Detective Di: The Silk Rose Murders

Genre: Graphic Adventure

Players: 1

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Review:

Detective Di is a Graphic Adventure released on PC in 2019 and ported to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in 2021. This game puts players in the role of historical Chinese figure Di Renjie, who in the fictional events of this game takes a role comparable to a detective, investigating crimes on behalf of the Imperial government.

Detective Di makes use of a 2D pixel art graphics style that looks visually pleasant, but doesn’t particularly stand out in any way. At the very least I can say that its simplicity works well enough for the game. This is backed by a fairly minimalist instrumental soundtrack that often gives way to simple environmental noises. Again, nothing special, but it works well enough for the game.

When it comes to the gameplay, this is mostly fairly standard Graphic Adventure territory with slight hints of Ace Attorney-style detective work. To this game’s credit, the historical context definitely distinguishes this game from most others in the genre, and even though the events depicted are fictionalized, that historical context nevertheless gives them a semblance of realism. In addition, the game makes it a point to explore Di as a character fairly well, both through his own thoughts and even dreams, as well as the way everyone around him talks to him and treats him, starting out as a respected but wet-behind-the-ears investigator into someone whose expertise gradually gains more recognition.

The problem with the Nintendo Switch version of the game is that this game was clearly not made for gamepad controls, and the port to Nintendo Switch has little intention to rectify that issue, with the gamepad not directly influencing anything (save for a button that can quickly check hotspot on-screen), and with players having to manually move a slow-moving cursor to anything they want to interact with, even buttons on the main menu and pause menu screens. Needless to say, this gets extremely tedious. At the very least, the touchscreen controls provide a very good alternative for those playing the game in handheld mode, but docked mode players are out of luck.

Due to the control issues with Detective Di, what would otherwise be a fairly solid Graphic Adventure becomes one that is barely tolerable in docked mode. In handheld mode, the good touchscreen controls mean that this is still a solid Graphic Adventure with an interesting and unique focus on a period of Chinese history, but the moment you have to deal with gamepad controls, you’re looking at an experience that is far less enjoyable than it should be.

tl;dr – Detective Di is a Graphic Adventure that has players taking the role of a historical investigator solving (fictional) murder mysteries for the Imperial Chinese government. This is mostly a solid entry in the genre that makes for a fascinating look at a unique time period, but the terrible gamepad controls leave a lot to be desired. If you can play this game in handheld mode using a touchscreen, you’ll be just fine, but otherwise, be prepared for tedious controls that do little to rework the game in its port from PC.

Grade: C+

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