REVIEW: Switch it up with ‘Let’s Go, Pikachu’ and ‘Let’s Go, Eevee’
The recent downpour of good games and announcements for Nintendo’s newest gaming console, the Switch, has certainly been enough to quench the thirst players have had since its launch in March 2017. Many Nintendo fans have pined for a full-fledged Pokémon adventure in HD for years, and now there are two.
“Let’s Go, Pikachu!” and “Let’s Go, Eevee!” are essentially remastered versions of Pokémon Yellow. The player receives a special Pikachu or Eevee who has the ability to learn all the hidden machine moves (which you need to traverse water or chop down trees) and some new special moves made just for this game. The focus of the game is bonding with your “partner Pokémon”; battling with them, playing with them and dressing them up.
They include all 151 generation one Pokémon (and also two forms of the new Pokémon Meltan). Overall, there isn’t much of a difference from previous entries to the series. In this game, your partner Pokémon sits on your shoulder while another one of your Pokémon either gives you a ride or follows you around. Pokémon now roam the overworld, and encounters can be avoided and are no longer random like before. Though the biggest and most noticeable update is the catching system, which resembles the system used in the mobile game Pokémon GO.
When catching Pokémon, instead of weakening them and then trying to catch them as in all of the other main games of the series, the player is sent directly to the catch screen. The player then tries to time a Pokeball throw with a shrinking ring target resulting in a nice, great or excellent throw.
Like the last few games, your entire party receives experience upon completion of battles, but now they also gain experience when the player catches Pokémon. The level of success dictates the amount of experience that your party receives and has the ability to affect the stats of the Pokémon that was caught. This opens up an entirely new way for players to level their Pokémon that doesn’t involve battling. While this system feels a little too much like a grind by itself, the extra experience in between battles is very nice.
Because the Pokémon are walking around in the grass in the overworld, it makes farming one specific Pokémon much easier. Getting rid of random Pokémon encounters is definitely a big quality of life upgrade and hopefully the games keep this mechanic moving forward. Seeing the Pokémon before the encounter allows players to chain a Pokémon, meaning they can repeatedly capture one Pokémon for higher chances at capturing a shiny (swapped color palette) version of the Pokémon.
The changes in this game seem to streamline older systems and be an improvement on the franchise so far. Overall, nothing is groundbreaking, and this game is just a better looking Yellow version on the Switch, but it is a lot of fun. If you’re looking for something easy to enjoy or want to relive some childhood memories, then “Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu!” and “Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!” are the games for you.
