The Darkest Files

I just wished the game had been longer.

A fantastic detective game, really enjoyable.

Nice game, sweet artstyle and the deduction gameplay is well done. However at the current state the courtroom sections bug out a little on stem deck and it is rather short with only two cases and an epiloge that feels kinda rushed.

Ein sehr gutes Spiel. Man kann sich nicht nur gut in die Herausforderungen hineinversetzen, vor der das Team von Fritz Bauer damals stand und erlebt live ein Stück Zeitgeschichte mit, sondern bekommt auch ein wirklich gutes Detektiv-/Justiz-Spiel geliefert, das sich mit der Spielmechanik hinter großen Namen wie L.A. Noire nicht verstecken muss. Und für alle, die das noch immer nicht überzeugt: man kann auch eine süße Katze streicheln.

The game gives me more understanding of Germany and Nazi history. I'm feeling so disgusted while playing, so fortunate that I am living in a much civilized time.

Real good! It has the vibe, the style and keeps you engaged, even if moving in relatively slow pace. But you can be deliberate, meticulous. And you should. It's not just a cheap court drama - you do have to be paying attention and connecting the dots yourself - and the game doesn't give you everything presented (so you can just drag things together and have checkmarks shown). It works great and actually makes you think and work for the best results. And on top of that - it is a smart, brave and honest representation of the post WW2 Germany reality. It addresses some very difficult topics, but doing so with both honesty and respect. It shows the good parts of people, in very difficult times.

The Darkest Files is a fascinating spin on the investigative procedural wherein you try to figure out the truth of what happened in two WW2-era cases within Germany itself. First of all, the pop-art aesthetic is amazing and really helps to bring the world to life. Despite its ostensible cartoonishness, however, it never detracts from the grim reality of the cases that your character, prosecutor Esther Katz, is tasked with solving. The two cases involve wanton abuse of power and tangled motivations, and they do not shy away from depicting the complexities of real-world criminal cases -- particularly these two, being set as they are in the twilight days of the world's most infamous fascist regime. Gameplay-wise, the Darkest Files is a solid detective game. Your job is more bureaucratic than a good deal of video-game investigators, but this is completely fitting; you're essentially reopening cold cases, and poring through archived documents is a big part of that. You'll also be interrogating witnesses, often using said documents to help challenge any inconsistencies in their stories and providing you with further evidence for the inevitable big day in court. The courtroom dramas at the climax of each case are their own spectacle, as you put forth theories for each aspect of the case (who was standing where? Who refused an order? Who had a motivation for framing the victim?) and substantiate those theories with files and documents obtained over the course of your investigation. The Darkest Files is, mechanically, a very competent game, but it's in the meat and potatoes of the cases themselves where it really comes to life. The two cases are based on real events from WW2, and in the first case in particular, I found myself having to really interrogate my own beliefs and assumptions regarding the actions of one or two individuals. Because these are based on real crimes, the motivations of those involved are sometimes not as black and white as you might first think, and it's important to put aside what you think may have happened and simply follow the evidence. All in all, The Darkest Files was a riveting and eye-opening game that I enjoyed very much. If I had any gripes, it would be that it's a little on the short side, but with a third case incoming as DLC, it's safe to say that I'll be returning to The Darkest Files before too long.