When I first saw Pokémon Let’s Go: Eevee, nothing really excited me about it with the exception of the graphics. When I heard it was going to be similar and compatible to Pokémon Go, I was even less excited. But Christmas was coming up and I figured I could have someone buy it for me and it would be a few weeks’ worth of fun with it and I did. Playing this game was a fun trip down memory lane in a game that is truly a classic.
What works:
- · Seeing the wild Pokémon:
As you explore the Kanto region, Pokémon no longer appear as random encounters, but rather as a physical being that will roam around. While I had some conflicting views with this at first I ended up loving this new mechanic. If a rare Pokémon appeared, you would know and could go right to that Pokémon, allowing you to really diversify your party more, especially toward the beginning. It also made places like caves seem a lot less hectic. With a place that has both Pokémon and trainers, caves used to take forever to progress, but now you can avoid Pokémon if you need to.
- · The Graphics:
This game brings an old classic back to life, seeing this world in a new modern light is great for the series, and certain events allowing you to take in the world which is great to see.
- · Rarer Pokémon are more accessible:
Pokémon that were more difficult to find or only available toward the later part of the game are now available more often and earlier. Because of this, I found myself being able to make a team of Pokémon I otherwise had never used.
What doesn’t work:
- · Catching Pokémon
Catching Pokémon is by far the worst change to this game. While catching a Pokémon used to be something of a challenge as you tried to whittle down its health while not killing it, it has been changed to just throwing pokeballs at it until it is caught. Also unless the Pokémon runs away you are guaranteed to eventually catch it. There are certain event Pokémon that you must fight before you are allowed to catch them but this only shows up several times.
- · Lack of the game corner
This is a small gripe, but the fact that something like being able to play the casino games and the game corner was upsetting to me and made that whole portion of the game feel more stale and simplistic. I’ve read that any game with simulated gambling must receive at least a 12+ age rating, but it would have been nice to see the casino games switched out with some sort of arcade games or mini-games.
- · Motion Controls
As if the new catching method wasn’t bad enough, you also must use motion controls to aim the pokeball, a technique which often has issues. It’s very frustrating to waste a good ultra-ball because the motion control messed up or your hand moved a bit too much. Luckily playing the game in handheld mode makes this issue better by moving the whole system and then pushing A.
- · Nothing New
Every Pokémon remake has added some fun new things to keep you entertained after you beat the game, and while there are things like Master Trainer battles, that doesn’t provide enough to keep you engaged for very long. Without the addition of any new quips, it makes playing this game after beating it feel utterly pointless.
Recommended for:
- · Pokémon Fans