While most games that have a mystery to them focus more on other aspects or allow the gameplay to become more about action than solving puzzles, there are some detective games that allow the player to primarily use their brain rather than their brawn to make progress.
It is unusual though for such games to open themselves up and allow players to conduct proper investigations like a detective in an open-world setting. Many detective games are much more restrictive than this, and it may surprise players to see a game focused on detective work being so open in nature, but there are a few cases where this has occurred.
7 Paradise Killer
Released in 2020 and one of the stranger detective games currently available, Paradise Killer focuses on a world where a group called The Syndicate is attempting to create a society that is completely perfect. Before they get the chance to move on to their next attempt at this experiment, they are all found murdered.
Players take control of the detective, Lady Love Dies, who is brought back from exile to investigate this strange killing in an even stranger world. Paradise Killer was highly praised on release and is an intensely fun detective experience in an open-world setting. Paradise Killer is currently available on most console platforms and PC.
6 Batman: Arkham Asylum
It is strange to add a superhero to a list of detective games, but there’s a reason that Batman is often cited as the world’s greatest detective. While some movies and other Batman media forget about this aspect of the character, Arkham Asylum didn’t when it added in features like a detective mode and various mysteries for the Caped Crusader to solve.
The open-world setting of Arkham Asylum, confined by the high open-world standards gamers have become accustomed to over the last decade, is a beautiful one. There is a reason this game is so beloved that some critics call it one of the best games ever made, and while it isn’t entirely based on detective aspects, it is one of the best open-world detective experiences available.
5 L.A. Noire
L.A. Noire is often cited as one of the greatest pure detective games ever to exist. While other games take aspects such as action more seriously than investigation, L.A. Noire gives players control of Detective Cole Phelps as he works his way into higher positions within the LAPD over the course of a series of investigations.
Investigating crime scenes for clues and attempting to solve cases through a variety of different departments in the LAPD, Cole Phelps is a great character and the investigation style is completely unique. Motion capture technology was used to get every angle of each actor’s face, making it much more realistic to do interrogation scenes.
4 The Witcher III: Wild Hunt
The Witcher III may not come to mind as one of the best detective games ever to exist immediately, but only because it falls into more than just that genre. Nevertheless, despite being in a fantasy world and also including plenty of combat, there is no doubt that The Witcher III is one of the best investigation-style games ever to exist, and includes a vast open world with an incredible number of major choices to make.
All the games in The Witcher franchise include Geralt investigating various mysteries, but The Witcher III was the pinnacle of this style in addition to being the best game overall in the series. Often cited as one of the best games of all time, The Witcher III includes mystery and intrigue in much of the main plot but also has some side missions which lead to fascinating cases all on their own.
3 Persona 4 Golden
Despite not being quite as open-world as some other detective games, there is no denying the wide variety of options and ways to play a Persona game. While every Persona game involves twists and turns in the lengthy stories that they tell, Persona 4 Golden was the game that focused throughout on a murder mystery and required the most investigation by far.
The Persona franchise makes great games for budding detectives who love trying to solve mysteries. While Persona 4 Golden focuses on an unknown mass murderer, there is plenty in terms of other stories and character work to keep players intrigued for one of the lengthier games they are likely to ever play. It also includes one of the most heartbreaking potential endings in history.
2 Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium is known as “the detective RPG” and it manages to feel like the detective aspects are primary in several ways. Firstly, it cuts out a lot of combat that most RPGs would feature, instead focusing on resolving scenes and events through dialogue and skill checks. This, and the dialogue-heavy style give players a much more realistic view of detective work.
The world of Elysium was created initially as the potential setting for a tabletop RPG, and the lengthy volume of history built around the world for that purpose made this game one of the most incredibly well-written and executed ever. Praised by many as one of the best games ever made, Disco Elysium focuses on a detective with memory loss and gives the player many options which greatly affect how the game concludes.
1 The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter
A shorter detective game that gives players the opportunity to play without being guided almost at all on what to do, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a rarity. Part horror and part adventure but mostly in a detective puzzle style, this game lets players explore with freedom and find the bodies of the Carter family as they try to solve the murders.
Players must work out how to play the game themselves with almost no prompting, the game even boasts in the opening that it doesn’t hold the hand of the player. As such, the stealth and puzzle segments must all be worked out, raising the difficulty of the game significantly.