The thing I appreciate the most about this collection of three games in the Frog Detective franchise is being able to see how the games got bigger and more nuanced with each entry (in the last one you even get a scooter to drive around). The core of the gameplay is the same - you talk to NPCs, each of them needs an item from you and in return will reward you with another item that some other character requires, and so on. It’s a very simple loop, but it works because of the writing - it’s very quirky, with lots of pleasant, PG humor and colorful characters. You even get to decorate your own detective notebook, which comes in handy in second and third entries as the number of characters you need to help increases.

Going forward (no idea if the devs are planning to continue with the franchise, but anyway) I’d love to see some actual puzzles in the game, which would break up the loop of simply walking from one NPC to another and exchanging key items.

There’s also a Tony Hawks’ Pro Skater-like minigame involving a scooter, but I found the controls to be too wonky to enjoy it.

Reviewed on Apr 05, 2024


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