The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark Switch NSP Free Download Sequels generally need to accomplish two things: they need to be bigger and better than their predecessors. Okay, if we’re being picky, they don’t necessarily need to be bigger, as such, but certainly better. Released back in 2017, The Darkside Detective was a surprise hit, boasting gorgeous pixelated visuals, a stellar soundtrack, and – if you’re of a certain age – hilarious pop culture references. Its sequel, The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark is certainly a bigger game in terms of scope and overall length, and with small quality-of-life changes and less reliance on referential narrative. ROMSLAB.COM Best Switch Games

The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

Taking place right after the first game ends, The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark sees the return of protagonist Detective Francis McQueen. In the first of six new cases, Detective McQueen is on a mission to locate his loyal, dim-witted partner, Officer Dooley, who has been missing and is presumed to be in the ‘Darkside’, a supernatural realm filled with ghosts and mysterious creatures. The narrative tone of the game still feels very much like ‘Twin Peaks’ meets ‘Ghostbusters’, but the world feels far more fleshed out in comparison to the first game, with lengthier cases and a much larger cast of characters.

Gameplay

The gameplay itself feels relatively unchanged from the first entry: in classic point-and-click style you move between static scenes, selecting various objects of interest and chatting with the locals inhabiting each area. Items you’ve collected can be used elsewhere to solve puzzles, and you’ll often need to combine different objects to make entirely new ones. Selecting objects and moving between scenes is done via an in-game cursor, which feels slightly slower and smoother than the twitchy cursor found in the first game. Thankfully, if you do ever want to speed up the cursor’s speed you can move the left and right analogue sticks together in unison.Strangers Of The Power 3 Switch NSP

The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

The first case – Missing, Presumed Darkside – takes place across several different locations throughout the city of Twin Lakes, including an auction house, a TV studio, a junk yard, and an apartment. Occasionally, it does feel like some of the tasks Detective McQueen needs to complete have been included purely for the sake of artificially lengthening the narrative, but for the most part it flows reasonably well. You’re consistently introduced to new characters and areas throughout each case, with each being just as interesting as the last. The biggest improvement comes with the writing. Where the original relied heavily on pop culture references.

On first playthrough

On first playthrough, The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark will probably clock in at around 9 hours or so, with each case taking roughly 1.5 hours to crack. As with any adventure title, there isn’t a great deal of replay value to be found here, and repeat playthroughs will take significantly less time once you know how all of the puzzles work. Additionally, while you can play the game with no knowledge of the first title, we recommend you still play The Darkside Detective before diving into this game; the devs did include a handy recap cutscene at the start.STORY OF SEASONS: Pioneers of Olive Switch

The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

Unfortunately of course, not everything works as well as the first game. One of the biggest strengths of The Darkside Detective was its outstanding soundtrack, and while the sequel certainly retains the same synth-heavy style of tunes, they’re nowhere near as memorable as those found in the first game. We wish that the main theme from The Darkside Detective was also utilised here, as it felt like a fitting theme for a fledgling franchise, in a similar way to how the Stranger Things theme is now instantly recognisable. Alas, this isn’t the case.

The pixel-art visuals

From a technical point of view Fumble in the Dark is incredibly simplistic. There’s barely any character animation, no recorded speech, and little in the way of sound effects. Yet developer Spooky Doorway has somehow still made a game with buckets of personality. The pixel-art visuals are sometimes gorgeous in their simplicity, but the ace in the game’s hand is the writing. It’s consistently witty, knowing, and intelligent – without ever being too smug or abrasive. Considering the arguably overdone subject matter and number of references it throws your way (not as many as the first game, which is welcome) that’s no mean feat.SteamWorld Heist: Ultimate Edition Switch

The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

Many characters from its predecessor return, and the first case won’t have much of an impact for first time entrants to the series.The actual cases themselves are enjoyable, if not massively intricate. Each one lasts roughly an hour and a half, so there’s no real chance for twisty narratives to be weaved they all feel like TV episodes rather than feature films. Which was probably the point.As for the puzzles, they’re often refreshingly bizarre. Never too obtuse, and once you’re in tune with the game’s way of thinking there’s definitely a consistency to the solutions you’ll have to think up. SteamWorld Dig 2 Switch NSP

Add-ons (DLC): The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark Switch NSP