Thanks to Chorus Worldwide Games for the review code

Title: The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle: Episode 1: A Dreadly Business
System: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Price: $4.99
Release Date: 03/29/2018

Story

In this point and click adventure game, you take control of the titular character and his assistant Gavin, as they go out to solve a murder mystery that eventually leads into trying to stop a serial killer. The Episode 1 is there for a reason, as this is a four-chapter piece of a two-part story, with the second episode having come a bit later to Switch. Still, since Episode 1 was what I decided to cover back in 2018, that’s all we’ll be looking at today.

Presentation

With this being a point and click adventure game, presentation is key, and boy did these developers go to town! Everything is very cartoony and animated well, feeling like a show I could have easily watched on Cartoon Network in the late 2000s. The UI is incredibly touch screen friendly and non-intrusive, and most importantly, this game has voice acting!

Rather solid VA too, since everyone is having fun here and the silly dialogue really goes well with their performances. Every line of dialogue is fully voiced too, which further enhances the living cartoon aspect of it all, and helps to keep the adventure feeling consistent without deciding to shut off VA for minor scenes or optional conversations. No, everything these people say is voiced, and voiced pretty damn well.

Gameplay

Bertram Fiddle is a point and click, and typically this means you do the usual “click everything in sight to get items and clues to figure out how to progress” routine games in this genre have. Thankfully, Bertram is a lot more easygoing than the more classic examples in the genre, since while there are occasional sequences that shift away from the usual pointing and clicking, the game as a whole is pretty guided and you can even bring up a visible indicator of every clickable item on a screen by holding down the A button, meaning that you won’t be mashing random spots on a wall or table hoping that they’re the next flag to trigger.

Honestly, this game is pretty much on autopilot, since outside of having to use items on certain objects/characters to trigger an event, the worst thing that can happen to you is that you may get stumped on a puzzle or situation, but even then the aforementioned clickable spots provide enough of a hint that you should still be able to power through this game without any external guidance, and when treating this as a fun ride? Yeah, Bertram Fiddle is pretty decent, even though I felt that the overarching plot in this episode went nowhere, since the more interesting bits were from how Bertram and Gavin interacted with the wacky characters they met, which doesn’t really go along well with the whole “solve the mystery” tone of the story. When you can dunk on Sherlock Holmes and get away with it, that’s way more memorable than talking to witnesses.

I will say though, that I was a bit bewildered that spending just shy of an hour and already being at chapter 3 of 4 really did make the game feel like it goes at a breakneck pace. Just as things get started, you’re already on your way to working towards the big mystery, which really makes the whole experience feel less like something you want to see the ending of for the sake of learning deep mysteries or lore, and moreso as an excuse to see funny shenanigans happen and enjoy the short time the episode takes to clear.

Conclusion

Ultimately, Bertram Fiddle is a mildly amusing game, with classic point and click elements and a very cartoony feel that makes the chapters entertaining to play through, even if the overarching narrative ends up being rather uneventful. The funniest parts for me were when I just decided to goof around and click everything I could interact with, just like in my younger days playing Humongus adventure games.

Still, as the package this first episode provides, this ends up being a short game that’ll either intrigue you enough to buy the second chapter for more silliness, or make you content with a pretty easy, smaller scale adventure game. This game was one I legitimately forgot about on the queue for a period of time, and having gone back to it, I can kinda see why, even though it is very well made and the presentation alone shows how much love was put into making the world feel alive. Treat it more like an interactive cartoon and you’ll have an OK time, even if it is a rather short experience, but damn if it isn’t a lovingly crafted one.

I give The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle: Episode 1: A Dreadly Business a 6 out of 10.