Detective Pikachu is a spin-off of the Pokémon franchise that follows a talking Pikachu and a young boy named Tim Goodman as they solve mysteries together in Ryme City. The first game was released on Nintendo 3DS in 2016, and now a sequel, Detective Pikachu Returns, is launching this week for the Nintendo Switch.
Detective Pikachu Returns takes place in Ryme City once again, with both Pikachu and Tim joining forces to solve more mysteries. Similarly to the first game, Detective Pikachu Returns offers a simplistic and family-friendly plot, and doesn’t really provide much innovative gameplay. However, with the proper expectations, the game is still an enjoyable experience. It runs well on the Nintendo Switch, and the likable cast is highlighted with a pleasant art direction.
Detective Pikachu Returns is a rather short adventure, clocking in at around 10 hours. Here are our thoughts after playing through it.
Detective Pikachu Returns is a family-friendly Nintendo Switch game with a simple yet charming story and a likable cast of characters. It’s great for younger kids, and it's an enjoyable experience if you're looking for an easygoing adventure.
What we liked about it
A fun cast of characters
The story in Detective Pikachu Returns is rather simple, but it’s elevated by the cast of likable characters. Both Tim and Pikachu are still on the lookout for Tim’s father, Harry, who is Pikachu’s old partner. Tim’s do-good nature and optimism complements Pikachu’s more hard-boiled personality. Pikachu is always getting into comedic moments, such as getting thrown into a small duct multiple times by a Pokémon or falling down from big heights. Despite the fact that I was able to see the game’s plot twists coming from a mile away, the more mature take on Pikachu kept me engaged with his character progression.
The supporting cast of characters — such as Tim’s mother, Irene, and his sister, Sophia — are mainly in brief moments in between chapters before he leaves home. Even so, the interactions between Tim, his family and Pikachu add a lot of charm and sentimentality. When revealing the reason behind making Pikachu’s favorite drink, coffee, Pikachu says that Sophia’s was the best he’s ever had. These moments add insight to Tim’s life outside of his work with Pikachu and ground both of them as likable characters.
Performance and presentation are great
Detective Pikachu Returns runs incredibly well on Switch, especially compared to Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet. Whereas those games had plenty of visual hiccups like asset pop-in and egregious loading times, you won’t find any of those in Detective PIkachu Returns. It’s a much smoother experience that keeps you immersed in the story.
Also, while you shouldn’t expect high-fidelity graphics like in Cyberpunk 2077, the art direction in Detective Pikachu Returns is appealing too. The human characters have proportionate and realistic bodies, and the variety of different Pokémon in the game are expressive; they smile, frown and blink, making them look very lively.
What we didn’t like about it
Throwaway side quests
The side quests in Detective Pikachu Returns don’t reward the player with anything substantial. While they do provide some world-building and insight into Ryme City’s citizens, they’re shallow and they aren’t worth going out of your way to complete. They’re also virtually all fetch quests, like finding a certain Pokémon in the city to help someone climb a tree with. The most you’ll get out of completing side quests is maybe a newspaper mention in Tim’s home in between solving cases.
Mediocre gameplay
The gameplay in Detective Pikachu Returns is too easy and doesn’t provide a challenge. The gameplay loop revolves around talking to either other humans or Pokémon around Ryme City and gathering clues to solve the current case. There are also investigation segments, but those simply involve just clicking around and collecting evidence. It’s not nearly as engaging as a detective or mystery game like Ace Attorney or Danganronpa.
However, there are some minigame segments scattered throughout Detective Pikachu Returns that are more involved where you can control other Pokémon. Pikachu can ride a Growlithe and follow scent trails or use Luxray’s X-ray vision to look through walls. While these add more interactivity to the gameplay, they’re still basic and unchallenging.
Bottom line
Detective Pikachu Returns is a family-friendly game with a simple yet charming story and a likable cast of characters. It’s important to come in with proper expectations, as the target audience is for younger kids. As a result, Detective Pikachu’s gameplay is rather basic and even at a $50 price point, Tim and Pikachu’s second outing feels too short at around 10 hours.
Detective Pikachu Returns may not get a spot in a list of best Nintendo Switch games, but it’s still an enjoyable experience if you’re looking for an easygoing adventure.
