Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu Review
Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu Review
I admit, when I first heard about Let’s Go, I wasn’t on board. I wasn’t even on board when I pre-ordered, I just had to have the first switch Pokémon. I regret nothing. From the moment I held the little Pokéball in my hand and got my super cute Pikachu, I was sold. Let’s Go is not just a test, or an off shoot game, there is a lot of love here. The people making this game loved Red, Blue, Yellow and it shows. The game plays on our nostalgia a lot but it also introduces the future of Pokémon and I fell in love.
Right off the bat, let’s talk about the reason why most people will buy or not buy this game, the catching method. In this game instead of running around in the grass blindly hoping for certain Pokémon, they are there in the game world and you can run into any Pokémon you choose and instead of battling them, you do a simplified catching mechanism like in Pokémon Go, which grants experience just like you battled it. Now at first I kind of missed the battling but I quickly realized the genius of this new system. It takes away the grind of previous Pokémon games. Pokémon at its core is a turn based rpg and grinding is a staple of the genre. By shortening encounters, and adding a little interaction instead of just mash A till you can catch the Pokémon, I soon was not missing random Pokémon battles at all. It got rid of the grind, but it also does something very interesting.
The catching mechanism and the battling of trainers and legendary Pokémon lead this game to feel like two games. It’s basically if Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon Go had a baby. I grew up playing a ton of Pokémon Colosseum, and it is awesome to basically get a HD remake of Yellow and Colosseum in the same game. The game has plenty of trainers to battle too. They have the same trainers from Red, Blue Yellow but they also have Couch Trainers who are tough trainers who give you TMs after you best them. Then after you have beat the game they add Pokémon Masters, which are trainers with single Pokémon that have been trained to be super swole and you have to fight them with your version of the same Pokémon. Yet my favorite battles were all the callbacks to the show and previous games. I won’t spoil it but they all come with a cool cutscene and it just makes it all more epic. The cutscenes and animation makes everything more epic in this game.
One of the best things to be added to Let’s Go is couch Co-op with just a shake of the joycon. Sure it makes the battles really easy by making it two on one battles for every trainer and the second player has to use the first players party Pokémon. Yet this Co-op is great for two things. If you had a small human who loves Pokémon as much as your old dinosaur ass, then this is a perfect way to show them how the game is played and introduce them to the franchise. It is also another way to speed up the grind. Before my roommate got his version of the game, we played together, fighting for who got the pokeball controller, leveling up my Pokémon even faster than normal. It is just a great way to have the fun of playing Pokémon with friends in an instant.
A lot of people complain that Let’s Go makes Pokémon, a game that is already easy, easier. To these people I say two things. One, Pokemon is a Kids game, it’s not made for you, sorry. You are not the target demographic. Two, Pokémon has always been a game that you can change the difficulty of the game by changing things up. Try playing the game without your godly starters, or try classic favorites like only Magikarps, or No evolutions or a nuzlocke run. You make the choice how on far to take this game. I personally never used the Pokémon Go transfer to finish my Pokédex, just traded with friends. The game has plenty of postgame after you beat the Elite Four but you can also check out r/pokemonletsgo to play some competitive online Pokémon. Or try the tried and true Pikachu Pikachu Pikachu code to trade or battle with randoms.
I really enjoyed Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu, that is basically all I can say. I know this won’t be every Pokéfans favorite game or they might even not get this game, waiting for 2019 Pokémon. All I can say is that I have played Pokémon in 2018 and it is a great time.
8.5 out of 10 Godlike Pikachus
GoG Break Down:
Price: Pokéball Bundle – $80 (20% off with Best Buy Gamers Club)
Game time: 35 hours total – about 30 Hours to beat the elite four and catch all legendaries. Five more hours to finish Pokédex
Shinies caught: None
Shiny Shame: full of shame
