Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu!/Eevee! - Reaction

I had been looking forward to a new Pokemon game for some time now. While I enjoyed Pokemon Sun/Moon, it didn't captivate me as previous games in the series had, and so I was left wanting more. After hearing about how the next game in the Pokemon franchise was going to be on the Switch, I was elated! A new Pokemon role playing game on a hybrid system, which was half handheld and half home console? It sounded like an incredible evolution for a franchise I loved dearly, and I couldn't wait to find out more about the next game in the series.

I'm not sure if anyone can fathom just how disappointed I am by Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee, and no amount of Nidoking can possibly get me to buy this game. I certainly appreciate the idea of a Pokemon game you can experience with a friend, and while I understand that the Pokemon Go game needed to have some kind of hook, to get people involved with it again; it's just so sad to think that a Pokemon game on the Switch has been slapped together in an attempt to make people care about a dying cellphone game.

A part of me almost got my hopes up when I saw a menu with attacks to choose from while the trailer was flashing familiar images of the Kanto region to me. For but the briefest of moments, I thought to myself that maybe there was hope for the game. Then I watched it a second time, as the first and second players used a Pikachu and a Bulbasaur to gang up on a poor Bug Catching Kid, and pile drive his unsuspecting Venonat into oblivion. I wouldn't say that the Pokemon games have been the easiest games of all time, but never in a million years have I ever played one and thought to myself that I needed to double my chances of winning by fighting two against one. I get that it's a casual game, but why bother adding in a more complicated battle system if you're going to spoil it with huge advantages like multiplayer battles where you double team the opponent?

The Pokeball controller seems kind of cute at first glance, but there's something really frustrating about the fact that Nintendo basically decided that they haven't gotten enough money out of us when it comes to peddling their overpriced controllers, and have thrown another option at us. The gimmick of taking your Pokemon with you on the go was a really revolutionary idea back in 1998 with Pokemon Pocket, which was riding the coat tails of Tamagotchi, so kudos to Nintendo for really thinking outside the box.

I think it's painfully obvious that Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee is just an elaborate tie in to Pokemon Go, as a part they made sure to mention is that you can send your Generation 1 Pokemon over to your Switch, and if you link up your Pokemon Go to the Switch, you'll get presents of some kind. This upcoming Pokemon game will be released on the Nintendo Switch on November 16th, 2018, and while I can understand the draw for casual fans, it's definitely not a Pokemon game that was made for me. I'll be continuing my wait on a Pokemon game for the core series into the next year of 2019.