Detective Pikachu is a game that I adore the existence of more than the act of actually playing it. Now, that isn't to say it's a terrible experience or anything, but it is a pretty bare-bones adventure game that's clearly intended for a younger audience, featuring a relatively straight-forward story and simple puzzle solving that doesn't have any fail states. If you're playing this game, it's more for the novelty of it than any notion of compelling gameplay.

That said, the aforementioned novelty of Detective Pikachu was more than enough for me to enjoy it, because it's the kind of Pokémon game I wish there were more of. The characters have voice acting. The Pokémon actually feel alive because their voices aren't still locked into digital noise from the 8-bit era. The world is one in which Pokémon coexist with humans in a more natural way and not every single thing revolves around them. Detective Pikachu (the game and the character) radiates charm and personality from every corner and you can absolutely understand at a glance why this was chosen to be made into a movie instead of the core series. It was such an easy fit.

Despite ending with a cliffhanger (that you can easily tell where it was going and the film decides to spell out entirely), I was still mostly satisfied with the time I spent in the world of Detective Pikachu. Even more than the mysterious sequel that was announced and never heard from again, I really wish there were more games in the spirit of this one; not afraid to do something truly different with the IP and respects the fact that games have come a long way since the Game Boy. You don't have to let the past hold you back when it comes to updating this franchise in exciting new ways.

This game's major flaw is one that I think most people agree on. It's just too short.

I feel like this could've been the best RaC game at the time, if it just let itself breathe a little more. The story was rushed, and many gameplay elements never got the chance to stretch their gamey wings. Once I felled the final boss, I was expecting a Tabora-like subversion, with a true final act. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, and we were all left wanting.

At least what we got was super tight distilled RaC fun. It just wasn't enough to hold me over until 2021.

Very spellbound by Yakuza 7's early game. Broad shifts for the series that nicely complement the themes of the story - about the difficulty of starting over in a new place, and it never being too late to look to the future. Further complemented by the fact that you are ripped out of not only the familiar Kamurocho, but also the genre. The fact that it unflinchingly (albeit clumsily) touches on topics like homelessness in Japan, the sex work industry, and immigration mindfully... It's really fucking incredible. I won't gush, but I love the cast and their themes. I cried a lot.

The shift to turn-based was the stim injection I needed after growing weary of the mashy brawler combat of 0, K1+2. It's incredible that a combat system that has been iterated on for over a decade has been immediately blown out of the water by something that almost feels like a science experiment. A genuinely informed genre shift that means items and equipment finally matter, as well as meaning you can now operate an entire party of characters while completely maintaining the old original pacing. My vote for personal GOTY.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV1lOo-T15I

Absolutely mesmerizing. I don't think any character in the last couple years has resonated with the same way Ichiban Kasuga does. As much as I love Kiryu and Majima as characters, Ichiban is a character whose growth throughout this game alone sets him up to be the character that means the most to me in this series.

There's a couple narrative issues I have with the game, and some gripes about some of the politics of the game (woodaba's review highlights a couple of them, although I can't 100% agree with them), but a lot of it is overshadowed by how much I love and character for the primary crew in this game.

Game had me crying a bunch near the end. I may just be a sucker for found family shit, though.