Good day everyone,
I hope you are all well and having an excellent day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things gaming and literature. Following on from a post I did titled "Elementary my dear Watson" where I brought up the topic of the latest game which will be released in the Sherlock Holmes series by Frogwares, I have since decided to do a post on each of the individual games to give readers a better idea of one of my favourite gaming series ever created. Today I will be looking at the eight game in the series, called Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter.
The first post in the game series was Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy
The second post in the game series was Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring
The third post in the game series was Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
The fourth post in the game series was Sherlock Holmes Versus Arsène Lupin (aka Nemesis)
The fifth post in the game series was Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper
The sixth post in the game series was The Testament of Sherlock Holmes
The seventh post in the game series was Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishment
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter
The eight game in the series, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter, is set in 1896 and follows the events of The Testament of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock is now taking care of Moriarty's daughter, Katelyn, while keeping her true origin as a secret. The game was released in 2016 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
The game begins in 1896, and follows on from the events of The Testament of Sherlock Holmes. Professor James Moriarty is dead and Sherlock Holmes is now taking care of Moriarty's daughter, Katelyn, and in doing so is keeping her true origin as a secret. A new neighbour moves in next door to Holmes, a woman by the name of Alice De'Bouvier. She befriends Katelyn, and in doing so beings causing emotional issues between Holmes and Katelyn. As the game develops and Holmes solves different cases, he ensures to discover the true identify of Alice's origin along with her true intention, and in doing so he must fight not to reveal a secret, but to keep one.
The game features five individual cases which are all separate from each other. Each case is self-contained and any moral choices made in one case does not relate to another.
You can find the previous cases here:
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter - Case 1: Prey Tell
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter - Case 2: A Study in Green
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter - Case 3: Infamy
Chain Reaction
The story begins with Holmes and Watson travelling in a carriage and deep in discussion regarding telling Katelyn the truth about her father. Watson pleads with Holmes to tell her as she will discover Alice is leaving soon and likely blame Holmes for that also. Holmes is torn, as Katelyn says he always does the wrong thing as far as she is concerned. Suddenly their carriage comes to an abrupt halt, as the driver announces a massive accident has blocked the road. Holmes and Watson exit the carriage to discover bodies strewn across the street, rubble, and even electrified water. Watson wants to help in case there are any survivors, and the pair rush to help who they can. Between them they managed to rescue and resuscitate ten people who were in immediate danger. This includes a man with a dislocated arm, an unconscious man, another trapped in a carriage, a person trapped in a burning building, and a man who is stuck beneath a carriage. Once they have saved all who could be saved, Watson notices the police have arrested someone. Holmes is curious and decides to investigate exactly what happened to cause the horrific accident. Holmes approaches the constables and discovers the man they have is the man who erected the scaffolding which collapsed. Holmes listens to the man and deems he could not possibly have caused its collapse, which in turn caused the accident. Instead Holmes requires the constables to cordon off the area, not allow anyone in or out, and the detective sets about reconstructing the accident to discover exactly what took place. .
Holmes sets about questions the few witnesses in the area and examining the scene. There are a handful of remaining carriages, a fruit cart, a burning building, along with British themed bunting scattered about the place. A mechanism with a platform is also in the centre of the road near a statue. There is an overturned lamppost in a pool of water which Holmes carefully removes the fuses from, thus stopping its electrical current and ending the electrical pool of water. From inspecting the strange mechanism and talking to the few witnesses who are willing to talk, Holmes makes use of an arial map to deduct the cause of the accident.
Holmes realises that the Technical Cab suddenly stopped in the road, which caused the carriage behind it, a farmer carrying fruit, to skid. The fruit ended up bouncing into the mechanism in the middle of the street, which set off a reaction that led to an axe hitting the bunting. This bunting blocked the oncoming horses view and it crashed into the central tower. The debris falling caused another collision, which in turn sent a carriage straight into the building at the top of the street. The building caught fire and its explosion made two more carriages crash. Their collision made the bookcases topple, which finally made the lamppost fall to the ground and electrocute the pool of water. Holmes deduces the first carriage stopped before the water was electrified and became dangerous, making him suspect the entire accident was pre-planned. To confirm this suspicion Holmes investigates the original Technical Cab which stopped abruptly.
Holmes notices the deceased driver was armed, had a dog tattoo on his neck along with mud on his boots, and strange electrical burns on his hands which prove he died by electrocution. The passenger in the back of the carriage also showed electrical burns on his palms, along with a similar tattoo and a tattoo stating 'Rasco' on his knuckles. A well known petty criminal to Holmes. There was also a box with solvent in the rear of the carriage along with mud on the floor and a pneumatic jackhammer. Holmes notices the exterior of the carriage has been painted, and underneath is some text. Making use of the solvent, he discovers the carriage is property of the 'Underground Electric Railways Company of London.'
Further investigation reveals metal strappings on the wheels of the carriage, and a nearby fire hydrant had its crank turned and was spilling water. Noticing there is a wiring coming from the puddle, Holmes follows in into a nearby building and to a locked door. After picking the lock, Holmes discovers a small room with a view to the street exactly where the carriage stopped, hidden by some curtains, and a device connected to the wire. After examining the device Holmes manages to start it, which in turns causes an electrical change to go through the wire to the street below. This is the cause of the accident and how the men got killed via electrocution.
Holmes goes back down to the constable and Watson and explains his discoveries to their horror and surprise. After concluding this is murder and an accident, and that the suspect is likely still in the area due to the prompt arrival of the police, Holmes picks out five potential suspects. After identifying the five potential suspects, Holmes reviews their activities during the accident and decides which, and how many, of the five are to be considered serious suspects. After informing the constable to take his chosen suspects to Scotland Yard, Watson informs Holmes he will go to the hospital to tend to the wounded, while also reminding the detective not to forget their earlier conversation regarding Katelyn. Holmes makes his way to Scotland Yard, where his three chosen suspects have been taken.
When Holmes arrives at Scotland Yard he is informed that one of the suspects, a Mr. Reginald Butcher, has managed to escape by hitting an office in the face, although he did apparently say he would be back. Inspector Lestrade is away for a couple of days, but they did manage to get all the suspects to leave their belongings in the evidence room, including Mr. Reginald Butcher. There are four boxes here and Holmes goes through each of them carefully.
- The first box contains the items of the escaped Mr. Reginald Butcher. Within Holmes finds an expensive pen, a handkerchief with the initials MB on them, and two letters. The first letter is from his employers, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London where he has been having problems. The second letter is from Ormond Hospital which claims to have found a solution to his problem and he should come see them straight away, Interesting.
- The second box has the items belonging to Mr. Benjamin Fowler, which contains cigarettes, some cheap whiskey, insulated gloves, and a letter. The letter is from a Pastor Gordon, who claims to have helped Fowler from his life of crime. There is also a photograph of Fowler with Pastor Gordon with the words 'Pastor Gordon has changed my life' written on it.
- Mr. Thomas Garrett's possessions are in the third box. Within there are electrical wires, a book with a bookmark on a page stating sacrifice for the greater good is apparently acceptable, and finally a letter from the Bank of England stating Garrett is still in considerable debt with them.
- Finally, the fourth box has the items which belonged to the deceased gang members. The gun, a pocket knife, a box of liquorice, and a police report stating he is a minor criminal and his gang sports the dog tattoo on their necks.
After going through their things and building a better image of the men in question, Holmes decides to speak to the two remaining suspects. The first up is Fowler. He has a dog tattoo on his neck, and Holmes discovers he had been in Rasco's gang when he was a young lad after all of his family had died. These days he works for the council repairing lampposts, although he is limited in his knowledge of electricity as it is new and dangerous. He pleads to be let go as he has done nothing wrong.
Next up is Garrett, he is a poor and aggressive man who spent fifteen years working in a coal mine but wants no more of that. He is an anarchist, untrusting of police and the wealthy, He saw the crash and explosion, and was quite happy to see the better off in trouble, although he claims to have stayed to help his fellow comrades who were hurt. He also works with electricity, self taught, and teaches it to his friends when he is out of paid work.
With the two men thoroughly interrogated, Holmes decides to go search for the escapee, Mr. Reginald Butcher, at Ormond Hospital. AT the hospital Holmes discovers Reginald at the sick daughters hospital bed. He is widowed, a railway worker, and was once quite well off. Reginald explains that one of the technical carriages was stolen a week prior to the accident and that it could possibly be the one used in the accident. Holmes questions if there is any cure for his daughter Meryl, and it becomes clear Reginald would sacrifice it all to save his daughter, whatever the cost.
Holmes heads back to the scene of the accident. Just past where his and Watson's carriage stopped, Holmes notices mud similar to what was on the boots of the gang members. The nearby pole and barrels look out of sorts with fresh paints and hints of a collision, leading Holmes to deduce that the mud must be coming from the nearby shop, the 'Barrell and Bucket.' Holmes decides to enter the store, where he discovers more of the mud on the ground and a note regarding a snake infestation. The door at the back is locked, so Holmes picks it, leading to a storeroom. With more mud on the floor, Holmes moves a carpet to discover a hole leading into the sewers.
Down in the sewers Holmes explores around and after winding through the tunnels, he comes across a strange machine. To the left of this machine is a wheel which opens a door, and beyond that is a flooded area. The machine allows Holmes to control the water level, and by reducing the water he can enter the area. Holmes also spots a pneumatic drill, the same kind he spotted in the technical cab. Holmes enters the area, moves some crates, and goes back to raise the water to the halfway level. This allows him to climb across to the next area, where Holmes applies the same technique after crossing over a pipe using his balancing technique to get to a ladder by moving a barrel in the water.
After climbing up the ladder Holmes finds himself entering a tunnel which leads into the Bank of England vault. Rasco's gang have already stolen most of the items from the vault, and Holmes discovers a small map of the sewers with a red X marked on it. Following the map back along the route Holmes came from, he discovers the place where they had moved the loots. It is along a piece of the rushing water in the sewers, and the remains of barrels, banks notes, liquorice sweets, and cigarettes are discovered by Holmes. So the gang threw the loot into the water inside the barrels to collect them afterwards down the line. From here Holmes must make his decision on who is the guilty party in this case.
Reginald Butcher can be chosen as the criminal in this case. If Holmes choses to condemn him then Holmes arrives at the hospital along with a couple of policemen. He approaches Reginald and tells him to say goodbye to his daughter as they are arresting him for theft and murder. While Reginald protests and pleads innocent, he also worries about what will happen to his daughter Meryl. Holmes tells Reginald that murder is never an expression of love.
However if Holmes choses to absolve him then Holmes arrives at the hospital alone and informs Reginald that he must leave for Stockholm with his daughter immediately. Reginald explains how he was forced to do it for his daughter to save her life, and Holmes admits that perhaps he was.
Benjamin Fowler is the next option, and condemning him means Holmes takes him into the interrogation room and informs Benjamin that he is under arrest for assisting Rasco's gang in the theft of the Bank of England and then murdering Rasco to take the loot for his own gain. Fowler protests and denies everything, but Holmes is not interested.
Absolving him will result in Holmes letting Benjamin know that Holmes knows he killed Rasco and took part in the robbery, but because Benjamin has changed his life around and hold a steady job Holmes will let him go. Benjamin protests his innocence, but Holmes informs him that all that happened was 'bad people' got murdered, but that Benjamin must forget about any of the money from the robbery.
Finally, Holmes can pick Thomas Garrett. Condemning him will lead to Holmes letting Thomas know he is the guilty man for the robbery and murder. Thomas is not surprised and claims how Holmes is doing the work of the rich to ensure a 'nobody' takes the fall
Absolving him will result in Holmes informing Thomas that he is aware the man took part in the robbery and killed Rasco, but will let him go due to his illness. Thomas wants no murder, instead is willing to die a martyr and demands to be held in prison, but Holmes insists he is to be a free man.
System Requirements
To run this game on your PC it will require a minimum of the following as per Steam:
As a little piece of trivia, it is widely known that Sherlock Holmes suffered from cocaine addiction, but his use of it was due to the fact that at the time of writing the stories in the late 1800's cocaine was seen as a miracle drug. Once people realised it was in fact a harmful drug, then Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had Watson 'cure' Holmes of his addiction.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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