Last year’s
Touch Detective was a pretty unique DS title, presenting an interesting take on
the point-and-click adventure genre while taking advantage of the system’s
control capabilities. By “touching” objects in the environment, you could
investigate them by the way they felt, recording them in your touch journal and
gaining clues to solve your missions. The game required you to do a fair amount
of sleuthing and investigating, and while the pace was a bit tedious, it managed
to be a pretty interesting take on the adventure genre.
Now, a little
less than a year later, Atlus is launching the sequel Touch Detective, Touch
Detective 2 1/2 (so named to keep with the original’s quirky sense of humor).
For the most part, Touch Detective 2 1/2 is mostly the same as the original,
albeit with some more connected mission structures. If you were a big fan of the
style and humor of the original and left it wanting more, then Touch Detective 2
1/2 might be worth a look.
Touch
Detective 2 1/2 returns you back to Mackenzie, the original game’s protagonist,
as she continues to struggle to gain respect in the community after taking over
her late father’s sleuthing business. With the help of her butler Cromwell and
her trusty mycological mate, Funghi, she takes on a series of quirky missions in
order to become a well-known and respected detective.
Whereas in the
original Touch Detective the missions were very much separated from each other,
they seem to flow much better in the sequel. Each of the five missions run
together much more fluidly, making the game seem a bit more cohesive and less
disjointed. The overall story benefits from having a villain tying the missions
together. The Cornstalker, as he’s called, is a common element in the missions
and adds cohesion to the storyline. Depending on your skill level with puzzle
solving, Touch Detective 2 1/2’s individual missions will run you about 2 to 3
hours a piece.
The puzzles
that you complete in Touch Detective 2 1/2 are done in a pretty outlandish sort
of way, and most of the things that you’ll do to proceed require a fair amount
of open-minded thinking. Some of the thought processes are slightly ridiculous
and might not make a whole lot of sense. For example, at the very beginning, you
must get your friend Funghi to open the door to your room by spraying him with a
homemade perfume dispenser. While this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, it’s
fairly typical of what you could expect from the puzzles in Touch Detective 2
1/2.
Touch Detective 2 1/2 is in most ways nearly identical to the original game.
While the puzzles and storyline are different, of course, the gameplay elements are still
essentially the same. The stylus is king, allowing you to move your character
around the map and interact with objects in the world or in your personal
inventory with a tap of the touchscreen. You have a touch journal where you can
record the feeling of every tangible object in the game, readily accessible
should you want to know the texture of a wall or a carpet or whatever. The top
screen is still devoted to Mackenzie’s thoughts, giving you insight to her inner
workings as you converse with NPC’s throughout the world. Needless to say, if
you played through the first game, you won’t feel out of place in the sequel.
Aesthetically,
the game is identical to the original, presenting the same quirky art design of
its predecessor. The characters all have a slightly dark yet cartoony look to
them (similar to a Tim Burton film), and are done using 2D sprites instead of 3D
polygons. The sound is pretty sparse, with 16-bit sounding music filling out the
soundtrack and a few sound effects here and there.
The original Touch Detective was a niche game, appealing to the audience that
would most appreciate it’s humor and graphical style, and the sequel is even
more so of a niche game. If Touch Detective didn’t win you over, then chances
are the sequel won’t, but fans of the original wanting more missions and more
story should enjoy this entry to the series.
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Gameplay: 7.0
Touch
Detective 2 1/2 offers the player more quests and puzzles to partake in, all
done in the same quirky vein and humor style as the first game. The game uses
the stylus for every function in the game, requiring you to touch almost
everything in the environment to solve the puzzles. The gameplay is essentially
identical to the original, so fans of that game should feel right at home.
Graphics: 7.5
Graphically, the game is done in the same stylized way as the original, meaning
that it as a Tim Burton-style look that is slightly dark, but mainly quirky. The
game doesn’t really push the DS at all graphically, but the 2D graphics have a
pretty unique look.
Sound: 6.5
The soundtrack has a charming 16-bit quality, but isn’t at all an indication of
what the DS is capable of from an audio standpoint.
Difficulty: Hard
The
puzzles are pretty difficult, requiring some pretty open thinking in order to
get through the bizarre situations.
Concept: 7.0
While
the cases are new, the fundamental gameplay has been left untouched (no pun
intended), so fans of the first game should know what to expect.
Overall: 7.0
Touch
Detective 2 1/2 is essentially the same as the original title, albeit with some
brand new cases and puzzles. If you were a huge fan of the first game, then
Touch Detective 2 1/2 is right up your alley. However, if you didn’t enjoy the
first game, then chances are you should probably skip out on the second journey.
