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[iorek21]

For such a popular genre on other media, the Detective genre is rather poor in AAA gaming. Did the below average sales of L.A. Noire back in 2011 impact the industry’s perception of the genre?

L.A. Noire was a very unique experience, it really made you feel like a detective. It had questioning, chases, shooting, investigations, deductions; you felt in control during each case. It had some issues and that facial scan thing probably took half of the budget, but it was a great AAA game.

It’s actually surprising that no other studio tried to replicate it in 12 years since its release. Why’s that?

Hell, even less popular genres got second chances in the AAA scene, how come the Detective genre keeps being ignored?

 

[Wildebeest]

What are you talking about? Robocop is set to be the game of the year.

 

[TGO]

They remastered it and did a VR game, I wouldn't have called it a flop.
You gotta remember even if you're interested in those games that doesn't mean the developers are.
But yes it would be nice to have another games like that.

 

[Verchod]

It's certainly a shame. I'd love a new detective game. LA Noire was great, but it felt a bit rigid. But it's probably really hard to do if you were given more freedom in the investigation part. I do think it would be the best reason to have an open world in a game though. To me it feels like nearly all open world games don't really need it, city based ones anyway, as it's rarely used for any thing.

 

[Spyxos]

Wasn't it very expensive back then?

 

[acm2000]

disco elysium says hi

 

[Hugare]

It was such a flop that killed the studio

It's a very expensive type of game to make, and not very marketable

Making AAA games never been this risky as they are nowadays. No big publisher would take this risk.

Maybe a self publish dev like Valve, but they wouldnt be interested in this kind of experience. And even them are aiming for the easy GAAS money nowadays.

I loved LA Noire, btw. Finished it on the PS3 and PC. Also bought it on PS4

And the Ace Attorney series is my jam

 

[Wildebeest]

Wasn't it very expensive back then?

It took 8 years to make, with a big employee churn at the studio, and seemed rushed, so it's about standard for games today. Nobody today is talking about how The Getaway killed gangster games, or even remembers The Getaway.

 

[Housh]

Shadows of Doubt​

 

[yurinka]

Games like Detroit, Ace Attorney, Layton, Detective Pikachu and indie stuff like Chinatown Detective Agency continue there. It isn't a top seller genre but is a pretty interesting niche with some games with pretty good -not stellar- sales.

 

[Putonahappyface]

Flop? I Really enjoyed it personally and would love to see a sequel. Yes I know it'll never happen.

 

[funkygunther]

no but it did kill that transposed FMV face-tech that they hyped up a ton

 

[Danjin44]

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

 

[Magic Carpet]

I think today's social media believe what you want killed the detective genre. Things like evidence? Who needs it. Just pick a side and millions will follow.

 

[Skifi28]

I don't know how accurate the info on the web is, but 4 million sales in one month doesn't sound like a flop to me. But if it's not GTA money, Rockstar doesn't seem to care.

 

[The Cockatrice]

LA Noire didnt kill it, it was a niche to begin with. Point and click games were most of the time using it and still are. You should try some

Also one of the best games ever made is a detective game

You should search better.

 

[ckaneo]

Rockstar dropped RDR2 and it sold 50 million copies lol.

They are obsessed with GTA Online.


I think what killed detective games is every game adding detective vision and detective elements in regular gameplay. If I'm playing a superhero or super-powered being who can do detective stuff hard to justify a big budget game about regular people.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Detective games don’t really invite exciting gameplay that matches to a videogame.

 

[SonicVolcano]

The Painscreek Killings would like a word. It might not look appealing but it is a really clever game with a great story.

 

[RoboCain]

There is this thing with games, big audiences only pay attention to the latest releases.

So, whenever a game is out, it has to be the greatest ever or better than whatever is "the greatest thing ever" that month.

L.A. Noire is a great game for what it is, but people back then expected another action game like GTA and RDR.

The game tried to implement detective gameplay elements in a AAA game. People nitpicked on the NPC animations, how you picked the clues, etc.

On top of that, the studio had internal problems and Rockstar didn't want to work with them after the game was released. (Also, you can tell the map is a bit empty).

I always thought they could have released something like a big meaty DLC with a short campaign and some side activities to try to save the franchise.

 

[fart town usa]

Alone in the Dark is releasing in October.
Call of Cthulhu on PS4 and whatever else it released on is a cool game (for some).
There's also no shortage of Sherlock Holmes style games but I haven't played any of them.
Murdered: Soul Suspect probably fits the bill too.

Just have to look harder, most of these games are indie-tier.

edit- someone mentioned it but Judgment and Lost Judgment fit the bill too and will give you AAA stuff to toy around with.

 

[justiceiro]

Remember mudered: soul suspect? If not, that's why. If yes, do yourself a favor and forget because it was that bad.

 

[AmuroChan]

Disco Elysium
Ace Attorney
Judgement
Wolf Among Us

Technically, the Arkham games can also be considered detective games.

 

[azertydu91]

I feel like the game wasn't that much of a flop but Rockstar was probably too ambitious for it.Which is agreeing in a sense that it flopped but sometimes games don't just flop, they just couldn't reach an insanely high target, even if they sell well.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I thought what LA Noire did for the genre was a good thing. I don’t normally get into point and click, but LA Noire had action to it. Shootouts, locations to travel to and catching perps was interesting. I think at the time people wanted it to be more GTA and less of an interview simulator.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Rockstar goes GTA, Red Dead, detective, GTA online than red dead is their rotation.

 

[Randall365]

LA Noire was like a Police Quest game - or Cruise for a Corpse if you remember it- great if you love that sort of thing, but the broad appeal was limited compared to GTA.

Presumably all these Sherlock Holmes/Agatha Christie games are similar (but without the budget)?

 

[AJUMP23]

Didn’t like 15 ace attorney and detective picachu and professor laten and Sherlock Holmes games come out since la noir.

 

[Metalman96]

The Painscreek Killings would like a word. It might not look appealing but it is a really clever game with a great story.

That game is crazy underrated.

 

[Virex]

disco elysium says hi

We're talking about games and not visual novels

 

[Dr.Morris79]

The Painscreek Killings would like a word. It might not look appealing but it is a really clever game with a great story.

Cheers for this, i'd never heard of it but i'm damn well buying it now

 

[VN1X]

Yes the entire "Detective" genre collapsed after Rockstar made a game that didn't sell like GTA.

Just one example from the top of my head:

Murdered: Soul Suspect (2014)

 

[The Cockatrice]

We're talking about games and not visual novels

Spoken like someone who hasnt played it.

 

[Virex]

Spoken like someone who hasnt played it.

You are correct. I did not speak, I typed it on a keyboard

 

[The Cockatrice]

You are correct. I did not speak, I typed it on a keyboard

 

[Hudo]

Imagine if Rockstar actually gave a shit and had competent project management. We could've had L.A. Noire 2 by now.

 

[Virex]

By the way, I never implied that Disco Elysium is a bad game. It's a very good game, I plan on replaying it again sometime in the future now that it has full voice acting and changes from the original release.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Loved LA Noire and still go back to it when I need a juicy time period piece (Mafia II also cures that 1940s/50s itch). Sucks it destroyed Team Bondi, but I was hoping R* would pick up the torch and carry it forward. Actually I was really hoping they'd take a leap into the 1970s and put a sequel in seedy, bombed out NYC taking inspiration from films like The French Connection, Serpico, Dirty Harry etc.

 

[The Cockatrice]

By the way, I never implied that Disco Elysium is a bad game. It's a very good game, I plan on replaying it again sometime in the future now that it has full voice acting and changes from the original release.

I figured but to compare it to a visual novel is a huge disservice to it. Its like saying Planescape Torment is a visual novel.

 

[Virex]

I figured but to compare it to a visual novel is a huge disservice to it. Its like saying Planescape Torment is a visual novel.

It kind of is. But at the same time Planecescape Torment is one of the greatest games ever made. On a slightly different subject. You ever play Torment: Tides Of Numernera, still one of the biggest gaming disappointments I ever had.

 

[bosnianpie]

I wonder why the whodunit-genre and mystery in general isn't more prevalent in games, being so popular in books and movies. It should suit the medium well and wouldn't need a whole new universe to be created since so much can be drawn from real life. I guess the replay-value would suffer but you could still create really cool experiences.

 

[DaGwaphics]

This thread reminds me that I think I have this one in my back log and should give it a shot.

 

[Husky]

This thread reminds me that I think I have this one in my back log and should give it a shot.

You should.