Detective Pikachu Trailer is Revealed, Arrives as a Download in Japan on 3rd February

This is ....so damn strange....I don't.......what is this?

So this detective Pikachu speaks? That's a first as far as I'm aware (baring things like Mystery Dungeon). I wonder who will be the voice actor for the English version? As for the game, I do get Professor Layton vibes from it, which is a good thing.

Definitely weird seeing Pikachu saying something other than "pika pika."

Erm... What does it actually involve..?

It looks like fun. Will definitely keep an eye out for this game. The graphics look pretty good

wants its. must haves its. i awat the magical moment in the game when 'suddenly, a wild professor layton appears'.

I want it o.o.

Seriously though, I think the Detective Pikachu game look really interesting and a game I would really like to play .

Still we didn't get a single clip of what the bottom screen will show so that will be interesting to see too next week/later ^^.

I hope this isn't the big announcement that we thought Paper Mario was supposed to be

@mjharper with such a manly voice, too. for max irony, have james earl jones do the western voice, or morgan freeman if james is busy with vader v.o. or the guy who did bane's voice in the last batman movie or...

Whuh.. wah...? I'm so confused... what?
...
I think I'm buying this? I really don't know ._.

If Meowth can talk, why can't Pikachu?

I mentioned this on another comment board but I was trying to figure just why the design feels so... weird. Then I realized, it's because Pikachu's mouth doesn't usually open that wide . Add to that, the high detailed animation, spot on lip syncing, and deep voice, and we're getting dangerously close to that uncanny valley!

All that said, I'm VERY intrigued and hoping this game hits Stateside.

EDIT: It's not just that his mouth is too wide, but that he doesn't have that :3 arch that I'm so used to.

He's talking! Creepy.

@Jamotello Brilliant! Although for some reason, I think he needs to have a British accent (for the Sherlock Holmes vibe). I'm thinking Daniel Craig.

I don't know that I would expect a Western release of this, though. The localization costs are going to be quite high, and it may not be profitable for a $10-15 download game that's a quirky offshoot of the main series. That said, it is the Pokemon brand, and that may be enough to make it profitable. And they are running a commercial during the Super Bowl too. I just think it is far from guaranteed that there will be a Western release of this game.

Looks... Weird. Weird but fun! I'll probably get it, since I like both Pokemon and detective stories alot!

I wonder what Pikachu's voice'll be like if it does come over here, though.

Pikachu with a manly detective voice is more than enough incentive to buy this the second it come out.

This is so weird.. I love it!! I think I'm gonna buy it if it appears to be a good game

Nice see. Nintendo sure are filling up the first half of the year.

Looks strange, and if it's popular I can see a game spin off happening.

Kill it with fire!

I dunno, i guess I could warm up to it if the humor is right. It's neat to see Pokemon expanding a bit though.

OMG this makes me so happy

This is intriguing! I'd be happy enough with a subtitled release

Never expected to see this game ever again.

wow

this is really interesting

And this weird voice of Pikachu just makes me want this game even more! I hope we will have a low voice too for him

Heh, This isn't half bad!

This actually looks quite interesting. Especially seen as it appears to be a first party title with voice acting and cinematics from Nintendo haha

like most people my first reaction is, Wuuuut.

Like many peoples reactions, if it does come to the west, who's voice will they use? And what exactly is the game about?

if it is how it looks,a detective game with pikachu,i think this could work,not sure but i dont know,i kind of like it

@Not-Another-Ad This is a game...

Can Jack Black voice the Western localization voice of Pikachu? XD

I was actually wondering the other day where this game went. I had it on the list for like two years.

Since the only gameplay shown is talking to people i can only say
What the heck?!A talking Pikachu with a deep-voice,and it's in a game!Talking pokèmons are canon now!
,

@sinbalefa Meowth learned how to talk

@Randomname19 This is definitely not in the same universe as the games so not canon.

So this is pretty much a unique pikachu like Meowth from the anime?... wait somebody beat me to it.

EDIT: Also I don't know why but the narration reminds me of Black Jack.

Sherlockachu 4 smash!

So... what kind of game is it? I'm assuming that it's going to be a Phoenix Wright point-and-click style exposition-heavy game (I'm not expecting this to be a puzzler despite the Professor Layton vibes).

The production values also seem unusually high for such a cheap eShop game. Judging from the trailer alone, I thought that it almost certainly would have been a full priced retail release. Who knows... maybe they'll decide to rip us Westerners off (I certainly wouldn't mind having this as a hard copy release).

I don't know... there doesn't seem to be anything even remotely "Pokémony" about this game except for the presence of Pikachu. It seems that they're using the Pokémon IP simply because this style of game would not have attracted anywhere near the level of interest otherwise (the obscure Hotel Dusk and its even more obscure sequel were hardly success stories).

And it would be nice... SO nice to have a non-main series Pokémon game WITHOUT Pikachu as the mascot. Every fraking Pokémon game has Pikachu heavily featured in them (and it seems EVERY Pokémon spin-off game has Pikachu as the icon -.-). I think Game Freak are really squandering the opportunity to diversify their brand by popularising other Pokémon to the masses.

If they want to appeal to a more casual audience, they could make a Jigglypuff-themed karaoke game, a Meloetta-themed dancing game, a Harvest Moon-style game that heavily features Grass and Bug-type Pokémon... I mean, the franchise is so flexible to unconventional game concepts and genres given the rich and loveable cast of characters, and yet we see the same old Pokémon with the same old game designs being flogged repeatedly without pushing the franchise forward in a significant way (the Rumble and Mystery Dungeon series are particularly guilty of this).

Really?? i mean REALLY?? another download only game?? I'm not trying to start another digital vs physical version debate, but this makes me so angry...
charge it 0.5 cents.. I wont buy it.. thats it, charge 20 dollars(double the digital version) and I will buy it for sure!!

Oh, hey! I forgot about this-what the heck?

If this game was a movie it would of gone straight to VHS.

WTF did I just watch?

THIS LOOKS AMAZING

I think the only Pokemon whom that voice would suit less is Jigglypuff.

Let's get Benedict Cumberpatch to do the voice work in the western release.

I... Think I want his haha. I had forgotten about that detective Likachu game announced a couple years ago.

Come on Nintendo, finally make that Pokemon Snap sequel...

If it comes to the west, I'd probably buy it since it looks better than the previous spin-offs we had.

I'm not sure why...but I love this. I think it's the hat lol. Or maybe just the thought of a detective Pikachu.....I think they should have had a member of the squirtle squad as his loose cannon partner.

Since the game is so cheap, I wonder if it's going to be episodic or something. The visuals look pretty great for a 3DS game, seems like it could have been a full priced game.

At first glance, anyone else think he looks like Ted? You know, from the Seth MacFarlane movie.

Cool, a game where Pikachu checks women upskirt. Look at the face of that little perv at 0.47...

@sillygostly Pretty sure the gen 5 Pokemon games (B/W/B2/W2) didn't have Pikachu until the post game?

That voice coming out of a Pikachu...
So weird.

@TheLastLugia I hope it's Benedict Cumberbatch.

Now I'm just thinking if that Pikachu was once a human (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon), a Pokemon that learn to talk human talk (Team Rocket's Meowth), or was exposed to a drug/experiment (similar to Detective Conan with his age).
That is the mystery itself.

I actually read those rumors about this a couple years ago, and it was so farfetch'd (ha!) I actually just cast it aside as nonsense, but...it exists now! xD

@AlexOlney Let's start the movement now #ALEX4DETPIKACHU

Well, well! Glad to see the creepy face Pikachu Detective game return! If (when) it comes state side and it is at about $15 or so, I'll gladly get it! Seems like a unique take on Pokémon spin offs. So I'll gladly support it!!

I wondered back then about what happened...
On the trailer itself, I was pleasantly surprised at how freaking... lively Pikatyu- was. I mean, he was not 'detailed' or 'realistic', but still 'lively'... fitting with the live-action. (Think of how that Substitute Doll was in Super Smash Bros. 4.)

Well the visual def look pretty nice at the very least.

Definitely buying this.

Also, this feels like a game that's been done for some time now and they purposely sat on it so they could release it during Pokemon's 20th anniversary.

Did Nintendo get rid of its quality control division, or did they simply say, "Does it have Pikachu in it? Yes? Eh just throw it on the eshop, it'll sell."

I'm not at all saying it's bad or anything, it's just... I'm confused. Someone in that conference room 3 or 4 years ago said "Forget everything else, the people NEED a game with a talking Pikachu solving murder mysteries." Again it actually looks cool, but I'm confused on when that one person decided that Pikachu = Detective. I'm sure we'll be seeing heart surgeon pikachu next

I love to see how @bolt_strike says that this game is generic.

Also, now Nintendo is doing risks more than ever. This will be interesting to find out.

And guys....its a spin-off! Deal with it!!!!!!!!!

Glad there is still some creepines to it like in the pictures back then

The game I didn't know I actually wanted.

i want this, idk why, i just do

Is it me or did anyone else feel like this was channelling BBC's Sherlock series

@Grumblevolcano gen 5 didn't have Pikachu period without global link or transferring from gen 4.

Whatever it is, I love it.

This is ridiculous enough that I actually want to play it.

I like games like Ace Attorney anyway so if it has similar investigative elements it could be really interesting.

Seeing the CG reminds me of the movie Ted.

I'll grab this if it comes to the west - not going to go out of my way to play this game. Looks fun, but my first reaction was "wat?". : P

OBJECTION!

If this is Pika Wright or Professer Chu game or some kind of combination it's an instant dl.

Gonna have to get this when it comes out. Has grabbed my interest.

Pikachu is definitely looking up a girl's skirt at 0:46.

I hope a US localization comes and I hope they give Pikachu a grizzled voice like he's been on the force for 30 years like the Japanese one.

For a minute I thought he was going to be a new Pokkén character.

I wonder if this game will make it out of Japan. It looks like it'll appeal more to a Japanese audience, but I'd be interested in it if it comes West.

@Nico07 @AlexOlney How great would it be to have Detective Pikachu bust into a room full of shady hooligans and say, "Hello there, lovely people!" I smell an in-game Easter egg...

@Socar Generic? Not sure that accurately describes this. So far though, it definitely looks unexciting. Then again though, we haven't seen any real gameplay yet so I'll hold off until we do. The gameplay concept could be really good or really bad at this point, who knows?

Dayyyyyum, Pikachu has a DEEP voice.

@Bolt_Strike You may not be excited for this, but I sure am. This is so weird that it's awesome. I need this. So much. <3

@BlatantlyHeroic Thing is, I'm not the kind of person to get excited about a game from an empty trailer that tells me little to nothing about the game. I need concrete information, what are you doing in the game, what are the key gameplay features, etc. Getting hyped up over a game when you have no idea what it'll be really like is foolish.

Could be the first pokemon-related game I'd buy...

Day 1 for me. Hopefully we don't have to wait long !

LOL, ummm....

@Bolt_Strike But it has Pikachu with a hat talking in a deep voice so...

...Pikachu is going downhill.

I would be ok if this didn't get localized.

I love this! I just hope all the detective work isn't going to be things like "Murkrow's Oran Berry has gone missing! It went missing after his picnic with Pigeot. Let's follow the clues! Oh look! He left it behind after the picnic, silly Murkrow, here's your berry back. Case solved!!!"

Also if this gets localised - Ray Winstone to voice Pikachu please! (Semi serious)

The Japanese voice for Detective Pikachu is pretty epic.

I need to see more game play but if the game is localized I hope to there is either a Japanese voice option or an equally epic sounding dub.

This is still a Pokemon game though so I hope they don't chicken out and not have any serious mysteries like murder, although that will likely be what it is. At least kidnapping of they won't go with murder. I don't want to play a game solving mysteries of an inconsequential nature like someone's stolen fruit.

Looks great!

Spooky realism

As many are saying, I think his English voice actor could make or break this game, depending on who it is.

Make it Benedict Cumberbatch and you might just have the highest selling game of the year. Not that Nintendo has nearly that kind of budget, of course...

@Grumblevolcano : You've obviously ignored the part where I said that it would be nice to have "a non-main series Pokémon game WITHOUT Pikachu as the mascot." And it's not as if Pikachu isn't at all mentioned or seen in some form in Gen V (such as the sculpture in the theme park and some occasional references to it).

Pikachu was never a major part of the main series games except for Yellow version (for obvious reasons), though it has been given special attention in most of the main series games in some way.

Does this version of Pikachu remind anyone else of Ted? Pikachu's mouth moves a lot like his and they have really similar facial expressions.

The actual game looks interesting. I'm curious to see if it makes it oversea and if it will be a fun spin-off or not. It looks like it could be a lot of fun, we'll just have to wait to see more game-play.

I absolutely bet that, as an eShop title in a Pokemon anniversary year, we will see this no later than August in one territory and October in the other. Don't know which will be which though! Either way, day one buy.

For those who are interested here is a subbed version of the trailer .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaDiIdBVh2Y

This is is the weirdest sh*t I've seen in a while. Talking like adult Pikachu kinda scares the hell out of me ._.

This definitely looks LEAGUES better than those first screens we saw about a year ago. Now THAT was uncanny valley stuff.

Also, this goes to show where my head is at but...the first thing I thought after seeing the trailer (after the initial confusion) was "well, we know what hat Pikachu is gonna wear in the next Smash)

Its voice doesn't match to the size of the creature. whatever

@mauchegou

Detective Pikachu's voice is the selling point of the game to me (assuming the game play lives up to it).

If it was a non epic, high pitched squeaky or childlike voice the game would have no appeal.

@AlexSora89 He should be.

I made a video and the trailer got copyrighted so don't use that trailer if you're making a video on YouTube lesson learnt Pokémon Japan Lesson learnt....

Am I the only person that remembers Miyamoto saying he was making a detective game starring Pikachu that takes place on Wuhu island?

What have they done to my lovely Pikachu? 😳
Still looks... Interesting, to say the least.

I adore the juxtaposition of the stereotypically cute Pikachu with that manly voice. It's kinda reminding me of the movie Ted.

@SaKo That seems likely. The subtitle is "birth of a new combination", which implies it's at least a prologue or setup for the "main" story, and it seems to be an adventure game, so it's likely Nintendo's using this game to try out an episodic model, or test the waters for a future release that has more to go at. If it's the former, we already have more than enough proof that the episodic model works for adventure games, so I'd expect a second "episode" sooner, rather than later.

Pleeease keep Japanese voices as an option if this comes to the west. Manly Japanese pikachu will sound way better than any crap American voice actor they would hire.

Please don't be hidden object.

Calling it now, Free to Play but you have to get pokemon amiibo cards.

Whelp, I was NOT expecting that...voice.

The game is afoot!

@mike_intv You took the words right out of my mouth!! In fact I had the Sherlock theme music in my head while watching the trailer!

We either get it very soon, in the 2nd half of the year for a stupid reason, or not at all. I'm calling the second option, place your bets!

We will probably get it but Detective Pika will probably have the horrible blood curdling voice of the regular Pikachu at the end in NOA.

The deep voice will offensive to those with not deep voices or some blank.

Those human designs, though. I'm just too used to the Pokémon anime that I can't possibly accept those designs. No probs with a Pikachu talking on my part.

@Doctor_Pancakes yeah, we've known about this for over a year now actually

What a awesome trailer! Color me intrigued..!

I would have personally preferred the game to star Feebas rather than Pikachu.

This will probably come to mobile too.

Benedict Cumberbatch should do the voice for the Western version

It will be sick if they get Robert Downey Jr. To voice pikachu for Western release

Sign this petition to have Robert Downey Jr play as pikachu :
https://www.change.org/p/nintendo-robert-downey-jr-to-voice-detective-pikachu?recruiter=478234086&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

Look, its professor Layton....uh, I mean Pikachu!!