Murders on the Yangtze River Review

I consider myself a fan of the Phoenix Wright games, as I love the art style and gameplay. Because of this l leapt at the chance to try OMEGAMES STUDIO's latest title, Murders on the Yangtze River. The game wears its inspiration on its sleeve, but the question is if this mystery needs solving, or if it is doomed to be left in the penny mystery section.

Now, the plot for Murders on the Yangtze River focuses on Shen Chung-Ping and his assistant Hsu Fu-Hsing in 20th-century China. The pair are looking to solve a mysterious case but get caught up in a whirlwind of mysteries and murder. Honestly, the overall plot gets a little lost over all the other cases, but that often happens with these kinds of games. Overall, the main plot is more of a framing device that’s mentioned on occasion; it exists to give the characters a reason to move forward.

The individual cases vary in quality, with some being a bit too obvious and some actually tricking me with their result. I can say I never felt bored when playing through the game, and I was curious to see what was next. The characters were also pretty fun, although uninspired. The genius detective with his slightly odd inventor sycophant sidekick isn’t anything new, and the overly suspicious guard screams “Detective Gumshoe”. 

The gameplay should be pretty familiar to fans of the genre, but a few differences help it stand apart. You start each chapter with a mystery to solve, and that means exploring the areas, questioning witnesses, and finding clues. This is done by physically moving around a 2D map, which is certainly a departure from the Phoenix Wright games. The maps are pretty detailed, although there really isn’t much in the way of side activities. 

When you find a potential clue or a more detailed area to search, you will have to circle certain elements to find out more about them and how they link to the case. It starts out pretty easy, and it's more of a trial-and-error experience than really using any mental power. The same goes for questioning witnesses, as you just run down the list and go with the odd second question when you notice a discrepancy. 

All of this is put into Shen’s Mind Palace, where he makes deductions that will aid the final case and reach a conclusion. The Mind Palace can be a bit up and down; frankly, I sometimes found that it didn’t really need me to be there and solved itself. If anything, that would be the main complaint I have for Murders on the Yangtze River; my involvement felt surplus to requirements.

The final gameplay aspect is the trial, although it doesn’t always take place in a court. This is where you gather the evidence, reveal secrets and battle with inner demons. The trial scenes are also where most of the drama comes into effect, including the dramatic sections where Shen accuses people of an epic musical score and all the characters show off their art. It’s suitably fun to experience, and some of the realisations are pretty fun, but again, it often feels like I didn’t really need to be there in the initial stages of the game. 

Visually Murders on the Yangtze River is a bit or miss, especially the differences between the character models. The character art during the videos and conversations is great, but the minute you have to walk around the map, the game switches to these strange chibi designs. It might work for some people, but it was a miss for me compared to the better character art.

The voice acting and the music, however, are much better. One important note, despite what the opening video implies, a lot of the game is in Chinese with subtitles. So, if you don’t like subtitles, then maybe skip this one. The music might be my favourite part: it's scenic and powerful, and I would certainly buy the OST if it became available.

Overall, Murders on the Yangtze River is a love letter to the detective/lawyer genre. The game isn’t perfect, and the initial load each time you start the game is longer than it should be. However, what is here is fun enough to while away a few hours on and it will always feel epic to use your fan to accentuate where your opponent went wrong, at least in my mind.