#61 - The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

Sheesh, Amy, don't look so happy that Sonic's dead...

Hey all! It was my birthday last week, so to celebrate, I wanted to play a game themed around a birthday party. And since I'm a huge Sonic the Hedgehog nerd, I decided to play the murder mystery game, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog! As usual, there will be no spoilers in this post, so read on for details!

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog randomly dropped for April Fools Day in 2023, with the announcement that SEGA has decided to just kill off Sonic. This was a free game to play and turned out to be pretty fun! (It's still free on Steam, if you want to check it out.) It's a point-and-click visual novel, where you get to help Tails and Amy solve the death of Sonic the Hedgehog.

But he's not really dead... is he?

The game starts with Barry the Quokka, a timid and insecure character, beginning his first shift aboard the Mirage Express. This is a passenger train designed to host parties and events. You play as "Barry," although you can give him whatever (respectful) name you want. For simplicity's sake, I stuck with his canon name. I'm not one to mess with the canon.

In the dining car, Barry meets the conductor, who is one day away from retirement. That always goes smoothly in murder/mystery stories, right? He coaches Barry on his roles and responsibilities and offers to assist him in greeting the guests and collecting their tickets, before disappearing to the conductor car to run the train.

By the way, the conductor's mention of 32 years as conductor was a reference to the 32 years since the first Sonic game released in 1991.

The guests show up, dressed in unusual attire. It's Amy Rose's birthday and she's rented the train for a murder mystery party!

You and the conductor collect tickets from the party members, giving you a chance to chat with everyone and get to know their personalities a bit.

Vector has misplaced his ticket, which gives you a quick warm-up mystery to solve. It's mostly to ensure you're observant of the rooms you're in. You'll need to find various things to click on in every room throughout the game, in order to solve each mystery. Don't worry, clickable items are highlighted in neon green when you hover over them; you can't miss them.

When it's time to collect Amy's ticket, the conductor hands her a key that opens every door on the train. She's the birthday girl; it's the rules.

You may notice the robot hand giving her the key. The train itself is sentient, responding to the needs of all its guests. Barry, despite being hired to work on this train, is basically a glorified microwave expert, as the train handles everything except heating up food for guests. You'll see robot hands working in every car of the train.

Amy gathers the party together to announce the rules of the murder mystery party. One person has been designated as the murderer and they have an hour to mingle amongst the guests and pick one person to murder, which must be done in-person. The rest of the guests have to collect evidence and interrogate everyone else to determine who the murderer is.

Everyone has a role and a car they are stationed in:

• Sonic is the ship captain and is stationed in the conductor's car.
• Tails is the detective and stationed in the dining car.
• Knuckles is the sheriff and stationed in the saloon car.
• Vector is the butcher and Espio is the poet, and both are stationed in the library car.
• Rouge is a business tycoon and Blaze is a titan of industry, and both are stationed in the casino car.
• Shadow is the locksmith, stationed in the lounge car.
• And finally, Amy Rose is the journalist reporter, with freedom to roam around all the cars.

The detective and journalist are the only two who CAN'T be the murderer, as they're trying to solve the crime.

Everyone disperses and Barry hangs back in the dining car with Amy and Tails. After chatting for a while, the train suddenly jolts forward at an incredible pace! Tails, Amy, and Barry are knocked into the dining car's closet. Upon awakening, they find themselves trapped! Amy is acting suspicious and ignoring direct questions about their predicament. Tails jumps into detective mode! He asks Barry to help him figure out what's actually going on.

You can scan the room for various things to click on, which will give dialogue between you and Tails. Anything that seems like a clue, Barry will keep in his inventory for later.

Tails and Barry can then interrogate Amy and try to solve the mystery! While trying to formulate a reasonable argument, Tails encourages Barry to close his eyes and think... what would Sonic do? Barry follows this advice, which spawns a mini-game to play. This mini-game will appear every time Barry is attempting to resolve a mystery, and it only gets more challenging as the game goes on.

The "Dream Gear" and the overall design of the handheld device is a loose parody of the SEGA Game Gear, which was SEGA's first portable gaming system.

The objective of this mini-game is to collect enough rings to pass the level. If you succeed, Barry puts together a logical and reasonable argument to help solve the current mystery. If you fail, it will just restart the level. There's no way to actually lose unless you give up playing.

After solving the first real mystery and escaping the closet, the team finds the dining car trashed... and Sonic dead on the floor! (See first screenshot) Amy is excited that the murder mystery has started and runs off on her own to solve the case! Barry has some reservations, though...

Barry and Tails move on to the saloon car to begin interrogating the guests. Be sure to click on everything you can to find clues! Tails will tell you when you've collected enough clues and when it's time to interrogate the guests.

The "Birthday Girl" has decided to solve the mystery on her own, so she runs ahead. All the doors are mysteriously locked, but she has the Birthday Key, so she can help herself to each car. The guests have their own keys to their cars, which they lend to Tails and Barry so they can move on when they're ready.

In the library car, Amy is already wrapping up her investigation with Vector and Espio and leaves Tails and Barry behind once again.

The clues are pretty simple, and if you're struggling to figure it out, Tails will basically hold your hand through the game. If you say or do the wrong thing, he'll usually tell you to try again until you get it right, so it's not a particularly difficult game.

If you're not familiar with Sonic lore, Tails is essentially a genius with a 400 IQ, so he mostly sits back and lets Barry solve the mysteries, giving him a guiding nudge if he's off-course.

When Tails and Barry get to the casino car, they get roped into a heist mission with Rouge and Blaze. As usual, Rouge is more concerned with looting valuables than playing the murder mystery game.

In the lounge car, you catch up with Amy, already throwing accusations at Shadow! It's up to you to do some quick deductions that will either support or refute her claims against him.

Finally, you end up in the conductor's car, where signs of a struggle are visible. This was where Sonic was stationed, after all. After a quick assessment of the room, you're ready to solve the murder! Amy calls all attendees to the conductor's car to hear the results. Who do you think did it?

For a simple, free game, this was actually quite enjoyable! I think I beat the whole thing in roughly 2.5 hours of gameplay. It's mostly linear; you have some places where you can choose multiple options for dialogue, but it's mostly inconsequential. If you get too far off the plot, Tails will assist you in the right direction.

Despite being a straight-forward plot, there were a few surprises and twists along the way. They managed to keep it interesting so you're not just spending 2 hours clicking through the same dialogue options with everyone. And it doesn't end the way you'd expect... Go play it to find out what happens!

By the way, Sonic says something in this game that's really excellent life advice. I'd share the screenshots, but the background might be a bit spoilery, so here's just the dialogue: "I get it, the road's getting tough. It's easy to question the decisions that got you here. But when negative thoughts hit you, let it pass, and keep on living." There's a reason Sonic is my #1 favorite character!

#55 - A Way Out

Don't worry, I'm alive! I took the holidays off and traveled to visit family, then had a hard time getting back into posting about the games I've been playing, so I apologize for my nearly 2 months of silence. I actually have a bunch of games lined up that I want to write about, so hopefully you'll see more posts in the coming weeks.

Despite setting this game to 4K resolution, it apparently only stretched to 1080p, so these screenshots are smaller than my usual ones. I'm sure 90% of you won't even notice a difference, but I'm sorry for the 10% who like my 4K screenshots.

A Way Out is a brilliant 2-player co-op game about two inmates escaping from prison and seeking revenge against a common enemy. To be honest, I originally though the whole premise of the game was just to work with a partner to devise an escape route from prison. But there's an actual story with some deep lore and intrigue, and escaping from prison is only the first chapter of the game.

This game is ONLY 2-player, so you'll need a partner to play. It's been sitting in my Steam library for a few years now, until I finally convinced a buddy of mine to play with me. The first thing you do is pick which character you want to play as. It just so happens that Vincent's personality mirrors mine perfectly, and Leo's personality mirrors my friend exactly, so this was an easy pick for both of us.

The game opens in 1972, with Vincent arriving to prison while Leo looks on from within the fence.

The first thing you'll notice is that you get a split-screen view, even if playing online with someone. This allows each player to explore their area independently, while also being able to see what the other is up to. Which is very convenient when you need to work in tandem from different locations. You also end up occupying cells right next to each other, which is advantageous for working together to escape.

Almost immediately, Leo is cornered by some thugs in the yard who were paid by a guy named Harvey to kill him. While trying to see what's going on, Vincent finds himself thrown into the action and he ends up helping Leo fight off the thugs until the guards come to break it up.

Later in the cafeteria, the leader of the thugs makes another attempt at Leo's life, this time landing Leo and Vincent in the infirmary.  While there, Leo tries to convince Vincent to cover for him while he sneaks around the offices. Vincent wants no part of it, but begrudgingly helps to avoid getting them both thrown in the hole.

Leo manages to steal a chisel and toss it onto a ledge outside the window, then crawls back into his hospital bed before being noticed.

Later in the yard, Vincent approaches Leo, asking him what his plan for escape is. He asks what Leo plans to do to Harvey, which sets off Leo.

Turns out, Vincent also has a bone to pick with Harvey, and he's willing to escape with Leo if it means they can help each other track Harvey down.

The first step is to retrieve the chisel from the window ledge. Leo gets himself and Vincent on roof repair duty, then distracts the guards while Vincent climbs to the window ledge.

Chisel in hand, the two go back to their cells, where they take turns chipping away at their cell walls. Turns out, there's a hole in the wall behind the toilet, covered with metal bars. Some quick chipping at the concrete around the bars (while one person keeps an eye out for the patrolling guards) and you're both free from your cells!

You come across a drop that's way too far to jump, and too dark to see. With no way forward, you return to your cells to prepare the next step in your escape plan.

Soon, you're both volunteering for laundry duty, where you cause a commotion so you can sneak into a back room and throw some sheets through the vents.  Now you can make a rope to climb down!

You also grab a couple flashlights. Now you're ready to continue! That night, you sneak out again and climb down the deep shaft into the sewers.

On the other end of the tunnels, you find your only way out... a tall narrow shaft upwards.

Vincent convinces Leo to climb it together with him by interlocking their arms and walking up the shaft. This can be tricky if your game partner isn't very coordinated. I highly recommend doing a countdown for each step or you're likely to fall.

The two get to the top... only to find a metal grate over the hole. No way to get through this without a wrench. So... you go back to your cells once more.

The next day, you volunteer to help in the workshop so you can sneak a wrench out. Again, you need to work together to sneak a tool out without being caught.

Later that day Leo gets a visit from his wife. He lets her know he's about to escape with Vincent, reassuring her that Vincent is legit and they're both going after Harvey together. It's only a little longer until they can be together again, along with his young boy who doesn't yet know his daddy is in prison.

Vincent is also waiting for a visit, but no one shows. Asking to make a phone call, he calls his very angry and very pregnant wife, who is pissed he's still planning to go after Harvey when he's about to become a father. Now we're getting some emotional stakes for each character!

That night, the two plan their final escape attempt from prison. It just so happens to be storming out, which provides some noise cover in certain areas.

The two are almost free when they're spotted! Sirens blare through the night and the prison goes on full alert! Vincent and Leo run off into the woods, where a mad foot chase (and car and boat chase!) ensues. And so ends the first chapter of this game...

This was truly an incredible game! Escaping from prison was fun, but also the slowest part of the game. The story gets more intense as you go on, and the stakes for both characters get higher and higher as they bond while plotting revenge against this Harvey guy.

The game has two endings and it's up to you and your partner to decide how it ends. I wish I could gush about the ending because it's just fantastic storytelling, and the gameplay is so intense and emotional. I was in tears by the end! It's definitely one of those games I wish I could wipe from my memory so I could play it fresh again.

You can play this online with strangers, but I highly recommend playing with a friend, as the personal connection makes the game much more interesting. Only one of you needs to own the game; the other person can install the trial version, then play through the entire game with the person who owns the full game. You will only earn achievements if you own the full game though, so if that's your thing, you should buy it.

Another great game by Hazelight Studios is It Takes Two, which I will probably be reviewing soonish. It's also a 2-player co-op only game, about a divorcing couple who are forced to work together in a fantastical version of their home when they find themselves transformed into tiny dolls!

Their studio is also about to drop a new game in March called Split Fiction, which is, again, a 2-player co-op only game. Sounds like it's about two writers who get trapped in their own fantasy/sci-fi stories and have to work together to escape with their memories intact. I'll need to check that out when it drops!

#28 - Bendy and the Ink Machine

Bendy and the Ink Machine is a game about an animation studio that tried to bring their classic cartoon characters to life... with horrifying consequences.

You play a man named Henry who was invited back to the old animation studio he used to work at, by Joey Drew, the head of Joey Drew Studios (which is also this game's developer).

When you arrive, you find the place empty(?), but you also find a giant ink machine that you've never seen before.  Through cassette recordings, you learn how to power it up and... before you know it, there's an ink demon running amok through the halls!

You try to run for the exit, but find yourself falling deep into the bowels of the studio.  From there, you're solving puzzles and fighting off ink monsters, while also hiding from Bendy himself as he awkwardly staggers around the floors randomly.

You also run into Sammy Lawrence, the former studio's music director, who accidentally ingested some of the ink and partially turned into an ink monster himself.  He offers you up as a sacrifice for Bendy, hoping to be rewarded with his humanity.

At one point, you get a choice to head toward either The Demon or The Angel.  I chose the angel and found myself at the mercy of a disfigured and insane Alice Angel from the Bendy cartoon series. I'm not sure what's on the demon side; perhaps I should replay it and try that route.

Eventually, you receive a sort of handmade black light that lets you see hidden messages on the walls that guide you. Once you beat the game, it will let you start the game with the black light. I'm excited to play this game over and see what messages I can find in the various rooms and hallways.

I first played this game when it was releasing in 5 separate chapters and I was hooked!  Unfortunately, I never beat it.  The instructions weren't clear back in the early versions of the game and I found myself wandering aimlessly around several floors, not sure what I needed to do. I don't think I ever finished chapter 3.

Then I picked it up again last night and ended up beating the whole thing in a single sitting.  It was much clearer with the full version of the game, and I powered through the whole thing in about 5 hours.

There is a spin-off called Boris and the Dark Survival, which is a top-down survival game where you play as Boris the Wolf.  You collect supplies while trying to avoid Bendy as he roams around.  According to its Steam page, the game will soon be renamed to Bendy: Lone Wolf, add a bunch of improvements and add-ons to the game, and increase its price. It's only $3 right now, so might as well snatch it up before it gets more expensive!

Then there was a sequel to the main game called Bendy and the Dark Revival.  You play as Audrey, an animator who found herself trapped in the dark studio at the mercy of Bendy and his ink monsters.

There is also a free Steam game that came out this year called Bendy: Secrets of the Machine, which doesn't really give a description and its trailer is just a tease without explaining anything.  I need to play that and see what it's all about.

Finally, there's a upcoming game called Bendy: The Cage, which takes place during Bendy and the Dark Revival.  It sounds like it will follow our original protagonist, Henry, during that game.

Around the time Bendy and the Ink Machine came out, The Living Tombstone remixed a fan song for this game, and I enjoyed it so much, it's become my unofficial theme song for this game franchise.  Listen to it here: