The return of the great detective Pikachu has been a long one coming for this spin off series whose entire history has been weird starting as a multipart eshop game in Japan before finally releasing in the West physically as one full version in 2018 and now over 5 years later, long after it was announced, the sequel has finally hit the Nintendo Switch.
At first glance you can tell it's had somewhat of a troubling development history with how bad the lighting is in the game. The Pokémon lack any proper texture detailing either so they all look a little bit like plastic models. High quality models yes, but still lacking a little bit of detail. In a way it really does look like a 3DS game cleaned up and ported to Nintendo Switch, which might explain why it took 5 years to get the sequel. For me personally I didn't mind how the game looked but it's definitely something I can understand where a lot of complaints are coming from. You do get a return of a solid frame rate outside of a couple of action sequences where flashy moves are involved which after having returned to Scarlet/Violet recently for the dlc is so very welcome.
For those that haven't played the original Detective Pikachu on 3DS you're given a very cliff notes recap of what happened in that game. Basically, Tim is still looking for his dad despite having solved the R case two years ago and we're back in Ryme City with our little talking Detective Pikachu as a bunch of new mysteries pop up involving Pokémon. I'm not going to say the plot is this incredible journey through twists and turns, most people will see its main plot points coming from a mile off but it's full of charm which helps work its way into your heart. A rare case of a Pokémon game having voice acting really helps bring the characters to life. We have Pokémon doing anime cries and our great Detective Pikachu is here to steal the show again with his wise cracks and coffee addiction. It does get a little cheesy at times but it's all very light hearted and fun.
As a detective game you'll mostly be going around talking to characters and gathering evidence where possible to make deductions on what's happened. Tim speaks to the humans while Pikachu talks to the Pokémon and together the information they find is used to solve a case. There's also parts where you get to work with another Pokémon, like you can use Growlithe to sniff out and follow scents or Luxray to see through walls and avoid being spotted, which is really nice to see Pokémon use abilities that are often reserved to Pokedex descriptions. There's a lot of charm to be found in just seeing Pokémon doing Pokémon things instead of battling which helps get you into the game and its world. There's also little side quests to be completed every chapter which usually amount to talking to a character and finding what that character is looking for. You'll get a nice little story about it in the following days newspaper which is a nice touch. Ultimately though this is very much a detective game aimed at a younger audience and as such there's nothing to really get the grey matter going and no real red herrings to misdirect you. So much is very obvious and from an early point in the game that I can see a good portion of people being turned off because of how easy it is but again, personally I found myself not caring because I was just having fun going through the puzzles and talking to the characters and seeing Pokémon in this unique environment. It's very much a case of the journey being more important than the destination and if you're willing to accept a light and breezy ride then I think there's plenty to enjoy here even though it is very much an Introductory title to the genre.
Detective Pikachu Returns is not an easy game to recommend to a general audience and I can definitely understand why a good portion of people have their issues with it but for me, even though the likes of The Somnium Files and Danganronpa have spoiled me with thrilling mysteries and unpredictable twists, Detective Pikachu does enough to work its way into my heart and leave a lasting impression. I think it does its job as an introductory title to the genre quite well and I'm sure the younger audience it seems to be targeting will have a great time with it.
At first glance you can tell it's had somewhat of a troubling development history with how bad the lighting is in the game. The Pokémon lack any proper texture detailing either so they all look a little bit like plastic models. High quality models yes, but still lacking a little bit of detail. In a way it really does look like a 3DS game cleaned up and ported to Nintendo Switch, which might explain why it took 5 years to get the sequel. For me personally I didn't mind how the game looked but it's definitely something I can understand where a lot of complaints are coming from. You do get a return of a solid frame rate outside of a couple of action sequences where flashy moves are involved which after having returned to Scarlet/Violet recently for the dlc is so very welcome.
For those that haven't played the original Detective Pikachu on 3DS you're given a very cliff notes recap of what happened in that game. Basically, Tim is still looking for his dad despite having solved the R case two years ago and we're back in Ryme City with our little talking Detective Pikachu as a bunch of new mysteries pop up involving Pokémon. I'm not going to say the plot is this incredible journey through twists and turns, most people will see its main plot points coming from a mile off but it's full of charm which helps work its way into your heart. A rare case of a Pokémon game having voice acting really helps bring the characters to life. We have Pokémon doing anime cries and our great Detective Pikachu is here to steal the show again with his wise cracks and coffee addiction. It does get a little cheesy at times but it's all very light hearted and fun.
As a detective game you'll mostly be going around talking to characters and gathering evidence where possible to make deductions on what's happened. Tim speaks to the humans while Pikachu talks to the Pokémon and together the information they find is used to solve a case. There's also parts where you get to work with another Pokémon, like you can use Growlithe to sniff out and follow scents or Luxray to see through walls and avoid being spotted, which is really nice to see Pokémon use abilities that are often reserved to Pokedex descriptions. There's a lot of charm to be found in just seeing Pokémon doing Pokémon things instead of battling which helps get you into the game and its world. There's also little side quests to be completed every chapter which usually amount to talking to a character and finding what that character is looking for. You'll get a nice little story about it in the following days newspaper which is a nice touch. Ultimately though this is very much a detective game aimed at a younger audience and as such there's nothing to really get the grey matter going and no real red herrings to misdirect you. So much is very obvious and from an early point in the game that I can see a good portion of people being turned off because of how easy it is but again, personally I found myself not caring because I was just having fun going through the puzzles and talking to the characters and seeing Pokémon in this unique environment. It's very much a case of the journey being more important than the destination and if you're willing to accept a light and breezy ride then I think there's plenty to enjoy here even though it is very much an Introductory title to the genre.
Detective Pikachu Returns is not an easy game to recommend to a general audience and I can definitely understand why a good portion of people have their issues with it but for me, even though the likes of The Somnium Files and Danganronpa have spoiled me with thrilling mysteries and unpredictable twists, Detective Pikachu does enough to work its way into my heart and leave a lasting impression. I think it does its job as an introductory title to the genre quite well and I'm sure the younger audience it seems to be targeting will have a great time with it.