Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu! Review

Catching ’em All with Nostalgia

When Pokemon Let’s Go! was announced, the Pokemon fandom collectively groaned at the prospect of Pokemon Go infiltrating their beloved mainline franchise. Even after announcing that a true Generation 8 game(s) was in development, it did not stave off the anger that random encounters, capture battles and Pokemon abilities were being taken out of the game. I can’t tell you why so many people are afraid of change, especially in a franchise that has had so many systems piled on top of each other. What I can tell you, however, is that in taking these steps back to basics, The Pokemon Company has created a streamlined experience that captures all the magic of Pokemon while simultaneously making things seems fresh and exciting.

Pokemon Let’s Go takes us all back to Kanto for the seemingly millionth time in the franchise’s history. No matter how much I crave a new Pokemon adventure, as soon as I am in that familiar region with those 150 familiar pocket monsters, I am instantly filled with joy. Seeing this world in a stunning 3D art style, but still holding on to the classic Pokemon isometric point of view is something that was hinted at in the Pokemon Sun/Moon games. To be perfectly blunt, this is the absolute best looking Pokemon game you will ever play.

Like no one ever was…

When you play Let’s Go, it is obvious that many of the assets are taken from Pokemon Go. They don’t simple reuse the assets, though. New animations and effects are layered on top making these versions of the original 150 the best representations yet. Fitting out your Pikachu (or Eevee) in cute outfits, as well as yourself in outfits found throughout the world, gives this version a truly unique feel. Your combo of hats, pants, and what not are going to be unique to you, which is a very welcomed addition. Seeing these Pokemon out on the world with the removal of random encounters is surprisingly endearing. Flying Pokemon fly above your head at points, making use of the ride mechanic make sense. You can float up on the back of your favorite flying Pokemon to try and catch some Fearow that may be lurking above your head. Once you see these Pokemon running around and how you can choose to chain specific ones without that random element, you will not want to see Pokemon go back to the old ways. It brings the world alive in such beautiful detail.

Towns and NPC’s have also never been this detailed. Seeing them on the big screen makes you realize just how much we have been missing keeping Pokemon on handheld devices. Although, there is just something about playing on the TV that doesn’t feel authentically Pokemon, so I stuck to handheld for a majority of my play-though thus far.

The UI is solid, but the menus are absolutely horrendous to navigate. Sure you will eventually get used to it and learn some shortcuts, but doing simple and necessary tasks like evaluating and sending your Pokemon to the Professor that you no longer want is a chore. What is excellent is that you no longer need access to a PC for Pokemon storage. You can access that right in your menu. This makes team building and leveling you favorite Pokemon evenly much more enjoyable. Once you can evaluate Pokemon for those sweet sweet IV’s, you can do so right in your box. The problem is that there is no way to sort them by their ratings. The only way to make the amazing stand out from the good is to favorite them – then sort by favorite. Then you can just send all the others to Oak for some sweet candies to power up your Monsters.

Training them is my cause…

Candies are another excellent example of quality of life improvements that add so much to the experience. You get so many candies that work specifically to raise stats, but in a more similar way to Pokemon Go. Instead of Pokemon specific candies, though, you will just get some that enhance speed, attack, defense etc etc…The higher the stat, though, the more candies it will take to continue to level it up. This prevents you from abusing the system, but it still allows you to really boost the power of your team.

As I mentioned earlier – the best part of this game is how quickly and seamlessly you can power level multiple Pokemon. I level up 5 Pokemon and once the EXP gains slow down, I will throw in a fresh 5 in there to max out all my team combinations. This is to make sure whatever challenge I am up against, I can have a team powered up to compete. Back in previous games this type of stuff would take HOURS and it would be easier to just leave them in daycare and hope for the best. This way I can continue to chain captures to try and get good IV’s and shiny Pokemon, all while spreading the EXP love.

One thing to note is that the starter you receive is pretty overpowered from the start, so you really don’t need to diversify your party outside of gym requirements. The special techniques your starter learns are ridiculously powerful as well, so you might not want to use any TMs and mess with your starter too much. But you do what you want to do. What am I, the police?

If you have some of the 150 Pokemon in your Pokemon Go account you can, in theory, transfer them to your game via Go Park. I say “in theory” because I have yet to have a successful connection to try it. I was really only going to send some Eevee and Ditto over so it isn’t a big deal to me, but it is a serious issue considering it is one of the main selling points of the Let’s Go/Go marketing. Maybe it will get patched quickly, but as of this writing I still have not been able to connect successfully.

You teach me and I’ll teach you…

One of the other main selling points of this game is the ability to have a friend sit next to you and help along in your adventure. While I myself have not had a chance to try this feature; your boy Andy has so I will let him tell you a bit about how it works and if it is fun or not. 

Nintendo really should have called this Easy Mode, as being able to bring along on a friend for the adventure essentially wipes outs whatever little challenge that game offers. One would think that maybe, just maybe the enemies would scale in difficulty but alas that is not the case here.  That being said, it doesn’t make the experience any less fun. While your friend plays more of supportive role, working together to catch Pokemon is definitely more entertaining that going at it alone. If you couple this with the Pokeball Plus, it is essentially a cheat mode. You can throw a Pokemon in the ball and take it around with you while you are at work/school etc and gain experience for that monster based on how much you’ve walked. I have gotten a Pokemon 15-25 levels in a day just doing that, so it can feel a little cheap. It is a nice way of leveling up a lower level high IV Pokemon you may have caught on your journey, though. 

About 25 hours into my adventure I still had a massive grin on my face. Aside from some item/Pokemon management and minor balancing issues, the changes made to the franchise largely enhance the Pokemon experience. The grind for those who love to grind is still here, but in the form of capture chaining for shiny and IVs. Stat management and breeding to get those natures is still here. Stripping away the random encounters s and constant battling is a breath of fresh air for me. The Pokemon Company should take this game as a learning experience and refine some of the mechanics and implement them into the gen 8 games supposedly coming in 2019. If they are able to do this, you can have a true masterpiece on your hands.

All in all, if you are a fan of Pokemon in general I cannot recommend this enough. It is fun, fast paced, and simply joyous to play. If you are looking for a super deep JRPG, you may want to look elsewhere, but don’t sleep on this just because some of those systems have been stripped back. If you are a newcomer to the franchise, first of all – hows that rock you’ve been living under? Cold? But seriously, this is a great place to start your Pokemon journey.

The Verdict: