Something like that - it’s definitely not a new game. I also recall it had some sort of randomiser element to it (so clues could be in different places when you played) and also it was running in “real-time” so other stuff was happening while you were investigating stuff. I recall it being quite groundbreaking at the time, but as you say, hard to figure out at times.
Zak McKracken. You can find it on online c64 emulators. Both a great puzzle/mystery and, to me, a wonderful classic by which i still judge a good storyline.
Also the Ace Attorney series. You can get the first three on iOS now I think. In fact, it’s by the same director as Ghost Trick.
It’s there, but hasn’t been updated in a while.
So far, Ghost Trick is still fun. Gabriel Knight was disappointing.
Bumping this thread to make a recommendation of sorts.
I’ve been playing ‘Fallen London’ on mobile (there’s a browser-based version as well). It’s not a ‘detective’ game per se, and bills itself as an RPG (rightly so), but it is hitting a lot of the same buttons that I was looking for in starting this thread. There’s an ‘adventury’ element to it, and lots of secrets to discover amidst the very interesting and relatively easy to navigate world. I’ve found most of the ‘p&c adventure’ games on mobile to be disappointing.
Yes! Another classic game. Unusual for an adventure game in that it really rewards replaying. There’s a timed element to the game: it takes place of a fixed number of days, and the clock is always running down, making it tricky (impossible?) to see everything in one play through. Very neat game.
If you’re liking Fallen London, there’s a sequel called Sunless Sea that’s set in the same world.
The Dame was loaded is an older FMV game but actually one of the better ones. It’s a 40’s noire type game. Deja Vu, Borrowed time is a couple of classics I always enjoyed. And of course the Police Quest series.