History VideoGame / DetectiveGrimoire

A fourth, ''The Mermaid Mask'' (renamed from "Mermaid's Tounge"), has been announced for a 2024 release. In it, Grimoire and Sally are tasked with investigating the death of Magnus Mortuga, captain of the world's strangest submarine, who was alone save for an ancient stone cauldron that is now unsealed for the first time in millennia.

A fourth, ''The Mermaid's Mask'' (renamed from "Mermaid's Tounge"), has been announced for a 2024 release. In it, Grimoire and Sally are tasked with investigating the death of Magnus Mortuga, captain of the world's strangest submarine, who was alone save for an ancient stone cauldron that is now unsealed for the first time in millennia.

** ''The Mermaid's Tongue'' has Captain Mortuga locked alone in the room with a stone cauldron.

A fourth, ''The Mermaid's Tongue'', has been announced for a 2024 release. In it, Grimoire and Sally are tasked with investigating the death of Magnus Mortuga, captain of the world's strangest submarine, who was alone save for an ancient stone cauldron that is now unsealed for the first time in millennia.

* ContinuityNod: Tangle Tower builds extensively on characters and lore introduced in ''Secret of the Swamp.'' That said, it seldom makes explicit reference to the previous case -- notably, you can look at Richard Remington's name on the family tree in the Grand Hall, but no reference is made to his murder in the previous case.

* RedHerring: [[spoiler: A subplot involving rising tensions between Fifi, Poppy, Fitz, and Penny is ultimately irrelevant to Freya's murder.]]

* RedHerring: In addition to having an [[NeverTheObviousSuspect innocent obvious suspect]] in every case, the games frequently include other subplots and distractions to sift through -- for example, ''Tangle Tower'' features an extended subplot involving rising tensions between Fifi, Fitz, Poppy, and Penny, but it has nothing to do with the murder case.

A fourth, "The Mermaid's Tongue", has been announced for a 2024 release. In it, Grimoire and Sally are tasked with investigating a LockedRoomMystery: the death of Magnus Mortuga, captain of the world's strangest submarine, alone save for an ancient stone cauldron that is now unsealed for the first time in millennia.

* NeverTheObviousSuspect: Each game will hand you a prime suspect as a RedHerring. These suspects grow increasingly outlandish with each game, making it even more clear that they aren't the real culprits.

* LockedRoomMystery: A key complication of the case is that Freya and Flora were locked in the room when Freya died, and the door remained locked until Fitz kicked it down.

A fourth, "The Mermaid's Tongue", has been announced for a 2024 release. In it, Grimoire and Sally are tasked with investigating a LockedRoomMystery: the death of Magnus Mortuna, captain of the world's strangest submarine, alone save for an ancient stone cauldron that is now unsealed for the first time in millennia.

* ArtShift: The first game is an {{Animesque}} VisualNovel in the style of Franchise/AceAttorney, complete with characters communicating entirely in grunts and electronic buzzing. The backgrounds are bleak and realistic, in keeping with the CrappyCarnival aesthetic. ''Secret of the Swamp,'' on the other hand, has the much more quirky and colourful approach of European WesternAnimation (á la ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfKells Cartoon]] [[WesternAnimation/SongOfTheSea Saloon]]''), with stylised (and animated) character models, full voice acting, and lush hand-drawn backgrounds. ''Tangle Tower'' pushes this aesthetic even further, utilizing a more pastel palette and SquiggleVision.

* BettyAndVeronica: Implied with Fitz, Penny and Poppy. Penny is his glamorous, flighty FemmeFatale fiancée who has painfully little in common with him, while Poppy is her {{goth}} cousin who takes an interest in gardening and asks Fitz to teach her, inciting Penny's jealousy and hatred.

* AFamilyAffair: Penny is incredibly jealous and paranoid over her fiancé Fitz's friendship with her cousin Poppy. The true nature of Fitz and Poppy's relationship remains ambiguous, but [[spoiler:it's eventually revealed that, whatever Poppy's feelings are, Fitz does love Penny and may not even be aware of her jealousy. Given TheReveal, it's also implied that much of Penny's animosity towards Poppy is fake, and she may not even care for Fitz as much she originally seemed to.]]

* LighterAndSofter: As stated before, there's a bit more comedy thrown in, including the idea that a cartoonish swamp creature may have done a man in. [[spoiler: Also, the culprit in this game only intended to scare Remington into shutting down the swamp and only attacked after he was shot it. Nothing at all like the culprit in the first game who planned to kill from the get go.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: A ''ton.'' Character dialogue will hint at the true nature of many clues, and of the case itself, long before the player might have put two and two together. Though some of it is obvious (for example, the poems Poppy recites when shown character profiles hint at some of the hidden rooms in the house), the extent of the more subtle foreshadowing is [[DevelopersForesight genuinely impressive]], and extremely rewarding to catch on a second playthrough.

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: The technology in the games is all over the place, with ''Secret of the Swamp'' taking place in a run down tourist attraction, with what would be considered largely outdated technology in the [=2010s=], and ''Tangle Tower'' uses cassette tapes as a plot point, although it's mentioned that they're outdated in the game itself for a few years, the wording is ambiguous enough to suggest they were still in use at least a few years ago.

* MirrorScare: Averted. The killer broke the glass to prevent the victim from seeing him as he inspected the broken mirror.

* AFamilyAffair: Penny is incredibly jealous and paranoid over her fiancé Fitz's friendship with her cousin Poppy. The true nature of Fitz and Poppy's relationship remains ambiguous, but [[spoiler:it's eventually revealed that, whatever Poppy's feelings are, Fitz does care very much for Penny and may not even be aware of her jealousy]].

* EverybodyHatesMathematics: Every time Grimoire and Flora encounter math in the environment (e.g., on some papers in Fifi's room), they remark on how they can't parse it. Grimoire in particular seems to really hate math.

* ParentalAbandonment: Penny's parents, Fitz's parents, and Flora's mother are all conspicuously missing. Though their exact statuses remain ambiguous, dialogue quickly makes it clear that regardless of their ultimate fates, they all left Tangle Tower -- and their children -- behind first.

* BlatantLies: When Grimoire asks Fitz about his relationship with Penny, he [[HesitationEqualsDishonesty hesitantly]] insists that it's good, even though tons of evidence and dialogue points to him having an affair with Poppy.

* AFamilyAffair: It's heavily implied that Fitz is cheating on his fiancée Penny with her cousin Poppy. Penny is understandably furious.

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: It's never clear where any of the games' settings are located. The first game, which is more grounded, seems to take place in England, but later games have most characters speak in American accents and take place in more isolated and fantastical locations.

* YourCheatingHeart: It's never stated outright, but multiple clues and conversations make it clear that Fitz is cheating on Penny with Poppy. This is the reason Fifi hates Fitz (not because he's a cheater, but because he's consuming Poppy's time and attention) and one of the reasons Penny hates Poppy.

* FigureItOutYourself: Detective Hawkshaw regularly refuses to give Grimoire any information, even snapping, "I do not wish to do your job ''for'' you, detective."

* SympatheticAdulterer: Even though Fitz is cheating on Penny, her neglect and dislike of the [[FlowerMotifs flower]] he gave her and his continued efforts to keep it alive suggest that she's the one who's really killing their relationship. Penny also suggests that she doesn't understand Fitz and only appreciates his looks, while Fitz warmly notes that Penny is "not who she pretends to be" and seems to see more in her.