London Detective Mysteria Critic Reviews

Including refreshingly dark descriptions for an otome game, London Detective Mysteria grabs your attention through its narrative and hangs onto it with its beautiful art and the promise of romance.

London Detective Mysteria is silly fan fiction where Sherlock Holmes and Queen Victoria and Miss Marple and Jack the Ripper (or at least their proxies) all interact and no one bats an eye. But sometimes, you don’t need to bat an eye, and you just need to go with it. If you’re a fan at all of visual novels, this is definitely one of the times to just go with it.

It has pretty big setbacks, but its many small redeeming factors – the art style, the voice acting, the setting, and of course the boys – are sure to inspire a cult following.

London Detective Mysteria is far from the worst otome out there, but I wouldn't call it one of the best either. Huge otome visual novel fans will likely get some enjoyment out of this title, but other gamers or those new to the genre might just find it tedious.

It’s not the best or the worst otome I’ve ever played, and most of the romance routes are rather sweet. Getting there, especially for completionists, is a beating and never feels fully worth it, but when you see the lovely couple finally come together, you can’t help but feel warm and squishy inside.

London Detective Mysteria does a few things new within the genre of otome dating sims, but at the end of the day, it isn’t anything revolutionary. If you’ve played an otome game before, then this one will be more of the same, for better or worse. The silly cast of characters and attempts at dramatic detective plotlines are interesting, but not executed entirely well. Fans of the genre will be able to happily add this one to your pile, but if you need convincing to try out a game like this, London Detective Mysteria isn’t the one for you.

While the detective stories are fun enough, there’s often not a lot to them. This makes the game feel a little too lightweight, as it flirts with the idea of having more detective gameplay but never really manages it – for example, you’re able to save statements in your diary, which is fairly pointless, as the most complex it gets is giving you some multiple-choice decisions to make.