The Darkest Files, from developer and publisher Paintbucket Games, is a courtroom game that is reminiscent of games like the Ace Attorney franchise. But whereas those games are known for their quirky characters and silly antics, The Darkest Files has a way more somber tone as it deals with a significantly more serious subject matter. The game takes place in Germany in the year 1956. While the war is over, the Nazis didn’t just disappear. These men still walk among the crowds, having committed crimes that they will never be brought to justice for… if it weren’t for you.
You’re playing as Esther Katz, a young prosecutor just starting her career. You have joined Fritz Bauer’s special unit, which specializes in reopening old cases from up to a decade ago. Investigating these crimes can, at times, seem impossible; witnesses have died in the years since, evidence has been destroyed, and perpetrators are protected to this day due to their standing at the time. Worst of all, Germany as a country is simply not ready to face their past quite yet. They want to move past the Nazi times, no matter the cost.
What makes The Darkest Files super interesting is that all the cases you will be investigating are real cases from the time. Although with the exception of Fritz Bauer, all the names have been changed. Whenever you complete a case, the game offers you the chance to read about the true case that it was based on. As such, The Darkest Files makes for a very interesting history lesson, uncovering some very dark crimes from an even darker time. There is a danger in gamifying such a serious topic, of course, but The Darkest Files manages to do so very tactfully. The reality of these grim cases only makes it all the more distressing.
The Darkest Files is made up of three chapters, each starting with you taking on a new case. From there you spend day after day investigating. That mostly means looking for files that might contain important information and interrogating witnesses. When you interrogate, you’re transported to the time and place of the occurrence. In real time, you see their testimony happen in front of you and end with a transcription of their statements in your files. Unfortunately, testimonies rarely match up, and so it’s up to you to find the holes in combination with your files.
There’s very little handholding when it comes to forming your argument. On a blueprint of the location, you have to move around the pieces. Where was everyone at the time of the incident? What did they do? Once you’ve decided that, you need to put together your evidence. You can create conclusions by combining three files, and only if they form a coherent argument will the judge accept it. The Darkest Files faces the classic Ace Attorney problem, where knowing what happened is one thing, but understanding which of your files actually prove that is another. I managed in the end, but it’s hard to gauge sometimes what the game will accept.
All of this is rendered in a cel-shaded art style that harkens back to pulp comics from the 50s as well as the noir genre. Kept to limited colors with lots of dark shades of blue and some yellow light. Comic panels come in and out of the frame during actions. The look helps set the tone of a detective story in a surveillance state, using heightened genre tropes for a very real story. The performances help with that too. I was pleasantly surprised that even for the English dub they stuck with German voice actors, lending a sense of reality to every conversation. As a native German speaker myself, I very rarely hear German accents this perfect in the English language.
The Darkest Files is an absolute triumph. It works exceptionally well as a courtroom drama with a somber tone that utilizes noir genre aesthetics to underscore the gloomy atmosphere. The gameplay of a detective that investigates cases is a lot of fun. And putting together the final argument is satisfying, if a little frustrating at times. But beyond that, it depicts an incredibly important part of history. Which we need to be reminded of right now more than ever. To end the review with the same Fritz Bauer quote that the game starts with: “Nothing belongs to the past; everything is still present and can become the future again.”
Nairon played The Darkest Files on PC with a provided review copy.
