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Forum - View topicGAME: Detective Pikachu Returns Game Review
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KlarkKentThe3rd
Posts: 108 |
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manapear
Posts: 1530 |
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I liked the movie, but never got into the first game. My friend liked it, so I was going to buy it for her, but after the review, I'm really considering a copy for myself. I can really respect how the plot and story sounds, and their willingness to tackle those themes. And it sounds like a charming enough Pokemon game otherwise. (Shame about the graphics though.)
Assimilation can be useful, but shouldn't be required or needed. That's a nuanced topic, certainly. And it sounds like where the plot direction is going, this isn't assimilation in the positive direction. I'm curious to see how the story plays out myself and if that's the case. |
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 3052 Location: Email for assistance only |
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?? Sorry, I'm struggling to figure out what part of the review you're referencing or what you consider to be "assimilation" in relation to the events of the game or in general. |
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ATastySub
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 700 |
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Guessing this line
Which requires quite a misreading to state what they did, unless they think assimilating into oppressive power structures in order to subjugate others is good. |
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 3052 Location: Email for assistance only |
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Oh, right so, to get into even more spoilers:
spoiler[An evil scientist wants to transfer his consciousness into a Pokemon to obtain their power (this the Get Out reference)] This is, uh, bad. I didn't feel the need to rehash Peele's movie's themes here, but they are applicable to this game in a similar way although the race angle its not as explicit. I've been meaning to ask: is the KKK in your username an intentional dog whistle or unintentional? Edit: nevermind, I figured out the answer is yes |
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Regalli
Posts: 113 |
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Okay, I hadn't been planning to go out of my way to pick this one up, having enjoyed the first game well enough and enjoyed the movie well enough (apart from its very tired trope of having a disabled villain whose end goal is to spoiler[become a legendary Pokemon so he's no longer disabled,] particularly given the lack of care by the filmmakers in making sure the dude could navigate his own office set,) but not feeling particularly strongly about it. Especially since it was pretty clear that the first game ended awkwardly at a halfway point that probably wasn't the original intent, and the movie was finishing a story that was already written and would almost certainly be true in the sequel whenever it materialized.
And then I read this article and the fact that it tackles police corruption just shot my attention WAY up. I actually want to check this out when I get the chance, now. |
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That Little Rapscallion
Posts: 61 |
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Eh, the games seem a bit too simplistic for me to really look at them like they're stating any kind of societal message. Just like I doubt the first game was saying (spoilers I guess) spoiler[the mainstream media is corrupt by having the main villain be a news producer committing acts of terrorism and false flag events so his network can obtain exclusive coverage over them and become the most influential and biggest controller of the news in the world. But there's also good reporters and journalists in that game, just like the rest of the police in the two games are good people and it's just the one guy who was working for the evil scientist capturing Pokemon to send over for him to experiment. Even the regularly occurring police lieutenant character knew something was up and was investigating the incidents]
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KlarkKentThe3rd
Posts: 108 |
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Well I'll be, that was a massive misreading on my part.
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Sleipmon4
Posts: 54 |
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I really don't think Pokemon is that deep, and I don't think that Nintendo or Pokemon has any interest in those types of discussions. No more than Ruby/Sapphire has any sort of meaningful message about the environment.
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FilthyCasual
Posts: 2415 |
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So the movie and this second game have a similar plot point regarding spoiler[possessing Mewtwo?]
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KefkaesqueXIII
Posts: 133 |
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This review is honestly giving the writing a LOT more credit than it really deserves.
Like, technically yes, one of the game's chapters involves a conspiracy to frame Pokemon for crimes they didn't commit, but it is explored with all the depth of a puddle (spoiler[it's a a single police-adjacent authority figure feeding the cops fabricated evidence, and the police as a whole are treated as unwitting dupes of this singular bad apple at worst with a good detective having already been conducting their own secret re-investigation of the incidents before we even got involved]). Once the chapter is over, it doesn't really get brought up again until the end as part of a listing of the evil org's evil actions, where it is given the same weight as the time they were behind a theft. Also, as a mystery game, it is painfully simplistic and hand-holdy in its execution. To be clear, I'm not talking about the solutions being painfully easy (though they typically are), I'm talking about having to sit through the dialogue of the characters as the puzzle over questions that are either obvious or on extreme occasions had already been explicitly answered previously in the story while said characters were present.
The game mixes that up a bit by spoiler[having the evil scientist revive and possess Deoxys instead] Mewtwo being spoiler[behind the missing dad/talking Pikachu situation] is basically the same as the movie though. |
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 3052 Location: Email for assistance only |
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I don't have an issue with your points (especially the gameplay) but he isn't "police adjacent," he's the head of the entire department/Chief. He's got propaganda posters of himself ushering in a new era.
Holliday is barely in the game although his interference is noted. Brad is also suspicious of the department but won't step out of line until the player is able to prove the corruption exists. The rest of the cops are either reflective of the chief's views (the one who stands outside the station) or completely out of their depth (the two hanging out in the parking lot). The game is very hand-holdy insomuch as I can only assume it is designed for kids, which makes it's gestures toward these themes even more surprising. |
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2316 Location: Online Terminal |
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Yes and no? I mean, yes it seems more critical of police than, say, Kamen Rider has been when in the same space, but for 25 years the overarching moral of the franchise has been some form of "We should work together and trust Pokémon to be our friends," and this story fits into that slot. |
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