The Shapeshifting Detective

Had plenty of fun on my first run, then came back years later to finish the achievements.
It's not perfect; for example the randomized murder part is the usual cautionary tale on how multiple endings requiring multiple playthroughs can sour the experience. Some series embraced the concept and worked it into the game's mechanic graciously (e.g. the Zero Escape trilogy) and you do get the option to skip dialogue on subsequent playthrough; but it'll still require you to click a lot or smash the confirm button... Thankfully the experience is short enough that it's bearable; but I would have been so much more impressed by this game's if you could at least have jumped to specific chapters.
On a better note, I love the references, the inspirations from similar games, the radio playlist and some of the more wicked dialogue choices. The story is compelling enough to want to keep at it to see how things play out. The characters were fun to encounter (regardless of how you end up feeling about them) and the universe was coherent enough that it required little suspension of disbelief. You truly get to choose if you want to lean in hard or not on the characters quirks and lives, getting to the ending regardless of how invested you are in the whole premise.
I kinda wouldn't have hated a sequel. There's something really enthralling about the entire thing; and it does still hold up today. There's just a few annoying bits regarding the multiple playthrough experience that could have been easily avoided (e.g. Seeing previously selected dialogues, save slots, or a chapter selection). If the game was ever updated with those QoL changes; it'd be a no-brainer recommendation for me. As these suggestions mostly impacts subsequent playthroughs, it does mean that the first playthrough is pretty great.

This is a very fun and unique detective game. I don't want to spoil anything about it, but atmosphere, lighting, audio, characters, and world building are all really well done. Sad it wasn't super long, but I would definitely play another game like this. Leaves more questions than answers by the end, but I think it flowed well and I liked all the characters, especially their hidden conversations and scenarios.
Super glad that they allow you to skip scenes on future playthroughs if you're trying to see the whole game. Good game. Definitely something to play at night

Very unique and fun! I love bothering Chief Dupont!

One of or maybe my favourites in this collection, and likely a good game even to buy alone.
I had a blast the entire time I played, the concept is very compelling, and it is well-executed and believable in narrative, production and acting throughout. Overall, the dialogue usually goes the way you expect, and the compelling mystery is made even better by the shapeshifting twist.
My only gripes are the unskippable repetition of the hourly radio segments between chapters, and the fact that I got stuck once trying to progress a lead by trying every option (but that it only happened once is honestly better than Ace Attorney). However, these almost feel nit-picky or forgivable among the rest of the game.

Clever idea, and well executed. Quite an immersive game experience, a bit like watching a theater performance from the front row. Why aren't there more games like this? And why hasn't Wales Interactive created a sequel already?

Surprisingly underrated game. There were glitches on trying to go to the next chapter, but overall, a pretty engaging game.

I like the idea of it, the idea of a shapeshifting detective to trick people into a confession is a cool idea.
The execution of this though? ehh, maybe not so much.
but for 2.69 dollars on sale your not really losing much.... and its overall a part of this other FMV series that involves part of the lore of The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker... which I haven't played yet but I'm guessing the writing quality is about the same as this one being very so/so.... I would still recommend it on sale, not on full price.