3/5 ★ – PhatBaby's review of No Case Should Remain Unsolved.

I've been rinsing out a lot of games that allow me to live out my dreams of being digital Columbo at the moment, and in the grand scheme of them, the gameplay for this one just didn't tickle the pickle. I like the idea of piecing together people's testimonies, figuring out when they gave them and deciphering the overarching story that ties them all together, but it's just a little clumsy, with a lot of guesswork that doesn't smartly guide you towards connecting the pieces as much as it does dump them all in your lap and say "sort through this shit for me." And so it never feels like you're naturally building mysteries in your own head and then solving them over time, which I imagine was the intention. You're kinda just waiting for the game to finally be like: top marks, you assembled it in exactly the way WE intended you to. But the actual story? Fire. I think from a narrative perspective, it has genuine weight and plenty of fun twists that play on your expectations in smart ways. Looking at all the main players and thinking, this is what happened, just for it to prey on the roles you believe all these characters play in this story is smart, especially as you get further in and realise a lot of the testimonies you locked in as absolute certainties could be viewed in a completely different light. So, overall, good job. It made me sad, I felt very smart and cool, and digital Columbo figured it out again. I'm a god at these games, which makes up for the fact that, one time, I didn't realise two of my friends were kinda dating for like four months. NOW WHO'S UNPERCEPTIVE!