There are different periods of my life that I heavily associate with specific games or even types of genres. My early college years were absolutely dominated by detective visual novels, a type of game my inquisitive mind latched onto for a handful of years. Between classes and on breaks I’d spend most of my time on campus absolutely glued to the screen of my Nintendo DS, playing the likes of Ace Attorney, Hotel Dusk, Professor Layton, and Trace Memory. The little system was a treasure trove of murder-mysteries, pushing the visual novel forward in ways we wouldn’t understand for years. And yet, there’s a kind of vibe that very few games outside of that systems have managed to capture — an ethereal nostalgic feeling that’s tough to describe. Telling you to play Detective Instinct: Farewell, My Beloved is the easiest way I can elucidate that idea. It’s a wonderfully heartfelt mystery game that’s almost perfectly designed to emulate those DS classics, and nails it in almost every way. In short, it’s the sleeper hit that snuck in right at the end of the year.
In Detective Instinct, you follow a young college-aged protagonist (who you name) and his friend Emma. The pair have just been on an international study trip with their teacher, Professor Martin, to the country of Vendreka. On their way home from the trip, the trio get wrapped up in a grisly murder investigation, followed by the disappearance of a mysterious woman aboard their train to London. While this is a fictional story, there’s a fascinating historical slant that makes the whole thing grounded. Vendreka, and its sister country Ganbrika, are quite clearly inspired by East and West Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall — and that theme absolutely plays into the overall narrative and general message of the game.
