Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee – Brings back Pokémon addiction

Pokémon Go and Let’s Go are inextricably linked. One can be played just fine without the other, but gamers who own both games will get more out of both. That has everything to do with one of the most important connectivity features. It is possible to transfer Pokémon that you have caught in Go to your Let’s Go. Unlike trading on Pokémon Go itself, it doesn’t cost you any stardust, so there are no restrictions on the Pokémon you can send to your Switch. The only thing to be aware of is that Pokémon cannot go the other way. You will therefore no longer see Pokémon sent to the Switch in Pokémon Go.

Pokedex complete

Most importantly, the ability to transfer Pokémon means it’s easier than ever to complete your Pokédex in the Pokémon RPG. In the past you always had to find gamers to trade with, but this system makes that unnecessary as long as you already own all the Pokémon in Go, or know people who would like to donate them to you. The only requirement Let’s Go makes of you is that you first reach Fuchsia CIty, the town formerly known as the place where you found the Safari Zone. That zone no longer exists as such, because this place has been taken by the Go Parks. Here you will find Pokémon that you have sent to your Switch. You can leave them in your park or catch them there to use in the game itself. So it may not be so special to have a team in Pokémon Let’s Go with MewTwo, Articuno,

That changes the game in that it’s a bit crazy to be able to have these “legendary Pokémon” on your team just like that. The game does scale the Pokémon when you send them to your game. So it’s not the case that your strongest Pokémon in Go remain just as strong in Let’s Go. Their ‘Combat Power’ even resets randomly, so it’s even smart not to send away your strongest Pokémon. In any case, it is not the case that from Fuchsia you have a totally ‘overpowered’ six. In fact, the Pokémon we got in the Go Parks usually started with a level lag.

‘Been there, done that’

Experienced Pokémon players will already be able to see from the name Fuchsia City that this is a game that takes place in Kanto, or the first region, known from Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow. The game also only contains the first generation of Pokémon, which means that this is in fact a remake of those first games. That is clearly visible. The world map looks the same, is filled with the same regions, cities and gyms, and has the same course. This leads to both a positive feeling of nostalgia and a more negative ‘been there, done that’ feeling. Fortunately, development studio Game Freak has added enough new elements to the game that it is not just a repetition.

There are clear differences between the classic Pokémon games and these Let’s Go games. First of all, this is the first Pokémon game with more modern graphics. Game Freak has clearly looked at the design of the old Pokémon cartoon, because the game and the series are similar in several respects. Characters such as Brock and Misty, but also Jesse and James from Team Rocket, are therefore very recognizable. It is strange that various parts of the menus do not show the same graphical level. For example, the icons of the various Pokémon are very simple and quite ugly, which does not suit a game that also regularly features flashy effects and cartoon-worthy images.

Catching Pokemon the Go way

In gameplay, one major change is that Trainers now don’t, or at least not always, battle wild Pokémon. Instead, you can hit wild Pokémon directly with Pokéballs. Catching works just like in Pokémon Go, meaning you see a circle that gets smaller. If you aim the ball in the circle, you have a better chance of catching the Pokémon, and the smaller the circle was, the higher the chance of catching it. You can also use the ‘berries’, also known from Pokémon Go, to make catching them even easier. If you have caught a Pokémon, you immediately earn experience points for all Pokémon that you have in your active party at that moment.

You can now change which Pokémon are in your party at any time. Previously, you had to go to a computer to access the central ‘Pokémon storage system’. This is a good example of how Let’s Go is a lot more user-friendly than its predecessors in several ways. Also nice is that you no longer have to make room for special skills such as ‘cut’, ‘fly’ and ‘surf’. Previously, you had to give up one of the four slots a Pokémon has to learn moves for such an ‘HM’. That is past tense; the game teaches them all to Pikachu or Eevee, who can use them all, in addition to their normal attacks. Those attacks also have something new compared to the old Blue/Red/Yellow games; you can buy a TM, or Technical Machine, using it more than once now. This way you can teach a strong attack to different Pokémon, instead of having to choose which Pokémon you want to teach a TM. This effect of TMs is already known from Pokémon Black & White, but it is new to the Kanto adventure where ‘Let’s Go!’ is based.

Strong attacks

Those TMs, ie the attacks, are of course important during combat. You fight against the many trainers you encounter. Not much has changed, other than that you will encounter some new, stronger trainers in the form of Coach Trainers, which were not there in the old RPGs. Also new is the option to enlist the help of another player during a battle, so you can fight together and win more easily. We never really needed that option, because Pokémon Let’s Go isn’t overly difficult. Certainly the special attacks, which are taught to Pikachu by a kind of circus instructor that you can encounter in Poké Centers, are quite strong and reduce many fights to a formality.

The difficulty level of course climbs a bit as you progress. Especially if you skip some battles now and then and don’t catch too many Pokémon, the level of your Pokémon will lag slightly behind that of the gyms you encounter. Fortunately, that can be quickly remedied by simply catching Pokémon and fighting more. That catching is, regardless of the way you catch a Pokémon, further facilitated because you just see the Pokémon walking around this time. So you no longer have to walk through the tall grass in the hope that you will encounter the Pokémon of your preference, but you will automatically see those Pokémon walking around when you are in the right zone.

Those kinds of tricks simply make the game better than the RPGs we played in the past. Partly for that reason, it is strange that certain things have not found their way to modern times. For example, the pace in the game is quite low. You can still solve the slow walking by using a Pokémon as a mount, but the pace at which the conversations progress and with which you navigate through the menus indicates an outdated system. That should be possible in 2018, on a Nintendo Switch, differently. If you’re used to the pace of the time-honored Pokémon RPGs, it might not bother you as much, but Game Freak could have gotten more out of this.

Conclusion

Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee can be described as ‘the best of both worlds’, with Game Freak combining elements from the old RPGs with elements from Pokémon Go. That description is not incorrect, but sounds just a little too much like a hymn. Pokémon Let’s Go is essentially a game that you may have played a dozen times. The fact that it now looks much nicer and that things work just a bit easier makes the game worthwhile, but it remains a remake. In addition, certain elements of that remake are stuck in the past, such as the graphic quality in the menus and the general pace of the game. We had a good time with Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee, but hope that Nintendo does a little more with the new RPG that is scheduled for 2019. Simply repeating this game in the Johto and other regions we already know would feel like a disappointment. However, that shouldn’t be an obstacle for now to throw yourself at Kanto again, on your way to yet another ultimate final battle with the Elite Four.