Game Details
| Size | 686 MB |
| Region | Japan |
| Genre | Visual Novel |
| Format | 7z / ISO |
| Release Year | December 16, 2010 |
| Console | PSP |
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes (2010) is a unique visual novel that serves as the foundation for the massive Bushiroad media franchise. While the famous anime adaptation is a chaotic, “slapstick” comedy where the girls are incompetent and lose their powers, the PSP game is a much more serious detective story where the girls are actually capable of using their “Toys” (supernatural abilities) to solve crimes.
Plot: The Holmes Detective Academy
Set in a future “Great Era of Detectives,” people with special powers called Toys are common. You play as Opera Kobayashi, a young but brilliant detective instructor assigned to mentor the “Milky Holmes” unit.
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The Mission: Stop the Thieves’ Empire, a group of gentleman thieves led by the mysterious Arsène.
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The Girls:
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Sherlock “Sheryl” Shellingford: Telekinesis.
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Nero Yuzurizaki: Direct electronic interface (hacking).
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Hercule “Elly” Barton: Superhuman strength.
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Cordelia Glauca: Hyper-enhanced senses.
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Gameplay Mechanics
Unlike a standard “reading-only” visual novel, Milky Holmes features several interactive systems:
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The Search Phase: Use a first-person cursor to investigate crime scenes for clues.
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Toys System: You must choose which girl’s “Toy” is appropriate for a specific situation. Using the wrong power can lead to a “Logic Failure.”
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Milky Q: A fast-paced Q&A section where you must quickly select the correct evidence or deduction to pressure a suspect.
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Action Sequences: Occasional rhythmic or timed button prompts during chase scenes with the Thieves’ Empire.
Short Review: The “Serious” Milky Holmes
The Good
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Character Depth: Seeing the girls actually acting as competent detectives is a breath of fresh air for fans who only know the “gag” version from the anime.
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Production Value: High-quality voice acting from the legendary “Milky Holmes” VA unit (Mimori Suzuko, Tokui Sora, etc.) and slick 2D/3D hybrid investigative segments.
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Strong Puzzles: The logic required for the investigations is genuinely engaging and rewards attention to detail.
The Bad
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Language Barrier: The heavy use of detective jargon and specialized “Toy” terminology makes it one of the harder games to play with machine translation tools like OCR.
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Pacing: Some investigative segments can drag on if you miss a single tiny interaction point in a room.
Screenshots
