If point-and-click titles look and are made like this, then I just might go back to the genre full-time.
The Mermaid Mask from developer SFB Games is a gorgeous and unique take on the point-and-click genre. It brings fantastic art, phenomenal story, and respectful design for an old-school style of game. When this genre is a dime a dozen these days, it’s nice to see someone take a different route while keeping the same gameplay structure intact.
It’s well done.
Anyway, the story of The Mermaid Mask begins with a murder on a submarine. Captain Mortuga is dead, and no one on the sub seems to know whodunnit. Thankfully, Detective Grimoire and Sally are on the scene to hopefully solve the mystery, which uncovers far more than they expected, and a lot of suspicious characters with possibly evil motives.
The story is well-written for this type of gameplay. It’s just mysterious enough to hold its cards close to its chest, and just loose enough for the player not to get frustrated with what it takes to progress it. It’s tough to find a middle ground with this type of story, as you want to keep the player interested in what’s going on, but not lead them by the hand or reveal the culprit(s) too soon, and The Mermaid Mask does all of that well.
How the story flows those mysterious plot points and twists/turns is important, as it needs to be perfect in its construct to ensure the game is engaging. As the detectives piece things together, the player will piece things together, which means a good murder mystery is a foot on the story side of the game. Honestly, The Mermaid Mask does a great job of throwing forks in the road for the player and keeps them guessing along the way without frustrating them to the point where they might be completely befuddled. That’s the best type of mystery game. If you need proof, just look at any Phoenix Wright title, as Capcom’s crown jewel tends to do that best. Keeping the player going while throwing in some obstacles to keep them guessing, but in a healthy, fun sort of way.
On the gameplay side of the tracks, as much as I thought The Mermaid Mask would be a pure point-and-click experience, the story shifts hard to a more detective direction, leaning heavily on the gameplay structure found in the series Phoenix Wright. In fact, it’s the best of both worlds, which opens up a lot of possibilities and makes the gameplay far more satisfying than it should be.
Starting with P&C, a definite component that leans that way is how the detectives figure out what is going on in a room on the sub. When they enter a space, there are obvious hot spots that stand out visually, which will have the player move a mouse icon to it and get some sort of clue-riddled dialogue from one of the detectives and how that ‘thing’ relates (or doesn’t) to the murder. In the same vein as old-school classics like The Secret of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion, these hotspots can be used to throw in important clues or throw off the detectives. That type of design leaves the sorting completely up to the player, which makes the experience a fun game of logic and reasoning. For example, there is a galley scene that the detectives happen upon. There are paintings, a deck of strung-out cards, a kitchen with pots and pans, and plenty of items scattered across the scene. While each standout piece tells its own story, there are only a handful of clues useful for progressing to the next part of the overall mystery. While the items may literally stand out in the scene, the player is given some agency to sort through the worthless items to find the right puzzle pieces to solve the bigger mystery. Players figuring out what is useful and useless is a huge part of the game’s buy-in, as well as the genre it lies within. LucasArts used to do this with all its heyday classics, and The Mermaid Mask takes that same route. In other words, I adore what was done and how respectful it was to games of the past that gave those pieces to its blueprint.
Now, where The Mermaid Mask deviates from the old school structure is with the Phoenix Wright-like gameplay components. While pointing and clicking could certainly get the job done, a modern gamer would need more reason to keep playing, and SFB Games gives it to them. Once clues are sorted, the game can go several different directions. Piecing together a scene is the first step, and the first unique aspect of the gameplay. Once clues are gathered, the player will help the detectives put together sentences that relate to what went on in the room during the murder. For example, the game will say (blank) was in the room and (blank) got out and (blank). The player is given options for what they logically believe went on in the room based on clues that have been uncovered and how things played out in relation to those clues. Of course, the game isn’t going to penalize the player for wrong answers; rather, it will encourage them to go a different route with their response until the player can logically figure out what all the clues found meant. It’s a super creative, yet easy way for the player to progress in the game while also feeling like they are the ones figuring things out. Phoenix Wright lives and thrives on this type of deduction, which made that series addictive and popular.
In addition to this element, the game also features some minor branching dialogue with NPC characters. These are interviews where the player gets to pull out relevant material while asking a series of specific questions, which sometimes lead nowhere or somewhere. This isn’t a new element to the P&C genre, as this was first introduced in The Secret of Monkey Island decades ago, but it seems a bit more refined and far more interesting than usual. Its main purpose is to keep the gameplay interesting and not have it grow stale. It also helps focus on the story a bit more, while allowing a cognitive break for the player and their point-and-clicking. There are only so many points and clicks one can do during gameplay, and this is integrated beautifully into the process to alleviate any potential boredom that might set in.
Beyond these elements, and going back and forth between collected clues (very Maniac Mansion), the game also features a neat compartmentalized aspect: how the detectives move between spaces. The spaces map menu is essentially a lovely flowchart of the submarine, and features how the rooms connect with each other. As the detectives uncover more of the mystery, these spaces open up, which pushes the progression of the game. These spaces will also be revisited in a back-and-forth manner, which means the game feels bigger than it might be.
This large freedom of movement via progression helps make the story larger and the world being explored a bit more open. At the same time, this also creates good boundaries for the player to move to and from within. Knowing that there is a finite amount of space to explore means that the mystery can be kept tight during the gameplay experience and the player will not feel overwhelmed. There are not a lot of loose ends to fall into and wasted time created, which is important when you’re trying to keep the player’s interest squarely focused on the story and gameplay.
Anyhoo, The Mermaid Mask does a wonderful job of bringing a good story, fantastic gameplay variety, and a mix of different genres to the overall body of work. Of course, the visuals and presentation (including wonderful acting and script) help to bring all of this together, as the game proudly shows off its well-planned and executed gameplay. It’s a great game, folks, and it kept me engaged the entire time. That’s hard to do at my age, especially considering how many point-and-click games I have played in half a century. The 90s were filled to the brim with them.
On that sweet note, let’s wrap up this review.
Conclusion
The Mermaid Mask from developer SFB Games is a point-and-click marvel that brings with it a good story, modern gameplay design, and a respectful tip-of-the-hat to an old genre.
