Frog Detective has been on my radar for a while, and given that the third and final case in the trilogy came out not too long ago I decided it was time to play through the whole series.
STORY
The game is about the eponymous Frog Detective and his exploits as the second-best detective (behind the famous Lobster Cop). The Entire Mystery is comprised of three cases; The Haunted Island, The Case of the Invisible Wizard, and Corruption at Cowboy County.
VISUALS
Frog Detective’s low-poly look stood out to me as minimal but in a very purposeful and charming way. The colour palette in each case matches the vibe of the area well; eg. bright greens, yellows and blues for a tropical island and dark reds and purples for a spooky forest. The majority of text you encounter is squiggly and misspelled for comedic effect. The loading screen also changes with each case which was a neat touch.
Many of the animal characters have wide-open eyes and unmoving smiles or neutral expressions that you can’t help but stare at. Even insects and other creatures scooting around on the ground have the same kind of faces. When characters do emote it is usually with a quick switch to worried eyes or a frown.
The animations range from functional to strangely, uncannily smooth that I found myself watching characters dance on loop for long periods of time, entranced. There being a dance party at the end of every case gave me a chance to appreciate it even more.
I personally enjoyed the way no one’s hands close over the items they’re holding. I know that rigging and animating hands is a chore and so I do not begrudge this whatsoever.
GAMEPLAY
At the beginning of each case the Supervisor calls to tell you about the details. You grab your trusty magnifying glass and exit the office. Once you reach your destination an introductory scene plays with the “cast” of the case, and you can begin solving the mystery!
Gameplay mainly consists of exploring and interacting with objects and characters in first-person. You can also hold up your magnifying glass to look closer at things (with a fisheye distortion). In order to solve each mystery you typically have to ask the other characters questions and continuously find and trade items with them in order to gain what you need to progress.
Nearly every character in Frog Detective is rather eccentric, making your interactions with them very humorous and absurd in some instances. While asking them questions Frog Detective often apologizes for making seemingly judgemental or personal remarks, and is very empathetic towards the plights of the people you meet. Everyone always needs something, and you never miss an opportunity to help out.
From the second case onward you are also able to use a notebook to keep track of characters and items. You can decorate the cover with stickers when you first obtain it (and that is all that I ever want in my detective games). As you meet characters throughout the case the notebook will automatically update with a picture of them, their possible motive for the “crime,” what they need from you, and some subjective notes about them. It also keeps track of items in your inventory. I found this mechanic helpful, although I grew a little impatient when it opened and slowly played an animation every single time I picked up multiples of the same item.
Figuring things out is usually quite straightforward and having a limited cast of characters and relatively small map help to keep players from forgetting things or getting lost. Though the method of solving puzzles might be unusual, it never takes too long to find what you need.
It is hard to encompass Frog Detective’s humour into words; it has irony, breaks the fourth wall, can be incredibly witty and also nonsensical: A sheep is shocked to find out that people make clothes from wool. Frog Detective cannot wear hats on account of a uniquely shaped head. Getting extorted is very exciting and crime isn’t real. I also particularly enjoyed the jokes with cuts to creator Grace Bruxner to ensure that you know that what a character just said is not at all meant to be taken seriously.
CONCLUSION
Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery was a short and sweet set of games with lighthearted and genuinely funny writing. If you have a few hours to spare for a trio of silly mysteries it’s worth a try. Although the Frog Detective trilogy has wrapped up, I would love to see more games from the developer, Worm Club.
