Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee – Review

Hey all, another game review from me, a “slightly” different genre of game this time round in comparison to my first game review, God of War. This time around I’ll be discussing the new Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee games, for the Switch. I am an avid Pokemon fan for those who don’t know and have played Pokemon every year since Diamond and Pearl released over a decade ago. Anyway, I bought the Pikachu version so I can only discuss my opinions from that point of view, but I don’t think there are many differences so let us get straight into it!

The Pokeball Plus Accessory –

If you’re like me and are a sucker for all things Pokemon, regardless of price, then you probably forked out the extra €45 (depending on where you’re from) for the Pokeball Plus with the game. The ball was advertised as revolutionary in the advertisements of the game and Nintendo were going HARD in the hype for this thing. To be honest, it isn’t worth the €45 unless you can afford it. The ball is practically good, it does its job as a controller and is exceptionally better than the joy-cons when trying to actually catch Pokemon in-game. The rewards for walking your Pokemon in person through the ball are good too, as you can receive plenty of rare candies and levels through it.

However, a big fault is the downfall of Pokemon’s cries, unless you have Eevee or Pikachu in the ball, you’ll hear pretty much the same robotic 8-bit cry every time. This really emphasised how badly Pokemon really need to step up their game and include all the actual cries of the Pokemon in-game for future releases. The ball also smudges incredibly easy and dust can build up underneath the analogue pretty consistently too, which is quite annoying considering I suppose it’s supposed to be in your pocket when walking with it? It can be quite upsetting to see the glowing whiteness of the ball slowly turn smudged. However, I would overall say this is a good thing to have if you are a consistent fan of Pokemon, despite the ridiculous price tag.

Cut Scenes in-game –

Pokemon has never exactly been known for its perfect high-quality cut-scene production value, but, in this game they are fantastic, however, there are barely any of them considering how amazing they look and how much they can actually make you love your partner Pokemon. If they had included as many cut-scenes in this game as they did in the Alolan games, then this would have instantly brought the cinematic quality of the game upwards by ten-fold. I am not sure why there were so few cut-scenes considering you’d think Pokemon would want to be showing off the hardware capabilities of the Switch in every capacity. However, I digress that what cut-scenes they do have, they look fantastic, I just wish there was more.

Music –

If there’s one thing Pokemon have never gotten wrong, it’s music. This game features some of the best music in the series, and although it isn’t up there with the battle of Giratina in Platinum or the battle against Cynthia in Generation 4, there are some fantastic recreations of Lavender Town’s traditional music, as well as Cerulean City having some soothing music to play alongside in the background, the battle against the Champion is also pretty exhilarating despite the lacklustre nature of the battle itself (more on that later).

Landscape and Graphics –

The graphics in Let’s Go are obviously the best graphics we as fans have ever witnessed from a Pokemon game, and although it isn’t nothing we haven’t seen, bearing the fact it is basically the graphics of Pokemon Sun and Moon played on the unreal engine, I think it still deserves praise. The cities are visually stunning, as well as the overall atmosphere of everything in the game. The colours of everything are vibrant and bounce off the screen, especially when the Switch is placed in docked mode. However, despite all this praise I have given it, I still will always personally prefer the traditional looks of Gen 4 & 5. But, maybe I just have my nostalgia glasses on too tight.

Your “Friendly Rival” –

I knew from the minute he was introduced as your “friendly rival” I would hate this character. This “friendly rival” trope has been the trend with Pokemon over the last few games. I don’t think the game developers understand that making a rival friendly is just going to make us all not care about the character whatsoever.

The whole idea of a “good rival” stems from rivals such as Blue, a rash, overconfident rival who is so cocky that he decides to try and one up you in every capacity, or N, who yes, I am aware wasn’t your direct rival in the Black and White games, but for me personally, he felt like the true rival in those games over the duo of Bianca and Cheren. This type of rival, one you can hate but also relish the battles against and appreciate their development is what should be a constant in Pokemon games, not these rivals such as the one in Let’s Go or Hau for example. These aren’t rivals, they are lackies who annoyingly follow you around and offer you everything they own in order to gain your acceptance as if they are some sort of slave. This needs to change.

Difficulty –

This has been a large topic over the last few games, since X & Y for me in particular. The difficulty in Let’s Go is just as shameful as the last few games, as you can breeze through the entire game without even losing a single battle(such as I did). I remember when it would take me a month just to purely beat Cynthia in Generation 4 or how it took me several days to beat Lance in Heartgold and Soulsilver. I mean, you can do a direct comparison in this game. Lance in Let’s Go is the equivalent of a deceased frog in comparison to Lance in Heartgold and Soulsilver.

I haven’t gotten around to fighting Red or the Master Trainers yet, at least they provide some sort of a challenge, but when it comes to the main story, it is way too incredibly easy, especially considering ALL your Pokemon level up at all times, which leaves every team you use incredibly over levelled no matter who you come up against. I think it is about time Pokemon included a difficulty option for players as the difficulty in these games is just getting ridiculously childish and easy. And no, I won’t accept the argument that “it’s a child’s game”, that doesn’t mean it should be easy, unless kids today are more incredibly challenged than what I had first thought. Generation 4 and 5 were also “children’s games” by that measure, yet I got through them just fine and still find some challenge within them today. So no, that is no excuse.

Catching Mechanic –

I understand the inclusion for this in the game and don’t particularly think it was a bad change. I think the idea to have all wild Pokemon visible on the screen is absolutely perfect and I hope that remains in every Pokemon game for the rest of my life. I also think the catching mechanic is particularly efficient when shiny hunting, which is always a positive. I just think the legendary battles, in particular, were so incredibly lacklustre compared to how they were in old games. Kids whose first game will be Let’s Go will never understand the adrenaline rush of getting a Rayquaza in Soulsilver down to 1HP, Paralysing it and still struggling to catch it for almost an hour. This game had such amazing cut scenes for the legendaries and then just completely dumped on that. I think the catching mechanic is an okay change, but it really has ruined the special occasion of catching legendaries as a whole.

Story –

If you’ve played Generation 1 then you’ve played Let’s Go. The story is boring at times and once again, easy. The only real excitement was when you face Giovani as the final gym battle, and even at that, it isn’t that exciting. I will forever miss the days of stories such as Platinum and Black and White. With exciting characters with deep backstories.

Post-game –

Pokemon is known for its incredible post-game inclusions, most reputably, Heartgold and Soulsilver’s travel to Kanto, and the Delta Episode of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. This game, however, boring. A few legendaries and then that’s it. I think the master trainers are definitely an okay addition for something to do after you’ve completed the main story but overall, there isn’t much going on.

Overall –

Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee are an average Pokemon game, I think people will like it and enjoy it, as have I. I have over 60hours played in total as of now and think it is quite an enjoyable experience, but an enjoyable experience and a thrilling one are two different things. I think the game is okay and will bring in many new Pokemon fans, but it is obviously nowhere on the same scale as some of my favourite Pokemon games such as Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, Black and White and Heartgold and Soulsilver. I think there is a need for a huge step up in every department I’ve mentioned for the next game, whether that be Gen 8 or a Sinnoh remake(I would be delighted with either). I am just hoping this game is a filler for the time being and the true Pokemon on Switch experience is coming next year. That’s it, that’s my thoughts on Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee.

Final Rating Rating – 6.5/10