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| The bolt of brilliance is back. |
Two years after the "R" incident that terrorised Ryme City, young detective Tim Goodman and his partner, the self-proclaimed "Great Detective" Pikachu are continuing the search for Tim's missing father, Harry. When a new shadowy organization looms over the city and starts capturing Pokemon, it's up to the duo to uncover the mystery behind it while stumbling upon clues to Harry's whereabouts. The story was interesting as I liked the new mysteries and the plot threads of the first game finally get resolved, with the ending being satisfying. Tim and Pikachu were great leads with the banter between them being always fun to read.
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| It's up to the detective duo to get to the bottom of the strange disappearances of Pokemon. |
The new characters such as the likes of Tim's partner Rachel was alright, though could've used to some fleshing out as she often didn't have much to contribute in many instances. Conversely, the Pokemon friends you'll meet were fun and I enjoyed seeing them working with Pikachu, given that he can understand Pokemon speech. The villains are one-dimensional as you'd expect for a game mainly aimed at younger audiences.
Detective Pikachu Returns is an adventure game where you control both Tim and Pikachu as they explore around the city, search for clues, gather testimonies, and sort the facts-- the usual detective work. A new addition is getting to control Pokemon during investigations. The likes include Luxray, Pangoro, and Growlithe as you attempt to solve specific puzzles utilizing their abilities. For example you can see through walls using Luxray's ability and push crates that block your path with Pangor's strength. There's also some stealth segments where you're avoiding enemy sights to get to the other side of the level. QTEs from the first game are back and they're abundant in cut-scenes, but they're easy to pull-off.
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| Look for clues, collect testimonies, deduce from the facts, and find the culprit! |
You'll be collecting testimonies and searching for evidence to advance the story and being mainly geared towards younger players, there's no penalties for getting answers wrong as puzzles are generally easy. The game also packs optional side cases where you help people and Pokemon throughout the city, with you mainly fetching them an item they need or a Pokemon to solve their predicament. I actually liked these (especially the Pokemon quiz ones) as they did a solid job of making the city feel alive and hoped that there was more to extend the play time. Speaking of that, it took 12 hours to beat including all side content, making the $50 asking price a tad too much for a shallow experience with no replay-value.
I expected Detective Pikachu Returns to be an upgrade in presentation compared to the first game's simplistic graphics since the Switch is more capable than 3DS, but it's a disappointment. Aside from Tim's cool new redesign and the Pokemon, backgrounds and textures are low-quality and dated, especially when compared to other games on the system. It did run well without any issues, however. The voicework was decent (Pikachu is easily the standout) and soundtrack equally so. I liked the investigation, ruins, and bamboo boroughs tracks, though nothing else stood out.
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| Charming style aside, the presentation is mostly mediocre. |
Overall, Detective Pikachu Returns was a decent time and marginal improvement over the first game. That said, it has a bunch of shortcomings, namely the visuals and price. Those looking for deep narratives along with engaging gameplay mechanics will be disappointed since it's geared towards younger audiences and Detective Pikachu fans, who will likely find the most enjoyment with the game.
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