Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard Reviews

just as fun as the first

Once again, I am taking note of the sick dance moves. I will be a dance champion yet. Also- 10/10 Froggin'!

great game! love the characters and how short everything is but how nice it wraps it all together!

Frog Detective returns in another short walking simulator/visual novel with a brand new cast of characters to interact with. Exploring the setting and interacting with everyone is a fantastic experience, and the dialogue is just as charming and funny, if not more-so, than the first game in the series. This game comes with a new feature: the notebook. The notebook was a fantastic addition to the game. While it does help you keep track of who needs what in town, it acts more like a vehicle for added context and jokes that make the game more enjoyable. I recommend every game in this series.

Great game series, I wish there was an option to visit the other ending, but since the game is so short I'm not mad.

[h1][b] TLDR: Too similar to Frog Detective 1. It doesn’t improve and instead copies itself in almost all parts. FD1 remains the superior option due to simple lack of creativity. [/b] [/h1] [h1]PROS: [/h1] ➕Music ➕Notebook is nice ➕Writing [h1]CONS: [/h1] ➖Notebook navigation is painfully slow and unskippable ➖Lack of mystery to solve ➖Characters are too samey [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/Synikx/recommended/963000?snr=1_5_9__402]Frog Detective 1 (FD1) review here[/url]. I’ll be referencing the 1st game many times so my assumption is that you’ve played it. [h1] [b] Content (Game world/Narrative) – [4/10] [/b] [/h1] The game world is very similar to FD1, but instead of an island, you’re in a small wooded area with new NPCs. Otherwise, everything else is pretty much the same - perspective and all that. The narrative remains charming and funny, but honestly I felt like it started to wear on me a bit from FD1. I noticed that the writer is very one-dimensional with the characters. Every NPC is a combination of silly or airheaded, with little deviation. Really, it just felt like I was interacting with the same NPCs from FD1,but instead “OoO I like singing”, or “I’m hungry!”, as the characters' entire personality. Aside from the characters, this is another very lighthearted game in which there is no real mystery to solve and it all ends in a happy dance. 1 vs 2: I would have to say FD1 has the better overall content. [h1][b] Gameplay (Mechanics/Difficulty) – [2/10] [/b] [/h1] Mechanics are nearly the same from FD1, but in FD2 you now have a notebook that auto-tracks character profiles and what they are after. This sounds like a good addition, and it mostly is, if not for the fact that after every conversation you have to sit through a forced “Cutscene” as you write everything in the notebook. Just like the dialog speed is too slow, you have another unnecessary barrier adding time to the game. The difficulty remains easy. No option of failure and you will pretty much complete the game after talking to each NPC once. 1 vs 2: I would say FD2 would win because of the notebook, but its implementation is awful, so it gets the same score here. [h1] [b] Graphics (Quality/Technical) – [3/10] [/b] [/h1] Same as FD1, no change. Simple and somewhat endearing. i9-13900KF | RTX 4090 | 64GB RAM | 1440p @ 240hz | Windows 11 installed on SSD 1 vs 2: tie. [h1] [b] Audio – [5/10] [/b] [/h1] Similar to FD1, but I would say that this would be the high point of FD2, and its not even amazing, its just some solidly good “Detective-esque” jazz. 1 vs 2: tie [h1] [b] Replay Factor (Longevity) – [2/10] [/b] [/h1] The only reason to replay this is for a choice at the very end, and even then its annoying to replay the same thing just to get a different achievement. Thankfully, you can use a shortcut at the menu to warp there and make the choice. 1 vs 2: FD2 for simply having a reason to play again, but still bad. [h1] [b] Final Verdict – [4/10] [/b] [/h1] After directly coming from FD1, perhaps I got my expectations too high. Maybe I shouldn’t have been expecting a detective game despite the name? Regardless, I was sincerely hoping that FD1 was more of a demo to the characters and FD2 opens up with some better puzzles or mystery to solve. Unfortunately this is not the case. FD2 appears to be nearly a copy/paste of FD1 with the same concepts, but different settings and characters. I will definitely give a nod to the writing and music, I think that’s the best part of FD2. But even then, while the writing was funny, witty, and cute in FD1, I didn’t get the same clever humor here. In fact, I was disappointed in the repetitive usage of character tropes as many of the characters in FD2 are just mirrors of FD1 with every NPC just acting stupid as a form of humor. Overall, I cannot recommend this game. Since I have yet to play FD3, I would recommend FD1, but perhaps consider skipping FD2, you wouldn’t miss out on much. [h1] [b] Recommend? (Price) [Y/N] [/b] [/h1] [h1]No[/h1] Price-per-play hour continues to be poor here. This game can be easily beaten in about 1 hour. You can find my curator page here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Synik_GR