This article contains heavy Detective Pikachu Returns spoilers.After the success of theDetective Pikachumovie based on the original 3DS game, the wise-cracking yellow Pokemon is back inDetective Pikachu Returns. Once again, this new Switch game sees players as Tim Goodman, the human partner to Detective Pikachu as they solve mysteries throughout Ryme City. At the end of it all, the duo only hopes to find Tim’s dad and Pikachu’s missing human partner Harry, making for the central mystery ofDetective Pikachu Returns.
To many of the players who have either picked upDetective Pikachu Returnsor have at least heard about it, the mystery behind Harry Goodman might not seem like the big deal thatthe Nintendo Switch sequelmakes it out to be. After all, the 2019 movie already covered the mystery, as Harry is the reason Detective Pikachu acts strange since his soul is in Pikachu’s body. The developers seem to be aware that many ofDetective Pikachu Returns' players have seen the movie, but it fails to use this information to surprise players with any of its big reveals.
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How One of Detective Pikachu Returns' Jokes Turns into a Broken Promise
The problem with the fact that the Harry Goodman mystery turns out to be less than satisfying in the end ultimately comes down to howDetective Pikachu Returnsbegins. Just after players complete the tutorial, the gamereferences the 2019Detective Pikachumovie, and makes a joke about how the two versions of the original story are rather different from each other. The situation ends with the idea that “movies generally do their own thing.”
As funny as this joke is, it puts an idea in players' heads thatDetective Pikachu Returnswill ultimately follow a different path than the film. This would have been a great promise to make, as there’s most certainly a number of players who had already seen the movie who wanted to see the Switch game as a sequel to the movie in a way. Unfortunately, that doesn’t end up being the case sinceDetective Pikachu Returns' deductionscome up with almost the exact same solution as the movie.
Detective Pikachu Returns Takes Too Many Notes From Its Film
After Tim and Pikachu look deeper into the sketchy Unitas organization, they stumble upon Charles Merloch’s secret experiments tomerge a human and a Pokemon together. This comes straight from the 2019 movie’s ending as well, where the mayor of Ryme City forces his mind into Mewtwo’s body. To top it off, despite the joke at the very start of the game, the truth to Harry’s whereabouts is also the same - the detective is in his Pikachu partner’s body after the electric mouse pleaded with Mewtwo to save Harry’s life after a car crash.
While the game certainly adds a few new twists to the story, as Merloch fuses himselfwith Deoxysafter the jewel stolen at the beginning of the game turns out to be the gem in the middle of its chest, ultimately, the conclusions are the exact same as the film that came out four years ago. With the fact that Creatures Inc. likely knew some players had seen theDetective Pikachumovie prior to playing the game, it’s a shame that the mysteries were never really mysteries to those fans at all, making the entire game almost feel like a letdown in the end.
For a game about mysteries to give the satisfaction of a job well done in the end, players should feel like they accomplished something when they figured out what’s going on before everything comes together. However,Detective Pikachu Returnsinstead encourages fans to throw away preconceived ideas about a previous story only to sell it back to them, which makes the entire adventurealongside Detective Pikachu and his Pokemon friendsalmost pointless.
Detective Pikachu Returnsis available now for Nintendo Switch.
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