You have to give the Pokémon franchise credit — the core Pokémon RPGs will never change, but the series is willing to go way out on a limb with its spin-offs. Remember the N64 game Hey You, Pikachu! in which you spent hours talking to a virtual Pikachu with a special microphone? How about Pokémon Go, the upcoming smartphone game that lets you catch Pokémon in real life?
Well, the latest Pokémon spin-off may be the weirdest yet. It’s called Great Detective Pikachu: The Birth of a New Duo, and it stars a Pikachu who’s fully fluent and solves crimes while wearing an adorable Sherlock Holmes hat. The debut trailer for the game is full of all sorts of images you’d never thought you’d see, like Pikachu sipping coffee, inspecting a crumpled body in a darkened alley and receiving a tender kiss from a human lady. We don’t know too much about the game’s story yet, but word is Detective Pikachu will be going up against dastardly criminal Pikachus. That’s right, this game is going to have evil Pikachus.
Great Detective Pikachu hits the 3DS in Japan on Feb. 3, and will cost around $13. No word on whether the game will be localized for Western audiences, but I’d be astounded if it wasn’t. I mean, look at Detective Pikachu’s little hat. JUST LOOK AT IT. I don’t mean to be harsh, but if you don’t want to play this game, you don’t have a heart.
(Via Polygon)