Death Becomes You | Switch Review

August 11, 2023 Alyssa White

I was hungry for a good murder mystery visual novel. There’s just something so satisfying about discovering who the culprit is. Quill Studios provided this experience for me with Death Becomes You. It’s not easy to discover the answer to the central mystery, but with a sprinkle of magic and some patience, you’ll eventually uncover the killer.

The Unusual Suspects

You are placed in the shoes of a protagonist (you are tasked with providing her with a name) who witnesses the death of her best friend, Lyra. It takes place at the magical academy that they attend, and four other girls soon discover the body…with you beside it. Accusations soon start flying, and it’s up to you to decide who is a prime suspect. It’s not as simple as you may think to pin the crime on someone, though. Every girl has a reason for wanting Lyra dead.

Trying to decipher their true natures is a challenge, and it will take multiple runs to uncover anything close to a satisfactory ending. Most of the routes end quite unfortunately for your character, so it’s imperative to replay Death Becomes You more than once. It took me five playthroughs to gain some concrete answers. Your number may increase or decrease based on who you choose to suspect and trust.

Elementary, My Dear…

Due to Death Becomes You being a visual novel, the gameplay mechanics are limited. You’ll make a handful of choices, but most of your play time will be spent reading. There isn’t any voice acting, but you are able to skip previously read dialogue in subsequent playthroughs. This alleviates some fatigue that can be common in the genre.

Reaching all thirteen endings took me a little under three hours, so your time with this title won’t overstay its welcome. Some endings are far more abrupt than others, ending in mere minutes if you utilize previous save files (which is recommended). The story kept me hooked, but not everything felt like it worked narratively in the grand scheme of things. Topics were brought up and then forgotten about, and some of the romantic elements felt tacked on.

The Final Verdict

Death Becomes You is an interesting murder mystery that won’t steal too much of your time. Discovering all thirteen endings is a treat, but the need to replay the game that many times may be off-putting for some players. Some narrative elements are quickly swept under the rug and the romantic elements don’t always feel necessary to the story. The murder mystery, though, is what will draw you in and keep you hooked. If you want a solid thriller visual novel to play, this is worth a few playthroughs.

To hear me talk more about Death Becomes You, be sure to listen to the August 8, 2023 episode of The Gaming Outsider podcast around the 44:00 time stamp.

This review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy of Death Becomes You provided by PR Hound for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation and PC via Steam.