The Darkest Files Steam Charts & Stats

Were you terribly infuriated by the idiot face of Phoenix Wright ? Have you always wanted to make him shut his porcupine mouth? Well welcome in the prosecution ! Game is very good, had a good time and had to make my brain work. Also very interesting to see how was life in Germany at the end of the war (a little bit) and after the war

Excellent game, but I wish there were more than just 2 cases. It took me 5 hours to beat on prosecutor mode, then 1.5 more times through for all the achievements.

This is a very very close to thumbs down thumbs up (just to start with a confusing sentence): Notice that I'm playing this on Linux / Steamdeck - your Windows experience might be different. Technical Issues: I wanted to play this game on my Sofa, looking at the huge image casted by my projector, having an Xbox-Gamepad connected to my STEAMDECK, which is sitting in a dock. At first glance this seemed to work fine, I even did the mistake to tell Steam, yes - this "Steamdeck verified" label is justified... but now I'd say - it's totally not. So when playing it controller only from my sofa... and I bet NO ONE did test it this way, else surely those bugs wouldn't be there... it starts in the main menue - the menue with settings and new game and stuff... especially "End Game". This is the last entry in the main menue - and you cannot reach it with a game pad. Whatever you do, you can't end the game by itself by playing with gamepad only. Did none noticed this? Seriously? No problem though, I can use the Steam Button (or Xbox button in my sofa/projector case) and end it from there. So it seems all fine apart from it, until you get into a situation at court where you cannot withdraw your proving documents. There is simply no chance to exchange a wrong document. The situation goes like this: You show the judge 3 documents as proof of your accusations. The judge goes "Nah, I am not convinced, try again". There are 5 tries, and sometimes (not always) you stuck. You select the wrong document to be exchanged: You get a special view. You should be able to dismiss it from here - with a mouse you click on the X at the upper right corner - but this X is not selectable with a controller. No chance. You can get out by "b", but then you're thrown to the "3 already selected documents" view again - without having replaced it. Replacing it is not possible. And this after already 5 stages of "Proof my theory" on court - the "is there anything more to say"-round. The one you can't prepare beforehand. The only way is. Leave game, load the last save, lose 15 minutes by doing the same thing on court again, hoping to select the right documents from the start in the last round, to not get stuck again. Makes it honestly unplayable with a controller. Are there more bugs. Oh Yes. I have one save when standing in front of the door of Dr. Bauer. Because there is something important to discuss with him. You enter, finish making your decisions during the talk with him. You are supposed to get automatically thrown out after this. Not here. I am in the room with Fritz Bauer, nothing is selectable but the door - just the door is closed. Interacting with Bauer again gives you the same decision questions again, no option to ask him to unlock the bloody door. The door stays locked afterwards, you won't get out. What da heck. I am a lady here locked in a room with an old male guy, Geez! Non technical Issues: Sometimes you are in a interrogation scene and it seems like you can't move. You also cannot reach anything that is supposed to be selected as it's to far away. You are stuck. All selectable items out of reach, the one person in the image already questioned, no moving (just the view point). I was so confused, I filed a bug report at this point (which is actually a cool thing - you can report an issue from anywhere in the game anytime - cool). Turned out, there was a slow detail behind my back I didn't notice. Select it, and bam, you can move again. So not really a bug but non ideal UI experience here., The end of the game (spoiler density: 0.2%): It ends literally in the middle of a conversation. You select a reply option (and it promises to get REAL interesting form here) - and Bam, Short black screen. Credits roll. WHAT? ! This is MOST UNSATISFYING! After only two cases (while there are so much more files in the archive) that's all. So much questions unanswered. What's with the missing file of one of the lawyers, whats with all the threats, what's with the paranoia of one of the lawyers, what's with the coffee shop over the street you think about visiting with the assistant early in the game, why can I take part in gossiping in the kitchen (only once btw) when there are no consequences from it; there are slight hints of romance between some or am I reading too much into it - anyway - as said. A long list of building up interesting questions, all left unanswered. And that is *lame*. So why am I giving a thumbs up despite all those flaws. The setting is most interesting, the story telling is top notch, you really forget time when playing it. It's the best history lesson in gaming I could experience so far, just with so much untouched potential unfortunately.

Great detective game where deduction and conclusion actually make sense. Art style is amazing. Narration and voice acting is excellent. Also developer reacts and fix even minor bugs. I hope there will be more cases in the future.

This game would be the definition of short and sweet. Pros: - This will hands down will make you feel like a Prosecutor/detective as you piece together cases during world war 2. - The game is here to not only entertain but to also educate some of the atrocities that happened during that period. - The style is incredibly unique comic book shading. Cons: - Short... Like really short in the short and sweet, I have finished in the 13 hour play time but damn you get quality in each hour. - The searching for clues is pretty rail roaded, would be nice to see piecing some connections to new clues. You wont be disappointing in this game if you are looking for something more than a Phoenix Write experience. You will have to decipher a narrative and piece things not by the defendants narrative but what the evidence says as well.

Felt morally obliged to play these games as the story was genuinely good, and the art style really caught my eye ever since I saw the trailer. Hoping there’ll be more cases to solve in the future. Recommended: 4/5 for detective puzzle experts!

I loved the premise of this game – like Ace Attorney, but in post-WWII Germany, and obviously a lot darker in tone due to the grim historical subject matter. I also like the stylized graphic-novel artwork and the soundtrack. The voice acting is passable – the main characters are mostly well acted, but some of the side characters are a bit amateurish. It's not bad enough to negatively affect the overall experience, though. My only real complaint is the shortness of the game – only two cases, neither of which takes more than a few hours to complete if you skip all the optional reading material. (My playtime is artificially high because I accidentally left the game running overnight. 😅) Hopefully the devs will release more cases as DLC down the line.

An intuitive court-puzzle game ✅ Learn history by doing rather than it being told ✅ Fritz Bauer ✅ Honestly I couldn't recommend this enough.

I've always had a soft spot for games that required me to search for clues, investigate facts and individuals in order to find new elements to carry forward an investigation, and this is exactly what The Darkest Files brings to the table. When I tried its demo last year, I was captivated by the way it used flashbacks you literally live again through the words of witnesses, but also by the specific theme of these cases you work on, namely old Nazi WW2 unsolved crimes. I really liked the game and its mechanics, but unfortunately there are only two cases to solve. Also sometimes, in specific instances, you are forced to understand what the developers wanted you to highlight as proof, and there's no way around it, even if the player provides something pertinent and very similar as an evidence. So basically the system is pretty closed and not very malleable. And finally I would argue that even if the simple graphical style is fitting for this kind of game, I would have loved to see a little bit of diversity between different days/months...right now it rains every single day and that's really awkward. Apart from these three little flaws, probably dictated by a lack of financial resources, I would still give a nice 7 out of 10 to The Darkest Files, because the mechanics are original, the historical research is on point and the stories told really interesting and different from what we usually imagine when we think or speak about war crimes during World War 2. An easy recommendation for me, while I hope to see some new DLC with more cases to solve or maybe even a new game built on these solid foundations!

The game mixes investigation, dialogue choices, evidence analysis, and courtroom storytelling. You gather testimonies, review old documents, and reconstruct events from WWII atrocities. These are not fantasy crimes—they’re based on real historical cases, including war crimes committed at concentration camps and mass executions. It’s important to note that while these crimes are based on true events, the names of those involved were changed. The only exception is Fritz Bauer, who investigated cases of post-war crimes in Germany. The player takes control of a young prosecutor, Esther Katz. She joins Bauer’s group in solving cases that are left unnoticed by the people of Germany. They smartly point out in the beginning that most of the judges and officers didn’t get involved in solving these cases because they were also with the Nazi party at the time. Now, it’s up to Bauer’s group to bring justice and give a sense of peace to the victims. With a good chunk of investigation games, players will look over a couple of documents. Like a lot of great detective games, The Darkest Files goes all the way through this aspect. Not only are players looking into pages of notes, but they are also interviewing people and going through court cases. The amount of detail here is astounding, and players could easily get lost in the amount of information present. The art style for [b]The Darkest Files[/b] matches the gameplay as it’s very noir-inspired. When the player walks into the building for the first time, it feels like they’ve been transported into some of the best film noirs from the 1930s. It’s dripping with atmosphere, and gamers can feel the long hours at work in the building just by looking at it. The shadows in this game are phenomenal and stylized in the best way. The game does not shy away from its dark subject matter and treats the material with sobering seriousness. You learn not only about the crimes of the Nazi regime but also about the legal and moral struggles of post-war Germany. Interviews and evidence analysis are engaging, encouraging players to think critically and weigh inconsistencies. While atmospheric, the gameplay can feel linear. You often know what conclusion the game wants you to reach. The game isn’t for casual entertainment—it’s grim, challenging, and morally weighty. It aims to provoke reflection rather than excitement. If you're looking for a detective story with action, this isn’t it. But if you're interested in historical justice and exploring how societies confront their darkest moments, it’s compelling. [b]The Darkest Files[/b] is a powerful blend of history, narrative, and investigation. It’s not perfect in its execution, but its importance and integrity make it stand out. It’s less a game in the traditional sense and more of an interactive memorial, asking you to think deeply about accountability and remembrance. [h1]7/10[/h1] DISASTER | BAD | MEDIOCRE | OKAY | [b][u]GOOD[/u][/b] | GREAT |AMAZING| MASTERPIECE [quote] Reviewed on: Win11 Home 64-bit, Intel i5-11600K, GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB TUF, 32GB DDR4-3600 RAM, 2 x Kingston NV1 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD, Internet Broadband 1000/1000 Mbit[/quote] [quote] If you like this review, then please consider giving it a thumbs up. I've also reviewed other games that you might find interesting. If so please follow [u][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/27418263/] Top of the Chart.[/url][/u]