The Shapeshifting Detective Review – Traveller’s Tales

I adore these little interactive movie games from D’Avekki Studio. I really think they’ve found a gap in the market. Why spend millions on developing photo-realistic visuals when you can use high-definition video clips instead? You don’t get much more realistic than that. Kinda makes sense, doesn’t it?

Introduction

The themes of D’Avekki Studio games are usually crime thrillers, though I much prefer the ones with a paranormal twist as I’m a sucker for sci-fi and fantasy. The Shapeshifting Detective is actually a spin-off of a spin-off, making a few nods to the previous game, The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, which is itself a spin-off of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos.

The Shapeshifting Detective is the second game to exist in this ever-expanding universe, with the third game, Dark Nights with Poe and Munro, inspiring me to return to this one to see more of what this branching narrative tale has to offer and hopefully grab the hard-earned platinum trophy along the way. Though, this might be easier said than done. More on that later.

The Shapeshifting Detective is an adventure game developed by D’Avekki Studios and published by Wales Interactive. The player investigates a murder mystery and interviews suspects who answer via full-motion video. It was first released in 2018. Prequel Dark Nights with Poe and Munro was released in 2020.

Story

In an unknown office, at an unknown location, we find ourselves interviewed by an unknown man. We’ve been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, yet rather than lock up the protagonist for being the only suspect at a crime scene, or potentially stick a bullet in our head, our mysterious authority figure decides we’re more use to his organisation alive than dead. You see, you are the titular Shapeshifting Detective, a nameless, ageless, genderless entity, with the ability to become anyone you’ve previously met.

A young woman, Dorota Shaw, has been murdered under strange circumstances, but the culprit can’t be far away. Taking on the role of a gender-fluid private investigator named ‘Sam’, you’ll need to talk to each suspect and prove their innocence or guilt. You can shapeshift into any character you meet, even the next victim. The prime suspects are three tarot readers with the uncanny ability to predict the murder, or maybe even commit it.

It’s your job to find out what else they know, but they won’t reveal their secrets to just anyone. Luckily, you can be anyone you want to be. The killer is actually randomly generated in each playthrough, meaning you’ll need to use your detective skills vigorously to catch the right person. The clues which confirm the killer’s identity accurately are incredibly subtle and thus exceptionally hard to find. The guilty party may be hiding in plain sight, but things aren’t always what they seem.

Gameplay

The player controls an unseen character from a first-person perspective who takes on the alias of ‘Sam’. Sam is a shapeshifter who can impersonate anyone after meeting them. Tasked with solving the murder of a local cellist, Sam interviews various suspects, beginning with a trio of fortune tellers who predicted the murder, followed by others affiliated with the victim. In each playthrough, the murderer is randomly selected from a pool of characters.

Should suspects become uncooperative, players can impersonate a friend or authority figure by heading to Sam’s private guesthouse room to shapeshift via the option in the on-screen menu. Sam’s dialogue is unvoiced to leave their gender ambiguous, but impersonated characters are voice-acted to maintain the illusion of their counterparts.

When interviewing suspects, dialogue choices are chosen from a list. Risky dialogue choices are marked, and players can remove them from the list if they do not wish to risk following a dialogue tree. Otherwise, choices are permanent and cannot be backtracked. The game is broken up into chapters which advance at certain plot points, such as interviewing everyone available at that time, delivering information to your ally in the local police, Chief Dupont, or the killer making their next move.

Graphics/Sound

Being an FMV adventure game means we’re always looking at high-definition video playing in the background. The actor (or occasionally actors) on-screen will speak with you directly, in the second-person, usually in response to your line of enquiry. The video quality never lapses and remains consistent throughout.

The video will often slow down intentionally; this is the game’s equivalent of an ‘idle’ animation, reminding you to make a choice to either continue or end the conversation in play, or highlight a period of time passing in the narrative. Occasionally, these are replaced by ominous swirls of colourful bubbling paint which act as a strange yet surprisingly effective alternative to blood pooling.

Actor performances are varied in nature as is intended; this highlights the multicultural setting of the modern day UK where the game is set. You’ll find actors with northern and southern English accents, as well as Irish, American and eastern European roles. The diversity in the cast is nice to see, without feeling aggressively ethnic. You might even recognise a face or two from similar projects.

Replayability/Trophies

I hate using a guide, especially for games with such a strong narrative, yet it’s essential here since so many elements are either left to chance or have specific prerequisites to trigger. Most of the trophies are missable and so playing the game blindly may get you a trophy or two but getting the full set takes up more time than you’d think. Best swallow your pride and follow a guide.

I went for blind playthroughs, taking note of the trophy descriptions when things weren’t working out and I ended up making five playthroughs without getting the platinum trophy, unfortunately. The first couple of playthroughs were great fun, yet the grind got to me after that and I had to take a couple of breaks. Again, go for the guide option to save yourself a headache. Even so, with randomly generated story triggers occurring, you will still need a bit of luck on your side.

Conclusion

The Shapeshifting Detective is a fascinating game with a consistently eerie vibe throughout and a pleasing paranormal twist. Your first and maybe second playthroughs should be immensely satisfying, but if you want to see every possible outcome or grab every last trophy then the game can overstay its welcome after a while.

It’s entirely possible to sabotage your own playthroughs if you adopt the ‘Mass Effect’ method of investigation by exhausting every dialogue option, which I found can break your path away from a specific line of enquiry and leave more elements to chance. If you can finish the game before repetition kicks in, you’ll get to see it in its best light. If the price is right, it’s absolutely worth a playthrough.

It is a good story with some solid performances from the actors (apart from a few cringey scenes where actors try to hug or kiss the camera). We also have a genuinely fun gimmick where you can shapeshift into anyone you’ve previously met. Oh, and the gorgeous Aislinn De’Ath returns from Doctor Dekker, this time in the role of sultry innkeeper Violet. It’s worth it just for her.