In the Dance of Death: Du Lac and Fey game on Switch, players will embark on a journey of forensic exploration and magic.
The new switch game, Dance of Death: Du Lac and Fey, is published by Hidden Trap. It has come out recently, on January 27, 2023. In this game, you will find an elaborate murder mystery that takes any player back in time and walks them through clever detective work. Dance of Death: Du Lac and Fey is an interactive single-player game. The player can switch between the main characters as the story unfolds.
There is a version of this game that came out for PC by Salix Games in 2019 and quickly became popular. It looks to be the same game and the same storyline, if not very similar, but on a different gaming platform. This review is for the Switch version of that game.
As the characters interact with non-playable characters, the player has the opportunity to choose what their character says. They can choose the energy of the conversation this way, and it impacts what is learned throughout their investigation. In every location that players go to, there is something to examine, something to pick up, or someone to talk to.
The story of Dance of Death: Du Lac and Fey has a fascinating storyline of the forbidden lovers’ tale between Lancelot and Guinevere. There is also a curse, and Merlin is involved. Players get to learn about this story throughout the game while investigating the various murders around town. There is something magical and mysterious involved, and that is for the players to discover.
It starts with a murder, and there is a winged creature involved that gets trapped in a mirror to reveal secrets. There is witchcraft, with spells being used to either be binding or help solve the mystery. Answers are shown in pictures, which then need to be translated. Divination is not always easy, and not every translation is obvious. The main characters are given a good foundation, needing to find Merlin. It is a start, but they have a lot of work on their hands to solve the terrible crime.
The various murders all have a common theme in how they are dismembered, and there are rumors of the devil being in town. In the Dance of Death: Du Lac and Fey game on Switch, players will embark on a journey that takes time as well as curiosity. A lot of walking is required for the characters as they make their way around town searching for answers.
For the creators, Dance of Death: Du Lac and Fey is heavily reliant on acting, as Salix Games has clearly put a lot of work into not only the design and story of the game but also making the characters have distinct attributes and unique personalities. You can tell that the voice actors of these characters truly got into their roles, and this adds to the game’s elaborate design.
As the player takes their characters around town to interact with locals as well as travelers, there are countless scenes where you sit back and watch them talk and listen to the storyline. When the non-playable characters ask your character a question, you will have to choose from the provided answers. There is a lot of acting, and it puts you into the mystery while having the ability to be a part of it.
On the Switch platform, it is a bit difficult to maneuver the characters to walk smoothly. It is good that they are not being chased because the way that it responds to the joystick sometimes results in sometimes appearing to trudge like a drunkard. This happens as it reacts slowly to turning, then overcompensation happens as you may attempt to correct the action. There are times when you can be successful at walking a straight line in the direction you wish to go, but it doesn’t always come that easily.
When having to walk all through Whitechapel, the difficult maneuvering can be frustrating and time-consuming. Because of this issue, it almost feels like there needs to be a “transport” option, even if it is just a few feet forward each time. This problem would be easier to overlook if there were not so much walking involved in the Dance of Death: Du Lac and Fey.
Dance of Death: Du Lac and Fey is made for mature audiences. Parents may decide to let their older kids play, but there is a warning at the beginning. This is because of mature language, references to sex, references to murder, as well as details of the murders as you go through the investigations. As a play, you pick up various journals, and some will be descriptive of what body parts were taken, as well as how.
For parents who are not bothered by that but might be concerned about actual violent scenes or sex scenes, there are none. You do not have to worry about ending up in a scene and having to watch characters go at it, whether in the bedroom or with weapons. There are pools of blood, blood splatter, and there are dismembered bodies. To some, this might seem like mild gore, but you will not see the act actually happening.
There are a lot of curse words and foul language. Many would not even notice it because it is just part of the dialogue. However, if there are parents who care about that kind of exposure, it is there and it is used in almost every scene. Other than that, this game is very clean compared to other games made for mature audiences.
Dance of Death: Du Lac and Fey is well done and interactive game, and also nice to listen to how the story unfolded. It is always fun to play a game that is branching out and inspired by a well-known historical tale. The acting of all of the characters showed how much fun the creators had when making the game. The biggest issue is maneuverability. If there weren’t so much walking, maneuverability would not be as much of an issue. However, there is a lot of walking involved, which makes this aspect frustrating at times.
You can find Dance of Death: Du Lac and Fey on Steam and can now play it on the Nintendo Switch starting January 27th, so just a few days ago.
