Lannah
9 June 2023
The Last Case of Benedict Fox
Embark on an epic quest in The Last Case of Benedict Fox, a 2D side-scrolling Metroidvania tale teeming with mysterious secrets, platforming, and a rich narrative. Assume the role of Benedict Fox, a son driven by the desire to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding his father's death within the confines of the Fox Manor. Aided by a trusty demonic sidekick, you'll delve into the memory realms to unearth hidden truths, collect valuable ink, and face demonic adversaries on your path to uncovering your father's tragic fate.
As the narrative unfolds, you'll find yourself transported back to the tail-end of WW1, exposed to a world of forbidden rituals and heinous acts. Here, you'll encounter Ordo Ira Dei, an organization established to rein in unauthorized research, experimentation, and exploration. Driven by a hunger for answers, you infiltrate Rue Morgue to steal a case file, eventually fleeing through a window into the game's tutorial. You'll learn various skills, including parrying, dodging, knife-wielding, double jumping, and shooting down your demons.
The tutorial ends with you dodging bullets on a rooftop and landing in Fox Manor to begin your search.
Once inside the Manor, your mission is to uncover clues scattered across its premises. The narrative takes a turn in the basement where you stumble upon your father's lifeless body and your companion offers to guide you through his memories to start finding clues on what has happened. This is the gateway to the game's combat and platforming aspects.
Embark on an epic quest in The Last Case of Benedict Fox, a 2D side-scrolling Metroidvania tale teeming with mysterious secrets, platforming, and a rich narrative. Assume the role of Benedict Fox, a son driven by the desire to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding his father's death within the confines of the Fox Manor. Aided by a trusty demonic sidekick, you'll delve into the memory realms to unearth hidden truths, collect valuable ink, and face demonic adversaries on your path to uncovering your father's tragic fate.
As the narrative unfolds, you'll find yourself transported back to the tail-end of WW1, exposed to a world of forbidden rituals and heinous acts. Here, you'll encounter Ordo Ira Dei, an organization established to rein in unauthorized research, experimentation, and exploration. Driven by a hunger for answers, you infiltrate Rue Morgue to steal a case file, eventually fleeing through a window into the game's tutorial. You'll learn various skills, including parrying, dodging, knife-wielding, double jumping, and shooting down your demons.
The tutorial ends with you dodging bullets on a rooftop and landing in Fox Manor to begin your search.
Once inside the Manor, your mission is to uncover clues scattered across its premises. The narrative takes a turn in the basement where you stumble upon your father's lifeless body and your companion offers to guide you through his memories to start finding clues on what has happened. This is the gateway to the game's combat and platforming aspects.
The Last Case of Benedict Fox shines with its stellar graphics both in the physical world and the memory realms. The meticulous attention to detail and the grotesque elements incorporated throughout the game make it a feast for the eyes. The perfect balance of colors, lighting, and contrast contributes to an immersive atmosphere. Another high point is the character progression and skill development. In the early stages of the game, you encounter a woman who trades ink from defeated enemies for tattoos that amplify your abilities. With a variety of options for both Benedict and his companion, the game offers an interesting progression system. The narrative, too, is noteworthy, packed with gripping dialogue, suspense, and unexpected plot twists.
However, the game does not come without its flaws. Its combat system and mechanics are the Achilles' heel. Even with a mastery of parries and combos, the combat often feels awkward and inconsistent. The gun, while powerful, suffers from slow cooldown times, though this can be mitigated by combining it with knife attacks. The dodge function is unreliable, failing to register on numerous occasions whether you're playing on a PC or using a controller. The game's control inconsistencies, especially on PC, lack the essential key binding options, forcing you to play with the preset controls. Therefore, if you're a newcomer to PC gaming, it's recommended to use a controller for a smoother gaming experience.
All in all, the game immerses you in a distinctive and intriguing supernatural world filled with fascinating concepts. However, its potential is somewhat undermined by its performance and controls, which led to my enjoyment of its dark mystery being satisfactory at best. Despite the enjoyment I gained from solving its challenging puzzles, the progression of the main storyline frequently hit a brick wall due to quests being too vague and not having the guidance to move forward, forcing me to repeatedly walk back and forth, which was tiresome and got boring real quick. I would recommend it if they fixed the bugs, enhanced their combat, and gave us more tools to customize the gameplay.
5
10
The Bad
- Awesome visuals and music
- Great character progression and skills
- Great concept
- BAD controls
- Bugs, crashes and glitches
- At times unclear instructions to progress the story