Detective Dotson Review: Delightful Masala Adventure With A Lot Of (Desi) Heart

Detective Dotson Review: I love homegrown Indie games. If you've checked out the ongoing Indie Game Utsav sale on Steam, you would know what I'm talking about. Not only do these titles bring a fresh prospect and memorable gameplay, but the fire in their souls seems to be stoked with a whole lot of desi heart. Masala Games' Detective Dotson, I'm happy to report, is one of the most unique games I have played in a long time, and I have been grinning like a school kid throughout my playthrough. 

There's good reason for that. Sure, the story's engaging (after all, Detective Dotson is created by Shalin Shodhan, who's worked on Oscar-winning Pixar movies such as Toy Story 3, Cars 2, and Brave). Sure, the soundtrack hooks with the right fusion of traditional instruments with typically Bollywood beats (after all, the music's done by Nikhil Rao from Indian Ocean, alongside the talented Sharad Joshi and Shodhan himself). Sure, the gameplay is smooth and plays almost like a well-polished Nintendo release (I'm not even kidding, just jump off the roof of a building as Dotson and you'll know what I'm talking about).

But, it is the little things that endeared Detective Dotson to me like no other. For example, once you start sprinting, Dotson would start running faster as you'd expect him to. But soon he will break into a carefree gallop (screenshot above), with his hand flailing about like inflatable balloon men, like he was taking a hearty jaunt through a summer meadow. This made me guffaw the first time I noticed it. And I never stopped doing that, even when I was scurrying away from security guards.

Elements like this are sprinkled throughout Detective Dotson. You need to haggle to buy stuff. You need to put on clever disguises to breach security. You need to dance along to Bolly grooves. And yes, you NEED to pet the dog when you see him, simply because you can.

To The Beat Of A Desi Drum

Detective Dotson knows what it wants to be. And that's such a rarity in the gaming sector nowadays. Greedy studios and devs would try anything and everything to get their fingers in multiple pies at the same time. Some would promise a battle royale and end up becoming a play-to-win Web3 perplexity in itself, but let's not go there for now. 

Dotson has always been promoted as a cosy side-scrolling pixelated murder mystery set in the 'right' India. By 'right', I mean not the overtly poor and corrupt country most Hollywood movies had you believe India was not even a few years ago. Detective Dotson's India is vibrant, alive, and just a great place to spend a few hours in.

Apart from the game, Detective Dotson was also promised as a feel-good animated movie (screenshot above) and I am happy to report that an excellent hour-long film will be released in Hindi alongside the game (details at the bottom).

The Unreal Engine-based 2D-meets-3D-scrolling layers work like a Disney movie would, with objects brought to life with immaculate artistic details. From worn-out wood and bricks on buildings to hilarious store names (Loot Lo Bazaar or Chai-Fi), the world of Detective Dotson feels real, lived in. Even the NPCs have a lot to do there. Some are busy reading the newspaper, some are losing their heads keeping up with the busy schedules of a movie shoot, while some are just sobbing their hearts out because they don't have a plate of pav bhaji for whatever reason they need one. 

Overall, the missions are designed in the form of clue boards, with mysteries ranging from the curious case of missing biryani to impending catastrophe during a cricket match. You need to find clues for your board by completing mini-quests, which can again range from find-and-fetch quests to piecing together puzzles. None of the missions or mysteries are super confusing or tough. This is a cosy couch adventure after all, and is best enjoyed when you are in this for the story more than anything else. 

Even when you get stuck, there are enough clues to keep the ball rolling.

And of course, as mentioned earlier, all of this plays out to the backdrop of a soundtrack that might remind you of everything from an afternoon TV soap to a well-orchestrated Bollywood blockbuster. So, to best enjoy Detective Dotson, put on your best headphones or just turn on that subwoofer already. 

Of Cricket & Conspiracy

The story starts simple enough. Dotson is an amateur detective who wishes to be as great as his late father. Unknowingly, he gets entangled in a messy and menacing plan of a corporate empire, with a high-stakes cricket match as the stage for a showdown. Of course, there is a shocking twist, and Dotson must deal with a jaw-dropping family secret.

One of the elements I really enjoyed and probably spent more time on than any others was the price-haggle minigames. One of my fondest childhood memories is of my mother going apes**t on shopkeepers and thelawalas, bringing down prices of items from thousands to merely hundreds. Detective Dotson's haggling gameplay seems to be designed with my mom in mind. I mean, you can get away with reducing the price of a garland from 1,000 to 200 and still get away with it without being chased away by slipper-handed shopmen. You get three chances, so best to start with the lowest in the first attempt to see how you fare.

Of course, as could be expected, haggling doesn't really work that well for corrupt cops, who would not budge from the price they want (but might just settle for a cold drink if they feel like it).

Honestly, the haggling bits are the only reason I might keep coming back to the game, just to see how little I can get away with. 

Detective Dotson Review: Final Verdict

So, let's wrap. The music's great. The gameplay is casual and remains fresh until the end. The story is actually more fun and twistier than you might imagine. And above all else, the heart of all the people who worked on Detective Dotson shows in the finished product. And of course, you have enough minigames, from cricket to dance-offs, to keep your interest piqued until the end credits.

Of course, there are a few glitches and bugs, as is expected from new releases nowadays anyway, but none of them are game-breaking, and most of them have been taken care of by fixes and updates (and will continue to in the future).

So, the price. For Rs 500, you can get Detective Dotson on Steam and Windows Store, and apply a 10 per cent discount to lower the price even further. With every purchase, the Detective Dotson movie will be bundled alongside. Since the movie is a precursor to the game, it makes sense to watch that before playing. Global users will have to dish out $20 for the bundle. 

Detective Dotson is hitting the stores on April 24. If you are a fan of murder mysteries, great music, and a supporter of homegrown games, picking Detective Dotson for a casual weekend is a no-brainer.

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