Why I'm Excited About Pokémon: Let's Go
I've been playing Pokémon GO since its launch 2 years ago. I've caught nearly every available Pokémon and am sitting about halfway to level 35 (out of 40). I shouldn't be this into such a simple game, and realistically I wouldn't be if it weren't for my wife. My wife had never played a Pokémon game before Pokémon GO. She didn't even have a slight interest. The closest she ever came to having involvement with Pokémon was when I would ask her to name Pokémon that I couldn't come up with a good nickname for. Two days after PoGO launched, I had her catching things on my phone while I drove. That evening, she was so intrigued with the game that I downloaded it on her phone and she's been playing ever since.
During the holiday season of 2016, when PoGO was starting to introduce gen 2 Pokémon, I gave her my old Game Boy Advance and bought her a copy of Pokémon: Fire Red so she could experience what the actual game was like and learn how to fight in gyms. I thought her playing the actual game would get her more familiar with typing matchups. To my surprise, she really took off with it and got about halfway through the game before her work life got busy and she couldn't spare the time anymore. But she could always find time to play Pokémon GO because we could be out doing things and still play.
The only real break we both took from the game was the two months around the time our daughter was born. Even now, we still load up in the car as a family and drive around and play between feedings and other things. So when this announcement was made, I only saw a few people's reactions. Among them was the theory I had scoffed at - a gen 1 remake that connects to Pokémon GO. A little disappointed, but still kind of curious, I checked out the trailer. Once I saw it was co-op and unlocked new items and Pokémon in PoGO, I was super excited.
My wife and I have been together for almost 11 years and I can count on my fingers how many video games we've been able to play together. It's a very rare occasion when a new game comes out that she shows any interest in. And the fact that I'm writing a blog on a website that also hosts a video game podcast I do should let you know how much I enjoy video games. I showed my wife the trailer right after I saw it for the first time and she was also excited about the new game. I might finally get her into Pokémon enough that she'll want to play newer games with me. When gen 8 hits next year (which also softens the blow of this announcement), she might play too. If Pokémon Let's Go eases her in as well as the trailer makes it seem like it will, I might have a new person to compete against! One of my favorite things in life is sharing a gaming experience with my wife, and if this will give me that opportunity, I will be first in line when this game comes out.
Not only that, but as I mentioned earlier, I have a daughter now. Hopefully she has some sort of interest in gaming, and I can use this to get her involved too! If she does get into gaming, I hope to introduce her to classics before getting her into modern games. So hopefully the challenge of learning a new game won't be too difficult for her, but the way Let's Go is shown makes it seem like that won't be a big deal.
Pokémon Let's Go could be that all important stepping stone to converting the casual players from phones to gaming consoles. I, for one, am really excited to see how effective it is. I know a lot of people are upset that this game isn't for them, but I remind you that the closest this world ever got to world peace was the 2 months after Pokémon GO was released. We've got another chance here. Instead of being angry, think of someone in your life that you might be able to form a new relationship with via this bridge-gapping game. And if you still can't get past it, look at it this way; at least it isn't Nintendo recycling an old game with a few new features instead of giving us a brand ne- ... Damn it.