Relentless Software is famous for the BUZZ!! franchise, but I didn't know anything about the Blue Toad Mystery Files game. So I contacted them for more information about the game. They replied and asked if I could try the game. I searched the game on Playstation Store and found that the first episode was free. I immediately downloaded it and started playing. In Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mystery of Little Riddle you play as a detective investigating a string of mysterious crimes that take place in the village. It’s a beautiful game with challenging puzzles, a well written story, and a wonderful sense of charm.
As soon as you arrive in Little Riddle, The Mayor is murdered before your eyes, and rather than leave the investigation up to the constabulary, you naturally decide to take on the investigation yourself. The game itself is essentially divided into two main parts: story and puzzles. You go in different places around the town to meet the locals. At each location there is a puzzle waiting for you. Solving it gives you hints to who the murderer might be. The puzzles are really cool, they vary from easy to hard. Solving them reminded me of the Prof. Layton series, this game has definitely a similar feeling. Getting gold in all puzzles adds to the replay value to the game. The only problem is that after playing the game one time, the second time is exactly like the first the puzzles are the same and even the answers are in the same order as before. So getting all the trophies is really easy as in the second playthrough, you finish the puzzles in a matter of seconds.
The episodes are really short, as you can complete one in a hour. The game shines if you play it with your friends. 4 players can play at the same time as the game has 4 different characters. Solving the puzzles with friends is really fun.
I really loved the 3D. The graphics are awesome and the colours are really vibrant. Each character, of which there are many, has a unique look and a great voice actor to match. The excellent acting just makes the witty dialog that much funnier, though none of the characters can match the brilliant narrator, who is simply one of the best narrators in a video game ever.
Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mystery of Little Riddle was a surprise. It was really fun going through the story and tackling puzzles with friends was an unique experience. Definitely try the first episode as it's completely free, then you can buy the other five episodes and let me tell you that you are going to buy them.
8.5/10
