Chronique des Silencieux (2024)

Chronique des Silencieux is too wordy and slow for casuals and too dull and amateurish for the veterans of the genre.

As someone who loves detective games and finding as many clues as possible, playing Chronique des Silencieux was a breath of fresh air in the midst of Sherlock Holmes games. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters, learning more about their stories and finding all the different ways that they linked together. The art style and the music made the game cosy and everything about playing the game was relaxing, even when I was scratching my head, stumped, unsure what to do. That being said, for players who enjoy games casually the game can be pretty overwhelming with just how much information is given to you. Everything gets down into the nitty gritty and when you first start you are more likely to fail then succeed. Sometimes the smallest piece of information can lead to the biggest breakthrough and it can be pretty disheartening if you spend forever going through the right document but not picking the right line. It’s a nice change of pace to the games that I’ve been playing recently and I think it’s something that you could easily dip in and out of if you had other games you wanted to play.

Chronique des Silencieux is a feast for the eyes and a fantastic test for your detective skills, but the controls and difficulty go a little too far beyond clunky to truly call it a masterpiece.

Gameplay and translation issues aside, there is a great idea here that is well presented overall, if a little confusing in its execution. Even if it's difficult to enjoy as a detective experience, the core elements that make up Chronique des Silencieux have merit and could easily be improved in patches, updates and possibly sequels.

Pierre Feuille Studio had lofty ambitions with Chronique des Silencieux. While their dreams of making the truest detective game were held back by some perplexing translations and frustrating logic, they accomplished their goals of making something truly unique. Despite the genre's booming prevalence in the last decade, Chronique's historical fiction approach to its mystery and the relatively ordinary mysteries you're solving make for an experience unlike many of its contemporaries. With a great hand-drawn art style and the endless promise of its detail-oriented systems, it does just enough to keep you intrigued across its 10-15 hour story, if you're patient enough to bother with the piles of documents and confusing leads, that is.