Detective Pikachu Returns (NSP, XCI) ROM

Detective Pikachu Returns is an adventure game developed by Creatures and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. First announced during a press release in 2019 alongside apps such as Pokémon Home, it is a sequel to 2016’s Detective Pikachu for the Nintendo 3DS. It was showcased for the first time during a Nintendo Direct in June 2023 and was released on October 6, 2023.

GAMEPLAY

Detective Pikachu is an adventure game in which players control Tim Goodman as he works together with Detective Pikachu to solve various mysteries. This is accomplished by walking around scenes, finding potential clues, and speaking with people and Pokémon to uncover new information.

PREMISE

The game will take place in Ryme City, reuniting Pikachu with his partner Tim Goodman while solving mysteries and “discovering the origins of the great detective Pikachu”. The game will also have Harry Goodman, the father of Tim Goodman, go missing. The game will feature Pokémon from games released after the original bringing new possibilities for this sequel to achieve.

SETTING AND PLOT

Two years following the R incident, Tim Goodman and his partner Detective Pikachu continue to serve Ryme City as detectives. A ceremony where Mayor Howard Myers is honoring them with medals as a reward for their efforts is interrupted by a rampaging Corviknight. Tim and Pikachu investigate the chaos caused by Corviknight and recover Pikachu’s signature hat, which Corviknight had stolen, before returning to the ceremony.

The next day, Tim and Pikachu’s services are enlisted by Inspector Frank Holiday to assist the police with an investigation at Sanjeev Denis’s mansion, where the legendary Aurora Drop, a precious jewel, has gone missing. Mr. Denis’s butler, Brandon Barnes, has been accused of the crime and is the police’s top suspect, but Mr. Denis is convinced of his butler’s innocence and requests Tim’s help in finding the real culprit. By questioning Mr. Denis, Mr. Barnes, Mr. Denis’s wife Claudia Denis, and new staff member Larry Turner, Tim and Pikachu are able to find enough evidence to prove Mr. Barnes is innocent and enlist the assistance of Mr. Denis’s partner Growlithe, who possesses a powerful sense of smell, tracks the real culprit. During the investigation, they run into Tim’s classmate Rachel Myers, the daughter of Mayor Myers, and her friend Jessica Miller. Rachel requests Tim’s help with something that she does not want to disclose in public, so Tim invites her to visit his apartment later that evening. They also briefly encounter an oddly behaving scientist named Charles Merloch, who performs a brief health exam on Pikachu.