{"id":9024,"date":"2021-04-08T16:14:40","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T16:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nfornerds.com\/?page_id=9024"},"modified":"2021-04-08T16:14:40","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T16:14:40","slug":"dry-drowning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/?page_id=9024","title":{"rendered":"Dry Drowning"},"content":{"rendered":"

When our editor Gerard offered me a review code for a game called Dry Drowning, described as a \u201cpsychological investigative thriller\u201d, I immediately walked back my hasty \u201cOh this sounds fun!\u201d reaction as not to appear too enthusiastic about such a morbid sounding premise. Yet, as I got stuck into this dark, interactive visual novel, I realised that was probably wise.\"Dry<\/a>Dry Drowning, developed by Studio V, is a mystery story centred on disgraced detective Mordred Foley. After launching on PC in 2019, the game has now landed on Nintendo Switch, the ideal platform, I think, to consume this gameplay style.\"Dry<\/a>You\u2019re drawn in by a series of beautifully illustrated stills overlaid with lines like, \u201cIf a man is meant to drown, he will drown even in a spoonful of water,\u201d which paint a pretty gloomy, if slightly cheesy picture of what lies ahead. There\u2019s also the opening line, \u201cCome on, be honest, what are you really afraid of?\u201d which hovers just long enough for you to think, \u2018Oh crap, do I have to answer?\u2019.\"Dry<\/a><\/p>\n

You begin in Foley\u2019s office, which he shares with his partner Hera in the city of Nova Polemos. The year is 2066 yet the office decor says little of the future. At one point, one of the characters even makes a joke about the \u201cretro furniture\u201d. There\u2019s a reason for that. He\u2019s been out of the game for two years after being accused of planting evidence in a murder case which saw two people sentenced to death. Now, Foley has been acquitted due to lack of evidence and just wants to get back to work. Luckily, they\u2019ve got a new client.\"Dry<\/a><\/p>\n

Before you know it, you have a body tied to a tree in some sort of elaborate murder, a high-profile politician involved, and a suspect who might just be the ticket Foley needs to right some wrongs.<\/p>\n

\"Dry<\/a>This is a beautifully illustrated game. The set pieces are decorated with details which either tell you more about the characters or provide you with a vital piece of evidence to progress. Like Foley\u2019s scruffy desk in his office where he keeps a spare pack of cigarettes and is the polar opposite to Hera\u2019s neat pile of newspapers which she keeps just in case they come in handy one day. Though, the detail is slightly spoiled by Foley questioning the stack with a piece of dialogue that might as well have said, \u201cTsh, women, am I right?\u201d Though this awkward bravado was, sadly, quickly outdone a few moments later when Hera, plagued by the consequences of their less than squeaky past, exclaims, \u201cWe\u2019re both monsters\u201d and Foley retorts, \u201cWrong. The only difference is, you\u2019re a gorgeous monster.\u201d At least Hera calls him an idiot on our behalf.\"Dry<\/a><\/p>\n

(“you God Damn idiot!”)<\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n

On the surface, Foley seems like your standard hardboiled detective, yet he\u2019s tormented by his past, perhaps guilt for those he\u2019s sentenced to death, and throughout you\u2019ll see instances where dark, creepy masks appear on the faces of those he\u2019s talking to when they\u2019re being untruthful. This certainly adds to Dry Drowning\u2019s dark atmosphere but while it was an interesting touch, I thought it was a little odd that a game which asks you to step into the shoes of a detective would provide you with such a tell.\"Dry<\/a><\/p>\n

Hera on the other hand, we\u2019re introduced to as she\u2019s playing piano in the office and doesn\u2019t want to be disturbed. At first, she comes off as fragile, haunted by the accusations that follow them but as the story unfolds, we get a character who wants more than being stuck in the office shuffling paperwork and isn\u2019t afraid to call Foley out, though I wish we\u2019d seen more of this growth.\"Dry<\/a><\/p>\n

The first crime scene you visit is grisly. You\u2019ll have to click around to uncover any useful evidence which you can collect and access through the game\u2019s AquaOS operating system which also stores dialogue and info on characters you meet along the way. When asked to hand over an item, you won\u2019t get unlimited chances to get it right and I must admit, there were times when my choices were pure guesswork as some items felt less logical than others.<\/p>\n

\"Dry<\/a><\/p>\n

(Fantastic Detective work Foley.)<\/address>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019ll converse with various characters each with numerous dialogue threads to explore but some will be mandatory. Choices are also important throughout your actions as there will be times when Dry Drowning asks you to make a call about a situation. Should you save one person and let the other go? Should you conceal an important piece of evidence? Some choices were certainly more pivotal than others but those that didn\u2019t appear to have much effect made my part as the player feel a bit surplus to requirement, as though my job was to simply turn the page rather than influence any outcome.\"Dry<\/a>While the story had some interesting moments and ideas, I wasn\u2019t completely drawn in or desperate to solve this mystery, which is a shame because I adored Dry Drowning\u2019s art style. The largely monochrome aesthetic accented with flashes of neon, made for a gorgeously gritty cyberpunk environment, and the cityscapes in particular I can only imagine are all the more impressive when playing on PC.\"Dry<\/a>For me, the writing is where Dry Drowning falters a little. It\u2019s not that it\u2019s bad, in fact, it\u2019s exactly what you might expect from this kind of crime novel but that also meant that it felt clunky at times and a little cliched.\u00a0Perhaps had Foley been a tad more likeable I could have forgiven some of the cringier pieces of dialogue but even though he\u2019s clearly got his demons and there are moments when he makes honourable choices, I couldn\u2019t see much further than his tough guy who doesn\u2019t care about anything exterior.\"Dry<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Opinion<\/em><\/h2>\n

That said, there is a reason these kinds of stories are so popular and that\u2019s because everybody enjoys a good murder mystery. If you can get past the sometimes-awkward dialogue, you will find that within Dry Drowning amidst themes of corruption and censorship, and a visual treat which will implore you to explore every clickable corner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When our editor Gerard offered me a review code for a game called Dry Drowning, described as a \u201cpsychological investigative thriller\u201d, I immediately walked back my hasty \u201cOh this sounds fun!\u201d reaction as not to appear too enthusiastic about such a morbid sounding premise. Yet, as I got stuck into this dark, interactive visual novel, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":9025,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"hub-review-template.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[565,422,118,943],"gp_hubs":[23,343,34],"release-date":[944,945],"genre":[946],"rating":[214],"developed-by":[947],"publisher":[948,949],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9024"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9024"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9044,"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9024\/revisions\/9044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9024"},{"taxonomy":"gp_hubs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fgp_hubs&post=9024"},{"taxonomy":"release-date","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Frelease-date&post=9024"},{"taxonomy":"genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fgenre&post=9024"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Frating&post=9024"},{"taxonomy":"developed-by","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdeveloped-by&post=9024"},{"taxonomy":"publisher","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nfornerds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpublisher&post=9024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}