Mystery Detective / Touch Detective (Nintendo DS) Review

By Adam Riley 07.11.2006

The point-and-click genre was an extremely popular genre on the PC format, with games such as Myst, Discworld, Monkey Island, Sam & Max, The Longest Journey and Broken Sword being examples of some more popular outings. Nowadays sales of adventure games have been on the decline and developers are taking a more action direction for new games in the hope of gathering a new market. With the Nintendo DS having a touch-screen that can be likened to a PC's mouse control, thankfully companies are slowly picking up speed after Nintendo and Cing tested the water with Another Code: Two Memories. One such example is this game, Touch Detective, from BeeWorks and Success, translated for the US market by the great folk over at Atlus.

The game's premise, as per the title, is all about a wannabe detective that can touch things within the game. The story revolves around a young girl by the name of Mackenzie who is desperate to become a detective just like others in her family (since she has just inherited the business from her family) and, along with the help of her pet Funghi and butler Cromwell, has to trudge her way through four unusual cases to prove her worth. Along the way she meets a whole slew of strange and rather amusing characters, including the ditzy Penelope and her close friend, yet major rival in the detective stakes, Chloe.

The beauty of Touch Detective is in its style. Whereas the main characters are not wonderfully modelled in three-dimensions, instead looking a little basic and out-of-place, the actual backgrounds and art style used throughout the game in general are very appealing indeed. The surroundings all have a hand-drawn / sketched appearance, similar to the method of drawing used in games like Yoshi's Island, except a little tidier on the whole. The most interesting way this style is used is via the 'cut-scenes' that take the form of large, close-up images that show much more detail and give the game its own unique identity and brilliant charm (at least for a DS game).

Screenshot for Mystery Detective / Touch Detective on Nintendo DS

But what is a mystery game without mysterious music? Well, certainly not Touch Detective, that is for sure. The game is so light-hearted and humorous and the music tends to follow suit throughout. Whenever you have stupid interruptions from your annoying friend Chloe, the music adopts a quirky nature that fits in with the ridiculous situation that is normally taking place on-screen. In general it might not be a soundtrack you would expect from a run-of-the-mill adventure game, but then again the style (as already mentioned) is not exactly the norm, so everything fits in just nicely.

BeeWorks and Success must have clearly looked at the Nintendo DS and thought how perfect it is for the point-and-click genre, with the stylus taken on the role of a PC mouse moving and clicking. And how right they are! From the very start of the game, thing falls perfectly into place as all you have to do is click where you want Mackenzie to walk and off she trots. Or perhaps you want her to rummage through those draws in the corner of the room? No problem, just tap on the specific draw you want to nose through and off she goes. It is the same case when you are ready to interrogate someone, with a mere tap on them opening up the speech side of the gameplay, and various conversation topics being just one click away as well.

Screenshot for Mystery Detective / Touch Detective on Nintendo DS

So, for all intents and purposes, Touch Detective does what it says on the tin, and is so responsive and intuitive even for complete novices, that it proves to be a resounding success (no pun intended). For those unaware of just how a point-and-click game actually works, other than the basic controls I have just explained, the basis is that you must collect various items within the game and use them to help with the progression of your investigation. This is as well as using interrogation techniques to weasel information out of those around you in order to get to the bottom of 'whodunnit'. It might sound extremely simple, but unless you start thinking logically, yet often 'outside the box logically' as well (if that makes ANY sense whatsoever!), you will definitely be stumped for a considerable time. This means that not only do you have to ask the right questions and use items in the correct manner, but also show evidence to people to open up new conversation threads and mix certain items together to create new ones that will be the key to cracking the case.

As for what is on offer, there are four cases, ranging from a horrific crime to a dastardly, near fatal attack on another life. Now, what needs to be remembered is that Touch Detective is a quirky little adventure, full on strange-looking folk that look like they would be more comfortable appearing in Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas and the primary theme is one of humour rather than deadly serious action. But rather than spoiling the actual surprises, that is all I will say on the matter. Take the game with a pinch of salt, as it should be, and you will find yourself having a very enjoyable time working your way through.

Screenshot for Mystery Detective / Touch Detective on Nintendo DS

Games in this particular field either float or sink depending on their puzzles and the amount of questioning required for the duration of play. Now, Touch Detective has some extremely amusing, clever and downright crazy puzzles to solve, but unfortunately relies too much at times on lengthy bouts of saying one line to a person, checking a certain item, then going back to say another line to the same person, before trekking over to quickly look at some other item. This means you will find that whilst superb fun to play through for the main part, it lacks the final shine that would lift it up to the level of Monkey Island and/or Broken Sword. However, in its own right, with the playing field so empty on the DS right now, it slides in very nicely next to Another Code and the two Phoenix Wright games. As long as you remember that nothing is really as it seems and make sure you try every weird scenario, then you will fall in love with this charming game (it even makes use of the top screen for showing Mackenzie's inner thoughts thoughts; a nice little extra touch!)

Unfortunately, Touch Detective is severely stunted by the fact that there are only four short cases to solve and only a handful of main locations to visit. Whilst newcomers to the genre may become easily confused, thus extending the game, real fans of adventure games (especially veteran PC point-and-click gamers) will breeze through even the wackiest of puzzles, just because we all know that the craziest possibilities are normally the right answers in this type of world. Okay, there are a few extras to be found afterwards (touching various non-descript items to add to a Touch List or doing various little side-quests), but nothing substantial enough to warrant more than an hour or so extra being added onto the main game (which itself I managed to clamber through after just two evenings of playing on-and-off) and with conversations generally only having one or two lines per conversation thread, even when confused you it will not be too long before you will be able to sort through all the possible outcomes.

Screenshot for Mystery Detective / Touch Detective on Nintendo DS

Cubed3 Rating

8/10
Rated 8 out of 10

Great - Silver Award

Rated 8 out of 10

This is by far one of the most enjoyable adventure games on the DS at the moment. BeeWorks and Success have crafted a wonderful point-and-click title that whilst not in the same league as the big boys of Monkey Island and Broken Sword, certainly manages to hold up well in the face of stiff competition from Phoenix Wright and Another Code. Definitely one to check out, if you can...

Also known as

Touch Detective

Developer

Success

Publisher

Atlus

Genre

Adventure

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  8/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  8/10 (1 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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