I was born in 1998, so I missed out on the retro PC era. I however have always appreciated the games that were produced. Many games released in the 90s have become cult classics and are still enjoyable to this day. Lamplight City brings me back to the simpler time of gaming. But is that something for you? Let’s find out.
19th-century crime
The game takes place in Lamplight City, the city of Air and Light, a port city that is a beacon of industrial advancements. . Yet beneath the promises of a shining 19th-century future, the city rests upon foundations of poverty, class struggle, and crime.
Here you step in the shoes of police detective turned private investigator Miles Fordham to investigate a crime scene involving the murder of his partner. Can Miles find justice for his clients and track down his partner’s killer before his entire world comes apart? Be the detective you always wanted to be. But prepare to face the consequences. Investigate crime scenes and interrogate suspects to obtain the information you need, by any means necessary. You have the options to follow the law or make your own rules. But be careful, your decisions will affect people’s attitudes towards you.
A classic game genre inspired by classic games and literature
Lamplight City is a point-and-click adventure game. These types of games were really popular in the early 1990 and were often released for the MS-DOS, Macintosh and Amiga. These games continued existing through the early 2000s with games like Putt-Putt, Pajama Sam and Spy Fox and slowly died out after.
Lamplight City pulls heavy inspiration from the early 1990’s point-and-click adventure games like Monkey Island, King’s Quest & Sam & Max: Hit the Road. Both in terms of gameplay like mentioned above but also with its presentation. Lamplight City looks and feels like a classic 1990s game. This can be a turn-off for some. But for those familiar with these games, Lamplight City will feel like coming home.
In terms of theme and story, it’s, as mentioned by the developer, inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Dickens. Edgar Allan Poe is considered the to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre and Charles Dickens world’s best-known fictional works, like Oliver Twist, David Copperfield & A Christmas Carol.
Who is guilty?
There are 5 different cases to be solved. Each of them takes its fair time to complete and keeps you interested throughout. All the cases consist of multiple suspects, false leads and different outcomes depending on your decisions. Wrap your brain around who might be guilty based on what you learn throughout the game. Don’t worry if you can’t solve the mystery. If the case is unsolvable you can simply move on to the next with it being accounted for in the story.
Heart and passion
Meet over 50 voiced characters with full-fletched dialogue. This is something that isn’t as common nowadays, especially with smaller releases to cut down on costs. The voice acting is really good but the language doesn’t really match the time period in which the game takes place. The humor and tone of the game is excellent as well, silly and serious at the same time. I always appreciate it not only because it increased the quality feel of a game but also because you can see there is heart and passion put into the game.
To top it all off commentary can be turned on in the settings. This gives excess to commentary nodes by 3 of the main developers of Lamplight City within the playthrough. They try not to spoil any details but they highly suggest you played through it at least once prior to turning it on.
Nintendo Switch vs PC
The game plays great and it’s nice that it came to the Nintendo Switch. I got really into the story and mystery that happened in Lamplight city. The game however is better at home on a PC. This of course because it’s inspired by classic PC games but mainly because the cursor is moved by the mouse on a PC. On the Switch, you control it by the joystick. This works fine but the movement is intuitive and slower than a mouse. If you have excess to a PC to game on, it’s a no-brainer to play it there over the Switch version
Conclusion
Lamplight City is an excellent game that takes you back to the olden days in terms of graphics, story and gameplay. The silly and serious tone of the game will keep your holding your interest for the entire duration. The game has full voice-acted dialogue and even commentary from the developers. Overall Lamplight City is an excellent game for people looking for a mystery-solving game and love or is not scared away by the retro-inspired presentation. Are you one of those? Give it a try, you won’t regret it.
