Launched on Could 23, 2024 for Swap and Home windows (and it runs completely on Steam Deck), Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is an endearing indie puzzle recreation stuffed with character. And whereas I didn’t completely vibe with its puzzles, the presentation made the expertise greater than price its transient, foolish two-hour expertise.
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In Duck Detective, you play as Eugene McQuacklin, a duck and a detective who’s down on his luck, overdue on his hire, and with a bread downside that doubtless drove his companion away. Employed by an unknown consumer, your job is to analyze an area bus depot to seek out out who’s behind some mysterious shenanigans involving, effectively, um…salami.
The sport isn’t brief on silliness or character. With totally voiced characters and a pitch-perfect smokey jazz soundtrack, Duck Detective has sufficient attraction to maintain you engaged all through. Visually it’s a delight too; the two-dimensional characters transfer via 3D environments with satisfying waddling animations and wonderful paintings.
Unraveling mysteries includes Mad Lib-like puzzles primarily based on what you possibly can discern from the setting, and from chatting with NPCs across the bus depot’s workplace, interviewing everybody from the supervisor, customer support brokers, and the very jaded and over-it penguin janitor. You’ll be able to visually examine every character for notable particulars to discern parts of their character, in addition to ask them particular questions on proof you’ll come throughout as you begin to crack the case.
Duck Detective generally is a little bit of a difficult expertise. It’s positively a recreation you possibly can relax to primarily based on its vibes, however you’ll must pay a bit extra consideration to it than you may anticipate. Every of the Mad Lib-style puzzles require you to speak to quite a few NPCs earlier than piecing collectively every part you realized. However that is no inventive train. Although there are some alternate outcomes primarily based in your choices, cracking every a part of the case requires guessing the appropriate phrases in every puzzle’s sentence.
I’d be mendacity if I stated I didn’t brute pressure my manner via a few of these puzzles by simply biking via the choices for every sentence till I acquired it proper. Inelegant, and positively not within the spirit of the challenges, I do know. However in my protection, Duck Detective was truly a reminder for me that I don’t do effectively with Mad Lib-style video games. There may be an optionally available “Story Mode” that highlights unsuitable solutions for you, which I ended up utilizing. Additionally, whereas your entire playspace of Duck Detective consists of a foyer, workplace, kitchen, car parking zone, managerial workplace, and a server room, the loading screens in between every space wore on me. They weren’t essentially lengthy, however as I ran round getting clues from every character, I began to get a bit uninterested in the few seconds of a loading display every time.
It helps that there are some amusing traces throughout every cutscene, akin to information about how doubtless geese are to pay their taxes, what number of of them are in existence, and what their relationship is with skateboarding.
And that’s the place I discover myself moderately unbothered by my frustrations with the puzzles. Sure, I struggled to determine what was happening. Maybe that simply means I’m a foul detective. Or a foul duck. Both manner, the attraction and polish of this recreation makes for a breezy indie title you possibly can transfer via in beneath three hours.
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