Reviews

Eastville Chronicles: The Drama Queen Murder review for Nintendo Switch

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Also on: PC
Publisher: Ocean Media
Developer: Ocean Media
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: T

I feel like the distance between very good hidden object games and very bad ones is fairly short. While it?s entirely possible there are some mind-blowingly innovative ones out there, in general, they all play pretty much the same: lots of hidden object scenes, some static cutscenes, and maybe the odd puzzle thrown in to mix things up a little.

WIthin that narrow band of quality, I?d say that Eastville Chronicles: The Drama Queen Murder falls ever-so-slightly towards the lesser end of the spectrum. While it?s got pretty much all of the usual ingredients, they all feel a little lacklustre. The story, for example, is about as dull as a murder mystery can get, and it?s done no favours by the bland voiceovers and animation through which it?s told. In the same vein, the puzzles are either so easy they can be finished in a couple of seconds, or based in logic so impenetrable that you?re better off waiting for the Hint button to fill up, at which point you can skip ahead.

As for the hidden object puzzles — the very core of the game — they really don?t do anything to distinguish themselves. If anything, they?re noteworthy for mostly being absurdly easy, made more difficult only by the fact that some of the items you need to find seem to be almost unclickable. You need to touch some objects at just the right angle, or else the game will count it as a miss; get enough misses in a row, and the on-screen cursor will vibrate around for a second or two. It doesn?t make a huge difference ultimately, since there?s no timer, but that doesn?t make those moments any less frustrating.

All in all, it adds up to a middling experience even by the relatively low standards of the genre. Eastville Chronicles: The Drama Queen Murder has all the component parts of a hidden object game but nothing to make it stand out. If you really, really want to hunt around for guns hidden in dark corners and incongruously-placed telephones, you?ll be able to do that, but if you want anything more, you?re not going to find it here.

Wired Productions provided us with an Eastville Chronicles: The Drama Queen Murder Switch code for review purposes.

Grade: C-
Matthew Pollesel

Recent Posts

Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch gets the physical treatment courtesy of Limited Run Games

I’m gonna butcher Jay’s rap here, but…Little Man, Put that game in my hand!

1 day ago

300k have ridden the rails as Densattack! reports 150k copies sold

So wait…is this a two player game? How is the player base double the units…

1 day ago

Viz Media makes their presence felt at Anime NYC with plenty of news and programming

…am I going to have to take a trip to the Brooklyn Museum?

1 day ago

007 First Light shines as it sells 4 million units within 3 months of its launch

Nintendo Switch 2 owners will soon add to that total.

1 day ago

Get your hands on the 1:1 scale replica of the Prototype Lancer from Gears of War: E-Day at the Xbox Games Studio Shop

Scare criminals with poor eyesight with this intimidating gun replica! Editor’s Note: Don’t actually do…

2 days ago

The Sinking City 2 review for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X

Nothing like the first game, which is probably for the better.

2 days ago

This website uses cookies.