Death at Fleming Manor is a forensic mystery game where you’re a newly appointed coroner tasked with certifying many, many deaths in the fictional town of Cedarvale. If you like true crime, mystery, Professor Layton or even Phoenix Wright, this is THE game for you.
I’m not sure if it’s right for me to say I had a ball investigating these mysterious deaths, but I did. Developed by South Korean studio SUPERTHUMb, Death at Fleming Manor is its second PC game, arriving a decade after its debut, Black Hole Hazard.
“Your job is to write the death certificate.”
That one line was enough to get me intrigued by Death at Fleming Manor.
Set in England in 1959, you’re assigned cases and tasked with examining crime scenes by clicking on little sparkles. Look carefully through everything, or you might miss some important clues. You need to find relevant words to fill out the death certificate. The eerie lo-fi soundtrack provides suitably atmospheric background music while you put your thinking cap on.
As the coroner, you do much more than examine bodies. While writing death certificates is your main responsibility, you’ll also get your hands dirty with various forensic tasks, including blood typing, handwriting analysis, and even examining wills to determine their rightful beneficiaries. I’m a coroner of many talents.
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Thankfully, you’re given a handy textbook containing all the medical information you’ll need to accurately complete your certificates. I feel like I’m halfway to becoming a qualified coroner already! That said, if you’re not particularly fond of reading, logic puzzles and deduction, this might not be the game for you. I’ve managed to get away with a bit of skim-reading, but you’ll still need to pay attention if you want to get your diagnoses right.
Killer Comic Book Aesthetic
Death at Fleming Manor’s art style takes inspiration from 1960s European detective comics, giving it a charming and distinctive look. Its sepia-toned palette is aesthetically pleasing, while little animations keep the scenes feeling lively. I couldn’t change the game’s resolution during my playthrough, but thankfully, this didn’t detract from the experience.
There’s also plenty of variety to keep you on your toes. I mentioned the different responsibilities you’ll take on, but the game genuinely kept me guessing about what would come next. If you’re worried about getting stuck doing the same thing over and over, there’s no need to call the undertaker just yet.
As you progress, you’ll encounter more cases, take on different roles and investigate increasingly complicated deaths, all while gradually uncovering the mystery surrounding Fleming Manor. Why do people keep dying here? At one point, I even travelled back in time to triage soldiers on the battlefield. Talk about a career change!
No Dead Ends
Death at Fleming Manor is fairly forgiving when it comes to getting stuck, for which I am thankful. While I enjoy a good challenge, I can sometimes get overwhelmed by too much information. I wasn’t sure whether I’d encountered a bug in the first chapter or simply couldn’t find a clue for my first case, but thankfully, the hint system came to my rescue.
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You can choose to reveal up to two hints before being shown the answer, which I appreciated. It strikes a nice balance between helping you out and letting you figure things out for yourself. I was particularly grateful for the sections where you had to calculate time of death. Maths isn’t my strong suit, and apparently, neither is forensic arithmetic.
The developers have also made replaying the game a much less laborious affair. With several endings to discover, you can easily return to key turning points rather than having to start your investigation from scratch. It’s a thoughtful touch for anyone keen to uncover every possible outcome.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing coroner and unravelling the mystery of Fleming Manor. Between the clever deductions, varied investigations and unexpected twists, Death at Fleming Manor had me hooked. I even picked up a little medical knowledge along the way, which is more than I can say for most games.
Quest Daily scores Death at Fleming Manor:
9/10
Death at Fleming Manor is out this week on PC, a demo is also available.
A copy of Death at Fleming Manor was supplied to Quest Daily for this review.
