LIKE many Pokémon fans I’ve been playing since I was a kid, but few people carry their passion for the series into their 30s.
Pokémon are all over my house. You can find plushies, art, and clothes from Pokémon in every corner, and that’s not mentioning the many, many games.
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The announcement for Detective Pikachu Returns felt like it came out of nowhere, four years after the film’s success, and seven after the first game’s release.
And few people were more excited than me, to dive back into the world of the special, sherlockian, electric mouse.
The big change here from the original is that Pikachu utilises more of his fellow Pokémon in order to help him solve the case.
This means a lot talking to Pokémon discovering their unique abilities and calling on them for their help.
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It’s a beautiful way to integrate and showcase the unique skills of each Pokémon, and there are dozens of them to find throughout the world.
You get to know more about the Pokémon’s personality, and as you may expect these are beautifully animated, bringing them to life.
Less attention has been paid to the humans. Human interactions feel stiff and stilted, and the way the animations stop and start, gives the game an unfinished feeling.
This stilted style comes through in the gameplay. The pacing is very slow, with plenty of reading, and lots of long cutscenes.
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I wish we’d been allowed to explore more ourselves. A lot of areas are clumsily gated off, and there is no way to speed up a case even if you know the solution.
Pikachu’s partner, Tim, needs to have all the clues written in his notebook before deducing the next plot point.
There is no chance for you to draw conclusions early, or to explore different aspects of the case at your own pace, and you are guided through the story point by point.
I understand that it’s aimed at children, but there is already a way to talk to Pikachu for a hint, meaning you’ll always have a path forward.
Chicory: A Colorful Tale did this best where you can ask your mum for a hint, or let your dad take over and tell you exactly what to do.
The standard sequence already feels heavily guided, with Pikachu just telling you exactly what to do.
More levels of independence when it came to exploration and deduction would have done a lot to pick up the pace.
There are also a number of stealth sections, and quick-time events which didn’t fit in with the detective feel of the game and further slowed down gameplay.
Each chapter has a number of side quests which give you more information about each Pokémon, but the majority of these are simple fetch quests.
Completing these doesn’t reward you with anything, and it would be cool if the people and Pokémon you help, came back in later parts of the story.
If you play Pokémon games, it is likely that you don’t do so for the story. However, Detective Pikachu is all about the story.
The story here is fine, and has quite a bombastic conclusion, but the characters were fairly bland, and there wasn’t too much of a hook to draw you in.
I think many people will like it for the light-hearted animation and story, but with some of the excellent stories from the anime, I feel the IP is capable of a much stronger emotional impact.
Detective Pikachu Returns will likely find its audience with younger children, and would be a fun game and adventure for kids in primary school.
Those attending high school will have probably aged out of its simplicity, and will find a lot more joy with the mainline series.
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Detective Pikachu Returns launches on October 6, 2023, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
Score: 3/5
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
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