A lot's changed in the future, huh.
"???" Okay, okay,
Strangers In The Land Of Turnabouts is the new case by DWaM, featuring a stylish aesthetic and a unique twist on the Setting the Stage concept. There’s not a whole lot I can say about this case that wouldn’t be better experienced by playing it first, but if you’re familiar with the author’s work, you’ll have some idea of what to expect here. As mysterious civil attorney Mr. Albert, you’re charged with representing a landlord accused of stealing one of his tenants’ cars. Do things stay that simple? I mean, what do you think?
STORY - Strangers begins with deceptive simplicity, and as it expands outward to become a fairly sprawling narrative the twists start coming, forcing you to rethink what you’d taken for granted up to that point. One of the highlights here is the original setting, fed to you in drips of detail that paint a vague picture of what came before. But these successes come with many pitfalls. Dialogue is cleverly written but often goes on for too long. Conversations lose emotional weight because the identities of the people having them are hidden to become twists. Secret gambits and plans pile up on each other, causing confusion. There’s a lot of creativity on display here, but I felt even this relatively simple plot became overstuffed.
GAMEPLAY - Despite all the weight of its story, this isn’t a long case, so it only has a short bit of courtroom puzzling before its conclusion. There’s a noticeably small amount of evidence, meaning puzzles involve pressing to make sure you’re certain there aren’t any alternate possibilities, but this isn’t a problem- it just means that the case takes a more analytical, big-picture mystery approach (even if the mystery itself doesn’t end up being too complicated). I do wish a certain document in the Court Record was less full of information and a bit easier to parse, but in the end I found the puzzles solid while they lasted.
PRESENTATION - Strangers’ unique presentation is one of its strongest assets, selling the setting so strongly that the dialogue’s subtlety around it feels natural. The custom backgrounds look great, and the segments that make use of animated images and AAO’s built-in transitions make everything flow well together, look dynamic, and maintain a consistent visual style. The music, a collection of intense synthwave tunes, fits well with the setting, even if it can feel odd in the middle of court. The court sequences in general felt a little off, with elements such as the AAI backgrounds and sprites seeming out-of-place, but that’s a minor complaint.
THEME RELEVANCE - The setting in this case is close to its central focus. It’s clear that a lot of work has been put into creating a world that intrigues, and only becomes more mysterious and interesting as you learn more about it. Strangers’ setting also benefits from being original to it (...well...), though I was disappointed with some of the later twists surrounding the nature of the world, and would have preferred a mystery that incorporated the setting more heavily. Still, it’s an all-around impressively built setting that’s fitting to what I had in mind when thinking this comp up.
OVERALL - Strangers In The Land Of Turnabouts is creative, and has both smart dialogue and excellent presentation. Still, I found myself getting frustrated with many of the twists, as well as the intentional vagueness of so much of the characters’ conversations, and I wished that the courtroom mystery played a more integral role in the story. It’s stylish and interesting, so I have no doubt fans of DWaM’s prior cases will enjoy this one as well, even if I felt it could have used some editing.