Process of Elimination

There are plenty of interesting and unexpected twists and turns along the way — and plenty of references and homages to established detective fiction (including Sherlock Holmes, the Pinkerton Detective Agency and Cordelia Gray) from a variety of authors. This all makes for a thoroughly compelling game that any fans of mystery stories will have a great time with — so as long as you’re on board with the visual novel-centric nature of how the narrative is delivered, this is definitely a game worth adding to your collection.

Process of Elimination was full of surprises in more ways than one. Its twists and turns make for a great murder mystery that visual novel fans will want to sink their teeth into, but the comically brief tutorial of the investigative segments may lock players out of the entire experience. If you’re twiddling your thumbs waiting for another Danganronpa title and have 10 – 15 hours to kill, Process of Elimination issues this challenge: don’t get eliminated!

Process of Elimination is a fun visual novel in which you must solve a murder mystery on an island of super-detectives. Actual gameplay is light, but the bonkers story, mini-games, and detective puzzles make this a mystery worth solving.

Process of Elimination has a very interesting plot and manages to grab you from the beginning. It mixes the visual novel style with strategy; the bad thing is the problems I experienced with the Nintendo Switch version.

Despite these minor issues, Process of Elimination is high quality, authentic, classical example of Japanese detective fiction. It’s not subversive or particularly boundary-breaking, but it’s also a very good student of the genre. So long as you can still kick back and enjoy a good Conan Doyle, Christie or Ranpo story, you’ll enjoy what this has to offer.

Inspired by more established titles in the market, Process of Elimination delivers a suitable experience, with a premise well known to the public, but with a complexity below of that from its inspirations.

Despite the mediocrity of its narrative and audiovisual design, Process of Elimination has interesting gameplay ideas that deserve to be polished and further developed in a later title. Fans of survival-themed anime or investigation adventures like Dangaronpa might enjoy this game. I also recommend it, but with several reservations for those looking for experimental gameplay with tactical mechanics.

A fresh take on whodunnit that'll make your Sherlock Holmes sense tingle!

It’s hard not to get the sense that Process of Elimination is a game that’s only ever content with punching below its own weight. In the moment of play, it can be a reasonably satisfying and fun visual novel that pays great respect to its contemporaries. However, it never becomes more than that because paying respects is all it seems interested in doing. Any genuinely interesting ideas it may have are buried under a cliched, predictable, and rote storyline filled with character archetypes you’ve almost assuredly seen executed better elsewhere. It just never lingers in the mind. This title may wear its heart on its sleeve, but it’s at the cost of any semblance of style or identity.

Process of Elimination is a fun detective game with an interesting cast and story as well as a unique board game twist on investigating. As long as you're prepared to read a lot of text, you'll enjoy unraveling the mystery of The Quartering Duke.