Pokémon Let's Go aims to introduce the iconic franchise to a new generation

Though I've lost touch with the franchise in recent years, at that place was a time in my childhood when the Pokémon serial was a significant part of my life.

I spent countless hours scouring the internet for more information about Pokémon Ruddy and Bluish. I even went as far equally to translate Japanese websites in my attempt to understand what to wait fromPokémon Aureate and Silver, which was however unreleased in North America at the time.

Pokemon Let's Go

Taking things an unnecessary footstep further, I even printed out seemingly never-ending walkthroughs and guides from GameFAQs — much to my parents' and their printer's dismay — and combined them into the ultimate Pokémon scrapbook compendium, which I, of course, so carried effectually with me everywhere.

From that point on I played nearly every entry in the series, though roughly around the release ofPokémon X and Y, I decided thePokémon franchise was no longer for me. The game was, in well-nigh every sense of the phrase, near a perfectPokémon championship as far as I was concerned, especially when it came to the title's online functionality, notwithstanding I still wasn't having fun playing it.

This is when I realized that I likely had finally grown out of thePokémon franchise, at least to some extent.

Pokemon Let's Go screenshot

Pokémon Let'south Go Pikachuand Pokémon Let'due south Get Eevee, however, piqued my interest in the long-running series all over again. Programmer Game Freak has presented the two new entries in the franchise every bit less intimidatingPokémon titles that follow the plot ofPokémon Yellow and are set in the Blue,Ruby-red and Yellow games' Kanto region. The SwitchLet's Go titles are designed as an entry point for younger fans ofPokémon that have merely played the far more easier to pick-upwards-and-play mobile championshipPokémon Go.

The inherent concept of a stripped-downward version of the classic game I spent countless hours playing as a child seemed like precisely the type ofPokémon game for me. In almost respects, I was correct in this assumption — Game Freak does an fantabulous job of bridging the gap betwixtPokémon Go and cadre entries in the series with Let's Get, while nevertheless offer a deeper, more traditionalPokémon experience.

Pokemon Let's Go screenshot

Let's Go features the same plow-based battles fans have come to expect from the series, along with archetype Gym Leaders like Brock, Misty and Lt. Surge, as well as a few surprising plot twists for returning players. In other respects, this latest entry in the franchiseis much simpler when compared to other core Pokémon titles.

For example, the often annoying random encounters the serial is known for are gone and in their place are actual physical representations ofPokémon roaming effectually the game's world. This means thatPokémon like Onix, Electrode and Snorlax are indeed massive in Permit's Get.

Pokemon Let's Go gif

When you encounter one of these wandering wild Pokémon in Allow's Go,you don't battle them. Instead, but like withPokémon Become,your chore is capturing the Pocket Monster, which in turn adds the creature to your party if there is space (you can have a full of six Pokémon with you lot), or sends information technology to your inventory. This mobile storage facility for all your Pokémon can likewise be accessed at whatever time.

In the mainlinePokémon series games, creatures are sent to your PC when your party is full, which tin can then only be accessed from a Pokémon Center. While a change to the franchise's now expected formula, I really appreciated this shift as it encouraged me to battle with more than varied types of Pokémon.

The lack of a wild Pokémon battling mechanic when information technology comes to catching Pocket Monsters, too means that the creatures no longer need to be weakened earlier capturing them. Instead, you toss Pokéballs at the Pokémon either via Joy-con motion controls when playing Let's Get with the panel docked, or by shifting the Switch'southward positioning when in handheld mode.

Pokemon Let's Go screenshot

If you mess upward your throw too many times, the Pokémon typically runs abroad. While I initially assumed I'd miss the standard strategy of weakening a beast before capturing it, the intuitive and surprisingly strategic nature of tossing a Pokéball quickly grew on me. In fact, I hope this mechanic makes its manner into other Pokémon titles in the future.

There are other hand-holding changes to the game's expected formula, besides. You lot tin't enter some gyms unless your Pokémon have reached a certain level, or if you don't have a Pocket Monster of a specific type in your party. Other familiar aspects of Red and Bluish, such as puzzles I found especially challenging to play through every bit an eleven-twelvemonth-old, take also been streamlined, or at the very least, are easier to empathise.

Even some of the more obtuse aspects of mainlinePokémon games, such equally swapping out the starter in your party to ensure your unabridged team levels upwardly, have changed. InLet'south Go, whether you're battling random trainers or catching Pokémon, all creatures in your party will gradually level upwards and gain experience in the same way that they would in a standard Pokémon game if yous had the 'Exp. Share' item turned on.

Every bit a 30-year-old who finally grew tired of the grinding required to progress through aPokémon championship, I consider all of the above design shifts welcome changes to the long-running franchise. In fact, given that playing through Ruby-red, Blueish and Xanthous'southward earth is an overwhelmingly cornball deed for me — I didn't playPokémon FireRed or LeafGreen , the ii Game Boy Advance remakes of the archetype Game Boy titles — I found that these changes fabricated playing the game a significantly more than relaxing experience.

Pokemon Let's Go screenshot

Instead of e'er being concerned with levelling upwardly my party or grinding my Pokémon to fix for the adjacent gym, I walked effectually and enjoyed Allow's Go'southward' detailed world that'south consummate with modernistic takes on the classic franchise'due south various quirks.

For instance, given that Pokémon are mostly featured to scale in Let'due south Become'southward version of the Kanto region, an Onix took upwards an entire graphic symbol's home, with its head not fifty-fifty fitting on the Switch'southward screen. In that same vein, watching a large Chansey waddle through deep grass or a Diglett scamper across a tunnel was equally entertaining.

It's also fascinating to encounter the world I spent and so many hours exploring as a child rebuilt with modern graphics that are, for the well-nigh part, great looking, though anti-aliasing issues are rampant both when playing in docked and handheld fashion, similar to many other Switch titles. The game also features sprites that expect similar they were pulled straight from classic titles in the series , which is a squeamish touch for older players revisiting the Kanto region.

Pokemon Let's Go Screenshot

That said, those who are however really into the corePokémon series volition likely discover that the experience Let's Gooffers isn't deep enough. This isn't the game forPokémon players that EV railroad train their Pokemon, that is for sure. Those seeking a more than traditionalPokémon video game feel will likely want to wait for the side by side main entry in the franchise that'south set to be released in 2019.

On a side annotation, along with Pokémon Let's Go, The Pokémon Company is also releasing the Pokéball Plus, an almost comically small orb-like controller that can be used as a gamepad to play the game (it's pictured in the header image of this story). It even lights upward and makes sounds when you grab a Pocket Monster.

However, once the novelty wore off, I quickly switched to using a Joy-Con controller again because the Pokéball Plus feels incredibly cramped to utilize as an actual gamepad.

Pokemon Pokeball Plus

You can have a Pokémon from the game and about put it in the Pokéball Plus, resulting in the creature levelling upward as you walk around with the brawl. The Pokéball Plus besides allows players to become the mythical Pokémon Mew in eitherPokémon Go orPokémon Let's Go, though not both titles — so choose which game you lot want Mew in wisely.

Finally, it'due south besides possible to transfer Pokémon fromPokémon Become to Pokémon Let's Get, but not from Let's Go toPokémon Become. This is a squeamish, though express throwback to the Nintendo 64'southPokémon Stadium and the Transfer Pak. I take yet to test this feature out because I haven't made information technology to Fuchsia Urban center, simply I plan to update this story when I do, as well as to put together an additional article focused on the transfer characteristic.

Pokemon Allow'due south Go Pikachu, Pokemon Let's Get Eevee and the Pokéball accessory,are set to release on the Nintendo Switch on November 16th.