The Darkest Files - Launch Trailer and German Press Scores

Paintbucket Games makes history tangible with The Darkest Files and has received a lot of praise for this. But also for the game itself, because although it conveys unpleasant themes, it is also quite exciting and entertaining as a detective adventure game.

With the criminological adventure game The Darkest Files, the German development studio Paintbucket Games dares to strike a balance between playful entertainment and investigation. With its predecessor Through the Darkest of Times, the studio has already shown how well this works and how important it can be to combine historical events with accurate depiction and gaming culture. A game in which gamers had to fight their way through the Nazi era as resistance fighters. As unpleasant political topics are not simply avoided, but instead form the foundation of the game, it also received awards in 2020, including the German Developer Award for ‘Best Indie Game’ and the award for ‘Best Story’.

The Darkest Files is sure to build on this success. GameStar rates the new Paintbucket game with 82 out of 100 points. Editor Gloria H. Manderfeld found the game hard on the stomach and it gave her nightmares, but that was ‘just as well’, she writes in the Plus test. Elena Schulz writes for IGN Germany "Ace Attorney meets bitter reality", comparing the gameplay of The Darkest Files with that of the anime games in which you take on the role of the famous defence lawyer. In The Darkest Files, you take on the role of the courageous public prosecutor Esther Katz, who exposes Nazi crimes and brings perpetrators to justice.

Entertainment and the exposure of ‘bitter reality’ do not necessarily have to be mutually exclusive. The Darkest Files also scored ‘very good’ in the IGN test with 8 out of 10 points.

That's why Paintbucket Games didn't miss the opportunity to collect positive press reviews and put them in a separate trailer shortly after release. Honour to whom honour is due. You can find more quotes, voices and scenes from the game in the following short clip.