Detective Pikachu Returns (Switch)
Let's play a game. It's called "describe a video game with a Homestar Runner quote." This one gets, "I am over here! Now I am back over here!" I honestly think this was a step down from the first one. There were only five episodes in this one, to the original's nine, and the games were about the same length, but that wasn't because the second game had more in-depth cases. It was because they were artificially-inflated in length with excessive running back and forth every two seconds and inane sidequests that also amounted to little more than running back and forth. I even think that the puzzle-solving was far more elementary in this one (which is really saying something). They also did so many of the characters from the first game dirty by excluding them entirely or drastically reducing their roles (most insulting of all, the tritagonist from the first game is reduced to a complete nobody that appears on a TV in some optional material between episodes). That being said, it still retained much of the charm from the first one. The main characters are still very likable, the way they interact with each other and with Pokemon is cute, and they furthered their development. I guess I'm a little sad that
they pretty definitively concluded the story and really didn't leave much of a door open for any further sequels
but I pretty much knew that was inevitable so I'm not utterly disappointed or anything. I'm glad I played it but I'm not really itching to play it again like I am with the first one someday. It was a Christmas gift (albeit one I had expressed interest in) and for that it was certainly worth it, but I can't really recommend it unless you REALLY loved the first one (though I'm guessing that those are the people who would get it anyway).
As a side note, according to my "games beaten" list, this is the 200th game I've ever beaten, which seems like a small number but my ADHD pretty seriously hindered me from finishing most games before 2014 when I determined myself to finish more (seriously, the split is probably something like, 30/170 pre/post Jan 1, 2014). That being said, it's a give-or-take because there are probably a few games that I have forgotten to chronicle and a couple that I feel probably shouldn't actually be on the list for one reason or another.