Genre mashups aren’t a new concept in the video game industry; get two or more successful things going, and eventually there will be someone who realizes that there’s room to capitalize on the overlap between them in the Venn diagram. That said, there are certain genres that are so separate, so distinct from each other that I would probably have never expected to see any developer adventurous enough to try and marry the two. At least, until BROK the InvestiGator, after which I’m now convinced that there is nothing people won’t try to fit together.

BROK the InvestiGator comes to us from developer Cowcat and attempts to marry a beat-em-up with a point and click adventure, and then sprinkles in a few dashes of RPG elements to boot. This is certainly not a decision I was expecting, but then again I was also shocked to learn that the British eat jellied eels, so perhaps there are just some combinations in the world I’m not prepared to handle. We play as the titular Brok, an anthropomorphic alligator who scrapes by as a private detective and occasionally gets into fistfights on the streets while trying to set a good example as a single dad.

I will admit that the early 2000s PBS Kids visuals didn’t give me a great feeling coming into it, but credit where credit is due, the plot for Brok the Street-Brawl-Instigator is actually quite well put together. There are a few misses with some of the characters and writing, but on the whole it’s a well-developed narrative that does a good job of getting you attached to the characters you meet and their lives. Sure, most of them are really annoying and whine at you, but it turns out they often have good reasons to be whiny and upset, and most of the time one of those good reasons is that I smashed up all the furniture in their homes.

Which brings us to the gameplay, the aforementioned switch between brawling and investigating (investigatoring?). Most of BROK takes place from a standard point and click perspective, where you move around, grab everything that isn’t nailed down to the floor or wall, and rub them against each other until progress occurs. Like most point and click titles, the solution is often more than a little obscure. There is a hint system that can point you in the general direction you need to go, but it’s usually not all that helpful, providing overarching objectives rather than nudging you towards what things you need to rub together to get the door to open. I don’t want to knock this too much, because I’m sure this is something that varies heavily from person to person, but it feels like some of the combinations in this game (and most of the genre) are elements that most reasonable people wouldn’t have landed on without a hefty amount of trial and error.

The other side of the coin is the brawling element. At any time, the player can switch “stances” from a traditional point and click control scheme to a side-scrolling brawler one that's not too far off titles like Final Fight or Streets of Rage. This is used for the occasional combat segment, which are functional but not particularly engaging. They mostly involve knowing when to punch and when to block. The only time it becomes particularly challenging is when fights break out in smaller rooms, which can result in things getting very cluttered very quickly. At the risk of trivializing it, I think the fact that the game gives you the option to choose a special difficulty that skips all the combat sections, while requiring that the puzzle segments all be solved, probably tells you what it views as the priority.

You can also use your fists to interact with the environment during the more standard investigation sections, and this can be used to break down certain obstacles and open pathways. Sometimes, the game allows for situations to be solved by multiple means, although those multiple means usually boil down to whether you punch something or whether you solve a puzzle stolen from the back of a cereal box. Opting for one or the other usually increases some background stat: violence for punching and intelligence for puzzle-solving.

Which brings us to probably the biggest gameplay draw of Brok the Interrigator. Despite primarily being a point and click adventure, I would argue that BROK is probably more in line with BioWare titles like Mass Effect or Dragon Age than anything else. The actual action and sleuthing are a necessary but secondary component; we’re really here for the chance to interact with a bunch of interesting characters and make tough choices. Every so often, you’ll be presented with a couple of options for how to address a situation, which usually boils down to either beating something up or taking a very long and circuitous route to arrive with a specific item that lets you “solve” the problem instead. The option you choose influences those behind-the-scenes stats from before, with more violent options generally adding up to people disliking you more.

BROK is one of those rare games where you're presented with a number of tough decisions that actually seriously influence the outcome of events at the end of the story, and how you approach things can give you an ending that ranges from exceptionally satisfying to almost sickeningly depressing. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there are some serious emotional gut punches here. It’s frankly refreshing to see a title where your choices really do impact how the world ends up, even if the way some of those decisions will impact things is almost impossible to predict at points.

Speaking of depressing, BROK’s tone on the whole is incredibly bleak, which is an unexpected twist for a game with a bunch of anthropomorphic cartoon characters and a cheery art style. There are a few bizarrely dark game over sequences as well, such as one where Brok quite literally gets sawed in half and then turned into canned meat by one of his erstwhile friends. And the dark tone goes well beyond some game over sequences, with themes such as broken families, poverty, depression, and coping with grief over the loss of a loved one driving the narrative. 

I have to admit, though, I came away from Brok the Agitator with more of a sick curiosity than a genuine investment in the darker themes and narratives of the story. I think two major factors played a part in this. One is the art direction. Choosing an art style for a game is something that needs to be considered carefully; a good art direction should not only look appealing, but match the overall tone of the world and story. A cutesy, public television cartoon-esque art style with a bunch of anthropomorphic creatures that look like they’re about to teach your kids how to count is a solid aesthetic. It just doesn't fit a game that's trying to handle some really dark themes. That isn’t to say that media made for kids can’t tackle tough issues; The Muppets did a better job of dealing with problems surrounding absent parents than most guidance counselors, after all. But when it comes to getting one invested in a story, the design of the world should generally match up with the narrative's themes.

The other, and more important element, is that by the end I didn’t find myself empathizing or feeling particularly attached to any of the main characters, nor the world as a whole. The painfully slow opening doesn’t help, but even when the narrative gets going I never really found myself feeling invested, and I think that’s because there's too much dialogue about how awful the slums are, and how traumatized Brok and his son are, and how corrupt things are, but we don’t really see any of this, at least not until very late into the story. I’d contrast this with The Wolf Among Us, another dark story with some anthropomorphic characters focusing on a wealth divide, which went out of its way to actively show the income disparity at just about every opportunity, with rag tag, torn-down buildings and broken utilities.

On the whole I left BROK being utterly uncertain how to describe my experience with it. I certainly respect the desire to create something different and the courage to tell a story with challenging themes, but I don’t feel like the game's components ever quite mesh and work together well. If nothing else, it’s a unique experience, and there aren’t many of those on the market… but there may be a good reason for that.

You will probably like BROK the InvestiGator if: You occupy the joint section of the Venn Diagram between point and click fans and sidescrolling brawler fans.

You might like BROK the InvestiGator if: You really like point and click adventures, and aren't bothered by a slow boil on the narrative front.

You will probably not like BROK the InvestiGator if: You're looking for a story that very quickly gets you into the action, and has an art style that corresponds well with the narrative.