The Silver Case is hardboiled and hard to follow, even on PS4

The Silver Case makes one hell of a first impression. It's jarring and obtuse, switching between clunky first-person exploration segments, long stretches of dialogue, and short spurts of full motion video at a moment's notice. Its story, too, is erratic and complicated as it switches between gruff-ass detectives chasing a serial killer and a chain-smoking reporter's investigation into the same man's troubled past.

Every part of The Silver Case speaks to the era in which it was first released. Though originally only available as a Japan-exclusive PlayStation title before the turn of the century, 2016 saw a translated and updated HD version of the game release on Steam. Now available for the first time on the PlayStation 4, The Silver Case's bizarre blend of visual novel storytelling and adventure game exploration is as perplexing as it is frustrating.