Brok the Investigator Review: A Jawsome Punch & Click

Brok the InvestiGator doesn't only have a fantastic name, but it also coins itself as the first Punch & Click and admirably lives up to the title. Brok embarks on a bleak mystery-filled venture where humankind has since been replaced by the animals of tomorrow, with a subsequent robotic uprising soon around the corner. With the bulk of the game's four distinct gameplay styles being acceptable at worst, Brok the InvestiGator succeeds at each facet it aims to, and it's surrounded by a nostalgically intriguing art style and compelling narrative. 

The Classic Presentation

In classic point-and-click nature, or in this case, punch-and-click, we are introduced to the game's portrait and speech bubble style immediately. This nostalgic video game aesthetic is only improved with an art style that screams cereal box games from the past or early storybook turned stylish cartoon. Whatever nostalgic queue players pick up on, it successfully conveys the game's grim themes even more effectively thanks to its welcoming appearance. While the VO work didn't wow me, thankfully, essential characters felt right in crucial moments.

More Than Meets the Rept-eye-le

As mentioned above, Brok's tale turns dark and tackles grim themes. Without holding any punches, Brok's welcoming appearance is met with topics like racism, loss, forgiveness, grief, and loving too deeply in a manner that feels authentic yet thrilling. The game's cast of characters is introduced and showcased in a way that sells home each character's depth, even including the side characters. Brok's relationship with practically every character feels real. They have genuine layers, but the one he blossoms with his son Graff is easily my favorite.

Brok and Graff's relationship alone is enough of a driving force to see the game's multiple branching paths and endings. A butterfly effect-like chart is present once you roll credits that show several branching paths dating back to the very beginning of the game. One choice of mine forced me to take longer than I could have. Once I returned, a key character was just dead, and I couldn't take it back. Typically I would have disliked this, but here it was surrounded by too many compelling story elements to sway me otherwise. With knowledge of the endings and how they differ, the choices presented feel fun and effective, unlike other titles that have attempted to deliver branching choices but merely made them appear as so. Brok gets the choices right. 

Gameplay: Anything But a Total Croc

Immediately booting up the game, players are met with the New Game, Options, and Quick Fight prompts with three difficulty levels: Relaxed, Standard, and Hardcore. Unfortunately, that quick fight function should have gotten another look. That isn't to say this mode isn't needed, but the game's brawling feels basic. As someone who has played a fair share of brawlers, Brok the Investigator's combat, while not bad, just never wowed me or added any additional aspects as you progressed. My brawling from moment one felt identical to my brawling against the final enemy. I leveled up my Health, Power, and Special skills, but it only translated to improved numbers.

Both Brok and Graff, as you can switch between them in the narrative, hold four major forms of gameplay; Point and click with your inventory, interactable environments, investigations, and battle mode, which is sometimes used to traverse in peculiar ways as one presents the player with fall damage but the ability to jump. The other withholds the jump but can't dish out fall damage.

The point-and-click gameplay is as you'd expect. The inventory never grows so large that it's hard to keep track, and utilizing your items is simple and streamlined enough to avoid adding any extra dismay. The same cannot be said for some of the interactable environments. When adventuring or traversing from one location to the next, on the map or otherwise, most of these instances felt forced or lacked any real purpose to the overall product. If this fat was trimmed, an hour or so could have been taken off my 9-hour playtime. For example, a laser segment tasks Brok with dropping down on particular buttons to propel hazards toward or away from you. This segment wasn't fun or intuitive, and I did not want to complete it. Luckily, it didn't last long, and other segments of the ilk are relatively short-lived. Yet, most other puzzles or tasks feel deliberately simple yet clever at the same time. It's fair to call it a mixed bag regarding the game's puzzly tasks, but the good outweighs the bad overall.

My favorite form of gameplay comes in the game's Investigations. These investigations have players solving murders, among other things, and include way more depth and layers than I would have anticipated, but do so in ways that feel right rather than obtuse stretches in logic. I reached for a notepad to jot down a few things multiple times. While some comical options like traveling to a specific location to become stinky and, in turn, prompt a particular response from someone or something are present, most investigations have a nice balance. Now, I found myself completely missing crucial clues in the world, even with a button highlighting everything interactable. Fortunately, my idiocy was met with swift recoveries with backtracking and the game's hints that appear in the world as findable ads.

Breakdown

Game: Brok The InvestiGator

Developer: COWCAT

Availability: PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Reviewed on PlayStation 5

Pros: 

+ Relationships

+ Investigations

+ Brok & Graff

+ Nostalgic Aesthetic

Cons:

- Nonsensical Gameplay Sections

- Brawling Feels Like an Afterthought

Final Thoughts

As a whole, Brok the InvestiGator is a must-play title for those who find themselves drawn toward compelling characters, points, clicks, or clever criminal investigations. While COWCAT succeeds in making the first Punch & Click, it’s clear that the game’s point-and-click nature and Investigations took priority over the game’s brawling combat, and nonsensical segments bring it down just a bit. Yet, Brok the InvestiGator’s one-two punch of a colorful aesthetic mixed with bleak themes outshines the bad, with the true champion coming in the form of Brok and Graff’s relationship at the end of the day.

Reviewed by Austin Ernst