Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!

"Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!" is a role-playing game developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo Switch. Released in 2018, it is a remake of the 1998 game "Pokémon Yellow," integrating gameplay elements from the mobile game "Pokémon GO." Gameplay Mechanics: The game combines traditional Pokémon RPG mechanics with simplified controls and the capturing system from "Pokémon GO." Players explore the Kanto region, battle trainers, and catch Pokémon. Catching Pokémon: Instead of battling wild Pokémon, players catch them using a throwing mechanic similar to "Pokémon GO," which can be done using motion controls or handheld mode. Battles: Trainer battles retain the turn-based system from classic Pokémon games, allowing players to use strategy to defeat opponents. Pikachu Partner: Pikachu is the player’s constant companion, riding on their shoulder and participating in battles. Pikachu can learn exclusive moves and interact with the player. Graphics and Design Visuals: The game features bright, colorful graphics with a chibi-style design. The Kanto region is beautifully rendered, bringing a nostalgic yet fresh look to familiar locations. Animation: Pokémon animations are smooth and expressive, adding personality to each creature. Pikachu’s interactions with the player are particularly charming. Story and Setting Plot: The storyline closely follows "Pokémon Yellow," with the player starting their journey in Pallet Town, aiming to become the Pokémon Champion by defeating the Elite Four and Team Rocket. Region: The game is set in the Kanto region, with all original 151 Pokémon available, plus their Alolan forms. Features Co-op Play: A second player can join the game at any time, allowing for cooperative gameplay. This feature is great for playing with friends or family. Poké Ball Plus: An optional accessory that can be used as a controller. It enhances the catching experience and can store a Pokémon to take on walks in the real world. Integration with Pokémon GO: Players can transfer Pokémon caught in "Pokémon GO" to "Let's Go, Pikachu!" via Bluetooth, adding an extra layer of connectivity between the games. Pros and Cons Pros: Nostalgic appeal with modern updates Simplified gameplay suitable for new players High-quality graphics and animations Integration with "Pokémon GO" Co-op mode for shared play experiences Cons: Simplified mechanics may not appeal to veteran players Motion controls can be imprecise at times Limited to the original 151 Pokémon, which might feel restrictive to some players Reception "Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!" received generally positive reviews from both critics and players. It was praised for its nostalgic value, charming graphics, and accessibility for newcomers. However, some longtime fans felt the simplified mechanics were a step back from the more complex systems of recent mainline Pokémon games. Conclusion "Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!" is a delightful blend of nostalgia and modern gaming, making it an excellent entry point for new players and a charming revisit for longtime fans. Its simplified mechanics and integration with "Pokémon GO" offer a fresh take on a classic adventure, even if it might not fully satisfy those seeking a more traditional Pokémon experience.

For parents/family buying it for kids: A very cute little game with a lot of features for kids. Pokemon games have always been a long-standing family-friendly choice and this installment is no different. Your character moves through the world with a little story (same as all the others really) about starting your own adventure as a Pokemon trainer, and you find wild Pokemon in the environment and use the Switch's motion-sensing aiming functionality to throw Pokeballs to catch them to add to your team. This is also how your team gets stronger. Other trainers in the game can and will challenge you to fight with your team of Pokemon, and when you win you get money and more Pokeballs. The Pokeball Plus is a great addon item for this game, as it will simulate the throwing motion (HOWEVER a word of warning to parents; be sure your kid knows to use the wriststraps securely and only make the throwing motion with it, don't actually throw the Pokeball Plus as it could break! I don't recommend it for smaller children who don't know any better). You can also use the Pokeball Plus to level up Pokemon when you aren't playing the game. If you use the Save menu, you can put a Pokemon of your choice into the ball, then as you carry the ball around with you and take steps it will level up. For more hardcore Pokemon fans: The first thing you have to keep in mind is that this really is a remake of Red and Blue. I kept thinking that a lot of their newer features from the latest games would be here but they were not. It's not a bad thing, because they definitely added a lot of other features that weren't even present in other games, but it's definitely something to keep in mind. As a result, you don't have breeding. If you want a pokemon with good IVs you'll have to keep catching them over and over until you get one. The nicest new feature so far is the portable Judge system to allow you to immediately check IVs on new 'mons you capture (however, you don't unlock it until a little after Cerulean/Vermilion City). Pokemon given to you through the game itself from NPCs will generally always have amazing IVs, which is nice. They also made the Pokemon Box usable on the go, so you can switch out your team wherever you are. EV training is handled by catching certain types of Pokemon over and over again in "combos". You get candies reflecting a stat that Pokemon represents which you can then feed to your 'mon of choice. If your 'mon is one easily caught in the wild, catch a lot of that same one and send them to Professor Oak to get a candy for that Pokemon that ups all its stats. A neat way they handled HMs in this game was to have your partner Pokemon learn the majority of them without them taking up move slots. So Cut, Flash, etc get learned by your partner. Surf is handled by a few water-types like Gyarados and Lapras (who you get for free when you unlock the ability) as, again, additional features instead of actual moves. I haven't gotten this far yet but I believe Fly isn't gotten until after the Elite Four, and again will only be handled by specific Pokemon, Charizard being one. All in all, some fancy new stuff to check out, the Switch controls are fun imo, I love the Pokeball Plus for catching and powerleveling 'mons.

Purchased as a Birthday gift- arrived in perfect condition and my son has enjoyed playing the game!

I usually like to base my reviews on some of the most prominent things I've heard about the game and either support those ideas or tear them down. More so than probably any other Pokémon game I've seen, LGPE (Let's Pikachu and Eevee) have really divided fans, so there are an awful lot of negative criticisms I'd like to address. 1.) The game is too easy - So, I would tend to agree that the game is fairly easy in some aspects. Since you can't turn off experience share, you level quickly. However, this mechanic helps you to quickly build up new members of your team. Say you get a level 12 Charmander, and the rest of your team is level 20. Well, you can quickly get that Charmander up to speed instead of it being now completely unviable. Actually catching pokemon is not that easy, but I'll get into that with my next point. I will say that I'm not even through Vermillion City yet, and I'm way over-leveled. It's hard to gauge how bad that is though because I am a completionist. I like to battle every single trainer. I am very often over-leveled in every Pokémon game I play. 2.) No wild battles! This isn't Pokémon without wild battles! - To this I say, nah, bro. I'm completely fine with it. The tedium of running into tons of wild zubats in Mt. Moon still exists because pokemon can appear in the overworld all the time. I was always the type to carry repels and run from every zubat battle. So, I think this mechanic is at least equal to what normal wild battles were. I much prefer seeing pokemon in the overworld as well. It's more fun and realistic. The one concern that I have with playing on the TV and using a joy-con to throw pokeballs is that the mechanic is really inconsistent. Sometimes my pokeballs are flying all over the place. Catching seems to be slightly helped by getting excellent throws and using berries, but the effect is much less consistent than in Pokémon Go, for example. I encountered a rare spawn Chansey in Mt. Moon early on, and I couldn't catch it at all. I will say the throwing mechanic is 1000x easier in handheld mode. Line up a shot with motion controls and launch a ball with "A" easy. 3.) There's no depth to these games, I've already seen Kanto so many times! - Yes, I get that Kanto is a heavily featured generation of Pokémon games, however, like me, many pokemon fans never played Fire Red and Leaf Green or Heart Gold and Soul Silver and have thus not experienced Kanto since the original Gold and Silver versions except in Pokémon Go. Granted, X&Y and Sun and Moon had a TON of Kanto nods, so I get how people can feel oversaturated. For me though, I'm loving the nostalgia. The remastered music, the HD world. It's just beautiful. As for the depth, I really enjoy the opportunity to come up with a cool balanced team in Kanto now as an adult. Those are some of the major complaints. Now I just want to mention some positives and negatives of my own. 1.) I enjoy the 2 player system. Or at least, I enjoy that it's there. I wish the game scaled in difficulty when you have 2 players though. I played 2player through Pewter City with my son, and there is way more opportunity for experience gain in battles and multipliers when you catch pokemon. It may be the reason I'm overleveled. 2.) While I don't think the revamped moveset of Pikachu (adding Double Kick) makes the Brock gym battle too easy, there are some questionable moves available. Pikachu can learn Zippy Zap super early on which is a move that always takes priority and always hits critical and has STAB. That feels way over-powered to me. It is completely optional to learn it though, so I will give the developers that one. 3.) It's not a big thing, but find rare pokemon feels a little cheap now due to Pokémon Go being able to supply them and just the occurrence rate. Like, I was super excited to see a Chansey in Mt. Moon, then I watched some streams of people on cycling road, and those babies were popping out of everywhere. 4.) I love having follower pokemon and being able to ride pokemon. Hands down, that's my favorite thing about the game. If this does not become a staple of every main series game from here on out, I will be very disappointed. Overall, I really enjoy the nostalgia of the game. There's a few things here and there that are annoying, but the good outweighs the bad.

Such a fun game

The Game arrived safely and packaged securely in perfect condition. It plays exactly as it should.

Excellent juego

I love this game so much y'all srsly. This is a remake of the original Pokemon Yellow, with the pokemon mechanics reconfigured to support the game's more recent developments, especially focused on the Pokemon Go throwing mechanics. This also incorporates the bonding features from the most recent couple of pokemon games (although you can only interact with your starter in this way) and adds some new elements I love - you can actually see the pokemon available to catch animated and wandering the wild. The items features are super simplified - you have berries for catching pokemon and bonding with your starter, health and other effect potions, candy that each raise a specific pokemon stat, and then a whole lot of items made just to sell. While the catching mechanic means you'll be spending a lot more on pokeballs in-game to account for your missed shots, it's really super easy to get cash. And level up your pokemon. And also to get the starters - there are characters in-game that will just hand you a charmander, squirtle, and bulbasaur. So like, it's a little unbalanced, but this also makes for super fun gameplay - I think this a great game for people who haven't been introduced to the main pokemon games very thoroughly, especially those who are more familiar with pokemon go than anything else. It beautifully incorporates the motion mechanics of the switch - but it uses surprisingly few buttons; you can play the game with just a joycon, which almost feels like a waste, but it makes it a lot easier for a second player to join in without having to purchase extra controllers. (The second player makes battles and catching like EVEN easier btw.) So it's a really fun game to introduce you to Pokemon, to play with a companion, or just to mess around in - and it also makes it waaay more feasible to get Melmetal in Pokemon Go btw.