Visuals: The visuals are where this game really shines. Only the true "completionist" will feel the need to finish these extras and conclude their detective notes.Ĭontrols: The controls are fine for the most part, but using or combining items in the inventory can get very frustrating. The tasks in these chapters mostly consist of talking to the characters of the town, and picking arbitrary answers to the random questions they present to you. It's nice that Touch Detective 2 1/2 includes extra features, but the bonus chapters are pretty worthless and not much fun to play. I think the writers could have used this as a chance to insert more humor into the game. There's simply no response when you use something incorrectly on your surroundings, or when you try to combine two elements that don't mix. Also, using and combining inventory items isn't as amusing as it should be, because the game doesn't let you know when you're wrong. Perhaps that's getting too nitpicky, but having an inventory is less fun when you can't thoroughly examine your collection. For one, the inventory could have been more interactive. The simple idea of "point-and-click" works well enough, but there are some things that fall short. Playing with the sound off is the best option for this game, which is a shame because the music is pretty decent.Īdditionally, the gameplay in Touch Detective 2 1/2 leaves more to be desired. To make things worse, one of the locations in Touch Detective 2 1/2 has construction sounds clamoring in the background, thereby committing further crimes against the ears. The result in such a text heavy game, though, is a constant grating on the brain. Each person's noise has a different tone, which is the game's way of assigning individual voices. When the characters talk, their words make annoying, repetitive sounds. The conversations are weird, certainly, but never actually funny.Īnother flaw in the speech are the awful noises that come along with it. Sure, the situations are kooky and the storyline is enjoyable, but the dialogue itself just fails to deliver. One gapingly absent element was humor, which is essential in an adventure game of this nature. When the most evil character is a anthropomorphic stalk of corn, you know that this game isn't trying to take itself too seriously.ĭespite the fact that Touch Detective 2 1/2 is enjoyable on a superficial level, when digging in deeper it's easy to notice the game's many flaws. Even when the fate of the town is in Mackenzie's hands, the game never ceases to be silly. The innocence behind the story is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game. Your first case, for example, is to find out why all the pink and green noodles in the town disappeared. You take control of Mackenzie, a child detective with a mushroom sidekick, and solve adorably ridiculous cases. The story itself is cute enough to make even an emo band smile. Essentially, it's an adventure game published by Atlus with a delightfully charming artistic style. On paper, the game seems like a great idea. If you've ever had this happen to you, you'll know exactly how it feels to play Touch Detective 2 1/2. Finally, you realize what you were afraid of all along: that the game is just not that good. When things don't go as smoothly as you expected, you begin to make excuses for not enjoying yourself. Sometimes you go into a game thinking the formula is so brilliant that it can't do wrong.