The Posthumous Investigation

Developer: Mother Gaia Studio

Release Date: Coming Soon

Travel to a noir Rio de Janeiro in 1937 and investigate the mystery behind the murder of Brás Cubas, famed character created by Machado de Assis. Until the truth is out, you’ll be trapped in a time loop, amidst a plot full of conspiracy and treason.

The Posthumous Investigation has the makings of a time loop game done right. We have been tasked with solving the murder of a man, hired by the deceased himself to unravel whatever trouble he got himself into. We only have one day but fear not, if at first you do not succeed, try and try again, and again, and again.

The area in which we are investigating is alive, with events happening all around whether you are present to witness them or not. Whether this means you wander into a dramatic confrontation or stumble upon the aftermath of an incident, it makes each loop a joy as it becomes less about being in the right place at the right time, and more about reverse engineering the situation to discover what happened before.

The noir atmosphere and classic cartoon style complement each other wonderfully, setting the scene both in universe and to the player. In contrast, the UI is modern, clean and easily readable, almost as smooth as the jazz occasionally gracing our ears.

Often with these types if games it is impossible to tell in advance how well the full game will hold up. It is going to rely on the mechanics continuing to feel fresh, the story staying interesting and an appropriate runtime. However, the demo did enough to stop me playing. In a good way of course, I am interested enough that I didn’t want to play anymore until I could have the complete experience.

Demo Length – 1+ hour
At a glance
+ All in on the aesthetic.
+ User friendly options to prevent time loop tedium.
+ Lots of events happening inspiring ideas for next loop.
+ Clues carry over but items do not, creating a puzzle in the order of operations.
+/- I didn’t feel the (dialogue) writing was great but it did the job.