In order to discuss important themes in Detective Pikachu Returns, this review will contain major plot spoilers.

Detective Pikachu Returns is starkly political, from a franchise best known for capturing monsters to wage battle to win collectible badges. That reputation isn't wholly accurate, and past iterations in the US$88 billion franchise have tackled topics like climate change, colonization in Japan, and monopolization of energy resources, to name a few. What separates Detective Pikachu Returns is its willingness to engage in film noir tropes and, be it intentional or not, unflinchingly tackle political and police corruption in a way that feels surprisingly modern.

It's the packaging that makes the plot beats so startling. You are still Tim Goodman, now college-age and living in your own apartment in Ryme City. You still talk to a cute Pikachu wearing a detective hat. You frequent the same cafe filled with typical customers and their Pokémon. An old man sits in a booth with a sleeping Snivy. Out in the town square, a woman snaps tons of photos of her adorable Maractus. This could be any starter town in any Pokémon generation title, except in Detective Pikachu Returns, the cops are rounding up and incarcerating Pokémon for petty crimes. In Detective Pikachu Returns, the cops deliberately falsify evidence to arrest innocent Pokémon. In Detective Pikachu Returns, the cops deliberately falsify evidence to arrest innocent Pokémon to inflate the rate of Pokémon-related crimes to pass legislation that would require monitoring devices on all Pokémon to 'foster friendship' and create a false sense of security.

Explaining the plot of Detective Pikachu Returns to literally anyone during my playthrough made me feel like I'd spent too much time in the depths of a specific YouTube algorithm. This is not the sort of conspiracy the average person associates with the franchise. Still, after getting over the tonal whiplash of watching a Pikachu accuse the broad-chested chief police of accepting kickbacks for sending incarcerated Pokémon to a lab to become test subjects, I was impressed with how bold writer Hiroyuki Jinnai and the rest of the team were with crafting this follow-up. The game's central plot is well thought-out and an exemplary entry into detective fiction. However, it does stumble in its conclusion, failing to neatly tie up its larger plot concerning Tim's dad and Mewtwo's place in the duology's narrative.

The 3DS notably ended without resolving one of its major plot threads: what happened to Tim's dad, and why can Tim communicate with his dad's Pokémon partner? The film adaptation starring Justice Smith and Ryan Reynolds adhered close enough to the original game's plot with a unique conclusion that wrapped up those remaining questions. Detective Pikachu Returns ends in more or less the same manner in its final moments but asks players not to consider "how" despite introducing mechanisms to explain it. There are pieces left in play on the board, but the narrative asks players to ignore them and accept that it ran out of time, and things all worked out in the end anyway. This leads to a less satisfying conclusion, even if the result was always going to be a bit hokey anyway.

The final act has a few moments like this, including a major confrontation where we're supposed to believe a powerful figure was manipulated into going along with the conspiratorial plot even though he's frequenting the site of a major crime, i.e., kidnapping, yet no one comments on it. Mewtwo's own place in the story is little more than convenience, showing up out of nowhere when the story needs him. Players may also find the primary antagonist's big plot reveal far less grounded, inserting a sci-fi twist not unlike Get Out in its final moments. I found the choice consistent, as Detective Pikachu Returns is interested in interrogating humanity's fear of those unlike themselves, their willingness to subjugate others for a sense of safety, and the desire to assimilate themselves into those groups for power. I cannot speak to the creators' intentions, but ignoring the allusions to disdainful moments throughout human history was impossible.

The game's biggest detriment is its graphic presentation. Detective Pikachu Returns doesn't look any worse than the mainline Switch Pokémon generation, and it certainly runs better; it just looks plain. The monsters lack texture; all are smooth models regardless of whether they have feathers, fur, armored skin, or fluff. The color palette is bright and cheery but still invokes a cheapness due to its bare-bones presentation. Pokémon are mostly standing around in different environments instead of truly interacting cohesively. This remains my largest complaint in newer franchise entries and continues to be a missed opportunity to revisit character designs for a new generation. This is especially true in a title where the creators can be more selective about the variety of monsters. Mewtwo's look is possibly the worst, with facial features a little more than painted onto his face.

Players can pad out their time by participating in a handful of fetch quests in each area, but they're not particularly unique. Occasionally, players will gain control of another Pokémon with a unique ability to change up the puzzles, but the game is emphatically simple to complete. Conclusions are never tricky, and players won't find themselves re-evaluating clues like in the Ace Attorney series. The environments are also predominately linear, set up like a side-scrolling environment with a few exceptions.

Detective Pikachu Returns is carried heavily by its bold writing and nods to detective noir sensibilities. Lamenting the franchise's lackluster visuals seems like a lost cause at this point, but one can dream. Fans of both Pokémon and detective works are in for a good story, albeit unchallenging gameplay.