The Murder is Game Over series has always had a devoted following for its wonderful detective RPG gameplay and now the fifth game in the series, Murder is Game Over: Murder Otaku, brings back Detective Guy and his dog Cleo to solve another mystery.
Set before the third game, Deal Killer, Murder Otaku takes place in a 1920s hotel, where a J Pop Idol is killed at a Japanese pop culture convention being held at the hotel. Detective Guy and Cleo must deduce who is responsible and who had motive. If you have played the previous installments, then you should know you are in for a good time.
As mentioned, the Murder is Game Over series is a series of murder mystery RPGs that sees you play as Guy and Cleo and alternate to solve different puzzles. For instance, Cleo can sniff out puzzles while Guy can talk to and interrogate suspects. The two have to put the clues together and then go through a deduction game to figure out who is guilty.
Murder is Game Over: Murder Otaku has a great setting and manages to build well on the previous entries. There is a great map to explore and keeping track of the information is very fun. The controls are handled extremely well in terms of mouse and keyboard, but there is also an option for controller support.
It also bears mentioning that Murder is Game Over: Murder Otaku has a great variety of collectibles and minigames and yes, there is a connection between the two. All of this goes well together with Murder is Game Over: Murder Otaku’s excellent use of the series retro style visuals, especially with the 1920s hotel the game takes place in, while the convention makes for a great storytelling device for the game. It also needs to be said that Murder is Game Over: Murder Otaku has a great use of music that calls to mind film noir and classic RPGs at the same time.
The most recent entry in the Murder is Game Over series brought in ghost chases and Murder is Game Over: Murder Otaku brings this mechanic back. This mechanic sees ghosts appear and try to catch you when entering some sections of the map and depending on which difficulty options you choose, this can result in an instant game over. I will be honest, I did not like this aspect of the game and feel like it took away from the fun of the rest of the game. It definitely did break up the gameplay segments, but I found it frustrating after a few times and just lacklustre.
That aside, Murder is Game Over: Murder Otaku is a fun entry into the series that brings in a number of twists and turns to its story, with an excellent narrative design and a well thought out mystery. The gameplay is fun and lets you explore to figure things out, and while there is a hint system, it is not mandatory. Murder is Game Over: Murder Otaku is not a long game by any means, and will only take you around three hours, but that works out just fine for the kind of experience you are getting.
The Murder is Game Over series keeps getting better and better and Murder is Game Over: Murder Otaku, while bringing back one aspect I dislike, is a great entry that manages to show why the series has the following it does. If you like detective RPGs, that are on the shorter and more digestible side, then you should definitely give Murder is Game Over: Murder Otaku a try. And if you find yourself liking it, check out the rest of the Murder is Game Over series as well.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
