“I CHOOSE YOU!”

November 15, 2018 7:31 PM

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! [Nintendo Life] “Acting as a reimagining of Pokémon Yellow – an already enhanced version of the series’ first titles Pokémon Red and Blue – Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! have taken all of the nostalgia-filled loveliness of their origins, added a healthy sprinkling of modern flavourings and preservatives and cooked up a brand new entry full of fan service, bold changes and plenty of intrigue.” [YouTube][Trailer]

• Should you choose Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu or Eevee? [Polygon]

“Just because you choose Eevee version doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get a Pikachu, and vice versa. Pikachu is easy to find in the wild as early as Viridian City; they’re not the most common finds, but you can grab multiple Pikachu without putting in too much effort. Eevee, meanwhile, was never available to catch in the wild in the original Game Boy games. Let’s Go! draws heavily on these, so we imagine it works the same way: There’s a single Eevee a player can grab, and it requires sneaking into the backdoor of the Celadon City mansion. Pikachu lovers who want an Eevee will most likely have to rely on trading with someone else — someone who already traded themselves an Eevee from Pokémon Go.”

• Pokémon Let's Go: Divisive [Kotaku]

“If you’re looking for a Pokémon game designed for the seasoned player, this ain’t it, chief. This is a game designed specifically for the kids I’m losing my edge to. This is a game for Pokémon Go players, for people who care more about catching Pokémon than battling them, and the mechanics have changed to suit them. You don’t have to battle Pokémon to catch them. You just have to be good at throwing a PokéBall, and you earn experience through catching alone. Most of the grinding you do—and you probably won’t do very much of it—is through catching Pokémon, especially catching multiples of the same kind of creature. You get an experience bonus if you’re on a streak of catching the same Pokémon over and over. Like in Pokémon Go, you earn candies by sending these excess Pokémon to Professor Oak, and these candies make your Pokémon stronger. You can also use these candies to outright change their stats.”

• Pokémon Let's Go review - an assured balancing act for fans old and new [Eurogamer]

“Over time, Pokémon games have developed themselves a bit of a conundrum. These are family games, bright and inviting and unquestionably filled with joy. Yet a lot of their audience - and I can say this because it includes me - is pushing on a bit. It means that every game kicks off with two opposing impulses, at once trying to welcome a new generation and ease them in gently to the 20-year-old whirlpool of systems and rituals, while also giving those 20-year-long fans something worthwhile, something challenging, and something new. Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! are very obviously designed to solve at least one half of the problem. I suspect Game Freak's ideal outcome is you, the old Pokémon veteran, playing Let's Go in co-op on the sofa alongside your freshly hatched little one, spotting the difference between past and present Kanto like you're driving through an old hometown and telling the kids that, when you were their age, this was all fields. Looking at Let's Go from that perspective - the perspective of the seven-year-old in the back seat, glued to their Nintendo Switch just like you were to that sticky, streetlit Game Boy Colour - it's hard not to fall in love.”

• Pokémon: Let's Go! Takes You Back to '90s Nintendo Bliss [Esquire]

“Let’s Go retells that tale of a newcomer trainer—you can pick your gender and customize your appearance this time—leaving his/her mom’s house to embark on a journey collecting and training the original 151 Pokémon. You face down gym leaders, rivals, Team Rocket, and other familiar faces from the Kanto region, with surprise cameos and new Pokémon cropping up along the way. The game plays very similarly to those chunky late-'90s cartridges but incorporates quirky new features, like Pokémon Go connectivity, animated 3D models of the monsters, and a buzzy little peripheral shaped like a Poké Ball that you can use to control the game and take with you on the run. If you always wanted to feel like you were living inside the world of Pokémon, this is as close as you'll get—at least until Nintendo's theme park is finished in 2020.”

posted by Fizz (9 comments total)

I cannot wait!
posted by k8t at 8:21 PM on November 15, 2018

Among my pokemon go crew, there has been a lot I'd debate about which to start with. That article made a great case for eevee.
posted by k8t at 8:25 PM on November 15, 2018

If you didn't read the links, one of the things this game apparently does very right is just... put pokémon out in the world. They're random encounters in the mainline games, but there hasn't been a game that's shown a pokémon world as it is in the anime, where pokémon are running around everywhere just living their lives. The simplified mechanics also make it a lot easier for the game to populate the world without causing balance issues.
posted by Merus at 9:16 PM on November 15, 2018

If he’s not a detective anymore I am uninterested.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:13 PM on November 15, 2018 [3 favorites]

I always saw Eevee paired with the girl character and Pikachu paired with the boy character, so I wondered if you were actually limited in this way for some reason, and I couldn't find any concrete proof either way. So I looked again today and found this video of the first few minutes of the game and am happy to report that you can be either and have a smattering of skin color options to go with it, in case anyone else shares my inexplicable anxieties.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:34 AM on November 16, 2018 [1 favorite]

This sounds like a totally rational concern that you know Nintendo would have screwed up a few years ago.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:50 AM on November 16, 2018

This sounds like a totally rational concern that you know Nintendo would have screwed up a few years ago.

Don't worry they're still finding ways to screw up in other ways.
posted by Fizz at 9:51 AM on November 16, 2018

I am waiting for my copy to ship! I haven't played a Pokémon game since the days of Red/Blue/Yellow anyway, so I imagine I'll pick up exactly where I left off.

Except that I have collected far too many legendary Pokémon in Pokémon Go. I can't bring myself to transfer them.
posted by invokeuse at 7:25 PM on November 16, 2018

For those debating Pikachu vs. Eevee: Pikachu is the definite winner of Sports Day.
posted by invokeuse at 4:46 PM on November 18, 2018