Marlon’s Mystery: The darkside of crime

❗️There's a bug at the very beginning of the game where you can't move the swing photo onto the board, preventing any further progress. I was able to fix it by deleting the game and restarting from scratch. Apparently, it hasn't been fixed in all these three years, and the devs have gone radio silent. Not cool. That aside, it's a nice short game (about 3 hours long). The visual style is adorable, each of the characters has their own well-written personality, and I liked investigating the evidence using the deduction board. There were some minor flaws, like the dialogue text advancing a bit slowly, but you can see that the devs put their hearts into this game.

Marlon’s Mystery: The darkside of crime is a detective adventure game developed and published by Made in Mavis that combines investigation, deduction, hidden-object gameplay, and narrative-driven storytelling into a compelling crime-solving experience. Drawing inspiration from classic detective fiction while incorporating modern adventure game mechanics, the title places players in the role of Abby Marlon, a determined investigator tasked with unraveling a complex mystery filled with deception, secrets, and unexpected twists. What begins as a seemingly straightforward case gradually transforms into a far more intricate narrative, rewarding players who pay attention to details and enjoy piecing together clues. The story serves as the foundation of the entire experience. Abby Marlon and her partner Jared Evans are hired to investigate a wealthy family's troubling situation involving a missing woman who has been accused of murder and theft. As the investigation progresses, the case becomes increasingly complicated, revealing hidden motives, conflicting testimonies, and long-buried secrets. The narrative constantly evolves as new information emerges, making it difficult to predict where the story will ultimately lead. This sense of uncertainty keeps players invested and encourages them to continue searching for answers. One of the game's greatest strengths is the way it actively involves players in the investigative process. Rather than simply presenting information through cutscenes, the game requires players to gather evidence, question suspects, examine crime scenes, and connect seemingly unrelated pieces of information. Every discovery feels meaningful because progress is directly tied to the player's own observations and deductions. This approach creates a stronger sense of immersion and allows players to feel like genuine detectives rather than passive participants. The mystery itself is well-paced and carefully structured. New clues are introduced gradually, ensuring that players always have something new to investigate without feeling overwhelmed. As the case expands, previously overlooked details gain new significance, encouraging players to reconsider earlier assumptions. This layered approach to storytelling helps maintain suspense throughout the adventure and gives the investigation a satisfying sense of progression. Character development plays an important role in the overall experience. The game features a large cast of individuals connected to the central mystery, each possessing their own personalities, relationships, and secrets. Conversations are more than simple information exchanges; they often reveal motivations, emotional conflicts, and hidden agendas that influence the direction of the investigation. These interactions help make the world feel believable and provide additional depth beyond the primary crime narrative. Abby Marlon stands out as a particularly effective protagonist. She is intelligent, persistent, and approachable without feeling overly idealized. Her success comes through careful reasoning and attention to detail rather than exaggerated detective abilities. This grounded portrayal makes her easy to connect with and reinforces the game's emphasis on logical investigation. The clue management and deduction systems are among the most satisfying gameplay features. As players collect evidence, they must organize information and establish logical connections between various pieces of the puzzle. This mechanic transforms the investigation into a genuinely interactive experience rather than a series of scripted events. Successfully identifying relationships between clues creates rewarding moments that mirror the satisfaction of solving a real mystery. Hidden-object segments are integrated naturally into the investigative structure. Instead of feeling disconnected from the narrative, these sequences serve practical purposes within the case. Searching environments for important evidence encou…

There are lots of text that give the player little to no choice at all. The two main characters are not relatiable and even their dynamic together misses something, fails to be interesting. There is a serious bug very early, that forces you to uninstal and reinstall, and can still reappear, you never know when - which is going to require uninstalling again... and, the killer problem: there is no Steam Cloud support. So, everytime you will try to play this game, you will have to start from scratch, and hope/gamble your time - until the end - that the bug won't corrupt the progression. So you have to backup your saves manually and be ready to guess when it's you who are stock in mystery solving, and when the game is actually secretly bugging.