The Last Case Of Benedict Fox is a game with lofty ambitions. Leading up to its release I was extremely excited to check the game out. The art style and promise of a dark and intriguing story caught my attention. However, after my playthrough I came away with very mixed feelings. It feels deeply unpolished and clunky to play and the main gameplay loop rarely engaged me. Developer Plot Twist definitely swung for the fences on this one and sadly I don’t think they cracked this one into the outfield. Here is my review for The Last Case of Benedict Fox. Thank you to Rouge Games for the early review code.

SWEET DREAMS

The Last Case of Benedict Fox follows Benedict Fox, a detective who is bound to a demon. As he arrives at his fathers mansion he discovers that his father and step mother have been murdered. Using the demon he is able to reach into the memories of their dead bodies and unravel the mystery of what happened to them.

On the surface this premise could have made for an intriguing story but it misses the mark on so many levels. The story throws you in headfirst. This works in some stories but here I constantly felt like I was missing something. Why is Benedict bound to a talking demon? Is there a reason he shows absolutely no emotion to finding his dead father? Why do they proceed to leave the dead bodies on the ground? What is the order and what significance do they have to the story? You will rarely get an answer for these questions.

Early on I checked if this game was a part of a series because nothing was being explained, so I thought that maybe the developers just thought fans of the series would already know important information. However, this is the first game in the series and so it fails to get new players (or me at least) invested in the story.

Writing here is also a bit of a mess. Characters will say things that are extremely odd considering the context of things and the demon Benedict is bound to has an affinity for saying Benedict’s name in almost every sentence. Characters are basically non-existent with us never really getting to know who they truly are.

I really tried to engage with the material here but I just couldn’t get into it and it’s a shame because I really dug some of the core concepts here.

THROUGH THICK AND THIN

The main gameplay loop will have you searching through the minds of the victims for the pages of Benedict’s fathers research. After an extremely quick tutorial you will be slashing, shooting, and jumping your way through the dreams and nightmares of the deceased.

The combat itself has its moments. The animations are smooth and the system is heavily based on blocks, parries and striking when the time is right. At first I felt that the combat was unusually difficult, but as I learned the rhythm of combat I died less frequently and found it to be easy. The enemy types that you will encounter are varied from flying creatures to giant bosses. The boss fights themselves were great spectacle wise but in boss design they were fairly generic.

You can also upgrade Benedict’s abilities through a shop where he can buy upgrades for his health potions and other abilities. You can also upgrade the demon’s powers through Benedict’s tatoos. Early in the game you will rescue a woman that grants you the abilities to receive magic tattoos. After an extremely painful tattoo session (he screams bloody murder every time) Benedict’s demon will be imbued with upgrades to existing abilities or given entirely new ones. This part of the game I enjoyed the most as I felt like it opened up combat considerably and it just looked really cool and honestly sometimes that enough.

When you aren’t fighting monsters you will be solving puzzles. This is where the game really lost me. For one there is a lot of backtracking in this game. It can work and games and personally I enjoy going back to old areas in games with new abilities. Here however the level design just doesn’t mesh together well enough. I was constantly confused on where to go or what was my actual goal that would allow me to move forward. The puzzles themselves were extremely obtuse and poorly explained which forced me to look online for walkthroughs on how to get past them.

A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE

One thing that the game excels at especially well is in its art design. The game is gorgeous to look at and it’s honestly what kept this game from sinking for me. You will travel though surreal environments each varied with their own different look and enemies. The 2.5D style just really worked for me. Everything art related in this game excelled.

CASE CLOSED ON BENEDICT FOX

The Last Case of Benedict Fox is a game ripe with missed potential. Clunky game design and an underwhelming story undercut some amazing art direction. There are things to love here but the negatives outweigh the positives for me.

The Last Case of Benedict Fox released on April 27th, 2023 for Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X and PC. I spent a majority of my playtime on the Steam Deck where it runs at a mostly steady 30fps. For more game reviews and other geek content stay right here on The Geekwave.

Game Score: 6/10