Rob Lake reviews Dry Drowning on Nintendo Switch...
Dry Drowning is a psychological visual novel set within a dystopian futuristic city. You play Private Detective, Mordred Foley, who's investigating a series of murders whilst being haunted by his past.
I've played my fair share of visual novels this past year, some have been good but the majority (in my opinion) has been a bit of a miss. Dry Drowning is the former. Visual novels normally follow a linear path of chat-based dialogue with the odd player-based choice thrown in. Dry Drowning mixes the formula by not only giving you multiple people to talk to, but you can also explore the surroundings, for both clues related to the overarching case as well as potentially unlocking other endings. These investigative portions are performed via the AquaOS which is an in-game device that collects all of your documents and discovered evidence though the story.
Dry Drowning also blurs the line when it comes to its many choices. With many other visual novels when it comes to character choices you get a clear indication of what's good and what's bad. With Dry Drowning, it's more of a grey area as you not always sure what you're doing is necessarily correct, even if it seems like it is at the time. This is what makes the game a joy to play. You're always having to think one step ahead, and if it all comes crashing down, your left to wonder just where it went wrong. It's clever and very thought-provoking as you stumble through Mordred Foley's world.
Mordred is quite a likeable character, who shares a lot of common traits seen in other portrayals of private investigators. He's good at his job but hides a troubled past. To compare Mordred to anyone I'd say he's Bioshock Infinite's Booker DeWitt crossed with Hotel Dusk's Kyle Hyde. It's great to see Morden struggle with his issues as well as the pressure of tracking down the serial killer running amok through Nova Polemos
The murders themselves are quite clever with each being themed on something from Greek mythology. Each was a joy to solve and they all fit in well with the killer being known as 'Pandora'. You do need a basic understanding of Greek mythology to know where Pandora is going, and as a result, you can get a feeling of loss as to how to solve each murder. When it does come to solving an investigation you're given three masks. These masks show how many chances you have to successfully interrogate the suspect. If you mess this up you are sent back to the start to try again. Considering that there is a wealth of endings to Dry Drowning, it's a shame that there aren't any consequences in failing your interrogations.
The visuals for the game are the typical standard seen in most visual novels. They serve the purpose well we don't necessarily stand out from the crowd. There is a nice sense of watercolour throughout as the scenery gives off a detailed, yet blurred feeling. A more striking visual style is used for the characters who are all styled in black & white. It's incredibly clever as it not only highlights then against the neon background but it also shows the murky underlying of Nova Polemos.
As visual novels go, Dry Drowning is pretty fun. It's got an exciting story with plenty of twists and turns that can end up affecting the stories end. The gameplay is pretty fun and you're given a degree of freedom to explore each scene. If you're looking for a dark detective visual novel, then you can't go wrong with Dry Drowning.
Rating 8/10
A review code was kindly provided by the publisher.
Dry Drowning is out now on Nintendo Switch (also available on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4)
Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev
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