Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened

- Good story, bad storyline
- Voice acting of Sherlock is terrible
- Not dark enough gor a Lovecraftian game
- Chapters seems so detached from each other.
If you are not a fan of detective or Lovecraftian games, skip this. I love Lovecfraftian, so it is 7/10 for me

A decent, fun and short journey.

Platform: PS5
Edition: PS5 digital deluxe
Trophies: 100% - 28/28
Rating: (6) fine ⚪🟡⚪⚪

One thing became quickly apparent—The Awakened is a remake of an older game. (The original game came out in 2007.) The cases aren't as refined as in Crimes and Punishments, The Devil's Daughter, or the previous Chapter One. The combination of Sherlock and Cthulhu is a mixed bag. It kind of works more as a Holmes adventure, but fans of Lovecraft might feel disappointed by the lack of horror.

The deluxe edition cases felt distracting and didn't add much to the main case at hand. There were minor glitches throughout the game and a general lack of polish. Gameplay options were limiting as well. I often found I'd already successfully solved a mystery, but the game wouldn't let me continue because I'd missed a clue. There was also lots of unnecessary backtracking, but at least fast-travel is possible.

I still enjoyed the game a fair bit despite the mentioned issues. There were some challenging/clever puzzles and crime scenes. I liked the overall atmosphere, but a certain lack of immersion kept reminding me that I'm playing a game, so I was often taken out of Sherlock's boots. Compared to Chapter One I finished earlier this year, The Awakened is a much smaller and shorter game. Perhaps it should've been a DLC instead and have Sherlock's "madness" connect more with the events that take place in Cordona...

Cautious recommendation for fans of the series.

As far as remakes go, it's a good remake. I played the original The Awakened years ago and they basically overhauled the entire game. This remake fits storywise in with their new interpretation of Sherlock Holmes and follows some time after Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One.

Everything on a technical level has received an upgrade, some of the story was rewritten too. The Mindpalace features a lot more and the investigative features are a lot better integrated and more fun to use (again, very similar to Chapter One). Unfortunately costumes are incredibly underused and you are very limited in your outfit choices. There is some gun-play but it's limited to two occasions. The boating sequence is lenghty and nothing happens (I don't know why they didn't shorten it).

This game contains Lovecraftian elements and I mean this in the loosest possible way. Here and there you have a couple of Cthulu statues and other nods to H.P. Lovecraft's works. If you think about buying this game purely for the Lovecraft tag; Don't. It's not worth it. There is no horror in this game either (I say this as someone who generally steers clear of horror games). If you have played Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One and enjoyed that game, then you can give this one a go, but remember that this one is a remake and a lot shorter than Chapter One.

Overall, I had a fun time and enjoyed the changes and improvements done, but I have a soft spot for Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes games anyway. If you didn't like any of their previous entries, I doubt it'll change your mind. If you're curious about the game and not sure whether you'll like it, get it on a discount.

A better approach than the last one.
Great story. Definitely needs to continue the story in another game.
Feel a little disappointed that clothing disguises weren't used too much in the game.

Very interesting story and characters
The puzzles were really fun
The soundtrack was good
I don't know about other parts of this game but i loved this one