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- Pay Attention To The Dialogue
- Make The Most Of Each Turn With Preliminary Investigations
- Keep Your Investigation Priorities In Order
- Preview Restricted Characters' Actions Before Giving Commands
- Check Everything Before Proceeding To The Investigation Results
- Your Evidence And The Backlog Provide Great Quiz Hints
It's no surprise that murder-mystery blockbusters and the swath of true crime docs you'll find on Netflix are shaping the cultural zeitgeist. But what if this fascination inspired a detective craze and rampant homicides? Welcome to the world of Process Of Elimination.
Related: Process Of Elimination: All Detectives, Ranked
If you began Incompetent Detective's journey on Morgue Island, then you know this visual novel depicts bombastic mysteries. But, with so much information to retain and investigating to do, how can you find your way to a verdict? Let us guide you through this crash course courtesy of the Detective Alliance.
Pay Attention To The Dialogue
Have you noticed Process Of Elimination has a lot of dialogue? Of course, you did. That question was rhetorical. This much dialogue is standard if you've played a visual novel before. If you haven't, you may ask yourself, "When does the action happen?"
Don't let a short attention span get the better of you; that dialogue includes many essential details. These scenes provide context to help you piece together a case. Connecting these moments with your investigation discoveries is critical to answering questions later in the chapter.
Furthermore, Process Of Elimination has an enticing story perfect for any murder mystery fanatic. You'll miss out on an exciting experience if you glaze over the visual novel sections of the game.
Make The Most Of Each Turn With Preliminary Investigations
Process Of Elimination's investigation segments last nine turns, each turn considered an 'hour until annihilation.' That's not a lot of time. Fortunately, preliminary investigations will let you make the most of each turn.
Preliminary investigations are mini-investigations where only intervenable characters act. After the preliminary ends, you can continue to give commands to intervenable characters you haven't directed yet.
One significant benefit of preliminaries is the ability to perform multiple investigation steps in one turn.
For example, suppose one of your intervenable characters is near an Evidence Square. In that case, you can command said character to inspect the square via a preliminary. After the inspection, you can order another character to analyze the evidence. Now you performed two essential steps in one turn!
Let's continue our example: what could happen after the evidence gets analyzed in a preliminary investigation? That evidence may trigger the appearance of a new Mystery Point. Now you can use any available characters to infer and resolve the point.
Wait! We're not done. As an investigation progresses, formerly unavailable characters become intervenable. So, you could resolve the MP above via a preliminary and gain a new intervenable character. That means you'll earn an additional action in the same turn. Now that's excellent value!
Preliminary investigations can become redundant in some situations. However, if a character's action may trigger a case breakthrough, you should always first run that action in a preliminary. Then, you can make your following decisions based on that discovery.
Keep Your Investigation Priorities In Order
Process of Elimination has plenty to offer completionists. Besides the central case, you can also investigate keywords (indicated by red-marked spaces) and residual thoughts. These revelations provide a deeper view of the game's story, including titillating secrets.
If your team could travel around the crime scene with no risk, snooping up each bonus tidbit wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, the second chapter introduces traps that must get dismantled via inference. Furthermore, if a detective begins a turn on an unresolved trap, it's game over.
You may argue that guiding intervenable characters away from traps may resolve this problem. However, that argument doesn't account for the uncontrollable detectives approaching a trap of their own accord.
This scenario is more common than you think. It's common for AI-controlled detectives to try and resolve a trap via their inference skills. Unfortunately, several detectives cannot fix a trap in a single turn without assistance. So, they'll become sitting ducks at the start of the subsequent investigation.
In short, remember to prioritize your actions in order of urgency. Saving detectives in imminent danger always comes first. Then, focus on solving the case. Lastly, leave bonus discoveries for characters with nothing to do or during leftover turns.
Related: Process Of Elimination: Chapter 1 Walkthrough - The Case Of The Dismembered Detective
Preview Restricted Characters' Actions Before Giving Commands
A great leader looks out for everyone, not exclusively those they can boss around. So, it's tantamount to check on the characters you cannot intervene with at the start of each turn.
Previewing a character's actions is straightforward. First, highlight the detective in question to see their path of movement. Then, refer to the icon above their head to see what action they'll perform during the turn.
There are several reasons to check in on your restricted detectives while planning your commands:
- First, if a restricted detective struggles to resolve a mystery point, you can enlist an intervenable detective to assist them.
- Second, if a restricted detective is headed for a trap, you can task an intervenable detective to save them.
- Finally, while restricted detectives aren't the most efficient, sometimes they'll take on tasks you initially planned to assign to an intervenable detective. As long as the job is within that restricted detective's capacity, you can leave them be, thus freeing up an intervenable detective for a new task.
Check Everything Before Proceeding To The Investigation Results
An investigation segment ends once your team resolves every mystery point and analyzes all the evidence. Once complete, the game will ask if you wish to view your results. We recommend you always answer no.
If you're a completionist, the end of an investigation is your moment. Now is your chance to check the map for any residual thoughts and keywords you haven't interacted with yet. If unfinished business remains, you can use your leftover turns to pursue them.
Remember, there is an element of risk involved in this pursuit. First, you must keep in mind how many turns you have left. Second, and more importantly, your detectives are still vulnerable to any traps on the map.
Your Evidence And The Backlog Provide Great Quiz Hints
After the investigation, you'll review the case with your peers to determine how the murder was committed and who the culprit is. This scene presents a quiz with multiple-choice questions connected to the crime. Correct answers earn the trust of your fellow detectives, and wrong answers lose their faith.
Fortunately, you can guess again after a wrong answer. So, an incorrect response won't irreparably damage your case. However, too many incorrect answers in a row can.
Furthermore, your end-of-chapter evaluation reflects your performance in this quiz sequence. That means gaining that coveted S-grade requires you to ace these questions with no mistakes.
As long as you've been paying attention throughout the chapter, these logic puzzles are straightforward. Still, some questions may stump you. For instance, a query may refer to a minute detail. Other times, the question's wording can become a tad befuddling.
Luckily, you have two adequate resources when facing a tricky problem. First, your evidence list is a great reference point for evidence-specific questions (i.e., the crime scene, murder weapon, etc.). The second tool is your backlog, which will help you review the train of thought leading to said question.
Next: Process Of Elimination: Chapter 2 Walkthrough - The Case Of The Phantom Killer
