The visual novel genre is slowly starting to evolve and take shape outside the community confines of PC gaming and the PlayStation Vita. We’re beginning to see some titles branch out into other markets, attempting to lure in audiences that may want something a little different from their fictional media experiences. Well, Every Cloud Production teamed with Tin Man Games to make translate the detective TV series centered around Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries into an interactive iOS experience.
The stylized 1920s mystery franchise set in Melbourne, Australia stars the fashionista detective, Miss Phryne Fisher. Gamers will be able to take on the role of the witty stylist with a nose for mystery.
According to an interview on Film Vic, Tin Man Games revealed that originally Miss Fisher And The Deathly Maze was going to be a standard textbook style app experience, not unlike an e-book for e-readers. However, they decided against that due to how much the visual style of the series plays a role in bringing Fisher’s character to life, so they decided to go with a visual novel design instead, stating…
“After the initial, “wouldn’t it be great if we made a murder mystery game”, the design then became all about Phryne and 1920s Melbourne. So much so that we decided to throw away our traditional text-based gamebook format and move to a more aesthetic visual novel format. We had to find some way of showing off Phryne’s amazing clothing!”
This actually seems to have worked out for the best, because the early reviews from gamers who enjoy the Miss Fisher mysteries absolutely adore the visual style Tin Man brought to the table with The Deathly Maze. Gamers also have the option of changing up Fisher’s clothing throughout the title to reflect what they feel is sensible for the detective to wear throughout her journeys.
What’s more is that music also plays a significant role in the experience of Miss Fisher and the Deathly Maze, and it shines through even with the teaser trailer they released a while back.
The big band cabaret soundtrack fused with the glamorous themes etched into the identity of the super-sleuth has turned out to be hit amongst iPhone users, showing that the visual novel genre doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.
The mobile app is available right now for $4.49 over on the iTunes app store. It appears to be part of a series of episodes, so if the first episode does well don’t be surprised to see a few more pop up pretty soon thereafter.
