The Darkest Files: already one of the most impressive narrative games of the year
The Darkest Files offers no bombastic action, no spectacle. It’s an atmospheric visual novel where you become an investigator and Nazi hunter, revealing an intense, historically grounded gaming experience about repression, forgetting and remembering.
I’m sitting at an old desk. In front of me are yellowed files, statements from contemporary witnesses, and a report on an old criminal case. I’m play Esther Katz, a young public prosecutor in 1950s West Germany. My mission: to uncover Nazi crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.
What begins as an exciting thriller is actually a serious, depressing and highly topical experience. The Darkest Files sends me on a journey through real German history, playing an investigator at a time when many preferred to remain silent.
I read, research, interview survivors, confront former Nazis – and I quickly realise this game isn’t made to entertain. It wants to remind, wants me to come to terms with the unimaginable.
And that’s exactly what it did to me.
A look into the past: Germany in the 1950s
The Darkest Files is set during a period that’s rarely discussed – not at school, not in movies, and certainly not in video games. The story begins around ten years after the end of the Second World War. West Germany is no longer in ruins, on the contrary: it’s experiencing the so-called «Wirtschaftswunder», or economic miracle. People are rebuilding, looking to the future – and many would prefer to forget what happened between 1933 and 1945.
But that doesn’t mean the perpetrators have disappeared. Many of them have new jobs – as civil servants, teachers, judges or police officers. Only a few trials against Nazi criminals are ever held. Legally and culturally processing the Holocaust and concentration camps is still in its infancy.
The game throws me into precisely this climate. I work as a young public prosecutor in a country that prefers suppressing the past. My colleagues have their own cases and problems, but we all pursue the same goal in our work as Nazi hunters. Society often reacts to our work with hostility.
I receive anonymous threatening letters, am spat at on the street, feel rejection and open resentment. Witnesses are afraid, remain silent or lie, or only tell me half-truths during interrogations. The files I open tell of cruel deeds – quite matter-of-factly, quite soberly.
Impressively, the game shows me how it wasn’t only difficult to find evidence – it was also dangerous to ask any questions at all. The past wasn’t just painful – it was highly explosive politically.
The Darkest Files takes real historical cases and weaves them into a fictional but authentic story. I don’t feel like I’m playing anything. I feel like I’m walking through a snippet of reality that’s been uncomfortable and overlooked for a long time.
Between files, statements and emptiness: how The Darkest Files feels to play
When I started the game, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it be a classic point-and-click adventure? An interactive novel? In actuality, The Darkest Files is somewhere in between – calm, concentrated, but never boring.
My day-to-day work as Esther Katz consists mainly of meticulous investigative work. I receive files, read witness statements, reports and handwritten notes. I compare information, draw connections, highlight contradictions. There’s a lot happening in my mind, since each statement isn’t just a piece of the puzzle, but a piece of a person’s fate.
I play the whole thing from a first-person perspective, seeing through Esther’s eyes. Sometimes I’m sitting at my desk, talking to my assistant Paula Fischer or informing my boss Dr Fritz Bauer about the current investigations. They’re all lesser-known crimes committed by the regime, but the Holocaust, that massive, systematic horror, is always present. It hangs like a dark shadow over every statement, every document I open. At other times, I immerse myself in old memories of mine or those of witnesses.
Suddenly, I’m standing in my old flat looking over at the neighbours. Or I find myself in a Nazi base witnessing a terrible murder. These scenes are intense, often oppressive – and they bring the stories to life without purposely staging them.
When I’ve gathered enough evidence, I conduct interrogations. I ask the accused questions, confronting them with their own statements or evidence that exposes their lies. What I’m missing here is a kind of notepad where I can freely record my thoughts.
At the end of each case, I compile the indictment: what statements prove the crime? What evidence supports what? Who bears the guilt? The game tests my reasoning in court. I either have to pick the correct document from a selection of three or combine three clues from those I collected.
That might sound simple at first, but it’s not. I often have several texts, minutes and reports in front of me. Some are contradictory, others only vaguely formulated. I have to take a really close look: who’s really at fault? What’s just hearsay? And which statements complement each other, forming a clear picture when combined?
This line of reasoning lies at the heart of the game. If I’m wrong, my suit is rejected – that stings, but it just motivates me more. I want to do better, I want my accusation to stand.
Austere, cold, powerful: atmosphere in The Darkest Files
One thing I noticed immediately was how The Darkest Files doesn’t scream at me. It doesn’t jitter, doesn’t rumble. Instead, it’s quiet – and that’s precisely why it’s so haunting. It comes off restrained, almost sparse, but incredibly coherent.
The game uses comic graphics in a noir look, capturing the dark mood well. It’s all reduced and stylised. People appear angular, faces almost doll-like – this isn’t a weakness mind you, but a deliberate choice. It creates distance from the atrocities depicted without trivialising them, avoiding a feeling of voyeurism and instead inviting reflection.
Colours are muted – lots of grey, blue, ochre, pale light. The rooms I move around seem sober and realistic: corridors, offices, the archive, the sterile interrogation room. No unnecessary details, no distractions.
Even the sound is restrained yet effective. Subtle background music accompanies me through cases – piano, strings, dark soundscapes. Sometimes you encounter deliberate long moments of silence, and it’s precisely then that you feel the weight of the story all the more.
What particularly impressed me was the voice acting: it’s excellent. The actors strike exactly the right tone: factual, credible, but never distant. In some interrogations I got goose bumps, simply because the spoken word carried so much. However, it’s only in English, with optional German subtitles. This didn’t bother me, but it’s a bit of a shame considering the game is set in Germany.
Everything about the presentation seems well thought out. Nothing is intended to shine or stand out, everything wants to make an impact. And it does.
Two cases, an epilogue – and an experience that stays with you
The Darkest Files isn’t a mammoth game – and it doesn’t want to be. The story is deliberately kept short. There are two cases, each spanning one chapter, and a short but atmospheric epilogue with a moral twist at the end.
It took me about ten hours after reading thoroughly, comparing endless documents and taking my time during interrogations. I kept writing down notes for this review, trying out several lines of evidence in court. However, if you play on the lower Story difficulty level – i.e. with more help and clearer hints – you can also complete the game in around five hours. For those who like their games a little more challenging and open, there’s Investigator mode, where you have to combine and interpret more things yourself.
Despite the rather short play time, I never had the feeling that anything was missing. The cases are densely narrated, strong in content and packed with historical details.
The Darkest Files was provided to me by Paintbucket Games. The game has been available for PC since 25 March.
In a nutshell
Rarely has a game impressed and moved me this much
The Darkest Files is a haunting, narrative investigation adventure in a comic-book graphic style with a noir look. It deals bravely and seriously with a dark chapter of German history: the legal investigation of National Socialist crimes in West Germany in the 1950s.
The game approaches this sensitive topic with the necessary seriousness, no lapses into pathos or simplification here. Its narrative always remains credible, supported by realistic characters, genuine historical references and a palpable moral urgency. The game deliberately dispenses with classic entertainment elements and instead focuses on emotional depth, historical accuracy and a quiet yet intense production.
Its game mechanics focus on research, gathering evidence and interrogation. Combining statements and clues is challenging but sensibly designed, rewarding careful work. Despite the relatively short play time, the cases you examine are densely narrated and convincing in terms of content. The presentation and score are deliberately restrained, but craft an intense atmosphere.
Pro
- Relevant, historically sound topic
- Strong narrative structure with powerful emotional moments
- Interesting investigation mechanics
- Stylish, harmonious presentation in a comic-noir look
- Excellent English voice acting
Contra
- No German dub, despite setting
- Relatively short playing time (five to ten hours and only two cases)
Header image: Paintbucket Games
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