The problem with Touch Detective is that there's no fall-back plan. Confused yet? We can get behind a game that has challenging puzzles or entirely odd storylines, that's fine. The dust from the butterfly's wings simulates what Sandman were to do if he was in fact real, of course the game's story is so out there, that there's no way of knowing the Sandman wasn't an actual character in the game. No joke, that's actually the correct answer. The solution: Catch a butterfly with a net and rub the butterfly on everyone's face. When talking to one of the main characters, it's brought up that only the Sandman can put the town to sleep, bringing his sleeping dust to the town. An even better example of the puzzle mechanic can be found when dealing with how to put townspeople to sleep in order to interrogate them in the dream world. This wouldn't be a problem if there were more direct clues given, or if the on-screen item looked like it was clickable, but situations like these will have players later clicking anything and everything on-screen in an attempt to blindly find the needed item. Players have to seek out that microwave, make the connection that fire = heat, rather than needing the actual fire the game is constantly referencing, and combine their mixture with the small appliance. The reference of fire is used constantly, but it turns out that in the darkest corner of one of the many rooms to explore, there's a tiny piece of art (seemingly part of the background) that depicts a microwave. The final step requires the use of "fire", however, which Mackenzie is too young to use. In order to get into the dream world to catch the thief, however, she'll need to gather supplies and use some magical hocus-pocus to get it done. As one of the opening plots, Mackenzie is out to catch a robber that's stealing one of her friend's dreams. At the risk of spoiling too much, it really takes a few examples to show off exactly how Touch Detective's puzzle design can frustrate players to new heights. This is fine if the story guided players, but the way it was executed it simply doesn't work. There were countless times in the game where we couldn't tell exactly what we were looking for, as the style of cases in the game are totally obscure. Unfortunately, Touch Detective is constantly hanging the player out to dry, offering no helpful hints when Mackenzie is in a jam, and putting players in situations that, quite frankly, don't make sense. The design sounds accessible and downright intriguing on paper, and the game's premise alone was enough to send gamers (us included) into a frenzy, instantly assuming that the publisher that brought us Trauma Center was now taking on the Phoenix Wright license, trying its hand an engaging detective drama. To solve these mysteries, you'll have to guide Mackenzie through the world using the stylus for 100% of the game's controls, whether it's interrogating possible suspects, questioning witnesses, gathering and inspecting clues via touch, or spotting on-screen items that could be detrimental to the case. The game offers four cases to solve, with the promise of more mini-missions once the core game is completed. You play as Mackenzie, a young detective girl that's out to prove herself as one of the worlds top detectives. For starters, the game's presentation is spot on, delivering an amazingly stylistic feel to the adventure, and teaming that style with an interesting gameplay hook. On a system full of arcade surgery games, court-room dramas, and simulated puppies, a game like Touch Detective should feel right at home.
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