Detective Pikachu [Game Review]

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Video Game Review: Detective Pikachu | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | Pokemon | DoublexJump.com

Title: Detective Pikachu
Developer: Creatures
Publisher: Nintendo, The Pokemon Company
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Category: Adventure
Release Date: March 23, 2018
How we got the game: I preordered it

 

 

 

Detective Pikachu was a long awaited game for me. I first saw it announced on Serebii a few years ago and prayed that it wouldn’t be released only in Japan. I preordered it and when it arrived at my house I played it immediately.

storyYou play as Tim, a human, who arrives to Ryme City in an attempt to find out what happened to his father, a detective who had disappeared while on a case. You meet up with Pikachu, your father’s partner. Pikachu can talk and you’re the only one who can understand him.

Pikachu wants to find out what happened to his partner as well. He was in the accident with him and lost his memory. Pikachu wants to piece back his memories and find Harry, your dad. Together, you investigate, solving crimes involving Pokemon going awry in the meantime.

gameplay

This game reminds me a lot of the Ace Attorney games, minus the courtroom. There’s a lot of investigating involved, of course, as you solve smaller crimes to find answers to the bigger one – your missing Dad.

You control Tim with the analog stick making him run around with Pikachu far behind you since he only has one speed – slow. Using the A-button you can click on various people, Pokemon, and objects in the scene to find clues and gather testimony.

Once you’ve gathered enough, Pikachu will grab your attention and tell you to piece everything together. From there, your case notes will open up and ask certain questions, asking you to drag the pieces of evidence into fill-in-the-blank spots to solve the puzzle.

It’s not just gathering evidence and piecing it together. There are moments in the game when you have to tap the A-button repeatedly or press the button when the circle gets to a certain point on the screen. This is usually to help Pikachu or yourself avoid trouble due to a Pokemon or something. It’s simple, but it adds a little more to the game.

There are hints, even though the game is pretty easy to deduce yourself as you go along. You can check your case notes and evidence list whenever you want to remind yourself of things or look things up.

There are a lot of cutscenes. I enjoy them because I absolutely love how they portrayed Pikachu, but they’re long. The cutscene beginning chapter three actually seemed to be the longest. I normally don’t mind, but there is a point when you want to just play the game.

Speaking of, the game is broken up into chapters. Again, it reminded me a lot of Ace Attorney because I’d think I was done with the case and then something else would happen and I’d be playing the same chapter for another hour or so. The cases were a decent length being a couple hours long to play through.

graphics-music

I enjoyed the graphics so much. It’s typical 3D graphics that you would expect from the latest Nintendo 3DS games. It was crisp and bright but easy on the eyes. My favorite thing about it was that the Pokemon were scaled to size as best they could be. They really made an effort to make Detective Pikachu as realistic as possible… despite Pikachu talking. I think they did a great job.

The music was catchy as well. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a detective game. The sound effects were just as pleasing. Some of the Pokemon sounds didn’t seem to match up with what I thought they would sound like – or what they sounded like in the main series game. I won’t complain about though, it was still pretty well done.

replay-value

This is a fairly long game and despite it being a detective game, I’d say it’s pretty casual. Even though I’ll know all the answers (that’s the downside of replaying mystery games) I can see myself picking this one back up whenever I get in the mood.

Detective Pikachu gets…
5 out of 5 lives.

Have you played this game? What did you think? Let us know in the comments! 

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Get Hyped

Kris P. Home, Kris & Rachel , , ,

krismii
Ever get a game that you were so freaking excited for but when you finally played it, the game was just… meh? Or, even worse, it was bad? Considering how expensive our gaming hobby can be (looking at you, $70 Nintendo Labo), it can be disappointing when a game you bought or received doesn’t live up to the hype. One example I can think of was Mario Party Top 100. Definitely wish they just re-released the first three or so Mario Party games on the 3DS or created a few new boards for the top mini-games.

rachmii
The worst part of Mario Top 100 was that we were skeptical too. We knew it wasn’t going to live up to expectations but we got excited about it anyway. That made it all the more disappointing. Another one, similarly enough, was Mario Party Star Rush. I thought moving at the same time was weird, but thought it might be able to work. It didn’t. Not to mention the modes were boring and there were barely any minigames.

krismii
I remember trying to play that with you and I was not thrilled with it. I got confused because, “This isn’t a Mario Party!” It’s a shame since the earlier Mario Party games were such a huge part of our gamer childhoods. On the flip side, though, we’ve had good luck with other games we’ve been excited for. The main game at the front of my mind is Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Despite how long we’ve waited for it, the game’s gorgeous graphics, fun gameplay, and open world definitely lived up to the hype.

rachmii
I asked you to play it with me because I was hoping it’d be more fun with two players… I was wrong. Oh, well. Breath of the Wild definitely lived up to the hype. And for me personally, Detective Pikachu lived up to my expectations. I actually thought it was going to be worse, but the game was better than I expected.

krismii
That’s good! I had no idea what to think of that game. I love Pokemon, but having a talking Pikachu in a detective hat was a bit random to me. Perhaps, when you’re done with it, I’ll give it a go. I recently started up Batman the Telltale Series on Steam (after having it on the account for a couple of years) and it seems better than I expected as well. The choices and controls aren’t bad at all, but I did just start it. Hopefully it continues to live up to my expectations.

Rachel Mii Double Jump
I’ll have to watch you play Batman or play it for myself at some point. I’m interested to see how that game goes as well. I’m eager to start Lumo for the Nintendo Switch. It’s a game that’s been on my list for a while and I just got it for Easter. It looks great and I hope it actually is.

krismii
We’ve actually got quite a few “new” games that we haven’t tried yet, especially a few on the Wii U that we got before the Switch came out. Kingdom Hearts just got delivered as well, so I’m hoping that game will be fun for us as well! I’ve only heard good things about it from our friends on here, so we’ll see.

Rachel Mii Double Jump
So many games and not enough time… Meanwhile, I want to re-play Animal Crossing and Paper Mario again. Go figure.

What games were you excited about that didn’t deliver? What games did deliver? Let us know in the comments below!

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Character Spotlight: Detective Pikachu

Rachel Character Spotlight, Home, Nintendo, Nintendo 3DS & 2DS, Pokemon, Rachel , , , , , ,

Rachel Mii | DoubleJump.comHappy Tuesday!

Yeah, yeah… I know you’re all probably sick of me talking about Detective Pikachu, but I can’t help it. I love this game. Sue me.

Detective Pikachu | Character Spotlight | Pokemon | Nintendo | DoublexJump.com

Detective Pikachu is a special kind of Pikachu who can talk and has skills of a sleuth. While the species Pikachu made its first appearance in 1996, Detective Pikachu is brand new to us making an appearance in March 2018. (Unless you’re in Japan in which case you’ve known Detective Pikachu for an extra two years.)

While I had to get used to his voice, Detective Pikachu is an awesome character. He’s a little corny at times, being part of the Pokemon franchise, but he’s witty, sarcastic, and hilarious.

Plus, he loves coffee. Anyone who loves coffee as much as I do is okay in my book.

I’ve taken such a liking to him and, while it is still weird that he talks, I’m hoping they come out with a Detective Pikachu 2. At the very least, we’ll see him on the big screen.

Do you love the character Detective Pikachu too? Have you played the game yet? Let me know in the comments below!

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Of Nintendo Labo

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Double Jump Kris MiiThe start of another week, and April is nearly over. On the plus side, it’s finally almost resembling spring where I am!

We’re still getting back into the swing of things after being on vacation last week. One of the items on our to-do list was to take stock of our games and try to get back into a relaxing routine of gaming… Naturally, I went on Amazon to see what I could buy.

Last week I wrote up a post about Kingdom Hearts and got quite a few positive responses saying, “Yes, get it!” So, hey, I had a gift card to Amazon and decided may as well spend it on one of the games to try to get into that series.

nintendo-laboAlong with Kingdom Hearts, though, I was also looking up Nintendo Labo. I’ll admit, upon first seeing the advertisements for these cardboard accessories to a Switch game, I was skeptical. It all seemed cute, perhaps more for kids (although, the robot looks pretty cool), and wasn’t exactly something I was gearing up to get. Seventy dollars for a variety kit of cardboard was a little steep to me.

Yet, it came up on Amazon and I was like, “You know what? Into the cart it goes!”

So we’ll be getting the Nintendo Labo variety kit in a couple of days. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have gotten it if Rachel and I hadn’t watched Mr. Panda’s YouTube video where Alex and Tiffa unbox the variety kit and give a little insight to the product. If you haven’t seen the video, it’s right here for you to enjoy:

Rachel and I are excited to try it out for ourselves and to let you know what we think of the kit as well!

What do you think of Nintendo Labo? Do you have one or both of the kits?

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Hero of Our Time – NateWantsToBattle

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So, Spotify’s Daily Mix playlists are fairly spot-on. Lately, they’ve been creating two mixes for me based on video game music (apparently I listen to enough to warrant the need for two mixes). Due to listening to the likes of Big Bad Bosses, Spotify eventually threw “Hero of Our Time” at me by NateWantsToBattle, or Nathan Sharp, one of the members of Big Bad Bosses.

I fell in love with the energetic beat and the, “Go, hero, you can do it!” message of the song. The song itself is part of an album of original songs that Nate published dedicated to the Legend of Zelda series. He also has albums of Pokemon songs, as well as covers of hit songs and albums of his original work.

We hope you enjoy this song, as well as Nate’s other work if you choose to go and take a listen!

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Friday Favorites: Wii U Games

Kris P. Friday Favorites, Game Collection, Home, Kristen, Nintendo, The Legend of Zelda , , , , , ,

Double Jump Kris MiiHappy Friday, everyone!

With the Switch out, not many folks are talking about the Wii U. The Switch seems to be everything that the Wii U tried to be, with all the game ports and the gamepad screen. Truth be told, our Wii U is usually used for Netflix and YouTube nowadays, but there are still some games that we enjoy turning on from time to time.

frifaveswiiugames

Hyrule Warriors

If there are Legend of Zelda characters in the game, I’m going to buy it. This game was tons of fun, playing as multiple characters from the Legend of Zelda franchise, most that you would never get a chance to play as otherwise, and just slashing through hoards of enemies with a wide variety of weapons and magic. Character- and weapon-wise, Hyrule Warriors is much more diverse than Fire Emblem Warriors, even if it didn’t have as much options when it came to directing allies in the battles themselves.

Super Mario Maker

How could you not get excited about this game? The announcement that you could create your own Super Mario levels to share with the world was astounding. The sheer creativity and the simplicity of making your own levels was amazing.

Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD

I’m a sucker for Legend of Zelda games, but Wind Waker was one that I was skeptical about. When it came out for the GameCube, I was in the camp of players that was a bit confused about the different art style. I didn’t mind it, but when Twilight Princess came out, I abandoned Wind Waker in favor of Link being able to turn into a wolf. When Wind Waker HD came out, I was more than ready to give it another try, and I enjoyed it on the Wii U.

What are your favorite Wii U games?

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Throwback Thursday: Ace Attorney Trilogy

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Rachel Mii | DoubleJump.comHappy Thursday!

It’s the end of the month which means it’s time for another TBT. This time I’m talking about Ace Attorney, a game I mention often. Though I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned the first time I played.

Ace Attorney Trilogy | Capcom | Nintendo | Video Games | TBT | DoublexJump.com

The Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy was originally released for the Nintendo DS, though Kris and I had no idea the games existed.

We were upstairs in our bedroom, long before we had an office/game room (our office is our older sister’s old bedroom that we transformed when she moved out). We wanted a new game to play and were scrolling through the games on the Wii shop channel. Yeah, the Wii U didn’t even exist yet.

In fact, we were sitting on our bedroom floor staring at our small box TV that had a built-in DVD and VCR player. I wish I could remember what year this was…

Anyway, we were scrolling and came across the Ace Attorney games. I love mystery and detective stuff and it seemed to intrigue Kris enough. We saw there were three games and downloaded Trials and Tribulations, not realizing the three were a trilogy and we just so happened to buy the final game.

I remember playing the first case together. Then the second and third. Then the finale with Dahlia… if you’ve played, you know who I’m talking about.

We played at night, in the dark, which was a mistake, but we enjoyed ourselves so much anyway.

The cases were so intriguing and well thought out. The characters were amazing. The dialogue was witty and the animations were fun to look at.

Once we finished that game and realized it was the third, we bought and downloaded the first two games immediately. We told our older sister about it, Lisa, and she was interested in it as well. Now, this was long after she stopped playing video games with us so Kris and I were excited we had found a game Lisa wanted to play with us.

We moved the Wii down to the basement where the TV was bigger and there was more room to play. After school and work (and while our dad was still at work because the basement is his man cave), the three of us would go downstairs and play the game for as long as we could.

We played through the whole trilogy together. It was awesome and so much fun.

Of course, Lisa never played the rest of the games with us, such as Miles Edgeworth, Apollo Justice, or any of the handheld games. It was hard enough for Kris and I to stare at the small screen together and play the games. Lisa wasn’t interested in staring at a tiny screen and told us if the games ever came onto the shop channel again, she’d play with us.

Of course, they never did.

Lisa was never one for anime either because the animation always annoyed her. Still, maybe she’d be interested in watching the show with us sometime soon.

Do you remember the first time you’ve played a game? Do you have certain fond memories of Ace Attorney or something else? Let me know in the comments below!

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