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Review
Play as a private detective suddenly forced to take over your mentor’s business when he suddenly goes missing. Solve crime, find your mentor, duel a rampaging wizard, and make your mark on Seattle all in a few days’ work.
While this game isn’t in my usual genre, I was immediately drawn in by the noir vibes, my grim but honorable private detective MC, and the 1920s setting. Prohibition era Seattle, with its fog and rain and speakeasies and social and political tensions, was an excellent backdrop to a story revolving around lies and corruption and institutional hypocrisy. Dialogue is snappy, the prose has a nice rhythm to it, and even the stats screen has personality. But the game doesn’t commit enough to the setting or to the overall narrative. It follows too many mini plotlines at the expense of character development and a strong central narrative; supernatural elements felt undeveloped and sometimes out of place; and blatant historical deviations distracted from the otherwise compelling setting. My overall verdict: it’s fun enough, but ultimately falls flat, though I think it will be quite enjoyable for players who appreciate the noir genre, enjoy a bit of quirk in their stories, and don’t mind a modern coating to historical settings. I do a more in-depth review on my Substack https://jotheplunderer.substack.com/p/cogs-latest-noir-wizard-game-has
