Obsidian Moon: Solve Murder Mysteries in a Noir Sim
If you’re looking for an action-packed adrenaline ride, don’t pick up Obsidian Moon. However, if you want a slower-paced, story-driven game that puts your brain to the test, you might want to give Obsidian Moon a try. This is a low-key game that delivers minimal visuals, but it puts you right in the heart of its murder mysteries via a realistic approach to detective work. As such, it won’t be for everyone. Is it for you?
Solve Murder Cases in Obsidian Moon
Developed by Lost Cabinet Games, Obsidian Moon tells the story of a worn-down detective named Sam (what else?) who’s trying to put himself back together after suffering trauma. After getting another chance at taking on homicide cases, he must solve a series of murder mysteries that seem unrelated at first, but as time goes on, he discovers unexpected connections between the murders.
The game aims to capture the atmosphere of an old-style noir film, with slow, atmospheric music and moody writing. You can play the game in color if you want, but there’s also a “noir” mode that shrouds everything in black and white. Playing the game in this mode makes it feel like it came straight out of the 1940s. If you’re a fan of old-school film noir, playing the game in noir mode might make you nostalgic.
In addition to solving murder mysteries, Sam needs to manage his stress. He has to use the money he gets from cases to pay bills, buy supplies like bullets and whiskey, and buy upgrades. Unpaid bills increase stress, which slowly decreases his sanity level. Every time he fails a case, his money gets depleted, so you need to make certain that you’ve got the right culprit, murder weapon, and motive before you submit each case for review.
Okay, so What’s the Gameplay Like?
Essentially, it’s a text-based game. It isn’t even a visual novel – solving murders takes place entirely on Sam’s desk. You have cards that describe locations, victims, people of interest, lab reports, pieces of evidence, and more, and each card has action options. You can inspect crime scenes, request lab reports, check criminal histories, cross-reference, and more. Each action takes time, so you need to use your time management skills to complete cases as quickly as possible.
The cards have highly detailed descriptions of the people, crime scenes, evidence, and even autopsy results, making you feel like you’re actually sitting at a homicide detective’s desk, shifting through details and trying to make sense of it all. You can also combine certain cards to sometimes get new pieces of evidence or even confessions. However, some people might want a more visual experience. They might like to actually experience visiting the crime scenes instead of sitting at a desk the whole time.
In addition, there’s a small flaw that annoyed me. When you pick up a card, the text shows up one letter at a time, like it’s being typed out on a typewriter. While it looks neat, you can’t skip the typing, and there can be a lot of text on each card. As such, it becomes annoying when you can’t just read all the text at once, and you have to wait for it to appear. If you could skip the typing, then it would make for a smoother experience.
Obsidian Moon Appeals to a Special Kind of Player
Obsidian Moon isn’t a game for everyone. Even fans of sim games and visual novels who are used to playing games through text might want some more visuals to look at. Still, fans of detective stories and film noir who don’t mind slow games without much to offer in terms of visuals should find a lot to enjoy here. Obsidian Moon exercises your brain and makes you feel like a real homicide detective. You can play the demo now on Steam for free.
