Blue Toad Murder Files is a PSN exclusive game that allows players to investigate a series of mysterious murders in the ironically named town of Little Riddle. The first three episodes were available earlier in the year and now episodes four to six are out to conclude the story.
Are these concluding episodes worth buying? Do they add any different gameplay or is it more or less the same as the previous episodes? Lets take a look at the HOTs and NOTs to find out.
HOT
Graphics
There hasn’t been any changes to the graphics, which is a good thing I might add. Its graphical style resemblance that of Nickelodeon’s 3D animated cartoon Jimmy Neutron. Each character is brightly animated and the colors of the game are vibrant and teem with life. Its a nice change from the usual dark and depressing environment seen in many first-person shooters. The game is still set in the once tranquil town of Little Riddle as the episodes follow directly from the previous one. The town is still nicely animated and is more pleasing to the eye than most of the character models.
Story
As aforementioned, the story picks up after episode three left off. This is when the Librarian got killed by a mysterious individual driving a car. Could this be the mastermind behind all the recent, yet tragic, events happening in Riddle Town? It’s up to you and your problem solving skills to solve this mystery once and for all. Each episode ends in a cliffhanger so it really grabs your attention and cunningly convinces you to keep on playing. As with every “who done it” story you won’t rest until its finished. And of course each episode has one devious crime for you to solve. Although I will not spoil the story for you it keeps you guessing and Episode five & six are the most enjoyable. Let’s just say one of the charcters you were introduced in the previous three episodes is the mastermind behind all of the murders. The plot even thickens when the end credits roll but that is all I’m telling you right now. Will we see more episodes? So far nothing has been announced but it won’t surprise me if more episodes surface in the future.
Gameplay
The puzzles are back and are as challenging as ever. I did feel that the difficulty of them have been turned up a notch or two since the previous episodes. Some are very hard while others may make you look like a fool if you press the “give up” button. The infectious gameplay will tempt you to play more of the episodes as you’ll I’m sure some players will want to redeem themselves if they scored so poorly in one episode or puzzle. Also the puzzles are varied this time around and are more relevant to your investigation. Episodes two & three were the weakest in my opinion as the tasks you were given weren’t related to the murders. They were mostly helping out the villagers do everyday tasks which got a little boring. I do stress the last episode has the best tasks that are not only challenging but are more enjoyable than the puzzles featured in the previous episodes. More literacy type challenges in lieu of visual puzzles prevalent in the other episodes. The multiplayer aspect has remained unchanged too which was arguably the best feature in the game. Normally these types of games are a single-player affair.
NOT
Characters
I still feel that the charcters in the game are quite annoying. Maybe this is done on purpose so you’re tempted to accuse every suspect. Nevertheless each character that you encounter has one annoying catchphrase that they say throughout the entire six episodes. The Inspector always says “Sharpish” while the Butcher gratuitously screams “Scum”! It can be a burden to your ears once you have heard it so many times.
Voice Acting
Although I admire the voice acting is done by one person (Tom Dussek) he is abnormally high-pitched when it comes to every female character in the game. It sounds quite horrible quite frankly, and laughingly bad. Some of the puzzles even require you to hear what they are saying. This was very hard especially for me as I come from New Zealand and our accents differ a lot from the English accent. Naturally I struggled to hear most of the characters. The narration is okay but it reminded of a cheap 50s sci-fi movie – much like the lame narration in Plan 9 From Outer Space. Overall the voice acting wasn’t as bad in some other games.
Longevity
Episodes four – six are still only around an hour long each. With each episode housing 12 different puzzles. In total you can complete the whole game in around six or seven hours. Having said that, there’s still no replay value in this game – even if you name the wrong suspect there is no consequence for your mistake. All you miss is a trophy opportunity but the cutscene that follows remains the same. This made me admire the work done in Heavy Rain as every path and decision you make alters the game entirely. Sadly, in this game its very linear and I fail to see anyone playing this game more than once unless they want to get a platinum trophy. But by this time you’ll know the answers to the puzzles already…
Price
The price for this game is very expensive. One episode costs NZD$11.50 or a pack of three episodes for NZD$24.90. For you Americans this translates to around $7.49 for one episode or $14.99 for a pack of three episodes. In hindsight, that means for all six episodes that’ll cost you NZD$49.8 or $29.98. Not a good deal since there is virtually no replay value and its all over in a matter of six hours or so.
VERDICT
Blue Toad Murder Files is no doubt very short but it is fun while it lasts. If you’ve already downloaded the previous three episodes its a good idea to download episodes 4,5 and 6 as well to complete the story. If you’re not willing to spend that much money then maybe wait a while until hopefully Sony decreases the price. The graphics are bright while the puzzles will equally make you feel bright (given you were able to complete them). The only thing that stops me recommending this game is its replay value and the astronomical price. If you are interested in the game Episodes 1 – 6 are available now via PAL regions’ PlayStation Store. Episodes 4 -6 will be available to download in North America later in the month.
Games that receive a 3 out of 5 are considered average. Although they might have some redeeming qualities, these are almost always balance out by serious flaws. Average games might be worth playing for fans of a particular genre or series, but for most players they will be nothing special.