a investigation if you quit before triggering the auto-save. And sometimes the characters could use an extra portrait or two, since sometimes a character would be showing great emotion while stuck on their default pose. (mostly towards the case 2 killer) Other than that, great game. Hope to see more from the development team!

I was quite impressed by Dragon Detective: A Friend from the Shadows. A game in the same vein as Aviary Attorney or Ace Attorney (oh, hey, it even has an alliterative name), but the protagonist is, notably, a dragon, which is both narratively and mechanically relevant. The game does a good job both with its story and with its world (one particular reveal from later in the game really caught me by surprise, in a good way), and I also love all of the various characters in it (especially the ones we see across several different cases). A very good showing, I enjoyed this game quite a bit. I also think the game's music does a good job of elevating the experience, since it fits both the tone and environment of the game well.