Detective Pikachu Returns: A Review

Detective Pikachu was the first adventure set in the world of Pokémon. It was released on the 3DS in 2016 and is one of the few Pokémon games I skipped. I still don't remember the reason. But now, the opportunity has finally arisen to try out its sequel, Detective Pikachu Returns.

I was afraid that I would be thrown into the fire immediately with the plot of the new title, without any context from the previous one. Fortunately, right from the start, the charming Detective Pikachu greeted me and introduced me to the predecessor's story with a cup of his favorite caffeinated drink.

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The Plot of Detective Pikachu Returns

In short, our yellow furry friend with a detective hat lost his memory in the previous part but also lost his partner, Harry Goodman. However, when you lose on one end, you gain on the other, so our Pikachu met Harry's son Tim, with whom he can communicate. And when I say share, I don't mean the typical gesturing of Pokémon; our detective Pikachu speaks. Of course, he can only talk to Tim and other Pokémon, while his speech sounds like the standard "pika pika" enumeration to other human interlocutors.

Returns occurred a few months after the incident with the R chemical that originally made Pokémon aggressive. The incident stopped our detective duo, but in the city of Ryme, there is again strange behavior among Pokémon, this time not caused by the mentioned substance. Initially, the investigations seem pretty unrelated, but somewhere around the middle of the game, you'll see that the initial theft of a precious stone and the strange people in white are just a tiny part of the problems lurking over the city.

Initially, the investigations seem unrelated, but around the middle of the game, everything falls into an intriguing whole.

As usual, I'll refrain from any additional story revelations, but I must note that you should prepare yourself for some pretty dark themes for a Pokémon game. Torture and abduction are just some of the heavier topics woven through the investigations, providing a unique perspective on the world of Pokémon. Ultimately, the story is undoubtedly the best part of the game and kept me intrigued until the end.

The Gameplay

Unfortunately, the gameplay didn't quite measure up. It could be more fun and challenging. I understand this game aims for a broad age-range audience, but I would prefer it if they offered some assistance for the younger crowd. Instead, we got a simple gameplay that boils down to conversations with all characters, collecting evidence, and finally opening a folder where deduction requires "guessing" the correct answer. What if you answer incorrectly? Nothing, you can try another answer. Did you get the second one wrong? No problem, try the third!

What frustrated me the most was the need to collect all the evidence, even though the answers were practically visible in advance. I had to run up and down the map to collect everything I needed before I could finally respond to the folder's question. An answer that I had guessed ten minutes ago!

The mechanic of controlling Pokémon to fetch new evidence has been added to spice up the cases. For example, with Pikachu, I could jump on Growlithe's back and, with the help of his perfect sense of smell, track Pokémon on the map. These sections are directly related to individual cases, and you can't use them continuously. Consequently, it is pretty clear that as soon as you discover a new Pokémon you can control, you will use it to investigate that specific case.

Detective Pikachu Returns Side Missions

The same goes for side missions, which are equally simple to solve and do not bring any excitement except for fun interactions with Pokémon. Upon further thought, the conversation between Pikachu and other Pokémon is a natural refreshment in the game.

We don't often have the opportunity to hear the thoughts of Pokémon except for the Mystery Dungeon series, so it always delights me when I hear different characters, speech styles, and the like. For example, Passimian sounds like a rebellious teenager who wants to fool around, while the group Lotad is totally into their style of dancing and having fun.

The Look, The Feel Of The Game

As for the graphics themselves, it could be a better wonder, especially considering that this is a reasonably static adventure without any combat or action. Looking at some pictures of the original Detective Pikachu on the 3DS, the difference in shadows and textures is clear, but beyond that, there is little progress. The animations of human characters, mostly with only 3-4 facial expressions, don't help much either.

What elevates the entire audio-visual performance is the quite well-animated Pikachu and its entertaining voice acting. We're not talking about an award-winning performance, but the acting certainly stands out compared to the rest of the game. As we mostly played in handheld mode, we used our XP-Panther Sky gaming headset to better enjoy the game's superb voice acting.

In Conclusion

The characters' charisma and the intriguing story kept me playing Detective Pikachu Returns. Moreover, the well-connected story, sprinkled with dark elements, made this Pokémon experience feel fresh. Surprisingly, the game lasted 15 hours, even though I didn't stop anywhere during the playthrough.

A more significant challenge would be getting stuck at a certain point because the game usually leads you by the hand.

As soon as I collected all the evidence, Pikachu would immediately shout it out in case I didn't figure it out alone. And then I wonder: am I playing this game, or is Detective Pikachu playing with me, giving me instructions on what to press?

Rating: 6.8/10+

The game earns a solid but unspectacular score because its genuinely intriguing, surprisingly dark story and charming Pikachu characterization are dragged down by repetitive, unchallenging gameplay that holds the player's hand at every turn.

Recommended Age: 10+

Despite the ESRB E rating suggesting it's safe for all ages, the review explicitly flags heavier themes like torture and abduction woven into the investigations. I'd recommend it for kids 10 and up, with younger children needing a parent nearby to help contextualize the darker plot beats, even though the actual gameplay mechanics themselves are simple enough for much younger players to operate.

Detective Pikachu Returns has an ESRB rating of E and is safe for children of all ages.

Gemini AI Summary

Detective Pikachu Returns delivers a surprisingly dark and engaging detective story set in the Pokémon universe, following an amnesiac, talking Pikachu and his human partner Tim as they investigate strange occurrences in the city of Ryme. While the narrative — featuring themes like abduction and torture — is the game's clear strength, the gameplay itself is simplistic and forgiving, relying on evidence collection and guess-based deduction with no real failure state. Despite mediocre graphics, charming Pokémon voice acting and character personalities elevate the roughly 15-hour experience. Though officially ESRB E-rated, its darker undertones make it better suited to slightly older children.