While it certainly isn't the first game to do this, Night in the Woods was a good example of how to do a non-combat-based adventure game in a non-traditional format. It was a side-scrolling adventure with light puzzle elements and a dialogue system that was complex without being complicated. It also featured a flawed female character in a deep and intriguing story. Jenny LeClue: Detectivu tries to follow this template, but its success is dependent on a few factors that are outside of the game's scope.

It is approximately the 1950s, and the sleepy town of Arthurton is a stranger to crime, even though the local university has a big forensics department. Jenny LeClue happens to be the daughter of the forensics professor, and she's a budding detective in her own right. She tries to solve mysteries, even if they're rather benign, like searching for missing glasses or sandwiches. All of that changes with the murder of the university's dean, and Jenny's mother is framed for his demise. Determined to clear her mother's name, Jenny takes on a real case while also noticing how her sleepy little town suddenly became stranger and more mysterious.

The above sets up a good premise for an adventure game, but the title has a parallel narrative that features Arthur Finklestein, who is the fictional creator of the Jenny LeClue book series. After 38 entries, the series has gotten stale in the eyes of critics and readers. Arthur's publisher says that the adventures are too safe and shows him that sales have taken a nosedive, so it has requested that he dramatically shake things up, or his contract will be terminated. Thus begins his struggle to make the book edgier while also trying to maintain the safe tone of the series.

From the start, the dual story premise makes for an interesting tale, especially since you'll frequently go back and forth between Jenny and Arthur. Seeing Jenny's longing for a more substantial mystery makes you sympathetic, but seeing Arthur's reluctance to change things actually makes you dislike him. There are moments where the writing can seem overbearing, and Jenny's reactions make you root for her even more. For example, there's a part where Arthur states that playing with electricity is dangerous, but Jenny sees it as no big deal since she's just flipping a switch. In another situation, Jenny insults Suzie, the popular girl, while Arthur passes it off as a joke between friends. In a way, the conflict between both stories can be seen as a coming-of-age tale, where the teenager in Jenny lashes out and rebels against the parent (Arthur), who refuses to see his creation grow up.

Aside from the conflicts between author and character, it helps that the people in Jenny's world are multifaceted instead of being one-note, like in a number of adventure games and young adult novels. Jenny may be the hero, but her aggressive nature and mistrust of a few characters can make her unlikeable, but in a way that signifies her need to mature. Keith may be the best friend who gets pushed around a lot, but the distance that is created between them after the death of the dean makes you feel for both parties. The same goes for Suzie, who plays a character that's the opposite of the typical popular girl bully seen in other media. CJ is the nutcase conspiracy theorist who takes the time to be a real friend to Jenny. When coupled with the murder mystery and Arthur's fight to keep his current book the same as the preceding ones, there's enough here to craft a tale that'll push you to completion, if only to see how the cast evolves as the mystery deepens.

As mentioned earlier, the gameplay takes on the form of an adventure that is akin to Night in the Woods, mixed in with some concessions from the genre's modern incarnations. For the most part, you'll be placed in scenes where your movement is restricted to the left and right, and climbing may be necessary in some segments. Going in and out of the background is done automatically. As you go through each scene, you'll get a marker to let you know if you're near something important, and the game automatically knows what action to take once you're there. Some interactions lead to puzzles of the dial, level and switch varieties. Others require striking up conversations with people, and some discussions come with dialogue choices that can change the flow of a few scenes, similar to the later batch of Telltale titles.

There are a few quirks that don't necessarily hurt the Jenny LeClue: Detectivu but are interesting to point out nonetheless. Some of the markers for important elements are meant to be hidden, but the appearance of a magnifying glass icon quickly uncovers it, forcing you to spend some time using your own magnifying glass cursor to scour the area and focus in on that important tidbit. It's a nice nod to the old point-and-click adventures, but the time required for the zooming in makes the mechanic get old fast. It makes you wish that there weren't any hidden markers or that the process of discovery were speedier. The puzzles aren't that difficult (except for the lock-picking), but the lack of hints and clues beforehand means that you'll either need prior experience with adventure games to figure out what you need to do, or you can fumble around and arrive at the solution via dumb luck. The dialogue changes the tone for some scenes, but it also follows in the Telltale formula in that it ultimately doesn't alter the overall plot or conclusion.

While some of the markers lead to puzzles, others lead to more interesting gameplay mechanics, where you can get a closer look at the person you're talking to or the scene of a mystery to figure out more important clues. This is a little more traditional in that you have to move a cursor to find the points of interest, but it still shows the magnifying glass and normal icons when you pass by something important. These sections aren't very difficult, and a counter tells you exactly how many clues you need to find, but it leads to some fun pieces of conversation.

These sections do lead to the actual crime-solving part of the game, and this is where things get really fun as you start linking clues together to come up with a plausible scenario. The drawback is that even if you know you've made a bad conclusion, you'll still have to commit to the answer before you're told that it's incorrect, but there's at least a little compensation, since you can see doodles appear while you're doing this. Like the puzzles in the game, most of these are easy to solve, but there are a few brainteasers along the way.

The fatal flaw is the same one that plagued 2018's charming adventure game, Nairi: Tower of Shirin. Namely, the game has no satisfying ending. The first ending you may encounter is a nice little gag, but the more definitive paths to the narrative lead to one big cliffhanger that can feel unsatisfying after the nearly 10-hour journey. While the Steam page mentions that this entry is the first part in a series, the GOG page does not, and neither does the Apple Arcade page. Without that information going in, players will be left confused and disappointed when the credits suddenly roll, especially with no word on when the next game will hit.

While these types of games tend to be focused on the main adventure, there are a few extra things to keep people coming back. While not exactly vital to the story, the game offers up a bunch of virtual stickers to discover, so you can decorate your casebook journal with them. The same goes for pieces of various postcards found in the game world. Perhaps the best extra is in the form of a scene select, where you can go through each of the 40+ scenes and replay them without it affecting your current adventure. For those who want to see the alternate scenes play out when different choices are made, this is a convenient feature that you'd wish other games would have.

Graphically, Jenny LeClue: Detectivu is gorgeous. The art style of the angular faces with a deep color scheme serves as another reminder of the influence Night in the Woods has on the title. The fluid, almost loose animation seen throughout the game can remind you of a few titles from Zoink Games, like Flipping Death and Zombie Vikings. The backgrounds are picturesque but reveal a ton of depth due to a load of layers moving at different speeds. Lighting and shadow also play a big role in creating an illusion of depth to the point where every scene reminds you of recent, striking 2D indie endeavors.

Sound-wise, the game works well enough. The music rides the line between inviting during the game's opening scenes to foreboding as the mystery goes on; it does a great job of punctuating the game's serious tone. At the same time, there's a tinge of sadness whenever you have scenes with Arthur. You can see the vision for his creation slip away, while his desperate attempts to keep things going his way only make things worse. Meanwhile, the game sports no voices, which may be disappointing to discover given the amount of dialogue and how some scenes would be amplified if there had been voice actors.

As the first part of a series, Jenny LeClue: Detectivu makes a great initial impression. The actual detective work strikes a balance between thought-provoking and easy to figure out. The presentation is wonderful, even if the audio could have fared better. It is the story that keeps you hooked with a flawed but likeable main character and a layered, supporting cast. It culminates in a story where the lack of a proper ending is the only thing that sours the experience. Provided that the team can release the second game in a timely manner, this'll be a memorable experience for adventure fans.

Score: 8.0/10