The Innsmouth Case

Overall no for the opening disclaimer. As soon as the disclaimer declared Lovecraft "problematic" I tuned out. On the one hand calling him 'problematic' and the other looking to profit from his creation.

Not up to the premise. I've tried over and over to progress through the story, making different choices, exploring various paths, yet the game keeps pushing me back into the same already explored scenarios. It's frustrating to feel like, no matter what I choose, progress is minimal and unclear. There's no real sense of direction, and often it's impossible to tell which decision will actually lead to something new. If you're a Lovecraft fan, this becomes even worse. Instead of honoring *The Shadow over Innsmouth*, the narrative feels like a parody. The constant jokes break any sense of immersion and completely undermine the ominous, oppressive atmosphere that should define the experience. For those of us who truly know H.P. Lovecraft’s work, this isn’t just disappointing—it’s almost insulting. Ultimately, this is a game that promised a lot but fails to live up to either the story it adapts or the expectations of cosmic horror fans.

Comedic Lovecraft is very hard to pull of, The only game that managed to do, that I remember, is the point and click game Gibbous, that one was great. This one? This is a chose your own adventure style game, and while it does have a lot of paths and endings, and the art is fine. There is also a fairly robust system to quickly get back to a branching path. But it fails spectacular with the one thing a visual novel/adventure book needs. it reads a little too much like it was written by a teenager trying to be edgy and gross, complete with grown worthy attempts at humor, memes and the "family guy" school of parody. You can choose to have "Pineapple belongs on pizza" as your last words when you are burned at a stake by a angry mob, and bang a Deep one while your character thinks it's a very elaborate cosplay at a rave... that should say everything. Yes you can die pretty graphically in many ways, but there is little of the Cosmic horror aspects from Lovecraft. It's a humor game that tries (aned fails at) horror, not a horror game with humor.

Who is this game for? Too silly for adults. Too vague for children. This game wears the skin of Lovecraft simply to sell...but like a lame joke, this could be plug and play for really any idea...which makes it lazy and superficial. Pass.

(Français, lire plus bas) EN 🔷 It's a short Choose Your Own Adventure-style story that offers a comedy within the Cosmic Horror genre (yes, 'comedy' and 'Cosmic Horror' in the same sentence). 🟩 I bought this game during a big sale and I'm thrilled: it was fun, and the absurdity of some of the dialogue made me laugh. You are investigating the disappearance of a child in the city of Innsmouth, and this adventure offers many references to the Lovecraftian universe. 🖊️ The writing style is quite modern and geared towards young people. It's simplistic and there isn't much text. 🎨 It's nicely presented, like reading a book, with occasional character animations. The character design is cartoonish and cute. 🎵 The music is pleasant, even if the soundtracks aren't very varied, it does the job. 🟩 There are 27 different endings. I recommend it on sale. ---------------------------------------------------- FR 🔷 C'est une courte histoire de type Livre dont vous êtes le Héros qui nous propose une comédie dans l'Horreur Cosmique (oui, 'comédie' et 'Horreur Cosmique' dans la même phrase, vous avez bien lu). 🟩 J'ai acheté ce jeu avec une grosse promotion et j'en suis ravie : c'était fun, et l'absurdité de certaines répliques m'a fait rire. Nous menons une enquête dans la ville d'Innsmouth, et cette aventure propose des tas de références à l'univers de Lovecraft. 🖊️ L'écriture est plutôt moderne et fait assez "pour les jeunes". C'est simpliste et il n'y a pas beaucoup de texte. PAS DE VERSION FRANCAISE ! 🎨 C'est joliment présenté, comme si on lisait un livre, avec parfois quelques animations de personnages. La chara design est cartoonesque et assez mignon. 🎵 La musique est agréable, même si les pistes sonores ne sont pas trop variées, ça fait le taf. 🟩 Il y a 27 fins différentes. Je le recommande avec une bonne réduction de prix, car 12 euros ça me semble un peu cher.

Gut geschriebenes Adventure in Textform. Kennt ihr noch die Abenteuerbücher, wo man je nach Entscheidung eine andere Seite aufschlagen soll, um weiterzulesen? Genau so ein Buch ist das hier auch, mit einigen Bildern etc. aufgehübscht. Das Lesen macht sehr viel Spaß, die Geschichte ist eine Mischung aus Lovecraft Mystery mit einer guten Prise Humor. Es gibt etliche Enden und Steam Errungenschaften. Wer will, kann also etliche Stunden mit dem Titel verbringen, oder aber als kurzweilige Unterhaltung schnell abhandeln. Man kann immer wieder an bestimmten Stellen neu einsteigen, um dann andere Handlungen auszuführen. Mit Escape kann man das Textzitieren auch abkürzen und zur nächsten Abfrage springen. Spätestens, wenn man bestimmte Passagen 2-3 mal gelesen und gespielt hat, weiß man ja schon, was da abläuft, und was man machen möchte. Man kann also irgendwann schnell durchrushen, um weitere Zweige der Story auszukundschaften. Mir hat das Spiel echt gut gefallen, für den niedrigen Preis im Sale war das eine positive Überraschung. Ich möchte nochmals betonen, das hier ist ein reines und feines Textadventure nach klassischem Vorbild, mit ein paar modernen Verbesserungen, aber ohne Point & Click, und ohne Actionsachen. Wer Bücher und Geschichten mag, der wird es lieben, andere werden sich vielleicht mitunter langweilen. Fazit: faszinierend wie der Herbst: Blätter, Blätter, Blätter ^^

just awful

Who. Wrote. This? This is like some early teens homework being shared in class by an awkward kid. It is uninteresting combined with modern audience tropes (read: boring). It's like if Disney decided to go dark, but still Disney. No thanks.

Fun visual novel where you play a hapless private detective caricature hired to find a missing child in Innsmouth. The expected trouble soon ensues, and your methods of handling said trouble lead you to a surprising amount of possible endings. It's frequently deliberately silly, which I enjoyed, but if you're looking for po-faced horror this is not your game. I'm not sure I've gotten all 27 endings, but it's been fun trying. It's best in small doses over a longer period of time since, like most visual novels and choose-your-own-adventures, there's a lot of repeat playing until you get to the branching junction you want to try this time. Wait for a sale if you're unsure, but if you like humor with your horror it's a good time.