REVIEW: The Innsmouth Case on Nintendo Switch

Review by GamingCouchPotato Staff

In 2021 you don't really get many text-based adventure games, especially not on a console like the Nintendo Switch, but with The Innsmouth Case that is exactly what you are getting. Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, The Innsmouth Case is a horror/comedy adventure.

The gameplay itself is literally reading and following a book on screen, there are 35 chapters, and 27 different endings, so for those of you old enough, this is basically the same as those old 'choose your own adventure' books, where you would skip back and forth to different pages to follow the story, dependent on the choices you make.

On a console though, there is no cheating.

Here is a brief breakdown of the story:

"A desperate mother, a missing girl and a mystical place - a case could hardly be more challenging. To solve the enigmatic disappearance of little Tabitha Marsh, however, the toughest and cleverest detective of all is wanted... but he does not have the time - and so the job goes to you. This mysterious assignment takes you to the remote fishing village of Innsmouth, where nothing is what it seems…

Save the girl, solve the case, survive Innsmouth!"

As you play you will be given options, so for example, on the top half of the page might be an image of something, you are then asked a question about the image, and you will select an option from beneath, each time you choose such an option the story branches, meaning that each play through will be different.

You can even see one of the endings of the game within the first few minutes of the game, if you choose to simply decline to take on the job.

You will find yourself heading down a few dead ends as you play, but it is easy enough to retrace your steps, or use the chapter selection option, to allow you to get back to where you need to be, so you can choose a different story path to take. Every decision you make, really does affect the story.

Although the game is horror based, it does have a lot of humour, and the writing is well done throughout, there are a few grammatical errors here and there, the odd typo, but nothing that is too distracting.

The Good

For what is essentially a book, the graphics are very nice, there are some good animations, and the game will have you coming back to try new paths to find out the different endings. It is a well written book.

The Bad

For a console that is predominantly aimed towards the younger gamer, I am unsure that anyone under 30 will really want to read a game like this, on the big screen there is no chance, on the hand held I am not so sure.

Overall

If you enjoy visual novels, choose your own adventure type books/games, then you will enjoy this.  If you are a newbie to this genre, then perhaps this is not the game for you.

I score The Innsmouth Case on Nintendo Switch a fair 7/10