Murder by Numbers

 Switch
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 31 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 31
  3. Negative: 6 out of 31
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  1. The_Game_Eater
    Mar 18, 2020
    5
    I went in really excited because I a) love murder mysteries, b) love Ace Attorney, and c) love picross puzzles. Unfortunately, this did not scratch any of those itches well. I think this could be a decent I.P. but there were a lot of things that made this an underwhelming experience.

    First, the story is incredibly weak. There are so many "twists" I could see coming from a mile away. It    I went in really excited because I a) love murder mysteries, b) love Ace Attorney, and c) love picross puzzles. Unfortunately, this did not scratch any of those itches well. I think this could be a decent I.P. but there were a lot of things that made this an underwhelming experience.

    First, the story is incredibly weak. There are so many "twists" I could see coming from a mile away. It has none of the surprises a good mystery should. Moreover, the murders are so unceremonious. They just sorta happen and the cases are super dull. You're not trying to solve some insane murder, you're just sort of bumming around look for clues to who did it (even though the player almost certainly knows because the murderer is obvious to any Ace Attorney player). The overarching plot is ok but not great. Also, the side characters that show up are so boring, especially in comparison to Ace Attorney which has such colorful casts.

    Second, the soundtrack is a MASSIVE letdown. Masakazu Sugimori is responsible for two of my favourite soundtracks of all time and this is such a bland set from him. It feels like Ace Attorney with no style. It doesn't sound like it was composed by a veteran like him.

    Third, the pacing is really bad. It's like three minutes of plot followed by a 10 minute picross, multiplied by a couple dozen times and it wears down on you. Ace Attorney elements are almost non-existent. No interrogations, barely any careful piecing together of murders. Just an endless onslaught of picross puzzles that began to wear me down due to the poor pacing and lack of variety. There needs to be more game here. Not just a bunch of picross puzzles with a story.

    Finally, and this is what I consider to be the nail in the coffin, the picross puzzles aren't good. One of the coolest things about a picross puzzle is that you get to create a really nice piece of pixel art. In this game, none of the pieces look great when complete and I can't tell what they are half the time because it relies on coloring in after completion to reveal what it is. The puzzles look ugly. Even when filled with color, it's hard to tell what half of them look like and I have to read the title to get what it's supposed to be.

    I realize this is a harsh review but when you're catering to such a niche audience, you have to have a good grasp on why that audience exists. This game lacks so much of what makes a good mystery, Ace Attorney game, and picross puzzle and the only things saving it from being an absolute trainwreck are a good main cast, decent character design, and some really progressive details like a woman of color as the lead (without constantly bringing it up to showcase it) and an honest and respectful look at the drag scene.

    If the devs are willing to take these critiques to heart, I believe they could continue with a sequel, refine the hell out of it, and come out the other side with a phenomenal little gem in the indie scene. But I have to say... as far as this one is concerned, I recommend skipping it. It won't give you what you're looking for.    … Expand
  2. Peaceduke
    Apr 6, 2020
    5
    Buy only if you enjoy picross... If you had a pleasure experiencing masterful Phoenix Wright, the story here has nothing to offer and the dialogues are among weakest I saw in VN. No shocks, no twists,everything's quite predictible and safe or you just don't care. Characters are not that interesting either, Visual design is fine, but models lack variety. Price is fine though...
  3. shoebill
    Feb 4, 2021
    7
    This is marketed as a detective game, but to be clear, there is no investigation. There is a story wrapper around a series of Picross puzzles (which I've described as "Sudoku mixed with paint by numbers" to those unfamiliar). The Picrosses are fun and the ambiance is upbeat. The Picross alone is probably a 7 out of 10, with an extra booster point for having a bit of nice theming. I'mThis is marketed as a detective game, but to be clear, there is no investigation. There is a story wrapper around a series of Picross puzzles (which I've described as "Sudoku mixed with paint by numbers" to those unfamiliar). The Picrosses are fun and the ambiance is upbeat. The Picross alone is probably a 7 out of 10, with an extra booster point for having a bit of nice theming. I'm just addicted to these damn little puzzles. Love em!

    The story wrapper itself is fairly unimpressive. The music is boppy and art is great. I knew Hato Moa of Hatoful Boyfriend was involved, but I didn't realize until the credits that she was the character designer. That made sense of a lot of things for me, because it was the highlight and there was no way I would have believed that the same person who wrote Hatoful wrote this game. The script ranges from "occasional strained chuckle" to "trying WAY too hard." It wears its Phoenix Wright inspirations on its sleeve - there's even a Mia Fey quote embedded in one of the bonus scenes - but it misses the mark on the quirky, funny characters. The first case started with a decent number of quirky personalities and funny lines, but it goes rapidly downhill from there. By the final case, there doesn't appear to be any attempt at characterizing any of the one-off participants. The main character...exists. The side characters feel shoehorned in. But I'm spending a lot of energy griping on the story when it's totally irrelevant; I do like "searching" for the Picross puzzles in the background, and it improves the pacing so that I don't just rush straight from puzzle to puzzle.

    I still recommend this game highly, but just as a puzzle game and not as a viz nov. That's OK!    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

90
#90 Best Switch Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Apr 28, 2021
    85
    Murder by Numbers is a winning blend of two genres never previously mixed. [Issue #49 – November/December 2020, p. 21]
  2. Nintendo Insider
    Apr 13, 2020
    90
    Murder by Numbers is a weird and wonderful recipe that successfully merges nanogram puzzles with some light detective mechanics and an entertaining murder mystery-style visual novel. The end result is a truly original experience and one that takes an otherwise straightforward puzzle-type and moves it in an exciting and surprising new direction.
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  3. GameSkinny
    Apr 8, 2020
    90
    Murder by Numbers is an exquisite detective puzzler with wonderful writing, gorgeous graphics, and masterful music.
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