Detective Pikachu Returns review - a textbook mystery that owes everything to its charm

What would a world shared by humans and Pokémon really be like? It’s something I imagine every Pokéfan has pondered, and yet it’s also something the series’ main games typically do a poor job of showing. Red and Blue, Gold and Silver, all the way to Scarlet and Violet – the story never really changes. You play as the 10-year-old version of an RPG murder hobo, storming about capturing monsters to defeat enemies, then storing said creatures inside a computer when they’re no longer of use. I’ve always held a softer spot for the Pokémon anime, which offers a more slice-of-life take on the traditional Pokémon game story, and better features the other kinds of people who exist in the series’ world. It’s been interesting to see, over the years, the wider Pokémon franchise include more of the anime’s elements elsewhere – for example, leaning more heavily towards the concept of people having one special ‘partner’ Pokémon, as is the case here.

This is why I think I enjoyed the original Detective Pikachu game, which launched for Nintendo 3DS in Japan all the way back in 2016. (The movie adaptation was fine too.) A serviceable crime-solving adventure for a younger audience, its strengths lay in its world and characters, and the relationship it built between Pikachu and young human hero Tim Goodman, who share a unique and mysterious bond. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the same strengths can be found again in Detective Pikachu Returns, a belated sequel for Nintendo Switch, where the same connection between its main characters goes a long way towards balancing its fussy mechanics and an at-times frustratingly obvious plot.

Let’s recap. Detective Pikachu on 3DS ended with something of a cliffhanger, as Tim’s detective dad Harry was left missing while the nature of Detective Pikachu’s abilities remained unknown. This differs, of course, from the end of the movie adaptation, which saw the truth behind Ryan Reynolds’ Detective Pikachu play out on screen. Otherwise, both versions of the tale involved Tim and Pikachu investigating a mysterious chemical that enraged Pokémon and made them dangerous to humans, destroying the delicate balance between people and Pokémon found in the game’s setting of Ryme City. Now, Detective Pikachu Returns picks up the action two years later, as a questionable quasi-police force for Pokémon crimes is established, and the mysterious Mewtwo – who was somehow involved in Harry’s disappearance – suddenly returns onto the scene.