Got a favorite Sherlock Holmes game?

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  • DoctorEldritch's Avatar
    Community Manager
    Hello Legion Gamers!

    May 22nd is marked by a few interesting occasions! For one, it is Goth Day, as was conveyed in great detail by @DracoTarot, and thank you for that! But as it happens, Goths share their day with one of the most famous fictional detectives in history, Sherlock Holmes! Coincidence?

    Sherlock Holmes is one of the most recognizable fictional detectives created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (who you may remember made a cameo in Assassin's Creed Syndicate). The character was so popular that it quickly left the realm of just books, there are many series and films about him all over the world.

    As a side note here, I must say that I, for one, do not like the Sherlock series with Benedict Cumberbatch. It is ok as a series, but if approached as an interpretation of Sherlock Holmes to the modern world, I really do not like it, I think it fails to capture the essence of the character and the essence of the stories. At least, this was my impression.

    But I digress. Not surprising then, for a character so popular, to have a decent game portfolio as well. And Holmes has been a busy one in that department with many interesting cases. In addition to more classic crimes and punishments, he had a cameo in The Great Ace Attorney, chased the illusive Arsène Lupin (your countryman, @GoLLuM13!) raised Moriary's daughter, confronted the infamous Jack the Ripper, faced the shapeless horrors of The Great Dreamer, and, perhaps most terrifying of all, escaped from a ghastly SlenderWatson:


    No wonder with a history so rich, many would have their own "favorite" (or, indeed, disliked) version of Sherlock Holmes, be it in a book, film, or game.

    My favorite version is the classic book stories. Do not care much about films or series, but as for the games, the recent Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened was decent enough, though it is a Lovecraftian vibe that made me like it rather than Sherlock Holmes being there. I remember talking about it with @ZaidH a few months ago, and I'll say now what I said then: while it may be interesting from a deconstruction perspective, a character so dependant on cold logic as Sherlock Holmes has no place in Lovecraftian stories. If it were me, I'd go with someone like Thomas Carnacki and leave Sherlock in Victorian London where he belongs.

    But that's me. What about you, do you have a favorite Sherlock Holmes game? Or maybe you do not care about the famous detective at all?
  • 14 Replies

  • Saka's Avatar
    Level 52
    @DoctorEldritch I liked the books. I didn't watch the series, but years ago there were two films with Sherlock Holmes - those I did watch. From the games I only played The Testament of Sherlock Holmes. It was nice, although a little bit dark for my taste (I am a skittish little Saka, okay?). I played it years ago, it must have been pre-2017 as I recall playing it on my old desktop back in my hometown. I was surprised it got somewhat negative reviews due to stability issues and issues with controls, as I don't recall encountering any of those issues. Then again, it takes only one buggy patch to break a game and I could have been simply lucky enough to play it before that happened.
    Unamused Snarktooth. Advocate for hearing loss & accessibility. Person, friend and a terrible/terrific* artist.
    *delete as appropriate
  • DoctorEldritch's Avatar
    Community Manager
    @Saka Do you mean 2 films where Sherlock Holmes was played by Robert Downey Jr?

    The Testament of Sherlock Holmes was not bad, I do not recall any technical issues with it either, and story-wise it is one of the closest to the original books, too.
  • Saka's Avatar
    Level 52
    @DoctorEldritch Yes, those films!
    Unamused Snarktooth. Advocate for hearing loss & accessibility. Person, friend and a terrible/terrific* artist.
    *delete as appropriate
  • DoctorEldritch's Avatar
    Community Manager
    @Saka Those were not bad, but the same as is trendy these days, the second one messed up the portrayal of Moriarty a bit. Not as horrendously as the Sherlock series did, but there were some aspects where I thought character essence was sacrificed for the sake of spectacle. Then again, films often do that.
  • DracoTarot's Avatar
    Level 52
    @DoctorEldritch I watched most of the Sherlock films but the series was a bit disappointing.

    I haven't had a chance to play any Sherlock Holmes games.
  • DoctorEldritch's Avatar
    Community Manager
    @DracoTarot You mean that modern series? There are some that are set in Victorian London. The old one (from 1984) with Jeremy Brett is a decent and closer adaptation of the stories.


    About games, if you ever decide to give it a go, I'd say Crimes and Punishments is not a bad place to start.

  • DracoTarot's Avatar
    Level 52
    @DoctorEldritch The old one is great but not the new one. The old traditional Sherlock would always be the best.

    I still need to play so many games I haven't tried yet and will add to my list. :)
  • DoctorEldritch's Avatar
    Community Manager
    @DracoTarot I do not think the new one is particularly bad, my main issue with it is they connected it to Sherlock Holmes's name. If they did not, that would be the average crime drama, the same as so many others on Netflix, one you'd notice because of the big names in there.

    But they chose to connect it to Sherlock while warping the character and stories in a bad way, and that is where I take issue.

    Ah, the usual gamer dilemma, so many games to play. Though not all Sherlock Holmes games are equally good, so that may make your choice easier, at least as far as Sherlock Holmes is concerned.
  • DracoTarot's Avatar
    Level 52
    @DoctorEldritch I agree with you. It's like Murder she wrote. If Jessica Fletcher was removed and someone else had taken her place with another name, the series would have been an average crime drama.

    I'm first going to play Diablo 4 because I got it for free from my buddy and am also busy with some Starcraft campaigns. I do not have the funds to download anything at this moment. Literally lost all my online work from last week. Companies decided to let me go due to the non-logins from my side caused by the power failures.

    There may be times I will not be online at all if I have to cancel my internet. Sherlock Holmes needs to investigate all of this and I think he would have been the perfect candidate.