Case closed

Has anyone here ever heard of Puzzle Agent ? Probably not. Yet Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent, as it was originally called, released in 2010, is a truly charming puzzle game. That's no coincidence, as the renowned development studio responsible for this gem is Telltale – yes, the very same Telltale that produced such great games as the first The Walking Dead or The Wolf Among Us in its heyday.

You can tell that Puzzle Agent was one of the developer's earlier and less budget-rich productions, but that doesn't really matter. If, like me, you picked up the game in a bundle purchase without any expectations, you'll be pleasantly surprised. But what's it all about?

The story follows Agent Nelson Tethers, the only member of the FBI's Puzzle Research Division, who, armed with a dictaphone and the charming voice of voice actor Doug Boyd, must solve his first case in the snowy village of Scoggins. Anyone familiar with the Professor Layton-games will feel right at home here. But instead of relying on childfriendly, cute storytelling, Puzzle Agent veers toward the obscure and quirky. The puzzles, meanwhile, remain at a similar level to those of the professor, ranging from simple to challenging.

The style of the game is definitely unusual and was one of its biggest plus points for me. The humor, the difficulty of the puzzles, and the subtle mystery element were surprisingly well woven together. And even though it wasn't the longest or most difficult game, it had a certain uniqueness for its time. I just wanted to know what was going on with the closed eraser factory. Who were the Hidden People? And why was everyone in the village so... strange?

I can neither confirm nor deny whether I would recommend the game today. In fact, I had to read the Wikipedia article to remember what it was all about! But I know that I enjoyed it. And sometimes that's enough. So let's move on to the soundtrack. I'd also rate that as “good.” Musically, you shouldn't be expecting any surprises, but we're not being fobbed off with disposable fare either.

A total of 15 tracks accompany us on our search for answers in and around Scoggins. They were composed by Telltale veteran Jared Emerson-Johnson, Rich Vreeland aka Disasterpeace (Hyper Light Drifter), and Nick Mastroianni, who these days works more as a music editor for games such as Ghost of Tsushima and the like.

To get a feel for the score, just listen to the main theme, Secret Agent Tethers . Its piano/glockenspiel melody, which charmingly and calmly heralds the mystery character, sets the tone for the game perfectly: not too trivial and suggesting child's play, but also not too dramatic to create the feeling of a spy thriller – really right on the sweet spot.

The composers rely on the familiar arrangement of repetitive scales and sound sequences that lull us into a deceptive reverie, but always with the potential to make the hairs on the back of our neck stand on end. To achieve this, they use a mixture of guitar riffs (Gum Shoe), piano notes (Unsolved Mysteries, Quiet Little Town), and synth beats (Vegetable Crime), which works well but never breaks out of its uniformity.

Puzzle Agent does not feature narrative accompaniment similar to that found in The Wolf Among Us, which has a similar acoustic feel. Instead of swelling melodies or even action passages, the score just plods along. Those who find this sufficient will enjoy the pleasantly subtle listening experience offered by this album, which logically lacks the accompanying mystery. Due to its background nature, I can only give the score an average rating, but in combination with the game, it comes highly recommended!