Detective Pikachu (the game, not the film) gets a release date in North America and Europe

Before there was Ryan Reynolds as Detective Pikachu in the upcoming film, there was a Japanese 3DS game called Great Detective Pikachu. Now The Pokemon Company has confirmed that more of the world will get a chance to crack the case when Detective Pikachu is released in North America and Europe on March 23, 2018, two years after it first came out. The company also put out the new trailer, seen above, introducing the talkative Pokemon whose fondness for coffee is only exceeded by his love for solving mysteries.

No, that isn't Ryan Reynolds in the trailer. It does sound like the voice actor poured at least a little Danny DeVito into his performance, which should be a nice consolation prize for all the fans who campaigned for DeVito to play the role. Another reward for patient fans will be the absurdly large special edition Detective Pikachu amiibo coming out alongside the game. Just look at this thing:

A side-by-side comparison of the (small) Pikachu and (huge) Detective Pikachu amiibo.

It's almost twice as tall as a regular Pikachu amiibo! I don't know why! Detective Pikachu is the same size as Regular Old Pikachu! This one just really likes solving crimes! It still works like a standard amiibo, though - plop its hefty stand onto your 3DS' NFC reader and it will unlock short videos that could help get you past some tough spots. You know, like the hint hotlines of old, but with a huge plastic figure instead of a huge phone bill.

Oh, one last thing: you don't actually play as Detective Pikachu in the game, you play as his new human friend "Tim Goodman" (which sounds like an alias if I've ever heard one). Still, that won't keep me from pushing hard for Detective Pikachu in the next Smash Bros.