Hauma - A Detective Noir Story

With its stylish noir aesthetics, innovative deduction gameplay, and fully voiced mystery, Hauma - A Detective Noir Story brings refreshing new life to the visual novel genre. As former detective Judith, players are thrust into a riveting conspiracy thriller set in the dark underbelly of Munich's high society. Developer SenAm Games adeptly pays homage to classic noir fiction while crafting an engrossing deductive adventure that stands on its own.

Vividly Realized Noir Narrative

From the brooding jazz soundtrack to the moody black-and-white visuals, Hauma oozes noir atmosphere. The setup of a jaded ex-detective embroiled in a far-reaching conspiracy is straight out of a Raymond Chandler novel. Yet the story still feels wholly original thanks to the fully voiced characters and well-realized locations based on real Munich landmarks.

As Judith, you'll banter your way through tense interrogations, gaining illuminating clues about the sprawling mystery with each new encounter. Studio Fizbin leverages the noir genre to its full potential to create an intriguing deductive thriller.

Innovative Deductive Gameplay

Unlike typical visual novels, you'll do more in Hauma than just make dialogue choices. The core gameplay revolves around the "mindboard", an inventory-like system containing both narrative items and your character's thoughts. As you pick up clues, you can link and rearrange them on this deductive board to draw connections and form theories about the overarching mystery. With deductive puzzles to solve and conversational riddles that require choosing the right responses, Hauma keeps player engagement high. It's a smart evolution of the visual novel formula.

Hauma eschews realism for a beautifully stylized black-and-white art style reminiscent of graphic novels like Sin City. Characters are rendered in dramatic chiaroscuro lighting while real Munich locales take on a moody illustrated quality. Combined with slick UI elements and inventive scene transitions, Hauma exhibits incredible visual polish that perfectly complements its noir themes. This arresting art direction significantly boosts the game's immersive quality.

Familiar Yet Distinct

While reminiscent of great detective games like Disco Elysium and Ghost Trick, Hauma carves out its own identity with a tightly focused noir narrative revolving around conspiracy and corruption in Munich. By leveraging actual Munich locales and history, it feels tangibly grounded in a way those more fantastical titles don't. Fans of cerebral deduction gameplay will find Hauma fills that niche - with an appealing noir coat of paint.

Review: 8/10

With its gorgeously stylized art, innovative deductive mechanics, and wholly engrossing mystery narrative, Hauma - A Detective Noir Story is a standout entry in the visual novel genre. Developer Studio Fizbin has crafted an experience that both celebrates and evolves the genre by fusing noir thriller trappings with fresh deductive gameplay. It completely deserves the score of 8/10.

Pros:

• Immersive noir atmosphere
• Innovative deductive gameplay
• Striking visual style
• Fully voiced characters

Cons:

• Occasional pacing issues
• Puzzle difficulty spikes