One of my New Year’s Resolutions (which you can read about here) was to play shorter games. Not every adventure has to be an 80-hour quest, and some of those massive titles aren’t worth the time anyways! If I want to see more of what gaming has to offer, small indies are the way to go, which leads me right into my latest adventure, Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery.
I’m a sucker for a good mystery game, and I’m definitely a fan of any game where I can hang out with a variety of cute and colorful animals. Plus, how could I say no to having the whole collection tied up in a nice neat bow for only $19.95 on the Nintendo eShop? Once it caught my eye during a browsing session, I knew I had to give it a try. I’m happy to report that Frog Detective had me ribbit-ed by the end, but it wasn’t all flies and lilypads (I don’t really know that much about frogs).
Enhance!
In Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery, you play as Dog Mechanic Frog Detective, which I guess is both his name and profession. Just that one simple fact should give you an idea of the tone of the game, which is, in a word, superdupersilly. The Entire Mystery consists of three cases to solve: The Haunted Island, The Case of the Invisible Wizard, and Corruption at Cowboy County. The three cases were originally released separately and as sequels, in 2018, 2019, and 2022, respectively.
The Haunted Island starts with Mr. Detective in a small room accompanied by only a desk with a phone, a picture on the wall and your trusty magnifying glass. The setup is quite simple and after receiving a phone call from “Supervisor” with a few important details you’re off to solve a mystery!
Of course, The Haunted Island really gets going when you get to the island, but it isn’t such a hot start. Unfortunately, my first impression was that the presentation is a bit lackluster. The team behind the game is just a pair of developers (Grace Bruxner and Thomas Bowker), so it may not be fair to expect a masterpiece, but I found the lack of detail a bit disappointing. Even some of the character models had me questioning what type of animal I was talking to, not that it necessarily made any difference.
Spooky?!
Once you arrive, you are told there’s a mysterious sound coming from somewhere on the small land mass and there’s a team of ghost scientists there to figure out what’s going on. The process of solving this mystery amounts to interviewing each of the current inhabitants of the island, collecting a few tradeable items and swapping them around enough to get ingredients for an explosive to open up a cave where the sound seems to be coming from.
That could be a fun premise, but you quickly realize you can traverse the whole island in just a matter of seconds. Though there are a few different things you need for the explosive, talking to each of the handful of characters once or twice takes care of just about everything. I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say that The Haunted Island can be completed in roughly the same amount of time as it takes to say Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery.
Despite being rewarded with a cute animal dance party, I found myself a bit underwhelmed right off the bat by the first entry in the series.
Oops… I Did It Again!
Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard starts almost the exact same way as The Haunted Island, with Frog Detective answering the call from Supervisor, getting briefed on the details, and picking up his magnifying glass on his way out the door. However, it very quickly becomes clear that this case has been taken up a notch in terms of quality.
The first minor change is that the detective’s room now contains a photo of him at the aforementioned island dance party. It’s a charming Easter egg, and a nice way to build a common thread through the story. The second big change is the introduction of Frog Detective’s hero and seemingly only competition for cases, Lobster Cop.
You’re welcomed into Lobster Cop’s office, which is littered with trophies and ribbons, as it is made clear that you’re only taking cases that he is too busy to handle himself. Lastly, he gives you a notebook to keep track of your items, interviews, and suspects. Though it doesn’t have a major impact on the gameplay, you can decorate your notebook with a wide variety of stickers, and it certainly adds to the feeling of being a professional sleuth.
The story in case number two revolves around an invisible wizard who just moved into a quaint little woodland town, but before the residents could hold a welcome parade for her, someone destroyed all the decorations. The gameplay is quite simple and largely the same as the first. Furthermore, there isn’t much actual mystery solving or puzzling that needs to be done, though talking to each of the villagers does take a bit longer this time around, and the dialogue is a highlight. One nice evolution is that each conversation is recorded automatically in your notebook with quick quips about that character.
Frog Detective 2 is very funny, and the series definitely begins to hit its stride here with great interactions and running jokes. Though I didn’t predict the conclusion to mystery number two, the story as a whole didn’t resonate enough with me for the surprise to be interesting. There’s a bit of a disjointed nature to each of the connections you make with the townspeople, and I didn’t feel the story coalesced in a meaningful way.
Up to this point, I likely wouldn’t have recommended Frog Detective, but luckily part three changed my opinion completely.
Eureka!
Case three, Corruption at Cowboy County, was teased at the end of case two with a brief cutscene where the detective’s notebook is stolen right from his desk (oh no!) by a mysterious paw that looks pretty unique compared to all the animals we’ve encountered so far.
Once you get to Cowboy County, you’re greeted with a scooter to help you get around (more on that later), which is a simple joy not only because it is obviously a blast to zip around the desert as a frog on a scooter, but it also indicates there’s some room to roam in this final adventure. Lobster Cop introduces you to the shady new sheriff in town, Mason Mole, and asks you to complete a few tasks for him including fetching him a meal.
The mystery here is to figure out who stole all the hats from everyone in town, but seeing as Mason Mole’s hat is firmly on his head, there seems to be something suspicious going on. This is the first time in the series I felt some actual intrigue and excitement, and I wanted to learn more. Frog Detective 3 feels much more expansive thanks to some additional real estate you can explore, including a locked graveyard that you’ll need to work out how to gain entry to.
While I still wouldn’t call any of the puzzles here mind-melting by any means, I did feel like there was finally more to think about and keep track of as compared to the previous entries in the series. Continuing the theme, each interaction is full of witty dialogue, and the writing is a strength across the board.
To that point, the conclusion of Cowboy County actually had me not just laughing, but genuinely excited to see what would happen next. There’s a false ending, a secret special twist, a recurring character cameo, and a payoff to a series-long joke that serves as the icing on the cake. If you made it this far, you will not be disappointed. For me, just the last 5-10 minutes of the game made the whole endeavor worth it.
FDPS: Frog Detective’s Pro Scooterer
But wait, there’s more! Possibly the best part of the game is a secret found by cycling through the main menu and navigating to a minigame where you find yourself in a Tony Hawk-inspired scooter competition, complete with obstacles, ramps and an empty pool to do tricks in. Even the music is clearly a Goldfinger-inspired ripoff, a beautiful homage to the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game from 1999.
The controls are simplified with options for a jump, regular trick, and a big trick, but the gameplay isn’t as easy as it may seem. After each run, you’re greeted with a leaderboard that includes the names of just about every character you come across in the game, with Lobster Cop firmly entrenched at the top of the list. I have yet to come close to his record of 3,000,000 points, but this fantastic spin-off is nearly worth the price of admission by itself.
It’s Kind of Easy Being Green After All!
While Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery is far from perfect, I found that after spending an afternoon with it, I could hardly wipe the smile off my face. If you’re interested at all, I would highly recommend getting the whole package and not just trying to play one case at a time.
Despite how Frog Detective feels in the beginning, the mysteries do build off one another and get better the deeper you go. By the time you hit the grand finale, the slow start will be a distant memory and the payoff will be well worth it!
Score: 7.5/10
Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery is available as a bundle on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, or individually on PC and Mac via Steam.
