Publisher: Baggy Cat
Developer: Baggy Cat
Year: 2015
Platform: Windows, Mac, iPad

Rating: 5

I tend to give detective mysteries a wide latitude when it comes to plausibility. Real detective work is mostly boring and spicing it up with smoking guns and gotcha interrogations is often necessary to make it entertaining. Contradiction, the first game by Baggy Cat, is a full-motion video mystery that sees you investigate the death of a local college student by shaking down everyone that’s been in contact with her. A user-friendly interface, enthusiastic performances, and the occasional deduction make this a fun ride, though the sheer implausibility of every waking moment make this hard to take seriously.

Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: h.a.n.d.
Year: 2022
Platform: Windows, iOS, Android, PS4, PS5, Switch

Rating: 4

You are reading this because of my father.

When I was six or seven, he brought home a couple of games for our IBM. One had us standing in an open field west of a white house, and one had us standing in an open field east of a gray castle (with hungry moat alligators). I was hooked immediately, and solving adventure games with my dad became one of our favorite bonding experiences. We both love a good mystery.

The latest mystery I solved was The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story, the first adventure game by long-time Japanese developer h.a.n.d. (with Square Enix publishing). An FMV mystery, the game finds players investigating a string of murders that have plagued the Shijima family for the past hundred years. Sadly, the otherwise compelling story stalls due to excessive hand-holding, middling performances, and long stretches of tedium.