I always find myself drowning in e-mails about demos when Steam Next Fest comes around, but I legitimately gasped when I received a message about The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker 2’s upcoming demo, which I have been lucky enough to play. The sequel is similar to the first: a psychiatrist has been murdered and, as their replacement, you must help heal his patients while also solving his untimely death. This time, there are two murders: a psychiatrist and his murderer, killed by one of the patients. But still, patients must come first — and be scrupulously questioned regarding the murders, of course.
As always, I feel the need to state how much I love D’Avekki Studios, and it’s run by some really cool people who got their murder mystery start with party games. The first Doctor Dekker really helped to kickstart my love of FMV games, and, looking back, I’d give it a higher score if I played today. I didn’t need quick fingers; I just needed to listen to what was said and respond thoughtfully. And using FMV as a vessel was brilliant; it felt like speaking to real people, not digital constructs. D’Avekki continued the Doctor Dekker universe with The Shapeshifting Detective and Dark Nights with Poe and Munro, before going in a new direction with Murderous Muses. All of those games are also wonderful, but there’s something about Doctor Dekker that lingers.
The demo of The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker 2 begins in black and white, with Aislinn De’Ath as Marianna. Marianna is a character from the first game (and De’Ath is a D’Avekki staple), and she’ll bring you up to speed on the situation alongside some really cool, noir-styled landscape shots. The tone then shifts significantly, and you’re in a retro-styled room with Doctor Franz as he’s making sure you’re ready to begin your new job. (He’s played by Klemens Koehring, AKA Poe from Dark Nights with Poe and Munro. Always nice to see another familiar face!) He’ll give you a quick gameplay rundown, and then it’s time to see your first patient, Ophelia.
Ophelia is an artist with mother issues. She tried to live in Italy as a sculptor, but ended up back at home, where she hears unintelligible voices during quiet moments. Ophelia is performed by Sydney Skye, who I can tell will do great things with the role. She speaks very animatedly, often using her hands, but if she’s unhappy, it’s like her face goes dark and her hands just drop to her lap. The camera focuses on her hands often enough for me to take note. Is it relevant to the murder, or just because she’s an artist who uses her hands to sculpt? One session complete (out of over 40!) and I’m already on edge and feeling the paranoia creep in…
Instead of typing in questions, as in the first game, you can select from various topics to ask about them. Link topics by right-clicking them to create more elaborate questions to gain further insight into the patient’s mind. Link more than two to get to the real nitty-gritty. As sessions progress, more topics come up for discussion, depending on the information the patient has given you. With Ophelia, for example, I started with “hello.” By the end, I had hello, sculpture, mother, art, Italy, Dekker, voices, imagination, house, ghosts, call, Alderby (the murdered murderer), and the option to end my session.
During sessions, a list of questions needs to be answered. There’s variety there: it goes from “what did your mother say when she called?” to “what do you know about Alderby’s murder?” in a flash, with many more questions in between. These questions are guidelines that help you determine which topics to link to get a specific answer.
Visually, I do find the overall look to contain too much contrast, with not enough details in the shadows for my liking. Blame my photographic training for that one. I do love contrast, to a point. This does create a nice spotlight effect, but sometimes I would have liked to see more of Ophelia’s face while she’s speaking directly to me.
I am very much looking forward to following Ophelia’s storyline and meeting the other patients. I’m excited to dive into the new gameplay and follow the trail of crumbs leading to Alderby’s murder. I also wonder if Doctor Dekker isn’t, somehow, still alive.
Remember to jump onto Steam on Thursday, February 12, to try the demo out for yourselves! It works on both PC and Mac; I’ve tried both, and they run flawlessly.
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