1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/investigatorheader.jpg]] |
2 | [[caption-width-right:350:That's Investi-Gator on the left, and Insti-Gator on the right.]] |
3 | |
4 | ''Investi-Gator: The Case of the Big Crime'' is a point-and-click adventure game by Games by Bees. |
5 | |
6 | The game follows Investi-Gator, a detective alligator who is plucky and cheerful, but hilariously incompetent. He solves cases with the "help" of his brother Insti-Gator, who commits crimes behind Investi-Gator's back. |
7 | |
8 | The game's story revolves around a series of crimes that happen to Mr. Crime, a rich polar bear. Investi-Gator investigates these crimes, while his own blissful ignorance and a mysterious conspiracy make things increasingly chaotic. Needless to say, HilarityEnsues. |
9 | |
10 | The game has three episodes, divided into scenes. The first episode has one scene, the second has three, and the third has five. In gameplay, players explore a 3D world, using the WASD keys to move around and the mouse to interact with objects and characters. |
11 | |
12 | You can buy it on Steam [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1043690/InvestiGator_The_Case_of_the_Big_Crime/ here]]. |
13 | |
14 | No relation to ''VideoGame/BrokTheInvestiGator'', another point and click game about a detective alligator, or to the ''ComicBook/InvestiGators'' graphic novels. |
15 | ---- |
16 | !!Tropes found in this game include: |
17 | * AffablyEvil: |
18 | ** Downplayed and PlayedForLaughs. Polly the schoolteacher is very kind and upfront throughout the game, and yet she has been embezzling money from the school. It's never quite made clear why. |
19 | ** Also downplayed, but less played for laughs. Mr. Crime is the victim of most of the crimes in the game. He's a loving father to his daughter Grizzelda, and quite polite in general. But it's all but stated near the end of the game that [[spoiler:he runs a smuggling ring]]. Investi-Gator and the Chief, being rather incompetent, don't seem to notice. |
20 | * AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: In one segment of episode 3, you play as Insti-Gator, as he sneaks into the evidence room at the police station. |
21 | * AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Salmon Salmon and Red Herring plot to keep Insti-Gator from going to jail because they're actually Investi-Gator's biggest fans, and they only want to make sure there are crimes for Investi-Gator to investigate.]] |
22 | * BigBadDuumvirate: [[spoiler:Red Herring]] is revealed to be working alongside a mysterious, shadowy fish for a mysterious plan. As it turns out, [[spoiler:the mysterious fish's name is Salmon Salmon. He is Red Herring's brother, and they set things up so that Insti-Gator would not go to jail for his crimes, so that he could keep committing crimes, and Investi-Gator could keep solving cases.]] |
23 | * BrokenPedestal: Somewhat PlayedForLaughs. [[spoiler:Red Herring is a huge fan of Investi-Gator because of the InUniverse books about him. He confesses at the end that he was thrilled to work alongside him, but felt that Investi-Gator was very InnocentlyInsensitive towards him.]] |
24 | * CanisLatinicus: While acting as Investi-Gator's lawyer, Insti-Gator has trouble thinking of an argument, so he starts using random Latin words, ending with "Creator/DannyDeVito" to sound knowledgable. |
25 | * CluelessDetective: Investi-Gator is SuperGullible and ditzy, and never notices the obvious solutions to each case. |
26 | * ComicallyMissingThePoint: As a CluelessDetective, Investi-Gator does this frequently. For example, in episode 2, Insti-Gator (disguised as the chief) asks Investi-Gator if Insti-Gator has been involved in any crimes (so Insti-Gator can destroy any records of the crimes he's committed.) Investi-Gator says no, no one has committed any crimes against him. |
27 | -->'''Insti-Gator:''' That's not what I- you know what, glad to hear it. |
28 | * CopCriminalFamily: PlayedForLaughs with the Gator family: |
29 | ** Done via {{Punny Name}}s. The protagonist, Investi-Gator, is a detective who thoroughly enjoys solving cases and bringing justice. The problem is that [[CluelessDetective he's outrageously gullible and incompetent]]. His brother, Insti-Gator, often commits crimes, but is significantly smarter. Although Insti-Gator often worries about being caught, his fears are dashed by Investi-Gator [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter seeing him as only his beloved brother]], and never realizing that Insti-Gator could possibly be committing crimes. Things get hilariously inverted and muddy when Investi-Gator gets ''himself'' arrested despite committing no crime, and Insti-Gator takes it upon himself to investigate some suspicious new characters who he suspects are behind everything (and they are), and then acts as Investi-Gator's lawyer in court. This has the benefit of showing that [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Insti-Gator really does love his brother, and doesn't just use him to get away with crimes]]. |
30 | ** Investi-Gator reveals that his great-grandfather was the famous detective [[SherlockHomage Sherlock Gator]], and his great-grand uncle was Moriarty Gator, indicating that the latter was a criminal mastermind just like [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes James Moriarty]]. |
31 | * DetectiveAnimal: Investi-Gator, a detective alligator. |
32 | * DevilInPlainSight: Insti-Gator is obviously a criminal, from his name to his shifty behavior. But Investi-Gator is blissfully unaware of this. |
33 | * TheDreaded: PlayedForLaughs twice. |
34 | ** Investi-Gator is terrified of the prison warden, and has to be convinced by Insti-Gator into talking to him. The reason? All we see of the warden is [[spoiler:a photorealistic human arm.]] |
35 | ** Polly, the secretary at the police station, does not put up with Insti-Gator's crap and can easily intimidate him. Because of this, he's absolutely terrified of her. |
36 | * EntertaininglyWrong: In Case 2, Investi-Gator investigates the disappearance of Mr. Crime's daughter, Grizzelda. The characters believe Grizzelda has been kidnapped, but it quickly becomes obvious to the player that Grizzelda [[FakedKidnapping faked her kidnapping]] to guilt-trip her father. After his investigation, Investi-Gator concludes that there is no evidence that anyone else kidnapped Grizzelda. This leads him to believe that [[spoiler:''he'' is the kidnapper, [[InsaneTrollLogic somehow]]]]. He even admits that he doesn't know how this can be possible, but he still believes it's true [[spoiler:and allows himself to be arrested]]. |
37 | * FakeMystery: PlayedForLaughs. In Episode 2, Mr. Crime puts Investi-Gator on a case to figure out who kidnapped his daughter, Grizzelda. From the get-go, it is hilariously obvious to the audience that Grizzelda [[FakedKidnapping faked her own kidnapping]] to guilt-trip her father into buying her a [[AllGirlsLikePonies pony]], but none of the characters realize this. Things go awry when [[CluelessDetective Investi-Gator]] realizes that no one he knows could have kidnapped Grizzelda, so [[EntertaininglyWrong he somehow concludes that]] [[spoiler:''he'' is the kidnapper, even though he knows he didn't do it, and allows himself to be arrested]]. Grizzelda protests, saying she never meant for that to happen, but no one listens to her. |
38 | * FurryConfusion: PlayedForLaughs, and as a RunningGag. Nobody is certain on whether or not horses and ponies are also sentient in this WorldOfFunnyAnimals. We never actually see one. |
39 | * GlowingEyesOfDoom: PlayedForLaughs. Roxy sometimes acts threatening towards Insti-Gator, and when she does, her eyes glow behind her sunglasses. |
40 | * GoodColorsEvilColors: The kind Investi-Gator is a deep, rich shade of green, while his evil brother Insti-Gator is more of a sickly, pale yellowish-green. |
41 | * GreenGators: See GoodColorsEvilColors above. The Gator brothers, [[SpeciesSurname who are anthropomorphic alligators]], are colored different shades of green that highlight their personalities. Investi-Gator is a lush, dark green, which fits his friendly, easygoing nature. Insti-Gator is a pale yellowish green, which fits him as more of a sneaky, shifty type. |
42 | * IShouldWriteABookAboutThis: [[spoiler:Roxy the secretary makes "like a billion dollars," according to the narration, writing books about Investi-Gator based directly on the court records she writes for his cases. This actually kickstarts the plot. Salmon Salmon and Red Herring set up a conspiracy to secretly help Investi-Gator because they love his books, and that leads to a whole lot of trouble.]] |
43 | * IdiotHero: Investi-Gator, the protagonist, is a blissfully CluelessDetective. A good portion of the conflict is caused by his own incompetence. |
44 | * InsaneTrollLogic: Investi-Gator operates on hilariously silly logic, as seen a few times throughout the game: |
45 | ** In Case 2, Grizzelda fakes her own kidnapping. Investi-Gator realizes that there's no evidence that anyone kidnapped Grizzelda, which is true, but this leads him to conclude that [[spoiler:he himself is the kidnapper, somehow.]] |
46 | ** In Case 3, Investi-Gator learns that he and Red Herring can escape prison if they have enough [=JailBux=]. Red Herring attempts running on the hamster wheel to get [=JailBux=], only to give up after getting only 000,000,001. Investi-Gator flips the number around so it reads 100,000,000. This works. |
47 | ** Also in Case 3, Investi-Gator needs a red keycard to open the door to the BigBad's room. There is a red keycard behind some glass, but after getting the keycard out, Investi-Gator realizes that it's actually a blue keycard that appeared red because the glass was red. [[spoiler:So he dips the blue keycard in ketchup to make it red]]. The keypad accepts this. |
48 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: What Insti-Gator really is. He initially seems like just a jerk who gets away with crimes because his brother believes his lies, but as the game goes on, we see that Insti-Gator really does care about his brother. In episode 3, he does his very best to help Investi-Gator escape from prison, to investigate Red Herring, who he is suspicious of, and to clear his brother's name in court. |
49 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Double subverted. There is a character named Mr. Crime, but he's actually the ''victim'' of most of the crimes that happen in the game. However, it is heavily implied near the end that [[spoiler:he is secretly running a smuggling ring]]. |
50 | * NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Downplayed with Insti-Gator, who is sneaky and up to no good, but not a vicious killer. Totally averted with Investi-Gator, who is as sweet, cheerful, and kind as can be. |
51 | * NoCartoonFish: Averted. Fish are just as anthropomorphized as land animals. They can walk on land via TailfinWalking. |
52 | * NonStandardCharacterDesign: |
53 | ** More like Non-Standard ''Object'' Design, with the "Inexplicably Photo-Realistic Trash" can in Mr. Crime's house. This is in a game with an otherwise colorful and cartoony style. |
54 | ** Also, the prison warden. We only see his arm, but apparently [[spoiler:he's a photorealistic human.]] |
55 | * PaperThinDisguise: In the beginning of episode 2, Insti-Gator infiltrates Investi-Gator's office, posing first as the secretary, then as the chief, both times using few enough accessories that the player can tell it's him, but Investi-Gator, being SuperGullible, doesn't. |
56 | * PosterPatchup: When Investi-Gator and Red Herring are in prison, Red Herring suggests escaping by digging a tunnel through the wall and hiding it with a poster, as a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption''. However, he never actually gets to execute this plan, as Investi-Gator finds another way out. |
57 | * PunnyName: Investi-Gator is a detective alligator, Insti-Gator is a criminal alligator. |
58 | * RedHerring: Played with. At first it seems like Investi-Gator is going to accuse Insti-Gator of the crime in the first episode... but he's actually pointing at a literal red herring that walks into the room. The red herring, simply named Red Herring, confesses to the crime. He is released on parole in episode 2 and becomes an ally to Investi-Gator, though it soon becomes clear that he has a much bigger role in the game's events than Investi-Gator realizes. |
59 | * RhinoRampage: The police chief is a big, hulking rhino. He's a BoisterousBruiser who enjoys breaking and throwing things. |
60 | * RuleOfCool: InUniverse example. Mr. Crime is so impressed by the Chief [[ThereWasADoor smashing through the wall of Crime Manor to enter]] that he's not upset about the property damage. |
61 | * ShoutOut: |
62 | ** While [[CanisLatinicus speaking Latin in court]], Insti-Gator ends with "Creator/DannyDeVito". |
63 | ** Red Herring's plan to get him and Investi-Gator out of jail is the same as [[Film/TheShawshankRedemption Andy Dufresne]]'s, hiding an escape tunnel behind a poster. Red Herring even mentions that he saw it in a movie. |
64 | ** Looking at some crystals in a cave, Investi-Gator says "[[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack The crystals! Of course!]]" |
65 | * SiblingYinYang: Investi-Gator and Insti-Gator are brothers. Respectively, one is a detective who seeks to solve cases and help people, and the other is a criminal who steals things and manipulates his brother for his own gain. |
66 | * SimpleScoreOfSadness: Lampshaded in Episode 3. Sad guitar music plays in the jail. When Red Herring expresses sorrow about being in jail, Investi-Gator, who is Herring's cellmate, comments on the music. |
67 | -->'''Investi-Gator''': But really, jail isn't so bad. I like the sad guitar ambience! |
68 | * SimpletonVoice: Investi-Gator, who is rather incompetent, has a deep, goofy-sounding voice for his SpeakingSimlish. |
69 | * SpeakingSimlish: Each character has their own voice sounds that play as their dialogue appears as text. |
70 | * StylisticSuck: |
71 | ** Some of the sound effects sound like people making the sounds with their voices. |
72 | ** The SpeakingSimlish for Roxy, a bird, is just a person saying "chirp chirp" over and over in a deadpan tone. |
73 | ** The sky background outside the jail has a bunch of "STOCK-EM-UP IMAGES" watermarks on it. |
74 | * SuperGullible: Deconstructed. Investi-Gator blissfully believes all sorts of lies, and never sees through a PaperThinDisguise. But at the beginning of episode 2, Red Herring points out that Investi-Gator shouldn't believe everything he's told. This introduces a game mechanic where the player can decide if something they're told is true, doubtful, or a lie. |
75 | * SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Happens frequently, such as Insti-Gator claiming that there's nothing inside the room that he's keeping Investi-Gator from entering, or Polly claiming that, despite thinking it's important to know about financial crime, she hasn't been embezzling money from the school or anything. |
76 | * ThereWasADoor: The Chief enters Mr. Crime's house by smashing through the wall. Mr. Crime says he would be upset, but [[RuleOfCool he found it really cool]]. |
77 | * ThreateningShark: Discussed and PlayedForLaughs. The BigBad claims that fish "invented" sharks to get back at land creatures for fishing. |
78 | * TokenHuman: [[spoiler:The prison warden]]. The photorealistic detail in his arm (which is all we see of him) makes it even more jarring. |
79 | * WorldOfFunnyAnimals: The characters are all cartoony animals. |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext VideoGame / InvestiGatorTheCaseOfTheBigCrime
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load