Graphic adventures and mysteries have been a staple of gaming almost as long as gaming has been around. Mysteries captivate us in every medium whether it be movies, books, or video games. We’ve covered a few such as Famicom Detective Club, Fort Solis, and Hermitage: Strange Case Files. Many of these games cross genres as well too, so horror, sci-fi, and the supernatural often enter into mystery games. That’s not the case here however. Today we’re looking at a much more straightforward mystery experience.
The Last Case of John Morley from developer Indigo Studios and publisher Jandusoft is a linear narrative mystery, and not at all related to the X-Files (remember what the Smoking Man smoked?). You are taking control of John Morley himself, a detective newly recovered after being injured in his most recent case. We’re in 1940s England and there’s a distinctive noir vibe to the atmosphere of John Morley (which is what we’ll call the game for the remainder of this review). After returning from his convalescence, Morley is greeted by Lady Fordside, an English countess who wants to retain his services to investigate the murder of her daughter. Elody was murdered 20 years ago however and it’s going to be up to you to put the pieces together and find out what happened.
The game plays out in first person and there are only a handful of locations as this is a short game. What you’re really in for is the narrative experience. There’s weirdness afoot at the abandoned Fordside manor and Elody was not without her flaws and problems. The story of John Morley plays out through dialogue triggered by interactions in various areas. There are some light puzzles with some occasionally frustrating clues, but for the most part, you’re moving to the only available areas, interacting with everything there, listening to the dialogue and audio files, reading notes and moving on. There is no combat in the game at all and there are only a handful of dialogue conversations, all of which require you to select every option before moving on.
That structure makes The Last Case of John Morley more of an interactive walking simulator than a game where you have any kind of autonomy. That’s not a bad thing however because the dialogue is interesting and the story falling into place keeps you engaged. The overall experience becomes a bit less stressful once you realize there’s no actual danger though, and that’s a shame because there was potential to expand actual gameplay a bit more here and it ends up a missed opportunity.
With the focus on the narrative and limited options, it should be no surprise that the game moves quickly forward, barely giving you time to consider what’s going on before moving to the next story element. There’s a lot less exposition here than in a visual novel too, so you feel more like part of a somewhat interactive movie than anything else. You can finish the entirety of the game in a single sitting and that concise narrative is a welcome change from games that drag on forever just to hit an arbitrary length expectation but at over $12, you’d expect a bit more depth and replayability than you get.
Visually, John Morley is fairly compelling, with beautiful period pieces and decent character models, but the mechanics of the graphics are a bit weak. Characters look great until they start moving and you realize that their models are limited in scope, dialing back the realism and immersion as their lips fail to match their words. Still scenes are fine as John rebuilds the events and they play out visually but anything in motion looks a bit jerky and stilted. The color palette is particularly dreary as well, lots of greys, browns, and blacks and not much visual interest. That’s almost unrealistic for the era, but something that’s remarkably common for noir offerings. The oddest thing about the graphics however is how blurry and indistinct some are. Bottles on shelves look like their labels were generated with AI and things like bricks and grout are fuzzy and indistinct upon closer inspection, leading to the same conclusions of either generated content, limited resources or skills on the part of the graphic artists, or the use of premade assets. The overall visual impact is good however and the empty and mostly abandoned areas you explore manage to exude a satisfactorily creepy atmosphere as the story moves towards its crescendo. Elody’s paintings are particularly fascinating and disturbing and there are some very well-done horror-adjacent images strewn throughout the game that may catch players off guard.
The audio is by far the best part of The Last Case of John Morley and dialogue is fully scripted. The voice actors are excellent, far surpassing their character models and because the dialogue is unskippable, you end up getting the full impact of their abilities. The voice acting brings this short story to life, making what would have been an underwhelming experience into a passable one and occasionally a particularly engrossing tale. In addition to the excellent voice work, the audio is particularly good in John Morley with soft jazz, background piano, and creepy sound effects all mixing together effectively. Musical cues clearly direct players to key points in the narrative and the entire audio design for the game is nothing short of excellent.
As you might have guessed by now, The Last Case of John Morley is something of a mixed bag in terms of gameplay, plot and visuals. It’s not that this is a bad game, but it’s a particularly short experience with some odd choices in terms of controls, button confirmations, and lack of interactivity that all work to hold the game back. The plot is good but the ending is abrupt and some gamers may be disappointed, especially with the game being as short as it is. There’s the kernel of a decent game in John Morley but it never quite capitalizes on its potential and as a result, it ends up being a story that might not stick with you. While it’s not a bad game for a small indie offering, it should probably be at a sub-$10 price point and you should know what you’re getting into before you buy it. While it won’t be for everyone, The Last Case of John Morley is a fun little linear mystery that will keep you guessing until near the very end.
This review is based on a digital copy of The Last Case of John Morley provide by the publisher. It was played on a Playstation 5 using a 55” 1080p TV. The Last Case of John Morley is also available for PC on Steam.
Nate Van Lindt has been a gamer since the days of yore (aka Commodore 64), and has played a bit of virtually everything out there. He's also an avid comic book collector, both vintage and current, and reads a fair amount of sci-fi and fantasy. On top of that, he watches a fair number of movies and TV shows as well. Oh, and he has a family, a full-time job, and lives somewhere in the urban wilds of Southwestern Ontario, Canada, foraging for old video cables and forgotten game soundtracks.