“Detective Pikachu Returns” on Nintendo Switch: Small crimes between Pokémon

2023-10-04 23:00:00

After a break of several years, Detective Pikachu is back in action, this time to restore order in Ryme City. If his new investigations will delight early fans, others unfortunately risk finding them simplistic, talkative and redundant.

We all know Pikachu, an emblematic figure from the Pokémon saga with his adorable yellow face and his tail in the shape of electric lightning. But many people don’t know that he has a very special characteristic: he puts on his hat, grabs his magnifying glass and presto!, he becomes a gruff and temperamental detective fueled by long sips of coffee.

Fans of the saga discovered this a few years ago with the very first part of the adventures of Detective Pikachu, on Nintendo 3DS. Others got to know him in 2019 through the film of the same title. And for many, it is with this new game that they are discovering it this weekend.

For this big return, Pikachu therefore has a series of new puzzles and investigations to solve with the help of his partner Tim Goodman. Because strange things are happening in Ryme City, a land where humans and Pokémon coexist harmoniously. First case: the theft of a precious – and particularly expensive – jewel. Various mysteries and disappearances will then follow that our detective will have to elucidate with the help of interrogations, deductions and brainstorming sessions.

Photo provided by Nintendo

Lots of reading

Car Detective Pikachu Returns is a particularly talkative game; we quickly realize that it requires long reading sessions of dialogues displayed on the screen. As for the dialogues in the animated scenes, French speakers will be disappointed to learn that they are only provided in English or Japanese. They will have to make do with subtitles, these being – thank goodness! – offered in the language of Molière.

Once this obstacle is overcome, we discover a cute and amusing adventure, but which in no way invigorates the genre or the saga in which it is part. It’s colorful, it’s funny, of course, but our brains – and our thumbs – are not put to great test. We console ourselves by saying that the youngest will be able to use it as a gateway to discovering this universe which has fascinated us for over 25 years.

They will indeed cross paths with different well-known species from the world of Pokémon, from Caninos to Clefable, including Elecsprint, Farfaduvet and other Verpoms. These should be enough to pique the curiosity of novices and lead them towards more substantial – and successful – challenges like Pokémon Legends: Arceus or even Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet.