One really important piece of information about this game is it is for small children. Not to compare this to most other Pokemon games where the game is designed with small children in mind so nothing is too deep but largely can still be enjoyed by anyone. Detective Pikachu Returns is a game that feels almost entirely for the 4-8 year old audience. Everything from the gameplay to the simplicity of the words being used makes this game feel like the entire design philosophy was to be a game just for kids.
The game will railroad you along, basically telling you the answer before giving you a multiple choice question to regurgitate the answer back. If you do pick the wrong answer there is no punishment. The game entirely revolves around talking to as many NPCs, both human and pokemon, as fills the screen hoping they give you some sort of relevant information just so you can finally have the game ask you what you have already known what happened for the past 20 minutes.
The side quests are also particularly frustrating in their seeming pointlessness. Most side quests have you talk to one NPC, finding the other relevant NPCs (who will conveniently have a ! over their head) and talking to them, then walking back to the original NPC. There is no thought or complexity to these side quests. Worst of all, there's absolutely no reason to do them. It doesnt add to the story, the "reward" for them feels nearly non existent. Its not just that the side quests arent good, the inclusion of them in the first place is puzzling.
The games story, while mostly boring, does have some positive moments. Once the story gets going there's some fun moments. Chapter 4 in particular I thought was well paced and fun for the simple story it was telling. Early on the game struggles to get going with its story, but closer to the end of the game it no longer feels as aimless as the first 2 chapters.
But at the end of the day I wonder... does any of this matter for someone like me? I am not a 7 year old. For a 7 year old that is really into Pokemon I think this game may be perfect. There is little to get in their way and cause frustration. It has a story that can be fun at times. Its basically an interactive kids story. At a certain point I feel as though Im reading a Goosebumps book and critiquing it for being for children. Children deserve games that are aggressively for them and them alone.
The game will railroad you along, basically telling you the answer before giving you a multiple choice question to regurgitate the answer back. If you do pick the wrong answer there is no punishment. The game entirely revolves around talking to as many NPCs, both human and pokemon, as fills the screen hoping they give you some sort of relevant information just so you can finally have the game ask you what you have already known what happened for the past 20 minutes.
The side quests are also particularly frustrating in their seeming pointlessness. Most side quests have you talk to one NPC, finding the other relevant NPCs (who will conveniently have a ! over their head) and talking to them, then walking back to the original NPC. There is no thought or complexity to these side quests. Worst of all, there's absolutely no reason to do them. It doesnt add to the story, the "reward" for them feels nearly non existent. Its not just that the side quests arent good, the inclusion of them in the first place is puzzling.
The games story, while mostly boring, does have some positive moments. Once the story gets going there's some fun moments. Chapter 4 in particular I thought was well paced and fun for the simple story it was telling. Early on the game struggles to get going with its story, but closer to the end of the game it no longer feels as aimless as the first 2 chapters.
But at the end of the day I wonder... does any of this matter for someone like me? I am not a 7 year old. For a 7 year old that is really into Pokemon I think this game may be perfect. There is little to get in their way and cause frustration. It has a story that can be fun at times. Its basically an interactive kids story. At a certain point I feel as though Im reading a Goosebumps book and critiquing it for being for children. Children deserve games that are aggressively for them and them alone.