We at Geekscape Games never miss the chance to try out the newest games, so when we were fortunate enough to be invited by Nintendo to preview their holiday games, we made sure to be there!
After being announced, Pokemon Let’s Go has been a source of controversy with dedicated fans of the series. Leaning into Pokemon Go in terms of game play and connectivity, restricting the game’s roster to the original 151 Pokemon, and serving as a remake of a game that’s already been remade are just some of the concerns players have had. With the lack of traditional battles against wild Pokemon, online trades being impossible for the first time in over a decade, and an overall simplified version of an already simple game, the concerns were warranted. Fortunately, after playing the game for ourselves, we found that the blend of Go mechanics with a core Pokemon game makes for a promising spinoff that will do well to hold us over while we wait for the next main entry next year.
Exploring Viridian Forest showed instantly that the graphical upgrade makes this old environment look new, with random encounters being replaced with Pokemon on the field. The colored rings around them let you know how big or small they will be, while using berries once you encounter them will alter the difficulty of the catch or the rewards that come with it. Just like Pokemon Go, catching is determined by throwing the ball at the Pokemon, with additional point bonuses depending on whether or not you throw it within the progressively shrinking ring around them. Since battles aren’t possible in the wild, all Pokemon in your party get EXP just for catching, with bonuses being attributed to the previously mentioned timed throws, by catching them on the first throw, or if your throw was perfectly synchronized with your partner when playing with the jump in / jump out co-op mode. When encountering trainers however, the game was much more traditional, with the standard four attack setup per Pokemon with various strengths and weaknesses depending on the types of the Pokemon battling. Playing co-op almost felt like cheating when combat would turn into a two-on-one beatdown.
Our 11 minutes with the game was brief, but what we found was the foundation of a worthy entry for the long-running series. Check out our game play video below, and let us know what you think!
Additionally, here’s some direct capture footage of Let’s Go Eevee, courtesy of Bradley Yoshiller from GoNintendo.com! Which version are you all going with? Game play starts at the 3 minute mark.