There are interesting titles on the Switch that break boundaries. It may not seen like it, but The Fine Art of Murder is one of them. It is as exciting as one of those Choose Your Own Adventure novels Millennials read as kids… because it literally is one, except for an older audience. Let me show you what I mean:
The Fine Art of Murder takes the visual novel and makes it literally a novel. You read it, then make your selection and the novel flips to the correct page automatically. The novel itself is a story about you discovering a mystery involving three brothers and paintings. It’s surprisingly decently written, not classic literature, but not Aldora Games-level bad either. At the end of the novel you are judged based on whether or not you completed three objectives, pointing to there being a correct path. Finally, there is narration in the name of accessibility, but it is fully AI generated. I guess the budget was too low to pay for a voice actor.
Ultimately, The Fine Art of Murder is an interesting experiment at trying something different. And as a literal visual novel, it works. Don’t go into this expecting a AAA gaming experience, because it isn’t and doesn’t try to be at all. Plus, if you’re my age, this really is a blast from the past. If you’re younger, you can get a sense of what all the fuss was about. The Fine Art of Murder gets a Recommended Verdict with a seven back-end score.
Overall: The Fine Art of Murder is a literal visual novel that succeeds in what it sets out to do. Only the AI-generated narration was a let-down.
Verdict: Recommend
| Release Date | 11/6/24 |
| Cost | $2.99 |
| Publisher | Infinity Zone |
| ESRB Rating | T |
P.S. This ain’t the only one, there’s also one about an Ogre if you’re interested! Also try 49 Keys for another book-based adventure.
