Detective Pikachu (2018)

Finally got around to transferring my 3DS data to a bigger SD card, and now I'm downloading as many games (that I bought last-minute before the eShop closure) onto it as I can.

Got to chapter 3 today, let's hope I don't forget about this game's existence and unintentionally abandon it for months on end. Wouldn't be the first time LOL.

Also, the name Tim Goodman is so blandly inoffensive that my personal sensibilities want to rebel and find a way to take offence to it.

After I watched the intro cinematic on YouTube where you learn of Pikachu's middle-aged man voice I thought the concept was brilliant and bound to be funny so I started playing the game. While it was true that the voice acting allowed for many moments where I laughed, the game mostly consisted of talking to NPCs with very simplistic dialogue. About 90% of the puzzles were not so much "puzzles" because they were very easy to solve and straightforward. I guess the creators wanted the game to be playable by even little 8-year olds as even the way Pikachu speaks to you often feels as if Pikachu is treating you like a little kid who needs to be told things that would be very obvious for anyone above 10 years of age.

So while I had fun and liked the voice acting and jokes, most of the gameplay itself wasn't much fun.

This is the best-reviewed video game movie of all time (according to Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic). As far as regular movies go, it is good! Not amazing, and probably not a movie anyone will talk about in 5 years, but my daughter and I enjoyed watching it.

The movie is going for as many jokes as possible as quickly as possible. And while some of the jokes don't land, the next zinger has arrived before you can groan. Lucy Stevens seems underwritten, some of the performances are Disney Channel movie tier, the movie loses a lot of energy whenever Pikachu isn't on screen, and the plot takes an odd turn in the last act. All those (not inconsequential) gripes aside, I had fun. And if you are a Pokemon mega fan like me or my daughter, add an extra star on as you'll appreciate all the easter eggs and nods.

At the very least, go see it so they get to make Detective Pikachu 2. They laid some strong groundwork here for a series of movies I know I would like to see.

complete upfront disclaimer: i am aware this is a game aimed at children and i am not a child and this game isn't aimed at me. that said, sometimes kid-aimed games are super up my alley, and this one... took a different turn about two steps in.

i really like the concept behind the gameplay (resolve mysteries!!), but the level of handholding feels like a bit much even aimed at kids. i wouldn't have complained if it was only the tutorial, but the issue is that it's so hand-holdy as to render all its mysteries obsolete, because it tells you the answer straight-up almost every time before you're allowed to give your own input.

and again, i'd give this more leeway if i could at least skip dialogue by pressing A or something, but everything waits for the audio to finish playing before you can move on to the next text box and i don't have the patience for that.

that said, the style is cute (even if the humans look a bit weird imho) and the graphics are nice and the audio is pretty good. i think i'd mind this game a ton less if it was non-interactive and just a cartoon or an animated movie.

could have done without the weird implications that pikachu bangs human women.

No soy un gran fan de Pokemon y se lo básico, aun así me dio mucha curiosidad este juego y me dejo en general satisfecho.

El juego es simple, muy simple y sus mecánicas y puzzles no destacan por si dificultad, entonces si esperan un juego como los de la saga Layton o Phoenix Wright se pueden ir decepcionados, aunque si comparten algunas características. Imagino que para un fan de la saga le puede sacar mucho más provecho pero aun así lo disfrute y su final me dejo más que picado.

So here's the important thing you must know before buying Detective Pikachu: It's not difficult in the slightest. In fact, I struggle to suggest the game is even geared for kids, because the challenge is basically non-existent. Gameplay consists of three core elements: Talking to people and Pokemon to gather clues, matching relevant clues to reach a deduction, and QTE cinematic sequences. If I'm being honest, these are mostly terrible. The QTEs are fun and used sparingly, but the core "detective" elements of this game are slow, tedious, boring and frankly a massive disappointment. Rarely does the gameplay utilize the unique talents of Pokemon, nor the trivia that a long-time Pokemon fan might think to apply.

But the thing is... I still really liked this game. The cinematics, and the core storyline, these are all really interesting. Pokemon think and speak with a logic that makes sense in the world, and feels right to the characters. The people interact and live amongst Pokemon in ways that you otherwise would have only imagined. If you are a Pokemon fan, and only if you are a Pokemon fan, the real allure of this game is presenting a cohesive fictional world where Pokemon almost feel real. This is a childhood daydream made real. And if you're into that, the dull gameplay will only be a minor hindrance - if you have no association with Pokemon whatsoever, you are unlikely to find much enjoyment here.