Steampunk detective adventure Lamplight City from Grundislav Games and Application Systems Heidelberg is ready for you on Nintendo Switch. Check our Lamplight City review!

 

Steampunk detective adventure Lamplight City from Grundislav Games and Application Systems Heidelberg is ready for you on Nintendo Switch. This journey is set in Vespuccia, an alternate Victorian-style past, and you’ll be taking on the role of private investigator Miles Fordham. You’ll have to explore every nook and cranny in the titular Lamplight City as he tries to uncover why he’s hearing his former partner from beyond the grave, all while trying to bring justice to his clients… and some closure for this current situation.

The game was originally released on Steam back in 2018, and it’s now made its way to Nintendo’s console, offering five cases to solve as you try to make the most of the clues that you find so that you can find out which ones are real and which ones are only trying to sway you in the wrong direction. With multiple suspects and some potential false leads, you’ll need to be on high alert at all times to find out the right suspect in an ever-changing story that will adapt to the choices you make along the way, which means there’s a lot of replay value for this adventure game.

 

Lamplight City can be played with the Nintendo Switch Joy-con, the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, or by using the console’s touchscreen when playing in Portable or Tabletop Mode, or if you’re playing Lamplight City on a Nintendo Switch Lite. If going with physical controls, you’ll move a cursor around the screen with the left analog stick or the D-Pad as you use the A button to interact with objects or characters. The cursor will change to a mouth when you can talk, a magnifying glass for when you need to take a closer look at something, a hand for when you need to perform an action – such as opening a door. If there’s nothing to interact with, then clicking anywhere on the screen with the arrow will move your character.

Unlike many of the other point and click adventure games out there, the items you collect won’t be added to an inventory, and you won’t be required to interact with them in such a way. All items found will be carried around by your character, and they will be used automatically when the time is right or by way of a dialogue choice at specific times. Pressing the B button will open the Casebook, where you can review information on your current case, the clues you’ve found, documents that are important, as well as the current suspects for the case.

 

Along with collecting documents and items and talking with witnesses and with those that need your assistance, you’ll also need to keep your ears ready at all times. Stand close to people, and you’ll be able to eavesdrop on their conversations, learning valuable information in the process. I suggest you do this whenever possible and remain near people until all you’re getting is some of that good, old-fashioned “blah blah blah blah” that will let you know there’s nothing else for you to eavesdrop on.

Lamplight City is a charming point and click adventure game that pays homage to the classics of ages past while making some key decisions that help to streamline the game for a 21st-century experience. The game is fully voice acted, so with more than 50 characters, there’s a lot of dialogue to experience in this journey that should take you around 10-12 hours to complete based on your experience with adventure games and the decisions you make along the way. And once you’ve completed the game, I suggest you give it another go with the Commentary activated so that you can learn more about how the game was made. Lamplight City is out today with a $14.99 asking price.

Disclaimer
This Lamplight City review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Application Systems Heidelberg.