There are lots of parts of Mouse: P.I. For Hire that has been celebrated, including the striking and memorable art direction and the wacky shooter action, but what does often get pushed to the side is that there's a detective mystery at the heart of this game, where players must become Jack Pepper and help solve several missing persons cases.
With this mystery at the heart of the narrative and with an Alan Wake 2-like case board to utilise, as we mentioned in our recent preview, you may be curious as to how much player agency is involved in cracking the cases. Do players have to make choices that will impact the story? Can they get things wrong? We inquired about this with Fumi Games' CEO Mateusz Michalak providing an interesting answer.
"While there are some instances where you can explore certain levels and approach specific cases in the order you choose, the story in Mouse: P.I. For Hire is still relatively linear. But this doesn't mean that it's not possible for you to draw the wrong conclusions at times! When gathering evidence and clues for each case, you may think you know the answers and exactly how things will end, but there may be a few twists and turns along the way..."
On top of this, we asked about whether or not the many locations on the map overworld are part of the main story or if they are tied to side quests. Michalak told us:
"Most levels in Mouse: P.I. For Hire are required to be visited at some stage in order to complete the main story - so yes, expect to visit all of them! While there are some additional tasks that can be completed, these are typically done in the levels that you are already visiting, rather than brand new, specific locations."
For more on Mouse: P.I. For Hire, you can find our full interview here, where we also discuss the rubber hose art style, the authentic audio, AI, adaptations, and more.