Carefully we take the magnifying glass to look for new tracks. While doing this, we check whether our detective hat is in good condition and whether all files are in the right place. In the end we are ready to solve one big mystery with this Detective Pikachu review: how cool is this game?
Pokémon is extremely popular. That popularity is a nice start for this spinoff with one of the cutest and most famous Pokémon ever. But it's disappointing...
It starts well when the cute Pikachu gets a bad ass detective hat. This time we are investigating Detective Pikachu and his new owner Tim Goodmann. Together they solve differences in mysteries in this point-and-click adventure, in order to learn more about a much larger mystery. Thus Tim's father, and also old owner of Pikachu, mysteriously disappeared. Tim and our yellow bag monster want to know the details here.
Wait, he's talking?!
It is an interesting choice that Detective Pikachu can talk in this game. This is striking because criticism came when we saw a talking Pikachu in a Pokémon film. In this, the Pikachu of Ash got a sentence text and suddenly fans were blazing about it. In this game, on the other hand, it does not bother that Pikachu is one big speech trap. Certainly not because Tim is the only one who really understands Pikachu and this is also incorporated in the plot in a clear way.
You will learn this fine by going through a lot of dialogues and looking for clues at different locations. The gameplay of this game is most reminiscent of the various Ace Attorney games that have appeared on the market over the years. If you think away the court hearings, you are also busy finding different clues to find out who is actually the culprit behind a certain crime.
Lots of swollen
You are often reading dialogues. Not bad, but you have to love it. So you will walk through different environments with Tim to ask questions to Pokémon or other people. When you ask the questions to Pokémon, Pikachu will act as interpreter. This creates interesting moments in the game where you will encounter a lot of different Pokémon, each with their own usefulness throughout the story.
But sometimes you can strangle the characters, because it takes too long for them to see that potential. At one point you have to escape from a cave, but you can not cross a small lake with cold water. From deep within there is a long voice shouting that the ice-cream Pokémon Glalie just has to change the water in ice for a short while, but it takes a long time before Tim comes up with a solution that you, as a player, probably already had planned half a episode earlier.
Simple and predictable
This brings us directly to another problem that the game knows: the game is far too simple and it is clear that the game is mainly aimed at young children. Actually, you are really challenged to think out of the box in quite a few moments. This makes many story elements too predictable.
In the first chapter a suspicion arose where Tim's father had stayed. Although it feels good to solve a mystery, it does not feel right if you get confirmation in the last chapter that your suspicions from chapter 1 also turned out to be in detail. Too bad, because you want to be surprised in such a game!
Although the main lines of the story are poorly thought out, the game is full of fun characters. Especially our yellow electric mouse is very nice and cute to watch. For example, the creature has an interesting personality that emerges well in the different cutscenes. Although the Pikachu sometimes sends a little too much about his passion for good coffee, he is a real womanizer: he has a weakness for beautiful women.
Quicktime Events
Scenes that arise from choices you make at quicktime events can also be funny. Especially if you fail the quick-time events and because of this the scene is slightly different.
For example, you have to be on the A base within a certain time and you are required to do this with a certain timing. In the example that you should catch Pikachu by pressing A, you fail to fall hard on the ground by failing. The quicktme events provide a welcome change in the game, yet they are sometimes a little forced.
Conclusion
Ultimately Detective Pikachu is a game that had a lot of potential. The game is reasonable, but not really special. For smaller players it is fun to pick up the game one more time, but after playing the game once you have actually seen it. You can play the game in a little seven hours and after that you are bored.
Are you looking for a full-fledged Pokémon game, then you better take one of the games from the main series. For the same money you can also experience dozens of hours of Pokémon fun. Hopefully the Pokémon Nintendo Switch game will improve, because this game leaves some opportunities.
Pros
➕ The plus and minus points
➕ Humorous
➕ Quick time events for some variety
➕ Funny thought
➕ Many different Pokémon in the story
Cons
➖ Predictable plot
➖ Too simple
➖ Too little gameplay
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