Detective Pikachu Returns Review – The Mystery of the Target Audience

The original Detective Pikachu didn’t leave much of a mark when it was initially released late in the 3DS’ lifespan. Sure, the game’s fuzzy coffee-slurping protagonist inspired some memes and chuckles, but actual sales? Not so much. Detective Pikachu likely would have remained a one-off concept, if the game hadn’t, by some lucky chance, become the inspiration for one of the most successful video game movie adaptations ever. And so, five years later, we have Detective Pikachu Returns on our hands.

Does Detective Pikachu Returns prove this concept can carry a viable video game franchise or will it be remembered as little more than a quirky concept that happened to catch Ryan Reynolds’ eye? It’s time to give this second set of cases a thorough examination…

Detective Pikachu Returns once again casts players as college-age sleuth Tim Goodman and his adorable yellow partner who sounds like a gravelly-voiced noir protagonist to Tim, but a regular “Pika! Pika!” electric rat to everybody else. The pair are now minor celebrities after solving the mystery of the mind-altering Pokémon drug “R” in the previous game, and unfortunately, it appears something new is now messing with the critters’ heads. Pokémon are seemingly being controlled by strange glowing cubes found on their backs, but who’s pulling the strings and to what end? We have a mystery on our hands!

The world of the Detective Pikachu Returns is more fleshed out than you might expect. Ryme City is still reeling in the wake of the “R” incidents, and as such, the mayor has formed the “Pokémon Protection Bureau,” supposedly to help foster friendship and corporation between people and Pokémon. Of course, as is often the case with real-world task forces like these, their mission ends up being warped. The world of Detective Pikachu is more cynical than you might think, with the writers actually giving some serious thought to how a society consisting of humans and intelligent, superpowered creatures might work.

Detective Pikachu Returns also picks up on some of the dropped threads from the first game regarding the origin of the titular character and the fate of Tim’s father. The game serves up some surprisingly-real moments and a few dramatic twists and turns, although those who watched the Detective Pikachu movie will be ahead of the ball on some developments.

Similar to its predecessor, Detective Pikachu Returns is a fairly straightforward mystery adventure game, with players spending most of their time searching for clues and interviewing witnesses, with the twist being that Tim talks to the humans and Pikachu talks to the Pokémon. The clues you gather are stored in your Case Notebook, and once you’ve gathered enough info, you’ll be prompted to “deduce” a solution to whatever question you’re currently working on. Deducing solutions requires you to complete multiple-choice tests and there’s no real punishment for picking wrong – you just get to choose until you get it. Old-school adventure game fans will likely cry foul about this approach, but it makes the mystery genre more approachable for new players while not completely eliminating player input. And hey, the choices aren’t always easy – I’ll admit, I got ‘em wrong a few times.

As streamlined as they are in terms of mechanics, Detective Pikachu Returns’ mysteries are still fairly compelling thanks to a surprising level of complexity and variety. The game’s various whodunnits range from a classic locked-room mystery, to a puzzle-filled dungeon, prison-escape caper, and beyond. It isn’t always immediately obvious who did the deed and you’ll have to go through multiple painstaking steps to finally pin down the culprit. These are real mysteries, the game just gives the player a little bit of a helping hand figuring them out. Cases are further livened up by sections where Pikachu teams up with and uses the powers of other Pokémon, quick-time action bits, and even simple stealth challenges.

Unfortunately, while Detective Pikachu Returns’ cases are fairly lively, the game’s presentation does it no favors. Visuals look very flat and dated, particularly during cutscenes, which feel like they’ve been plucked from a cheap licensed Xbox 360 game or a mobile title. Given the success of Detective Pikachu in theaters, it’s somewhat baffling more wasn’t spent here – I doubt this game had more than a 100th the budget of the movie (and that may be a generous estimate).

Perhaps the most pressing question that presents itself as you play Detective Pikachu Returns, is… who is this game meant for? Obviously, adults and teens aren’t the target audience and the amount of reading required means it’s not really for little kids either. That said, I do believe there’s a niche for this game. I think older elementary school kids who can read and love the Pokémon universe may really go for this game in the same way so many have fallen for the Pokémon anime series over the years. Not every game needs to be universally appealing and I feel like this one serves its specific audience well. And hey, if you do dig Detective Pikachu Returns, there’s a fair amount of chew threw here, with a solid 12-hour campaign (which you can stretch longer if you tackle all the game’s side missions). Given the game’s budget price tag, hopefully “the case of the wasted money” won’t be a mystery that weighs on you.

This review was based on a copy of Detective Pikachu Returns provided by publisher Nintendo.

Detective Pikachu Returns

Detective Pikachu Returns

Detective Pikachu Returns isn’t for everyone, with too much reading for little ones and an overly-gentle difficulty curve for adults, but I think some kids, particularly those just beginning to read and explore the greater Pokémon universe, will have a great time with the game. A surprisingly robust world, diverse mysteries, and involving plot may even draw in some parents, despite badly-dated visuals. Investigate Detective Pikachu Returns before buying, but if it seems like it’s right for you or your kids, don’t hold back – it might just hit you like a minor bolt of brilliance.

Buy for $48.51 from Amazon

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