Welcome to the Cookie Jar, a place where I like to eat cookies and talk about my favorite video games! Do you get excited when using deductive/abductive skills to unravel a mystery? Are you a crime thriller enthusiast who stays up in the late hours of the night watching A&E until the sun rises? Are you fond of British accents and dialogue played alongside witty banter and riddles? Great! I love all of those things too, specifically when referring to the Sherlock Holmes video game series!
Sherlock Holmes Game Series
The Sherlock Holmes video game series started with Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy in December 2002. I haven’t had the pleasure of playing the first few games. The first one I played was The Testament of Sherlock Holmes on the Xbox 360. Between The Testament of Sherlock Holmes (released 2012), Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments (released 2014), and Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter (released 2016), I loved almost everything about them!
Puzzles in Sherlock Holmes Game Series
The puzzles across all the Sherlock Holmes video games have been a mixture of unique mini games. Fun with chemistry. Learning knowledge by reading books. Analyzing stars. Playing chess. Yeah, just a lot of different ideas thrown on the table. Sherlock would result to wearing disguises during certain investigations and work undercover. Often times being caught red-handed and having to brawl his way out of the predicament. When he isn’t beating up criminals in their lairs, Sherlock wonders the streets of London. He questions witnesses for leads and interrogates anyone who seems to hide something. Using acute observation and correct dialogue choices, he would learn the real truth instead of a lie or half-truth.
Deduction Board
The deduction board feature is the best thing about Sherlock Holmes games. The deduction board shows different scenarios based on the list of clues, observations, and knowledge you have gathered throughout the investigation. What’s awesome is that if you didn’t learn everything there was to know, it was possible to charge the wrong culprit, or miss that there was actually 3 murderers instead of 2. The games continue based on the assumption that Sherlock made the right choice.
Each investigation does have a true canon and correct ending, and some games will indulge you by allowing you to select different scenarios just to see how each one ends. I loved seeing that you could be so wrong that you convict an innocent bystander while the real criminal got away scot-free, and it’s a good lesson that even if someone like Sherlock Holmes is never wrong… There’s always a possibility that he will be.
The Achievement That Got Away
I am so frustrated with myself. Out of all Sherlock Holmes video games I played so far, I only missed ONE achievement/trophy. This achievement has haunted me for almost a decade. I know exactly where I missed it, and I know this sounds terrible, but I couldn’t bring myself to play through the story again for another 5 hours to select the blackmail option in a portion of dialogue. If I had done it the first time, I would gladly see the achievement pop, but alas, here I am, haunted. I’m so ashamed!
Why I Love Sherlock Holmes Game Series
I loved how the Sherlock Holmes games intrigued my mind, and there is supposed to be another Sherlock Holmes game coming out this year that I can’t wait to play. Crimes and Punishments was probably the most intriguing, but it’s really hard to choose one as my favorite! With reluctance, I have accepted the fact that the lonely locked achievement will haunt me for an eternity. Maybe one day I’ll have the courage to blast through 5 hours to fill the hole in my heart.