Great review! My daughter and I play a lot of co-op and some solo games; I didn't know your channel, you just gained a subscriber 🙂 I don't think I'd mind the ending being "answer these questions, then we'll give you the solution". Suspects and the Sherlock Files did the same thing, kinda, and we didn't mind.
Just wanted to hop on here and write a comment on the chance you might see it. Thank you so much for no-nonsense, straight to the point, and honest reviews of these types of games. Because of you, I purchased the Night Hunter game and my mom and I are having an amazing time playing it! Thanks for your recommendations and well done reviews!!!
Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement. I'm not sure most people would agree that I get straight the point but I try to get their eventually. I'm glad you are enjoying The Night Hunter -- I really liked that one. -jesse
I'm pretty neutral when it comes to this game. I agree the papercraft body is largely for novelty but I guess that's more what I expected so I don't think I was as disappointed with it. I agree the cold case itself was enjoyable. If you just wanted to see a neat looking prop body and be able to physically interact with it, I don't think there is reason to be terribly disappointed (except for the actual coloring bug). I feel that basing a game around an autopsy is trickier than it might first sound. For one it feels like the entire autopsy should be completed, facts gathered, and then deductions made. So it doesn't really lend itself to the multiple act structure this game attempted. Along with this I also feel it's harder to have twists within the autopsy itself, because once again, it feels like it should all be done upfront. The main way I guess to get around this would be to have samples sent off for analysis and then the tests coming back and revealing something unexpected. I also feel that a simulated autopsy would always be very procedural. So I'm not sure there could be super clever insights or decisions to make with regards to the performance of the autopsy itself. It feels any clever insights/deductions would have to come after the autopsy. The facts gathered interacting with other types of clues in the case. So while I do agree this went too far into the abstract with determining weight of the attacker based on what wounds look like, it seems to me the process would always lean towards being very procedural and mechanical. Comparing wounds with chart to determine potential weapon. Comparing organ against a set of images to see if the organ was unhealthy. Comparing color of bruise to determine if injury happened before or after death etc. I think it might always feel a bit on rails. There could be decisions about test to perform for further chemical analysis but then that seems like it would not really involve the papercraft body any longer. Maybe I'm just not seeing it but I think an autopsy might be the most boring choice of medical investigation. If the patient it alive there the elements of correct diagnosis to keep them alive, the time pressure, and having to try keep invasive exploratory procedures to a minimal. If it was skeletal forensics there is the mystery of who this person was, what they looked like, even how old they were.
I actually like the autopsy idea in principle, and found it moderately fun in practice. The biggest issue for me is how disjointed it feels from the rest of the game - I wish the puzzles had felt more like actual analysis rather than something out of a kids' puzzle book. As I said over on the Discord, "Would be nice if this autopsy game involved an actual autopsy."
Original comment by Debbie Levy: "I agree with pretty much all your points about the autopsy puzzles, but I'm bewildered as to how you judge them as 80% of the game - I'd have said 20% at most. The vast majority of materials at each stage consist of interviews, documents, working out the timeline, etc. Did you do all the autopsy stuff first, then go back and look at the other things? Because if so, oof, I can see why you had such a disspiriting experience." I re-uploaded this with a note in the video that the autopsy stuff was not quite as large a proportion of the experience as I initially suggested. -jesse
Yes, 40% sounds like a much more reasonable estimate (though obviously it will vary depending on the group). I think this is a good review and I agree with most of your criticisms, though I felt a lot more positive about the game overall. The only other thing I took issue with was describing the autopsy as the "first" part of the game, which implies that it should be done in full before looking at the other material. I don't know if you did it that way during your playthrough as I didn't watch the whole thing, but just as a heads-up to anyone else thinking of trying the game, I don't believe that's how it's designed to be played. In my play session we spent a lot of time examining the 'cold case' material at each stage before doing the autopsy puzzles. This helped to give context to what we were doing, and it felt like the storyline was unfolding naturally alongside the autopsy, rather than coming all at once at the end.
Great review! My daughter and I play a lot of co-op and some solo games; I didn't know your channel, you just gained a subscriber 🙂
I don't think I'd mind the ending being "answer these questions, then we'll give you the solution". Suspects and the Sherlock Files did the same thing, kinda, and we didn't mind.
Thank you for the kind words! Playing these kinds of games with your daughter sounds great. -jesse
Just wanted to hop on here and write a comment on the chance you might see it. Thank you so much for no-nonsense, straight to the point, and honest reviews of these types of games. Because of you, I purchased the Night Hunter game and my mom and I are having an amazing time playing it! Thanks for your recommendations and well done reviews!!!
Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement. I'm not sure most people would agree that I get straight the point but I try to get their eventually. I'm glad you are enjoying The Night Hunter -- I really liked that one. -jesse
I'm pretty neutral when it comes to this game. I agree the papercraft body is largely for novelty but I guess that's more what I expected so I don't think I was as disappointed with it. I agree the cold case itself was enjoyable. If you just wanted to see a neat looking prop body and be able to physically interact with it, I don't think there is reason to be terribly disappointed (except for the actual coloring bug).
I feel that basing a game around an autopsy is trickier than it might first sound. For one it feels like the entire autopsy should be completed, facts gathered, and then deductions made. So it doesn't really lend itself to the multiple act structure this game attempted. Along with this I also feel it's harder to have twists within the autopsy itself, because once again, it feels like it should all be done upfront. The main way I guess to get around this would be to have samples sent off for analysis and then the tests coming back and revealing something unexpected.
I also feel that a simulated autopsy would always be very procedural. So I'm not sure there could be super clever insights or decisions to make with regards to the performance of the autopsy itself. It feels any clever insights/deductions would have to come after the autopsy. The facts gathered interacting with other types of clues in the case.
So while I do agree this went too far into the abstract with determining weight of the attacker based on what wounds look like, it seems to me the process would always lean towards being very procedural and mechanical. Comparing wounds with chart to determine potential weapon. Comparing organ against a set of images to see if the organ was unhealthy. Comparing color of bruise to determine if injury happened before or after death etc. I think it might always feel a bit on rails.
There could be decisions about test to perform for further chemical analysis but then that seems like it would not really involve the papercraft body any longer.
Maybe I'm just not seeing it but I think an autopsy might be the most boring choice of medical investigation. If the patient it alive there the elements of correct diagnosis to keep them alive, the time pressure, and having to try keep invasive exploratory procedures to a minimal. If it was skeletal forensics there is the mystery of who this person was, what they looked like, even how old they were.
I actually like the autopsy idea in principle, and found it moderately fun in practice. The biggest issue for me is how disjointed it feels from the rest of the game - I wish the puzzles had felt more like actual analysis rather than something out of a kids' puzzle book. As I said over on the Discord, "Would be nice if this autopsy game involved an actual autopsy."
NYC Medical Mysteries was on sale at my local target, 50% off for only $12.50.
crazy good deal. i can't wait for the follow up game from them.
Original comment by Debbie Levy: "I agree with pretty much all your points about the autopsy puzzles, but I'm bewildered as to how you judge them as 80% of the game - I'd have said 20% at most. The vast majority of materials at each stage consist of interviews, documents, working out the timeline, etc. Did you do all the autopsy stuff first, then go back and look at the other things? Because if so, oof, I can see why you had such a disspiriting experience."
I re-uploaded this with a note in the video that the autopsy stuff was not quite as large a proportion of the experience as I initially suggested. -jesse
Yes, 40% sounds like a much more reasonable estimate (though obviously it will vary depending on the group). I think this is a good review and I agree with most of your criticisms, though I felt a lot more positive about the game overall.
The only other thing I took issue with was describing the autopsy as the "first" part of the game, which implies that it should be done in full before looking at the other material. I don't know if you did it that way during your playthrough as I didn't watch the whole thing, but just as a heads-up to anyone else thinking of trying the game, I don't believe that's how it's designed to be played. In my play session we spent a lot of time examining the 'cold case' material at each stage before doing the autopsy puzzles. This helped to give context to what we were doing, and it felt like the storyline was unfolding naturally alongside the autopsy, rather than coming all at once at the end.