Obsidian Moon Preview

Obsidian Moon is a new indie text-based noir detective-simulator game that puts you in the shoes of a gritty detective solving some gruesome crimes. With a few interesting mechanics and some intriguing storytelling, there's a lot going on in Obsidian Moon. It's both created and published by the team over at Lost Cabinet Games, who are looking to give players an open-ended way to enjoy (or hate) being a detective.

Every choice you make matters, not in a narrative sense, but rather in terms of time. Just like in real life, time is a precious commodity, and using your time wisely can be the difference-maker between solving a case and going insane.

It's a peculiar game that may require players to keep notes, at least on their progress, while trying to solve the case. There's a lot to love here, but it's not without problems that come from the overall design and mechanics.

A Detective Game with Horror Elements

Horror is a pretty all-encompassing word these days, with anything from Lovecraftian nightmares to jump scares fitting under the category. For Obsidian Moon, they're leaning more into the former rather than going for pure shock value. It's a solid strategy, setting it in a gritty noir world where nothing is as it seems.

For now, there are only two case files: a tutorial case and the first story case. Within these two, you'll be introduced to a few characters and learn the ins and outs of being a detective on the case. The downside to this is that you're playing as a character rather than as yourself, and the only choices you'll have involve solving the case.

You play a gruff and unlovable detective, Sam. Sam's life has gone completely down the drain after using some unconventional means to get confessions out of a suspect. Now he's back to the bottom of the barrel in Homicides, but there seems to be a bit more to the story when he begins to investigate his first murder.

Players will need to solve the case by looking for clues through a few means. Take the time and work out every possible connection between clues, use some expensive tactics to get the necessary information, or just stick to what works and start waving a gun around to get what you want. Every choice will cost time, and when the bills come due, players will need to manage how sane they want to stay or risk falling apart at the seams.

A Dark and Gritty Game in Theme and Setting

Obsidian Moon isn't just a game about solving crime; it's a game about figuring out what exactly is going on in this city. There's an overarching story that goes beyond the cases, and it'll be up to players to put those pieces together. The sinister undertones presented in just the first case mission give the idea that some kind of supernatural weirdness is going on, but only if players are willing to dig deep enough.

A combination of psychological and chthonic horror will begin to unfold as each new case reveals a piece of the puzzle. What that puzzle is still remains a mystery, but it's clear that whatever is happening in this town is creepy and disturbing. The game leans its own mechanics into this theme and setting, where these horrors are just another day, and every day matters more than the last.

One of the very cool things about this game is how it utilizes the themes of psychological horror mixed with game mechanics about keeping your mental health stabilized. While there may be some more depth to that system in future cases, it's a bit light right now, but that doesn't stop it from being compelling.

Time is of the essence in every case, as the longer you take, the more chances there are to go crazy. Every new clue earned requires something, either time or money, or both. As the timer ticks down, you face your own real-life crisis, watching the clock slip away as you bang your head, looking for any new connection or lead that will get you the solution.

Mechanically Simple and Meaningfully Deep

It feels a little odd to be racing against the clock in a game about solving a mystery, since you often want to take your time to figure out what exactly is going on. The biggest upside is you don't technically have to be right, although so far it isn't too hard to get there, at least in the first case.

Each case will open up with a location card that you can interact with. The interactions for almost every card stay the same: you can inspect or surveil it, have the lab check it out, or send for records. Each of these turns up new information and connections that stem from that card.

From there, it's up to you to match cards up with drag and drop to see what sort of connections you can make. For example, dragging the Victim card over any suspects will give you their statement, which you'll need to get started. You can choose how to do all of that and decide what to use your time on, but not every interaction will get you something useful.

You'll find yourself keeping track of what cards you've already tested, and how much time you still have in your day. Solving a case quickly is preferred, as at the end of each day, you'll suffer a loss to your Sanity for any bills you've left unpaid. It puts players in charge of determining exactly how they want to handle the case, the long way or the easy way.

Choices Matter, but Not Really

Every choice you make is important to solving the case, but that doesn't mean anything for the overall story between cases. For instance, I never used Evelyn the tramp in my first run of the case, since I'd managed to get to what I needed a different way. This didn't stop the following cutscene from telling me I did use her, and she was a big help.

It's a bit funky to have a game that revolves around choices, but those choices are totally confined to the actual gameplay and have no bearing on the story whatsoever. It's not a bad thing to have them be separate entities, since it means players won't need to worry about not finding every clue in a case.

On the flip side of things, it feels a little half-baked to base a game around choices but not have those choices expand beyond the gameplay. Perhaps this will change as the cases get more complicated, but for now, it just comes across a bit wonky.

In a world filled with games that only give you the illusion of choice, Obsidian Moon gives you full control over how you go about solving the case and how you spend your time. It's an intriguing game that forces you to pay close attention to what you read and the choices you make. Whether you reach the correct conclusion is entirely up to you.

While there's still no confirmed full release date for Obsidian Moon, be sure to follow along on the game's Steam page to stay up to date on future news.