Sherlock Holmes Chapter One

I enjoyed that it never gave me an answer, and I had to arrive at my own conclusions given the evidence I'd found. On the other hand, the game is in a rough technical state with frequent frame rate issues on the PS5, basic animations that feel robotic, an empty open world, and voice acting that can pull you out of the experience at times. Fans of Sherlock Holmes or adventure games can check out Chapter One, simply for everything that it does right.

Chapter One is a diamond in the rough. There are some small annoyances, such as Jon’s incessant whining or the minor visual blemishes, but overall, solving cases is fun and addictive and well worth any mystery game fan’s time. The game takes some liberties with the Sherlock Holmes canon, and some elements simply don’t make sense -such as Mycroft’s hidden coins not having been found by anyone else- but if you can suspend your disbelief just enough, then there’s a good chance you’ll end up enjoying your time in the company of young Mr. Holmes.

Overall, if you like the world of Sherlock Holmes, enjoy a good investigative adventure, or have enjoyed any of the previous games in the series, either new or old, then Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is likely to be a game you will thoroughly enjoy. It has charm, wit, excitement, and plenty of harrowing crimes to chill you to the bone as you explore the picturesque locale of Sherlock’s childhood stomping ground. This is what I always want a Sherlock game to be.

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One emerges as the most assured video game take on the literary sleuth to date. Main cases are engaging and suitably serpentine, while side cases and other distractions help in fleshing things out. Yes, you'll spend a lot of time legging it from place to place, but, more than anything else, Sherlock Holmes Chapter One demonstrates that Frogwares has a firm handle on what makes the character tick, including the peccadilloes and traumas that came to define him.

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is promising and does deliver a solid detective story full of intricate cases. Discovering what happened, putting the clues together, and getting your answers require dedication and proper analysis. It's in everything between these elements that start to create friction either through the lackluster combat, the pure sequence of events needed to progress, and the poorly implemented assistance that causes the game to blunder.

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One may stumble at times, but it scratches that investigative itch like few games even attempt to.