The Last Case of John Morley | PS5 Review

Publisher: JanduSoft
Developer: Indigo Studios - Interactive Stories
PS5 Review

*Disclaimer: I was sent the code for this game on PS5 in return for a review; all opinions are mine and mine alone.

Where are my little detectives? Let's get to solving! I love detective games, keeping an eye out for things that don't fit, searching for all the clues, and you've grabbed my attention. The Last Case of John Morley is on the dark side of things; it throws you straight into the game, unsure of what he is speaking about and what we are running from. I went with it, and boy am I glad I did. The developers at Indigo Studios have created a gritty-themed game that leaves players guessing. I made sure I didn't get too obsessed with what I thought the answers were and instead went with the flow.

So what's the goal?

John is known for the cases he has solved. John has been away in the hospital for a while after his last case landed him there with injuries. He has been gone for several months and is now on the mend. John has been hired for a very peculiar job, one that took place 20 years ago by a woman called Lady Margaret Fordside. The job was to help solve her daughter's murder, and the real killer was never found. My first thought was, how will he know where to start with a case that's so old? Especially when the evidence could have been long gone.

It's our job to gather that evidence from the crime scene whilst uncovering hidden secrets that have been waiting to be found all these years. With John's mental health feeling fragile from the start of the game, I did wonder just how this may all affect him, especially how his last case ended; his character seemed to want to dive right in. Lady Fordside gave him permission to enter her home and have a look around. It was like time itself had stopped; everything was left sitting where it had been many years before, which made things a little easier.

I was a bit hesitant about the puzzles, whether or not I would have to spend most of the game searching for answers; however, they were pretty straightforward, you didn't really have to give them much thought. The hardest of the puzzles was finding the right direction the statues faced, then from that moment on, you rely on exploration and checking everything to find codes to access places that are locked away. I wrote each number combination I came across as I went along, so I didn't have to keep going back and forth when I forgot what they were.

I had some issues here and there with gameplay freezing, reloaded the game, and it was fine. I managed to finish the whole game in around 3 and a half hours, which isn't bad; it seemed sufficient enough time in order to understand the storyline and get enough gameplay in. One thing I do have to mention that I myself wasn't completely aware of, the game does use AI for decorative tools like textures, but the actors, music, story, and characters were all human. I wouldn't have noticed this if I hadn't read into it. I'm not a fan of AI, and this didn't hinder my gameplay in any shape or form.

I enjoyed the case; the story flowed very well, and it was an unexpected ending, one that I can live with! For those who are achievement/trophy hunters, this is a short and easy game to collect. The Last Case of John Morley is available on PS5 and Steam and will be coming to Xbox at a later date.

Have a cosy day

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