Over five years since Detective Pikachu and his human partner Tim Goodman were first cracking cases on the streets of Ryme City, the duo is back in Detective Pikachu Returns to solve the big cliffhanger leftover from the 2018 original: Where is Tim’s father and Detective Pikachu’s old partner, Harry Goodman?
I played the first Detective Pikachu over five years ago when it launched on 3DS, and I’m admittedly a little fuzzy on all of the twists and turns that happened over its 12-hour runtime. The developers at Creatures appear to be well-aware of the long gap between the original Detective Pikachu and Returns as well, as my preview of the game got started with Detective Pikachu pensively recapping the events of the original. But it seems like the only important detail carrying over from the first game is the mystery surrounding Tim’s father. Once you’re caught up on that, it appears even players who didn’t experience Detective Pikachu can jump straight into Returns.
The 30-minute demo I played dropped Tim and Pikachu into the middle of a mystery in Ryme City, where humans and Pokémon live side-by-side. I’ve solved enough mysteries in my time to know you should always suspect the butler, but in this section of the game, Tim and Detective Pikachu are helping a butler who was injured during a robbery at the Denis Mansion. Talk about flipping a mystery convention on its head.
The gameplay sees Tim and Detective Pikachu roaming the grounds of the mansion to interview witnesses, gather evidence, and make very simple logical connections to progress. Unlike more mature mystery games like Ace Attorney, Detective Pikachu isn’t designed to stump players with complex conundrums. This is a cozy, kid-friendly mystery game about interacting with eccentric Pokémon in clever ways.
If you’re a Pokémon fan, you’ll probably love exploring everything this world has to offer. But if you’re a mystery game or visual novel fan, the light approach to storytelling could leave something to be desired. In addition to the main mystery quest, there are also side objectives around Ryme City, like taking a quiz about Pokémon that will be a cinch for experts, or a valuable lesson for beginners.
If you’re a mystery game or visual novel fan, the light approach to storytelling could leave something to be desired.
One segment saw Tim and Detective Pikachu trying to draw a Pawniard out of hiding. There was a nearby rock the Pawniard liked to hang out at, and I had the choice to lie in wait for the Pokémon to emerge, or stand on the rock and take over Pawniard’s territory. I originally picked a good old-fashioned stakeout, but when that wasn’t working, Tim and Detective Pikachu invaded the Pawniard’s rock to draw it out. There was no penalty for the initial incorrect choice, other than having to read through more dialogue to reach the right solution. Other logic elements included making connections between evidence in Tim’s notebook, like choosing the Pokémon with the best sense of smell to help track down a suspect.
There are a lot of charming Pokémon to talk to in Ryme City, but the star of the show is easily Detective Pikachu himself. At the press of a button, I could take a break from sleuthing to catch up with the detective. Sometimes he points me in the right direction with a line about where we should go next, but he usually likes to talk about how much he’s craving a hot cup of coffee. These voiced interactions with Detective Pikachu were the most delightful parts of the demo, as the star of this series still has enough charisma to give that other Pikachu a run for his money.
The place where Detective Pikachu Returns leaves a lot to be desired is in the visual department.
The place where Detective Pikachu Returns leaves a lot to be desired is in the visual department. While it doesn’t perform as poorly as Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, many of the textures and character models still look closer to a 3DS game than a new Nintendo Switch game coming out in 2023. It doesn’t necessarily look bad, it just all looks very… Simple. For a game with so much charm in its writing and characters, it’s disappointing that the visuals don’t match that level of detail. Other Pokémon spin-offs on Nintendo Switch — like New Pokémon Snap and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon — are among the best-looking games on the system, but Detective Pikachu Returns doesn’t come close to meeting that mark.
Still, Detective Pikachu Returns packs in the charm of the original, and you’ll probably want to keep playing just to see what the adorable hero says or does next. As a bonus, the kid-friendly nature of the puzzle-solving and story could make it a great entry point for younger players to get into the mystery genre.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
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