As a gaming community, we love a good detective story. Whether it’s Sherlock Holmes, Professor Layton, Detective Pikachu, we all love pulling at the clues and trying to solve a puzzling mystery. Apparently developer Pierre Feuille Studio has taken notice, because now the French indie team has launched their project Chronique des Silencieux, a narrative-heavy point-and-click detective game that takes players to a beautiful setting in the south of France. Animated town to solve a variety of unique but interrelated cases.
The core idea of Chronique des Silencieux is simple. It’s a detective story where you gather clues by talking to other characters, then use their personal accounts of events to cross-reference with other documents to point out lies and uncover the truth. This is something we’ve never seen before, but Pierre Feuille Studio does deliver this in a very compelling and interesting way. The cases you investigate and the people you meet along the way are fascinating and full of mystery, and you’ll want to keep pulling at the clues to find the truth.
The main problem with Chronique des Silencieux is that a lot of the time it can be a fundamentally challenging game to play. Moving around the world often feels cumbersome and frustrating, and the detective and mystery suites feel too rigid in many cases. It doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of wiggle room in how you unravel the story, because oftentimes, there’s only one way to progress, and if you can’t figure that out, you’re stuck… a lot.
As for how the investigation mechanism works, it basically involves matching excerpts of conversations with official documents to prove that a character is lying or hiding the truth. This could indicate that a character’s statements don’t match the timeline laid out in the police report, clearly proving they have something to hide, thus opening the door to a confession and paving the way for new leads and clues. Beyond that, there are some extra mechanics that can be added, like a lock and key system where you can piece together characters and motivations that ultimately prove how they’re connected, and a few other little puzzles that Puzzles will bring additional clues as you progress. Don’t expect a Professor Layton-esque experience here, though, clues are everywhere and uncovering them will open the door to completing a whole bunch of puzzles, as Chronique des Silencieux is primarily focused on its narrative and character development.
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Pierre Feuille Studio has certainly shown a high level of skill in this regard. The characters are very rich and deep and have multiple layers that drive their personalities. Additionally, even though the world isn’t very big and there are only a handful of places you can actually explore, the development team keeps things interesting by constantly having players travel between these several areas in search of new and previously hidden clues. . The story at the heart of this game is a powerful one that makes you want to keep playing.
The art style used is also a highlight. The energetic and engaging direction effortlessly captures the beauty of the 1970s South of France adaptation and lets you appreciate the world built by Pierre Feuille Studio. Additionally, several voice-acted cutscenes peppered throughout bring an extra touch of charm to this enjoyable project.
There are many advantages and reasons to check out the Chronique des Silencieux. The story is engaging, the art style is eye-catching, the gameplay system is simple, and the performance is so accessible that you could run the game on a recorder. It’s with these strengths in mind that I’m disappointed that the game is so frustrating to actually play, as the movement and rigidity of the reasoning suite greatly affects the amount of fun you can have while playing Chronique des Silencieux. Still, there’s talent and potential on display here, so Pierre Feuille Studio will continue to be one of my indie developers to watch in the future.
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