Spoilers The Detective Pikachu Appreciation Club

[Silktree]

Is anyone else playing this underrated game? I'm in the beginning of Chapter 5 and here are my thoughts:

1. Overall, the graphics and atmosphere are lovely, but most importantly Detective Pikachu's personality is a delight. It's also refreshing to see Pokemon live alongside people without battling.
2. The characters are serviceable but there seems to be an issue of quantity over quality here. Even Tim lacks depth so far, being overshadowed by his partner. Why isn't he talking about his past?
3. The central mystery keeps me hooked.

Spoiler

I'm glad that Creatures didn't give Mewtwo a new origin story (unlike in Ranger 3), instead opting to resurrect Berserk Gene in a way that makes sense. Game Freak could learn a thing or two from them.

Onto the chapters:

1. The first chapter is very different than the rest of the game, thankfully. It's a decent way to make Tim and Pikachu work together, though.

Spoiler

Burmy being the "culprit" and how it fooled everyone was neat.

2. The second chapter still isn't plot-oriented enough, but the cave setting is more interesting. Some clever applications of certain Pokemon.
3. This is where some progress toward the overarching investigation is made. Working undercover is neat for a while, but the activities leave something to be desired. Still, finding the culprit is pretty satisfying.

Spoiler

Was Trevenant supposed to kill Tim or just scare him away?

4. I don't dislike this chapter, but it only serves to prolong the wait for the major reveal. The mystery of this chapter has no real connection to the central one, and is hindered by the lack of suspects.
5. This one looks really promising so far. It's refreshing to see how a group of Pokemon deal with the aftermath of a certain event.

 

[TechSkylander1518]

Apologies for bumping a months-old thread, but I just finished Detective Pikachu today, and I'm happy to see other people like it too!

It's definitely a game that focuses more on story than on gameplay. (Honestly, I think it was intended as a movie in the first place, and that's why the movie was announced so quickly after the game.) Most places where you could fail typically let you try again right away, and there's rarely any cutscene that you're likely to fail in the first place. (I did anyways because it's funny to see the "bad endings") There's not any sort of collectible or bonus plots, either-even stuff like winning the auction only unlocks an extra cutscene, as does the amiibo. (Well, it unlocks all of them, to be exact, but still, that's not much)There's definitely ways that could be improved-harder puzzles, added collectibles, maybe customization options-but seeing as some of these problems have been in the main series games, too, I think a sequel game would likely fix that, if it doesn't leave games entirely. (I feel like a more story-driven medium might suit it better, but games are Pokemon's main attraction...)


The game really excels at worldbuilding IMO. Every location is filled with Pokemon in working and natural environments, and it's really fun to poke through the different environments. Working Pokemon are especially interesting to me, because they aren't really in need of money-most of them do it out of pride or pleasure in their work. (though I must say, I genuinely got surprised by Masquerain for once) And the human characters were also a great contribution-even if they weren't super in-depth, I think they still had fun designs and personality that gave the world more spark!

Spoiler stuff-

Spoiler

I really consider the crimes in DetP (I can't abbreviate it as DP, can I?) to be a really interesting sort of conflict for the game. So much of Pokemon games has been massive, world-altering plots, even with minor crimes. (as they're typically done just to further a team's bigger goal) I think it's fun to imagine what illegal activities people would try to get up to with super-powered creatures on a smaller scale. Invisible Pokemon retrieving stolen goods, mimic Pokemon providing alibis, manipulating trained Pokemon to carry out schemes-hey, why not?

The involvement of Mewtwo also genuinely surprised me! Most of the time, legendaries are already heavily promoted in games/movies, and the other ones are typically alluded to enough that it's not surprising when they appear. (I think the only one I was actually surprised by was Coballion in Pokemon Rumble, but its reveal wasn't so much a twist as a new character) Mewtwo had no prior mentions and wasn't even being pursued by the villains, so to have its involvement be a mystery to uncover rather than its typical role as the ultimate power was pretty fun!

The lack of closure on Harry was frustrating, but it seemed to be more of a setup to a sequel rather than "oh we'll leave it open just in case", so I'm hoping it wasn't just a cop-out?

Oh, but speaking of Harry, I have a theory on why the accident altered Pikachu:

A common theory is that Harry became Pikachu (be it by shapeshifting or mind swapping courtesy of Mewtwo), and that's why Pikachu picked up some of Harry's personality traits. But I think that rather than rather than Harry's mind being taken entirely, Mewtwo just copied some of Harry's personality traits into Pikachu. The human aspects in Detective Pikachu override some of the Pokemon instinct (like why he insists on walking on two legs), and this has caused him to be unable to use moves.

Evidence for this:

• Pikachu's memories are still from his perspective, even when Harry appears in them.
• Mewtwo asked Pikachu if he had decided between two unknown options. While it's possible he could be choosing between being a Pikachu or being a human, it doesn't really make sense that Harry would choose to stay apart from his family. I think asking Pikachu if he wanted to be able to use moves or keep his detective skills is the choice he was faced with, and in that case, it makes sense he'd
• After making his decision, Pikachu has totally lost all memory of using Thunderbolt.
• It would fit thematically with Mewtwo's history, being a clone, to copy someone's abilities and give them to someone else. It would also kind of be like Mewtwo making his own counterpart to R-R is humans using cells from a Pokemon, this change would be a \ Pokemon be using parts from a human.