Noir Syndrome

Noir Syndrome is an interesting game. It tries to bring in something new to the Rogue-lite market, by putting you in the shoes of a private detective. From there, you have several places to visit to gather clues and suspects, while trying not to step on the wrong faction's toes. While the concept is fantastic, the game's scope is much more modest. I was expecting much more from it, and it's not what it was trying to deliver. Sessions last about 15 minutes. There is a rampant murderer in the city (for cult reasons), and you can visit every landmark freely, spending one day to explore each area. I was expecting a bit more FTL or WeirdWorlds influence, with a deep lore that one could discover by playing it over and over again, but this is purely a mechanical game. Unfortunately, its mechanics are not robust enough to carry it, in my opinion. Presentation The game's artstyle is not b

Noir Syndrome isn't a terrible game, but it lacks in-depth gameplay. In this game, you solve cases by asking questions and finding clues, but the way you do so is redundant. How do you find clues? Rather than actually looking for a clue, you just press the 'Z' button whenever you stand near something interactable and hope you get lucky enough to get a clue. In other words, you don't find clues in this game; you just wait until the game decides to hand you a clue. How do you get information out of people? The same exact way. Press 'Z' and hope they give you information. No story, no dialogue options, just a 'Z' button. A successful detective game needs to make the player feel like they are actually solving the case themselves. Make them find the clues; make them interrogate suspects. Don't reduce everything a good detective game needs to one simple button. This game is playable, but the s

This game has a great concept, but it unfortunately really falls short, almost feeling unfinished. The game has huge potential in its mechanics and the idea of procedurally generated mystery in general, but it needs the story element (the mystery genre's strength) to be interesting. The atmosphere is enjoyable (the soundtrack and art style are very nice), but the gameplay totally took me out of the mood. At first, I completely didn't understand what I was supposed to be doing. It is not intuitive, and there isn't a very good introduction/explanation of the controls. You have to focus so much on figuring out how the game works that it's impossible to get immersed in it. The story elements don't link up at all with the gameplay, which is a big part of why it's so confusing to figure out. For example, you're no more likely to find a clue at the crime scene than in ANY other place in the g

Upon playing Noir Syndrome, I did question the meaning of “procedurally generated”. When I think of procedural generation, I think of something like Diablo, or Don’t Starve, not to mention all the rogue-like games out there. The point of procedural generation in games is to create a world which varies just enough to allow re-playability. The way this works is very simple. You talk to people and collect a list of suspects. Once you have enough evidence, and through the process of elimination, you can arrest some one on your list. That is essentially the game. It reminds me somewhat of Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego, where you gather descriptors of your villain to finally arrest them. Asides from the main mystery, you can try to complete challenges (for example, use a lockpick five times), collect costumes, hunt bounties, as well as ensuring you are well-fed (using money you gain