Lucifer Within Us

While I enjoyed the gameplay a lot, this game feels like a demo.
Actually, the fact that the gameplay is good makes this even more frustrating. You start the game, get into it with the first case (to be fair, the game is split into three cases, but it is one continuous story and especially when comparing this to other detective games, I would classify this as a single case), you uncover some truths ... and then it's just over. When it feels like you just completed the intro.

I bought this on sale for ~5€, which is ...okay. I would be pretty mad if I had paid full price.

Something happened here. This game isn't just short, it ends after the first act, just when you feel like the "real" game is about to start. I found what's there interesting and fun (I am a sucker for murder mysteries and detective media, an absolute sucker), but there's no escaping that this game smacks of development issues. I would recommend it on steep sale.

I thought the setting and concept of this game were really cool, and I was invested enough in the story that I played it in one sitting. It's hard to say what's good about a mystery game without spoiling the mystery so... it's fun! It feels responsive to player observations! I had a good time! Below is pretty much the reason I'd give this one thumb up, but not two.

Now, my critique:

I am not one of those people who demands a game be at least 20 hours long. I'm fine with a shorter game as long as its length serves it well to tell its story. But I don't think the length of this game serves it well. The plot ends up feeling rushed, particularly the denouement, and none of the cases are crunchy enough that you feel cognitively satisfied after three of them.

I think the ending in particular suffers because (game end spoilers) the player has no control over this scene. It's a bit frustrating having the game go full kinetic novel and explain all the answers to you when... it's a detective game. It has verbs for figuring things out, and the player presumably bought the game to use those verbs. Would you feel satisfied by a Mario game that had normal platforming up until a cutscene of the Bowser fight? I wouldn't. It's like needing to sneeze and suddenly being unable: you've been set up with tension, but can't find release. I found myself wishing we could have seen Ada work out the true nature of Lucifer in medium, rather than him literally just telling her. That also feels like it would be more in line with Lucifer's position as a tempter; I think he would prefer to lead someone down a path where they believe they're acting independently.

I would give the UI a B+. The flat look it has in some parts is really cool, but I feel like it could've been elevated by finding an alternative to pillow shaded gradients, which to me look outdated. The fonts are also unusually bland for the rest of the design and don't seem to have been chosen as a set. Usually the problem I see is people using display fonts for body text, but this game does the reverse and uses unstyled body fonts for titles. I would expect these font choices from a game in translation from a non-Latin writing system, where the font was a technical necessity rather than a creative choice, not a game originally released in English and French. It's especially strange when the logo slaps but the in-game text does not.

But it isn't something I've seen before, and I don't regret having played it; I did have fun, even if it was too short. I hope that positive reception will encourage them to take another shot at the concept that's a little more developed and gives its plot and mechanics a little longer in the oven.

This is a weird game to look at it. It is genuinely a very fun and enjoyable game, but it isn't long AT ALL. 100% completion of it took me a total of 3 hours. If you went through it at a normal pace, you will probably get an hour, two hours max out of it. For $20, that is not worth it. This game has a tremendous amount of potential, it has fantastic game-play fundamentals and even an interesting world to be set in. However, I don't know if the developers didn't want to spend a lot of time on this or create too many levels for it, or what, but it feels like they created the tutorial and intro to the game and then just stopped? The "ending" feels like the start to the game and it is so strange. Would I recommend this? Yeah, it is fun, but it is NOT worth $20. If you can get this for a few dollars then it is worth playing through, but please keep in mind you are getting the same amount of playtime as you would get from watching a movie. Buy on a DEEP sale.

Unbelievably short, but just long enough to get you over the 2-hour limit for refund.

The game is way too easy - the story and victims are obvious from the start, and there is zero creative thinking required. You just point and click on things until the dialogue starts. I don't know if they just left the rest of the story unfinished or what, but it is not worth even the sale price of $4.99.

This is an absolutely magnificent game, with an absolutely BONKERS ending. I was engaged the entire fucking time. I bought this game after absolutely falling in love with another of their games, and despite how very different this game is from Boyfriend dungeon, they are absolutely crafted with the dame level of dedication and attention to detail. I'm gonna have to go through and play all their other games now.

This game has a great mystery and story behind it. It's very satisfying to be able to weigh the character's statements against each other and identify the inconsistencies.

I also really enjoyed the setting and story, brief as it is. I feel like i want to know more about this bizarre world!

My registered play time does include 100% completion, so do be aware of that going in. However I found that there was enough there to satisfy me, even if it's more of a short experience (especially if you are able to make accusations without having a complete picture of all the contradictions and evidence, which is possible).

Voice Acting Good
Story is Good
Abit short game length

Rating: 3.5/5

The game introduces some genuinely innovative mechanics for a detective game, offering an immersive and authentic mystery-solving experience. However, it feels incomplete, with noticeable bugs and a storyline that’s unfortunately rushed. While the unique mechanics show a lot of untapped potential, the execution leaves much to be desired. The story has an intriguing premise, but the pacing makes it feel more like an experiment or a prototype rather than a fully realized game. That said, I would recommend fans of detective games give it a try at a discounted price.

Pretty short game but not a bad one. If it's on sale and looks interesting, worth a play through. Getting 100% won't take too long though.

Enjoyed it a lot, I wish there was more. The 2 hours I have on record right now were enough to complete the game, but not find all the contradictions and evidence. Might go back to do that.

Rather short, but interesting game. I would have liked there to be at least a few extra cases.
Not too difficult, but an enjoyable time.

Definitely wait for a big discount.

The mechanics of this game were really good. The deduction and the evidence collection I really liked, even if I wanted a lot more from the gameplay, and I thought that the exploration of faith and goodness was interested. The artstyle is good and the world its set in is genuinely interesting. However, as other reviews have pointed out, this game is so short. There's maybe around 2 hours of playtime maximum - I bought it at a discounted price so I thought it was worth it for the amount I ended up paying for, but at it's full price this is too little content.

Between its world building, art, writing, puzzles, and ending this click and point mystery game is a genius evolution of the formula. I highly recommend this instant 5 out of 5 classic.

I loved two main things about this game: 1. it's a real mystery, so you do need to solve it yourself rather than randomly clicking things until you find what works. 2. the story. Lucifer Within Us is set in a technologically advanced, yet very religious world, where daemonic possession causes people to act on their worst desires. You play as an exorcist detective who not only solves the mystery, but rids the poor possessed souls of these daemons. But the way it all unfolds is especially delightful. I love the premise and lore of this world.

It's far from a perfect game, but the voice acting is solid, the mechanics are fine, the style is good, and it felt fresh and original. Plus, it's pretty short (it's just 3 cases), so it's well worth the playtime.

That was cute. It was fun and interesting enough to hold my attention. I completed it in 3 hours. I would gladly play more, especially if they made the mysteries less predictable, more challenging, and cleaned up the dialogue and writing to make it more consistent and flow better. The game was a little confusing to play at first, but I got the hang of it.

A fun experience but extremely short and lacking complexity. Very good as a proof of concept but as a game in and of itself needs more fleshing out (content, variables to solve, consequences for poor reasoning, etc.). As the game sets up a clear sequel, I hope the developers come back to it with more focus on the mystery solving aspect and the overall complexity of the culprits' schemes as opposed to the aesthetic and the timeline mechanic (which are undeniably cool, but not enough to make for a full experience). Overall, at the asking price it is not worth whatsoever, but on a steep discount it's enjoyable enough to make up for the overall thin content.

Absolutely worth it

Enjoyed the UI and different set up of typical detective/interrogation style game. Downside is how short it was. Game ends with a set up of future titles, but as far as I can see none are being developed. I recommend this game if on a discount.

This game starts off with a real bang. As a privacy cultist, lobotomy enthusiast, and daemonologist - it rings every single one of my bells. I would love to see a sequel, or expansion on the universe. Seems a beautiful waste to not capitalize on a world that is begging to be explored further.

An interesting idea cut short by the fact that the game is only as long as a single case of any other kind of detective game. It starts, then ends, cutting out everything in between.

Good game, but too short. Still worth to try out

The issues with this game are that it is too short, and too easy- all three cases are fairly short, with at max three suspects and limited physical evidence. It feels like a demo for an actual game rather than a full product.

I recommend it if it is in a sale of at least 50%.

The game play is solid, all the contraction mechanics are well designed, it's well written, I haven't found any bugs playing the game.

But, we have a problem, we have 3 cases, a tutorial case + 2 cases. It's too short, and the mechanics are not used to it's fullest during those case, and the ending is too abrupt and we are left with an endning that leads to a sequel.

My only real complaint about this game is that it is too short. There are only three investigations, and the first one is a tutorial. Since it's so short, I don't recommend it at it's full price, but this is definitely a game worth getting if you see it on sale.
Each of the three investigations are pretty well designed, although some of the contradictions and twists felt a bit too obvious, and sometimes the game felt a bit finicky with what exactly it wanted from the player. Overall, this was a pretty good game