Next of Kin: Epiphany Review – A Detective Game That Solves Itself 

Next of Kin: Epiphany wasn’t as brief as suggested; it played in one or two sittings. Well, that depends on how often you’re getting up and listening to your smartwatch telling you to get off your arse. Still, it was a little longer than anticipated, and I liked that.

It wears the skin of a classic top-down RPG, but has a decent narrative thread. We follow P.I. Dennis Monroe through a dozen or so chapters as he hunts a serial killer he’s been obsessed with his entire life.

I believe Next of Kin: Epiphany, from Spelkväll Games, takes place in the early 90s, as it’s 20 years after the first murders, but the penultimate chapter threw me off, as I then thought it took place in the 80s. The names are very 80s, that’s for sure, and there’s an absence of mobile phones. Unadulterated bliss.

Anyway, there’s been a murder, and the crime scene indicates that the victim was stabbed 27 times in the back, much like the Epiphany Killer did. Dennis is onto this like a hawk and immediately sets out to catch them. What transpires are other lesser criminals along the way.

I Am The Law

Dennis has a lot of cooperation from the cops, unlike other P.I.s. He waltzes into the precinct, does whatever he wants, slaps cuffs on a suspect, and casually summons the ol’ bill to haul them away. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the usual detective games where the PI is treated like a nuisance.

Anyhoo, Dennis is following the clues and will meet new characters in the early chapters. After gathering evidence, he can then present this to the people he’s met, who swiftly turn into suspects for unrelated crimes, and you ‘expose’ them.

With the suspect on the left and evidence on the right, you can connect the dots, prove these lesser folk are lying, and then send them to the slammer. This seems initially irrelevant to the case, but these characters mildly weave into the story.

Next of Kin: Epiphany switches it up through chapter separation, leads on the killer, as well as flashbacks. There don’t appear to be any penalties for getting your guesses wrong (besides ruining innocent lives), though there is a car chase scene that has to be repeated until you perfect it. Silly moi. (Though, to be fair, I only needed two tries).

Connect the Dots (Before the Game Does It For You)

If you’re anything like me, you’ll be guessing throughout where the twists and turns are going to be, but regrettably, Next of Kin: Epiphany gives a lot away throughout, with everything in sight to come to conclusions.

It’s easy to say at the end, “I knew it!”, but with a couple of loose ends, I did. Not that I’m going to spoil it for you, but it wasn’t a big reveal. Additionally, you might think that with minimal consequences, there’s not much point; however, I disagree.

While Next of Kin: Epiphany is quite predictable, it’s still a good story and well-crafted. There were a couple of technical issues where Dennis got stuck walking on the spot, or disappeared behind a flat pile of snow, yet there are lots of save points and none of it is really game-breaking.

When I reached the end of the story, I was happy with how it ended, though if you’re a fan of detective capers and whatnot, there might not be much in the way of surprise or challenge, but certainly enough entertainment and satisfaction by its conclusion.

The end….?