Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter is an adventure mystery video game in the Sherlock Holmes series developed by Frogwares and published by Bigben Interactive for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016. It was released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on 25 October 2016. Though it was originally scheduled for release on 10 June 2016, the console versions were delayed. However, the PC version was released on schedule.

Gameplay
Like its predecessor Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments, the majority of the game involves exploring crime scenes and examining clues. Once discovered, clues are added to a "deduction board", a gameplay mechanic which involves linking pieces of information together, leading to possibilities for different deductions. Once deductions are connected together, the player will have a full tree of deductions in the player's memory called mind palace. Depending on how players interpret the clues, they will arrive at different conclusions. Thus, the player can fail or succeed in finding the culprit.

Premise
Across five linked cases, Holmes confronts dark family secrets, both in his cases and personally, when a visiting woman begins interfering in his personal life, especially with his adopted daughter.

Plot
The game features five separate cases. Each case is self-contained and apart from in-game achievements, such as moral choices, do not relate to one another. The cases are as follows:

Prey Tell Holmes is visited by a young boy whose father has gone missing. Holmes investigates and finds a string of disappearances.

A Study in Green Holmes takes place in bowls tournament, the award ceremony being called off after a member of the club is murdrered.

Infamy Holmes is followed around by an actor seeking to study him for an upcoming role, while he investigates a disappearance.

Chain Reaction While travelling, Holmes comes across a massive accident that has killed several people. Holmes investigates the area to deduce what happened.

Fever Dreams Holmes' new neighbor has kidnapped his adoptive daughter. He must find her before it's too late.

Development
On 8 May 2015, an eighth installment in the series was announced. Kerry Shale was originally expected to reprise his role as Sherlock. However, it was later confirmed by Frogwares that the game would focus on a different incarnation of Sherlock Holmes featuring Alex Jordan in the titular role.

The Devil's Daughter was the first game since 2007 not to be published by Focus Home Interactive; instead the publishing was managed by Bigben Interactive. No reasons were given for the change of publisher.

Reception
GameSpot awarded it a score of 6.0 out of 10, saying "It’s a fantastic detective game; it’s just a shame that it's bogged down by myriad technical issues, and a mediocre attempt to inject some action into proceedings." IGN awarded it a score of 5.0 out of 10, saying "Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter has good mysteries, but the way you interact with them is rigid and limiting."

The Devil's Daughter received "mixed or average" reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 65/100 based on 19 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 71/100 based on 28 reviews, and the Xbox One version 66/100 based on 12 reviews.