The Last Case of Benedict Fox review – Mystery meets Metroidvania

It can be hard to pull off an engaging mystery because it often requires so much planning and forethought just for players who might not understand it. So to fix this, many games will provide guide rails that are helpful, but also keep the player from genuinely coming to their own conclusions using a learned sense of logic and patience.

However, The Last Case of Benedict Fox begs you to be patient, putting an obstacle in front of you and then taunting you to find the answer. It’s not the most extensively complicated Metroidvania game out there, but there are some genuinely fun puzzles that will ensure players feel like detectives themselves. When a lock opens after multiple tries at the solution, the sense of relief and understanding is a rush.

This game is similar to other popular Metroidvania games that have come out in recent years in a lot of ways too, like requiring an incredible amount of patience to learn and then master the unique combat system. The Last Case of Benedict Fox isn’t forgiving in its exploration or combat in the slightest, but that mostly lends itself to the dark and dismal themes of the world.

Exploring what’s inside

As far as the story goes, players aren’t given much information when they start the game, they just show up at a large mansion that is hiding more secrets than you can even begin to understand. The main detective, Benedict, and his Companion, soon uncover a spiraling mystery that takes them through the minds of multiple dead estranged family members.

As players journey through the underworld inside the minds of freshly dead relatives, they’ll encounter as many questions as they will find answers. Fortunately, The Last Case of Benedict Fox sort of naturally leads you through the different levels inside these corpses, with puzzle solutions appearing in a natural path as long as you make sure to explore every area of the level.

This is a unique feeling that has been unfamiliar to me in Metroidvania games I’ve played up until this point. While I missed out on the earliest titles, I played Ori and the Blind Forest in college and the first five minutes of Hollow Knight, so I’m familiar with how the layout of the levels works. It often involves a lot of exploration, only unlocking areas on your map when you see them for yourself.

Because The Last Case of Benedict Fox offers a mystery and unique puzzles on top of the standard exploring mechanics, exploring feels more intriguing than it does in Ori, where I would eventually run into a roadblock that kept me from progressing in the story. The world of Benedict Fox is so mysterious and confusing that those roadblocks aren’t as frustrating because I’m working toward some kind of truth.

This is only compacted by the evidence you collect in the main world and the underworld within the dead around the mansion. Even the seemingly innocent items have interesting descriptions that you’ll be eager to understand. If you ever get confused, you can simply load into a new area to see a board showing all the clues you’ve collected and their connection to other locations, so you know where to go.

Fight for your life, Benedict

Combat in a 2D-sidescroller is a lot different than being able to dodge your enemies in a 3D space, and you’ll quickly come to realize this if you’re not familiar. When dodging monsters in the game, you can only go up and down, or use the right thumbstick on the controller to dodge a small distance left or right. This took some getting used to and the unforgiving nature of some of the monster groups is noticeable.

For example, there was one level where I had to rescue a mysterious woman who seemed to be trapped in a variety of mirrors. Benedict has to traverse between different areas in the mirror world, appearing in a mirror closer to his destination. This would’ve been fine by itself, but having to avoid flying monsters that can heat-seek your character made it feel near-impossible.

The game doesn’t leave you to fight with the same basic Benedict throughout, though, as the woman that you save from those mirrors is able to tattoo special abilities on the character. This increases his existing power as well as gives him new abilities that can be used in combat and to access new areas of the world. This is a standard mechanic, but it’s pretty cool they take form in tattoos that are seemingly draining Benedict.

It’s far from perfect, though, and the block doesn’t feel as useful as it’s advertised early in the game. I often found myself jumping to avoid a projectile or other dangers instead of utilizing my block. That might just be a player preference, but there were times when it felt like it couldn’t stand against the clusters of monsters.

The gun is a great tool, allowing players to charge up momentum with regular attacks before dealing a devastating ranged one. It’s hard to describe the feeling when you pull out your pistol and aim it thinking it will be your saving grace, only to have your heart sink when the chamber clicks because it isn’t charged. It can be a great tool, just remember that you have very limited ammo unless you’re dealing repeated melee attacks to enemies.

A mystery worth solving

Try Hard Guides was provided with a PC review copy of this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website!