Pokemon Let's Go Review | Attack of the fanboy

IIf you've never played a Pokemon game before, Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu or Let's Go Eevee is a good place to start. If you have already played previous games in the series, you will probably be disappointed. Let's Go is a game that tries to take advantage of the nostalgia of Pokemon Yellow fans by offering them the most distilled and simplified version of Pokemon they can imagine. This seems to be the ideal game to play with your child and introduce him to Pokemon for the first time. What it is not, is a Pokémon game that will give competitive players or looking for a semblance of challenge a real reason to immerse themselves in the game, if not to glimpse this which could be the future of the franchise.

How much you will like Let's Go will probably depend on your age and your familiarity with the series

The resounding success of Pokemon Go has obviously been at the origin of this release. It's no secret that Pokemon Let's Go is a game for newcomers to the franchise. What seems to be the goal here is to introduce the Pokemon newcomers who made their debut in 2016 and show them what to expect from a console version of the game. People who really appreciate the Gameboy classic will have some advantages. First of all, it's nostalgia when you discover that it's almost exactly the same game that has been launched all these years. The upgraded HD graphics look great on the switch, but everything from the layout of the card to the NPC characters has not changed. The graphics are lush and vibrant. This is a perfect example of what a Pokemon game might look like on Nintendo Switch. It's not quite up to Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey, but it's probably the best Pokemon game ever created.

This nostalgia will hit you like a ton of bricks, but will likely fade when you realize that it is very lacking in this Pokémon experience. While many game developers strive to make things accessible and deep to please different types of players, Pokemon Let's Go applies only to the first. Accessibility and the launch of the largest possible network seem to be the main objective here, and in the process, it seems that it really alienates fans of the series.

Let's Go gives us a taste of what a "real Pokemon game" will look like on Switch

The wild battles are mostly gone. His replacement is what can be described as a perfect combination between the Pokemon Go mobile system and the Nintendo switch. It works better than expected because of the switch's movement controls. There are actually a lot of ways to play Pokemon Let's Go. You can play it in handheld mode, which allows you to play with the unmounted switch and catch Pokémon using the buttons on the computer. face of joy-con controllers attached. You can play in handheld mode with untagged joy-counters on the screen, using motion controls to mimic a throwing motion when you want to catch a Pokémon. Or you can play in docked mode, which requires you to use one side of the Joy-Con to mimic the action of throwing in order to catch Pokémon. This basic game feature is incredibly fun at the beginning of your game, but it quickly becomes tedious because there is very little variety in what needs to be done here. Throw a few bays to increase your chances, then try placing the Poke Ball in a shrunken circle. Not complicated. There are some lightweight score modifiers that improve your XP by making excellent throws or capturing multiples of the same Pokémon, but this main mechanism is relatively simple.

There is also another way to play Pokemon Let's Go. You can buy a real Poke Ball, called Poke Ball Plus, as a game controller. This $ 50 add-on for the game has no features that matter in Let's Go, except to immerse a little more the player. Instead of using the throwing motion with the Joy-Con, this small addition allows players to simulate the throwing of the ball. The size of a golf ball, the Poke Ball allows players to play all facets of the game, from exploring the world to capturing Pokémon and fighting against other coaches. There are also other features. You can also choose to place Pokémon in the Poke Ball and take them for a walk. A small feature, but a feature nevertheless. It also contains an exclusive Mew Pokemon, so it essentially pays one of the Pokemon characters behind the accessory accessory.

The motion control capture system gets old after a while

Most Pokemon Let's Go games are based on the capture of the Pokemon and Poke Ball mini-game. Leveling itself has been simplified to level your entire group of Pokemon every time you catch a new one, and these creatures populate a large part of the landscape. You will see them in different varieties and species common in each region. See which one you want to catch, just run towards it and start the mini-game of capture. See which one you want to avoid going on with a catch combo, then just flee it. That in itself is a big change from things like wild battles that have forced you to fight in successive fights to catch Pokemon in the past. Finding a Pokémon in Let's Go does not present a real challenge. It has apparently been designed to be as simple as possible, and this mechanic is beginning to use less and less.

What should be compensated for, but does not do, is what looks like a turn-based combat system that is too simplified. Depending on the version of Let's Go you choose, the only Pokémon you need to cross the game will be provided. Pikachu and Eevee can learn special moves that make any other Pokémon weaker by comparison. They can not evolve, you just have to decide which set of moves you want to apply to that character. Whatever the case may be, turn-based combat battles give the impression of giving someone an introduction to the genre. There is very little challenge in this aspect of the game other than the lack of strategy needed to manage your party. No action on your part on Pokemon Let's Go has repercussions. Do you want to evolve your Pokémon at the highest level? Just give them a stone of evolution. Do you want to upgrade a specific Pokemon? Just give them an infinite amount of candy. Or, you can simply jump into a petting session with your Pokemon, touching it with the motion controls or providing them with objects to enhance their abilities. I must admit, as cute as it is to virtually caress a Pikachu and see him cooing in your hands, the compromise for mechanics like this one just seems a lost potential.

Game Freak has tried little to add attractive features for longtime fans

All this simplicity is obviously postponed from the mobile version of the game. However, this just does not seem to be the game that Switch owners were hoping for. We really do not know why Game Freak could not try to please everyone with Pokemon Let's Go. By adding meaningful content at the end of the game, fierce battles, a breeding, a wider range of pokémons or a certain number of features of the previous games, they could have kept the players invested longer. Pokemon Let's Go is actually a very interesting example of accessibility in games in 2018. Pokemon Let's Go is a game apparently designed for kids. But has not Pokemon always been a children's game? Are children becoming less intelligent? Does Game Freak think that in order to be accessible, you must in principle remove any element of the game that is not optimized or that is not optimized for player interpretation? If so, it is unclear if this methodology will apply to this great Pokemon game on a main line that will follow. It's quite possible that the money is king, and the money that was made from Pokemon GO on mobile could ruin this series forever.

The verdict

Pokemon Let's Go takes some of the basic local Pokemon series and distills them into a Pokemon-Lite experience. Although this methodology may be suitable for a mobile game because the target audience is much broader, those who choose to go a little further in the game and buy a dedicated console for this purpose are expecting a bit more. Let's Go is surprisingly shallow compared to virtually any Pokemon game, despite an attractive presentation that returns players to a popular venue.

RELATED HEADINGS: Pokemon Let's go Pikachu and Eevee