Some games win you over with their setting, and Kyoto at night, with lanterns and rain, is a lovely place to start. Dark Alley, a detective adventure by solo developer CheesecakeGames, published by Barcelona-based JanduSoft, arrived on Thursday (5) on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox. On Xbox the purchase includes Play Anywhere: the investigation continues on console or PC with the same licence.
A disappearance in Kyoto, 2012
The story takes place in 2012. British detective Edward Hale has vanished in Kyoto, and London sends detective Thomas Bennett to Japan for what looked like a straightforward missing-person case. What he finds is a city where everyone knows more than they admit. The clues point to the Yakuza, but, as the official description puts it, “they are far from the whole story”.
What stands out is the pitch: a self-contained mystery with a beginning, middle and end, designed to be completed in a single adventure, with no complicated systems. The player examines objects, questions witnesses, takes notes and revisits old evidence; the puzzles are environmental and serve the story instead of breaking the pace. Bennett, as the studio describes him, is not the kind who kicks down doors: he watches, listens, asks uncomfortable questions and “usually annoys the right people”.
A nice touch: the locations are inspired by real modern Japan. You can see the care in places such as Gion’s lantern-lit streets, Nishiki Market, hidden temples, bamboo forests and traditional ryokans, plus hidden clubs that postcard Kyoto never shows. Dialogue appears in red-framed boxes, in the style of cinematic adventures.
Prices and platforms
Dark Alley costs $12.49 on both the PlayStation Store and the Xbox store (prices checked on Nov 5). The Steam page did not yet list a price at the time of publishing. If you enjoy investigations with a Japanese mood, also check out Rain98, the lo-fi thriller set in 1998 Tokyo, and the detective action RPG Silver Palace, due in December.
See also our monthly game release calendar.
Source: JanduSoft.
