Video Game / Sherlock Holmes Chapter One

His legend begins with you.

"Jon. My anima, m… my brother - there is nothing more important in this moment than this truth. I know you fear for me. But… my path was set long ago. I can no more step off it than I can… ask the avalanche to roll back uphill.

"Just… please be careful, Sherry. I love you."

"Quite. Come on. We’ll go together."

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is a 2021 action-adventure mystery video game in the Sherlock Holmes (Frogwares) series and the ninth installment overall, while also being a Continuity Reboot of the series. It is also the first game in the series to be self-published by Frogwares itself, following their split from Nacon over the disputed publishing rights to The Sinking City. Described as an "origin story", the game follows a young Sherlock Holmes as he investigates a mystery in his family's home on the Mediterranean island of Cordona after his mother's death. It is the first open-world title in the series.

A young and fresh Sherlock Holmes, joined by his imaginary friend Jon, journeys to his family's old home of Cordona to see his mother's grave. Once there, though, a stranger suggests the circumstances of Violet Holmes' death were more than they seem, and an instantly-piqued Sherlock commits to unearthing the truth. For the first time, he makes a name as an excellent consulting detective as he goes from case to case across the island city, a recently-colonised Mediterranean port with tensions bubbling right under the surface.

Gameplay is largely about mystery-solving; players will go to crime scenes, collect evidence, interview witnesses, build timelines, and solve puzzles; in Sherlock's "Mind Palace", they will combine clues to make inferences and build the motive, opportunity and means of a case to identify a culprit. There will often be multiple possible culprits, with the "real" one never being made explicit. Mystery-solving is dangerous work - sometimes, players will find themselves in shootouts, with a choice of killing their opponents or finding ways to subdue them non-lethally. There are also a range of side stories to play through, and some treasure hunts.

Development of DLCs was disrupted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The final DLC case pack for the game, M for Mystery, was released March 22nd, 2022, and the game and all its DLCs was released on PS4 on April 28th, 2022.

A sequel was released in April 11, 2023 which is a remake of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened. A Kickstarter campaign was launched to secure the funding for the game's final production.

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Sherlock Holmes Chapter One contains examples of:

• Achievement Mockery: The intention in combat is for you to incapacitate all enemies nonlethally by shooting environmental hazards or objects on their body such as their hat or ammo belt to stun them, then rushing up to knock them out with Good Old Fisticuffs. If you actually kill anyone, it means you've messed up, and Jon expresses disappointment in his journal. However, you get two achievements, "Finger Slipped" and "Blood On Your Hands" for killing 5 and 15 enemies, respectively. It's not uncommon for completionists to clear a couple bandit lairs via murder just for the achievements, then not get a single casualty for the rest of the game.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Compared to the original canon, Sherlock's past has a lot of tragedies. His father died of a heart attack and then, his mother suffered from a mental breakdown. Mycroft, who was still a young adult at that time, had to move the family to Cordona where he would take care of his ailing mother and his little brother. But his mother's behavior grew worse to the point of becoming abusive towards her sons. The breaking point was when Violet tried to drown Sherlock and depending on the evidence, she either died from an allergic reaction from an overdose of her medication given by Sherlock or was euthanized by Dr. Richter. Afterward, the Holmes brothers left Cordona and Mycroft sent Sherlock to boarding school, hoping that he wouldn't remember that tragic event.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: The M for Murder DLC ends with the reveal that M is Moriarty, having been following Sherlock for some time. In the books Moriarty doesn't appear until many years into Holmes' career, and Holmes had no prior relationship with the criminal.
• Affectionate Nickname: Sherlock is called "Sherry" by his childhood friend, Jon. It turns out that his late mother called him that.
• Age Lift: Sherlock is 21 in the game which is set in 1880, placing his date of birth in 1859. In the original books however Sherlock was eventually established to have bene born in 1854, making this version five years younger than his literary counterpart. Mycroft also gets this, being 10 years older than Sherlock while in the books the age gap was only 7, but because Sherlock is younger that means Mycroft was born in 1849 instead of 1847.
• All That Glitters: A Cordona Story has Sherlock following a trail of riddles from a statue to local legend the Silver Hand in the Old City. Jon gets him excited that there might be some pirate treasure buried at the location in the final riddle. On finding it, though, at a tree in Grand Saray, their reward is... a magnifying glass, of no value but sentimental, being Violet Holmes'.
• All for Nothing: Mycroft was hiding the truth about what happened to their mother from his brother Sherlock; however, Sherlock went to Cordona and learn the truth. Learning the truth about what Mycroft did, despite trying to protect him, while they had always been at odds before, their relationship became even more strained, as Sherlock became more bitter towards his brother. In the ending depicted by Mycroft's perspective, he is visibly saddened and admits he regretted what he had done, realizing how he ultimately didn't really save his brother and only further distanced Sherlock from him, worrying his actions would lead Sherlock to do things that could potentially end badly for him.
• Anti-Frustration Features: You can skip any puzzle you're stuck on. There is a Trophy/Achievement for not skipping any.
• Arbitrary Mission Restriction: In the form of Jon's Challenges. In every case, Jon will challenge Sherlock to proceed in a certain way that is usually more time-consuming or challenging than the alternative. For example, in one side story, he will challenge you to pretend to be a police officer (which requires having a full police officer outfit) to every witness in the case, and never break character; in another story, he'll challenge you to observe the 3 rules of the Blind Dueling Club: don't talk about the Blind Dueling Club (don't mention it to the undertaker at the scene); don't miss a chance to practice your shooting (shoot some vases in the victim's backyard), and don't shed blood in a duel (don't kill the duelists at the club).
• The Atoner: Sherlock will become this in one of the endings if he decides that he was solely to blame for his mother's death, with his decision to solve crimes being motivated to make up for what happened and how Mycroft prevented him from facing justice for his crime.
• Big Brother Instinct: Mycroft goes to Cordona after learning that Sherlock went there to investigate their mother's death. In all four endings, Mycroft blames Dr. Otto Richter for his mother's death and hides the truth from Sherlock in order to protect him.
• Bittersweet Ending: Regardless of the four endings, Sherlock comes to terms with the truth of his mother's death, but Jon leaves his mind forever. Fortunately, Sherlock eventually meets his future partner, Dr. John Watson.
  • If you choose the "I killed my mother" ending, Sherlock is permanently exiled from Cordona after turning himself in to the authorities. To Sherlock's great resentment, he's freed by Mycroft's machinations before his case reaches a trial. Though a free man, he spends his days haunted by what he did, asking himself how many other crimes he must solve to make up for it.
  "I was prepared to take responsibility for my actions, but again my brother conspired against me. A little diplomatic pressure, and the trial was dismissed. Instead, I was exiled from Cordona. Freedom never tasted so bitter. Another perversion of justice at Mycroft’s hand... What was her life worth? How many adulterers and petty thieves will it take to make it right? Can anything?"
• Book Ends: The page quote provides one half of an example. Both Sherlock and Jon tell the other, "Come on. Let's go together." at opposite ends of the game. Jon says it to Sherlock at the start of the game, as they disembark the ship at Cordona, and Sherlock says it to Jon at the end, as they step out into Stonewood Manor garden to learn the truth about Violet Holmes' death.
  Jon: You needed to do this. Enough of the self-pity and doubt. So we’re a little late - what of it? We’ll retire to the hotel and visit her in the morning. It’ll be worth it.
  Sherlock: Thank you, Jon.
  Jon: And, if you wanna notify the captain’s wife of his indiscretions, I will not stand in your way.
  Sherlock: Ah, at last! I am… quite ready to get off this cursed boat.
  Jon: Come on. We’ll go together.

—

Jon: You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to go through. There is no coming back from this. Please.

Sherlock: Jon. My anima, m… my brother - there is nothing more important in this moment than this truth. I know you fear for me. But… my path was set long ago. I can no more step off it than I can… ask the avalanche to roll back uphill.

Jon: Just… please be careful, Sherry. I love you.

Sherlock: Quite. Come on. We’ll go together.

• Continuity Nod: There are several origin points to Holmes' future installments, from a potential dialogue option where he considers taking up beekeeping to another where he finds his signature violin.
  • A side story has Sherlock tracking down the disappeared Chief Inspector of the Police, Placido. His investigation leads him on a manhunt for the "Hive Master", leader of a violent gang. After tracking down the Hive Master, Sherlock can identify that he is, in fact, Placido. As a bribe to keep him from revealing his identity, Sherlock can ask for some beehives to take home.
  • Another side story has Sherlock help a man find his stolen violin. He tracks it, and the bandits who stole it, to a tavern down the road, where he finds it in perfect condition. On having it returned, its owner plays a tune on it, which causes Sherlock to remember eavesdropping on him playing from the attic as a kid. He can tell the owner about this, to which he is surprisingly touched, and offers Sherlock the violin as a gift.
  • Some of the costumes that can be unlocked are the outfits worn by Sherlock in the previous Frogwares games.
  • The final cutscene of the game adapts John Watson's first meeting with Sherlock from Chapter 1, "Mr. Sherlock Holmes" of A Study in Scarlet, almost word-for-word.
  A Study in Scarlet
  Sherlock: I have my eye on a suite in Baker Street, which would suit us down to the ground. You don't mind the smell of strong tobacco, do you?
  John: I always smoke 'ship's', myself.
  Sherlock: That's good enough. I generally have chemicals about, and occasionally do experiments. Would that annoy you?
  John: By no means.
  Sherlock: Let me see-what are my other shortcomings? I get in the dumps at times, and don't open my mouth for days on end. You must not think I am sulky when I do that. Just let me alone, and I'll soon be right. What have you to confess now? It's just as well for two fellows to know the worst of one another before they begin to live together.
  John: I keep a bull pup, and I object to rows because my nerves are shaken, and I get up at all sorts of ungodly hours, and I am extremely lazy.
  Sherlock Holmes Chapter One
  Sherlock: I have my eye on a suite in Baker Street which would suit us down to the ground. You don’t mind the smell of strong tobacco, I hope?
  John: I smoke ‘ship’s’ myself.
  Sherlock: That’s, uh, good enough. I… get in the dumps at times, and don’t open my mouth for days on end. Just… let me alone, and I’ll soon be right. What have you to confess, now? It’s best for two fellows to know what bruises each other carries before they begin to live together. My last companion and I…
  John: Well, I object to rows because my nerves are shaken, and I get up at all sorts of ungodly hours, and I am extremely lazy.
• Continuity Reboot: While not advertised as such and instead intended to be a prequel to the original games in the series, it's sequel being a remake of an earlier game makes Chapter One this.
• Disappeared Dad: Siger Holmes passed away prior to the games. His death led to his wife's mental distress.
• Exact Eavesdropping: There are several points in the game where Sherlock is required to eavesdrop and determine how much of what is being said is useful and how much isn't.
• Expository Gameplay Limitation: Averted until the ending of "A Mother's Love". On going through the door at the rear of Stonewood Manor into the previously-unknown back garden, the HUD disappears, and movement speed is limited to walking pace, with no ability to sprint. This is likely to more immerse the player in the environment, which is used to give the biggest exposition drop of the game, that being what actually happened to Violet and Sherlock Holmes on the day she died.
• Faking the Dead: Chief Inspector Placido is alive, but instructs Sherlock to tell the police he is dead. Whether or not Sherlock does, is up to the player.
• First-Person Snapshooter: Sherlock will sometimes have to take photos of evidence, such as the body of a British agent.
• Foreboding Architecture: Combat only ever occurs in a very particular type of room you come to recognise on sight: square, with a door in the middle of each wall for enemies to spawn from, waist-height cover scattered about, and pillars/walls closer to the centre of the room to provide full-height cover.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Averted. Verner Vogel is set up as a Big Bad, appearing in 3 of the 4 main cases and being directly involved in 2, and acting antagonistic towards Sherlock regardless of what choices you make in conversations with him. Depending on the attention you pay to "A Mother's Love", you may also notice that Otto Richter, the man sent down for Violet Holmes' death, had a brother who still resides in Cordona. All this would lead you to believe Vogel is really Klaus Richter, and blames you for his brother's fate. As he reveals in the ending, though he is indeed Klaus Richter, he bears Sherlock no ill will, having a strained relationship with Otto not dissimilar to Sherlock's relationship with Mycroft. He was finding cases for Sherlock to solve, but only to bring out the best in him, to craft his "masterpiece".
  Sherlock: Then why? What reason do you have for all this?
  Verner: To help you.
  Sherlock: You’re lying.
  Verner: To show you that you were wrong.
  Sherlock: More lies. I know you now, Verner. Try again.
  Verner: To see what would happen. Or is that yet another untruth? Does it matter? Take your pick. Who cares? You’re my masterpiece. I turned Sisyphus into Ozymandias. You couldn’t see the futility of your quest, until I helped you to let go of the rock. And now, “nothing beside remains”.
  Sherlock: ‘I’ remain. Despite you, and to spite you.
  Verner: It is a matter of will and power now. Will you overcome this, or shall you decay?
• Imaginary Friend: To quote the game itself, "My imaginary friend Jon: Jon has been my friend since childhood. I cannot remember a time without him. He cannot accept that only I can see him." However, in some ways, Jon acts more like a split personality, protecting Holmes from traumatic experiences and memories. He's visibly pained when Sherlock starts unlocking his childhood memories and opening the doors of Stonewood Manor, and in a crossover with Point of No Return, he desperately tries to stop Sherlock from going through the Manor's back door, knowing that if he goes through, he WILL remember the most traumatic event of his life: his mother's attempt to drown him in a psychotic episode, and her subsequent death.
• Informed Equipment: If you wear anything other than Sherlock's default suit or its jacketless variant. Those two outfits change to reflect his being granted a firearm early in the game, with a bandolier and holster appearing. All other outfits, though, have no holster.
• Insufferable Genius: Sherlock Holmes is noted for being an insufferable genius in many of his other appearances, but in this game, he is in peak form. Though it can be argued that depending on player decisions, he might be at his least intelligent in this game.
• In-Universe Game Clock: Time passes in Cordona, though it never has any material effect on gameplay. It is exceptionally pretty at any time of day, being based on a mixture of Mediterranean cultures such as Coastal Italy and Turkey.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Crossing over with Diegetic Soundtrack Usage. In the DLC case, "Beyond a Joke"; at one of the three crime scenes, you'll find Jon sat at a grand piano playing the game's main menu theme.
  Jon: "This is the tricky part..."
• Lies to Children: Violet Holmes is said to have died of tuberculosis. However, Sherlock recalls that he never heard her coughing. Turns out Mycroft lied; the truth is that their mother was suffering from severe mental distress following the death of her husband.
• Man Hug: Sherlock and Jon are very affectionate to each other particularly towards the ending where they embrace each other. In one of the endings, Sherlock also embraces Mycroft after he tells him that Jon is gone and he is free from him.
• Master of Disguise: This is one of Sherlock's shticks. By changing his outfit, accessories, hair, and makeup, Sherlock can disguise himself either as a member of different classes (upper-crust British, locals to Cordona, police, sailors, workers or vagrants) or as a specific person, as a way of gaining information or access to restricted areas.
  • Often, disguises are used to make people more pliable, as they trust certain types of people over others. For example, often in cases, you'll have to ask around for information relating to a certain piece of evidence, such as where a particular building is, or what someone was last seen doing. NPCs on the street will only give such information to someone of their own caste, so if a worker knows, you'll have to dress in a working-class outfit with blemishes and unkempt facial hair, whereas if a local knows, you'll be dressing in Ottoman tunics.
  • Other times, disguises are used to access areas otherwise inaccessible. For example, in the third main story, "A Muse From Abroad", Sherlock will eventually learn of a connection between a smuggling ring and local businessman Nicolo Bernadotti. When you try to investigate his warehouse, you find it's guarded by thugs. You can shoot your way in, or you can buy the same outfit and tattoo the thugs are wearing. Do this, and on talking to the guard again, Sherlock will imitate a Cockney accent and pretend to be seeing Bernadotti on "business".
  • Sometimes, you have to disguise yourself as a particular person to get somewhere. During the story where the disguise ability is introduced, Jon challenges Sherlock to dress up exactly like a relative of the shopkeeper - beige suit, old age makeup, sideburns, top hat. Later, also in "A Muse From Abroad", Sherlock has to investigate the apartment of artist Boniface Mercurio, whose painting was stolen. Except his landlady won't let just anyone in. So you obtain a photo of Mercurio from a newspaper, and dress up exactly like him - artist's shirt, artist's tan, unkempt stubble/moustache combo, and messy hair. When you return to the landlady, she's utterly convinced you're Mercurio, and gives you the key to his flat.
• Momma's Boy: Sherlock was very close to his mother, which is also his reason for coming to Cordona - so he could learn the truth of her death.
• Multiple Endings: Depending on the choices and conclusions you make throughout the game, there are four endings on how Sherlock deals with his mother's death. However, because this is a prequel to the greater Sherlock Holmes canon, all four of them end up putting Sherlock in approximately the same place in the end: Jon leaves his mind forever and Sherlock enrols at Cambridge University, paving the path for Sherlock to finally meet Doctor John Watson.
  • Sherlock blames Jon for the death of his mother because he told him to give the sedative to her which drove her into a psychotic breakdown. This causes Sherlock to assume that he might have inherited his mother's illness and believes Jon was a bad influence on him. To free himself, he "kills" Jon from his mind. Afterward, he leaves Cordona and moves on from the past, becoming a much colder and emotionaly detached individual after "killing" Jon who starts solving crimes as a way to keep his mind active and to try avoiding the same fate as his mother.
  • Sherlock blames himself for his mother's death because he gave her the sedative and told her about his father, which triggered her psychotic breakdown. He decides to turn himself in to the authorities despite Mycroft's protests that he was a child back then. After turning himself in, he's exiled instead due to Mycroft's efforts, and is left deeply embittered, growing to loathe himself just as much as Mycroft and fearing he would never be able to redeem himself, deciding to become The Atoner and solve crimes in London.
  • Violet Holmes' death was an accident and Otto was trying to save Sherlock, but Mycroft wrongfully accused the doctor of murder. When Sherlock confronts his older brother about this, Mycroft justifies that Otto is indirectly responsible for the treatment that led to what had happened. This does lead to Sherlock accepting that he wasn't responsible, but the relationship between the Holmes brothers have never been as strained as it has become since. Mycroft is left regretful over how his actions only worsened things for Sherlock and worries his brother is becoming increasingly reckless and obsessive.
  • Violet Holmes was murdered by Otto. Sherlock blames Mycroft for keeping the truth from him. Mycroft justifies that he doesn't want him to be burdened with what had happened. Afterward, Sherlock grows bored of solving cases in Cordona and works with Mycroft in the government temporarily, with Sherlock leaving after two months after an argument with his brother. Sherlock is regretful over not listening to Jon in the first place, believing they could have solved crimes in Cordona forever as he starts solving mysteries in London.
• My God, What Have I Done?: If Sherlock comes to the conclusion that Otto was just trying to save him from Violet, he blames Mycroft for falsely accusing Otto and then lying to Sherlock. The result is their relationship being even more strained while Mycroft regrets how things have turned out between them.
• Mythology Gag:
  • A substantial number of streets in Cordona are references to various Sherlock Holmes stories or characters; e.g. Reichenbach Road, Baskerville Street.
  • The final scene of the game is Sherlock's first meeting with Dr. Watson which is a reference to A Study in Scarlet.
  • The big reveal of the game, the culmination of its main case, "A Mother's Love", bears similarities to "The Final Problem", the Season 4 finale of Sherlock. With the help of John/Jon and his brother, Mycroft, Sherlock learns that for much of his life, he's been supressing an extremely traumatic childhood memory of a close relative attempting to kill him/killing his best friend. The main difference being in this game, the perpetrator died in the act, failing, and doesn't go on to set up an elaborate rat maze for her victim. Though, as in "The Final Problem", Mycroft is also revealed to have been complicit in fabricating a false, less traumatic version of events for Sherlock to believe, in this case, that Violet Holmes died peacefully of tuberculosis.
• Origins Episode: Instead of being set after Sherlock faked his death, like all the previous games have done, this game is set years before he meets Dr Watson and follows a much younger Sherlock who has yet to become a famous detective.
• Point of No Return: Though you can just reload a manual save from immediately before to carry on with any missed content, for the purposes of a single playthrough, the door at the rear of Stonewood Manor serves as this. When you unlock it at after completing "Sacrificial Lamb", Jon stops you from going through it, pleading for you to turn around. The game then gives you the choice of going through to "end this", or turning around to finish any leftover cases.
• Police Are Useless: At no point do the police do anything relevant or useful, aside from arresting the culprits. Even the people of the island don't have much faith in them, wishing that a certain chief inspector Placido hadn't gone missing. When you find Placido, even he is disappointed at the current state of the police, having attempted to fake his death to get away from it all. The people at the top knew how important he was, hence why they denied his many requests for retirement.
• Practically Different Generations: According to the news report on Violet Holmes' death, Sherlock is 10 years younger than Mycroft. This actually makes Mycroft older than in canon, where there is only a seven-year age gap between the brothers.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Sherlock and Jon are so disgusted to find that a POI in a case was raped, that they (and the game itself) refuse to use a photo of the act as evidence, instead making do with drawings of the victim and the culprit. When he finds the man responsible, the normally level-headed Sherlock is given the option to slug the bastard in the face.
• Renovating the Player Headquarters: A side story begun after rediscovering Stonewood Manor, the Holmes family residence on Cordona, has you going to furniture traders across the city throughout the game to buy back furniture that was sold at an auction prior to Sherlock's arrival. Each shop's stock replenishes with new items as you progress through the main story, so that you can fully renovate the manor just before the ending. When you purchase all the missing furniture pieces from a room of the manor, Sherlock recalls a childhood memory tied to that room, filling in his backstory.
• The Reveal:
  • How Violet Holmes died: Sherlock was walking with his mother in the garden. When she asked where his father was, Sherlock reluctantly reminded her that he had died a long time ago. Violet began to have a psychotic breakdown and when Sherlock tried to comfort her, she became violent and tried to drown her own son. Sherlock was saved but once he was conscious, he saw his mother dead with Otto standing beside her while Mycroft pointed a gun at Otto, accusing him of murder.
  • The true identity of Verner Vogel: Klaus Richter, Otto Richter's brother. He toys with Sherlock as a way of making Sherlock realize his role in Otto's downfall — not out of any real love for his brother, but because he regards Sherlock as a kind of masterpiece to be completed.
• Sequel Hook:
  • The game ends with Sherlock's first meeting with Dr. John Watson.
  • The Beyond A Joke DLC quest-line ends with Arsène Lupin leaving Holmes an audio message ending with a wish that they meet again in the future.
  • The M for Mystery DLC quest-line sets up Sherlock's future encounter with Professor Moriarty.
• Shout-Out: Many, mostly to pop culture and video games.
  • Lupin's recording maliciously misnames Sherlock as "Mr. Sholmes", emphasizing the last syllable like in Night Hood.
  • Jon quotes part of the dead parrot sketch during the "Blindsided" case.
  • When in a costume shop early on, Jon stands behind the counter and says, "Jon has wares if you have coin."
  • A road in South-East Grand Saray is named Gallifrey Road, in reference to The Doctor's home planet.
  • Another shout-out to Doctor Who in the DLC case "Beyond a Joke"; at one crime scene, you can find a fancy top hat left behind by the suspect, "The Amazing Alonso". It becomes a wardrobe item that you can wear at any time. What's the tagline that accompanies it in the menu? "Alons-y, Alonso!"^note "Alons-y!", meaning '''let's go!", was one of the Tenth Doctor's catchphrases. Throughout his era, there was a running gag that he wanted to find someone called Alonso to be able to say this exact phrase. This finally happened in the 2008 Christmas special, "Voyage of the Damned".
  • A third shout-out to Doctor Who is found in a piece of clothing, specifically the men's fez. All clothing items have a bit of flavor text. For the fez, the text is: "Fezzes are cool". This is a phrase said by the Eleventh Doctor to River Song after he wore a fez for the first time.
  • "Blindsided" has a shout-out to Fight Club, in the form of the rulebook for the Blind Dueling Club. What's the first rule? Don't talk about the Blind Dueling Club.
  • One of the objects in Violet Holmes' Cabinet of Curiosities is a statue of Cthulhu. Given that the sequel would be a remake of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, also counts as as example of Foreshadowing.
• Teased with Awesome: When the disguise mechanic is introduced, you are given a wide array of options to play with as you try it out - various suits, lower-class outfits, facial hair, hats, make-up. Once you've successfully cosplayed the criminal the shopkeeper is looking for, the majority of the options are taken from you, and you're left with your default outfits and a police uniform as reward for your help on the case. You have to build up your wardrobe again by buying pieces from clothing traders across the city.
• To Be Lawful or Good: There are times where justice is not necessarily the correct path. For example, the final Mycroft case forces a choice between allowing a killer to go free and race riots breaking out over the arrest of the son of a foreign VIP. The newspaper articles that can be collected are titled "Consequences" in the notebook to show the results of the resolution of cases for good or ill.
  • Every main story - and numerous side stories - has multiple endings, that usually fall into these two camps. You can show leniency to the criminal, and either let them go or get them a smaller sentence, or you can punish them with the full extent of the law. For example, in the fourth main story, "Sacrificial Lamb", there are three possible killers, and two endings for each. If you choose Kurt Manchios, you can either say his murder of Fabio was a crime of passion - manslaughter - and send him to prison for the rest of his life, or you can say it was premeditated murder, in which case he'll be sentenced to death by hanging.
• Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Sherlock realizes that he has blocked many memories associated with his mother and his childhood on Cordona. This amnesia is even given physicality in the form of locked doors to certain rooms in his childhood home; as Sherlock remembers the truth, those rooms become available for him to explore.
• Wham Line: From the DLC case, Beyond a Joke. The clues are there for the more attentive players, but all the same, it's a shock to track the burglar piggybacking off "The Amazing Alonso's" performances to his lair, only to find a letter from the gentleman burglar himself, Arsene Lupin. Even before you get to the writer of the letter - what's it titled? "Letter to Herlock Sholmes". ^note Maurice Leblanc really wanted to have his burglar go up against the great detective, and published "Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late" in 1906. Conan Doyle got a touch uppity about this perceived copyright infringement, and so in all future appearances Leblanc swapped his initials around.

"Dear Herlock Sholmes, / I trust it is you who are reading this. Clearly no one else would have half the wit to follow the clues. The police are incompetent most everywhere, but here they are exceptionally pathetic. So imagine my surprise when I learned of you - a diamond in a dung heap, finally a worthy opponent. / You see, stealing is a kind of magic. Every magician relies on his repertoire of tricks to deceive his audience. Alonso is a good magician, but she is not the best. I am. / Her real name is Melinda, by the way. Like everything else on this island, our amourette began to bore me. So I decided to play one last joke before I left. And if you are reading this, the effort was not entirely wasted. / I must admit I have a soft spot for orphans, so I leave you the painting. May it go to a good cause. / Au revoir, Monsieur Sholmes. I hope our paths cross again. / Arsene Lupin"

• What the Hell, Player?: Jon will chew you out if you accuse the wrong person in a side case, or fail to successfully accuse the right person, or choose an ending to a main case that he disagrees with.
• Younger and Hipper: Given that it's an origin story, this version of Sherlock is 21 years old and looks very handsome, but he's quite arrogant and immature.