Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee | How Pokémon's first Switch outing is looking to catch 'em all

For a game all about evolution, Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee certainly feels like the next logical step for players sucked into the world of pocket monsters by Pokémon Go.

If you haven’t yet played the 20-year strong series but were one of the millions glued to your phone, scouring local landmarks to find an elusive Ditto or cursing the appearance of yet another Rattata, developer Game Freak and The Pokémon Company are looking to ensnare you in this new full-blown Nintendo Switch title.

There is plenty for the established trainer too, of course, but by allowing players to transfer Pokémon captured in Go and bringing them closer to their cutesy companions, Pokémon Let’s Go feels like a soft reboot for the series. It looks like a game adjusting itself for a new audience, but plucks at the nostalgia strings to ensure the audience built up over the last 20 years does not feel left behind.

For the uninitiated, Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee are heavily based on Pokémon Yellow, the Game Boy title released at the height of the first wave of Pokémania in the year 2000. Trainers travel the land of Kanto, capturing wild Pokémon and battling in gyms across the world.

It is the most classic of Pokémon RPG setups but Game Freak have made a myriad of changes to bring Yellow up to date and to take advantage of a new wave of Pokémon players. You carry a companion Pokémon with you at all times, either Pikachu or Eevee depending on what version of the game you choose, and wild Pokémon are caught in a similar way to in Pokémon Go.

For experienced trainers, this is a bone of contention. In previous Pokémon RPGs, you had to battle wild Pokémon before you could capture them. Now you flick your Joy-Con or the separate Pokéball controller in an attempt to snap up a new creature. Not only that, but Pokémon are no longer hidden from view in the long grass as you travel the world, instead they roam free on the screen ready to be tackled or avoided as you see fit.

This was also an issue the developers agonised over during development. “Now it’s all calmed down and is all fine,” says Managing Director for Game Freak, Junichi Masuda. “But even about one year ago everyone had different ideas and we were really struggling with what to go for. That period was tough.”

Having played the opening hour of Pokémon Let’s Go as a moderately experienced Poképlayer, I found the choice to engage or not and the difference in capturing between more traditional battling a rather pleasant change.

As I received my companion Pokémon from Professor Oak (Pikachu, naturally; my son would never forgive me otherwise) and ventured out into Kanto, the world pops with colour and life. As you might expect moving from the handheld 3DS to the more capable Switch, Pokémon Let’s Go has received quite the visual upgrade.

Caterpies and Weedles teem in the grass, while Pidgeys flutter above ground. Other trainers, meanwhile, skitter around the edges, ready to challenge you in battle as you pass.

It is, frankly, nice to be able to tackle wild Pokémon as and when you want. But Pokémon Let’s Go offers up plenty of incentive to go wandering in the long grass. While you don’t battle, which would often lead to one-hit victories with your more powerful Pokémon anyway, you can gain extra experience points with a perfect throw. And, if you are worried about capturing too many Metapods with your limited amount of Pokéballs, you get combo bonuses for capturing a number of the same Pokémon in a row.

It is about choice, essentially, and a conscious effort not to bog down new players in endless battling as they start out on their adventure. But that’s not to say there isn’t plenty of chances to fight, either, with a solid amount of trainers challenging you to quick battles as you pass through.

In these early exchanges, my electric Pikachu makes short work of most challengers, but the turn-based elemental combat still has the depth and familiarity of classic Pokémon RPGs. I can switch out Pikachu with any of the ragtag bunch of Pokémon that I have collected thus far. Though any of the creatures I have in my waiting party will also receive XP after a victory.

While you cannot evolve your companion Pokémon, you can upgrade any wild Pokémon you find. Early on I come across a wild Pikachu, separate to the one hitching a ride on my back, assuaging any concerns that I couldn’t have a Raichu in my party. Or, if you choose Eevee, you wouldn’t have access to the myriad evolutions of that particular creature.

While the relative fodder leads up to the first challenge in taking on a gym leader, you can take your time in levelling up your Pokémon and ‘bonding’ with your companion. One of the clear selling points for Pokémon Let’s Go is making it a more character lead game than some of the other traditional Pokémon RPGs.

Masuda tells me that Yellow was chosen for that very reason, as it is the Pokémon game that most resembles the popular anime. “The kids that only watch the anime, but don’t play the games, this Yellow version is probably the easiest for them to understand,” he says. “You see Team Rocket, you see other parts of the game that are quite anime like. Things like Pikachu being a main character and adventuring around with Ash and being seen in the game. So if we are offering this game up for kids, this is the easiest for them to enter into. This is something that’s easier for them to enter into already having the relationship with Pikachu.”

As the de facto face of Pokémon, having Pikachu as a companion you can pet, dress up and interact with makes a great deal of sense when trying to attract younger players. Eevee, meanwhile, is a painfully cute Pokémon whose inclusion was dictated by fans.

“It started from the fact on my Twitter, fans send pictures of Eevee they’ve drawn,” says Masuda. “In Japan, 21 November has now been designated as Eevee day which all the fans were happy about. With all these stories and pictures, we realised how great Eevee was. Of all Pokemon that’s why we thought Eevee could stand as a main character in this game.”

Giving either of the creatures a scratch behind the ears seems a frivolous, if delightful, addition. But it taps into the appeal of the creatures themselves. You are unlikely to find a Pokéfan under 10 not beguiled by the idea of giving your customisable trainer and his Pokémon matching outfits. Or under 40, for that matter.

But if experienced players are worried that this is too much of a departure, there looks to be plenty beneath the surface of Let’s Go.

Linking Pokémon Go, with your mobile talking to the Switch via Bluetooth is an ingenious stroke for players both old and new. But you will have to work for it a little. “You cannot transfer Pokémon from the start as that would be bad for the balance of the game as you could transfer lots of strong Pokémon,” explains Masuda. “So the connection with Go starts up from the middle of the adventure.”

Once you have played enough to transfer Pokémon from the mobile app, you drop your chosen creatures into the ‘Go Park Complex’ which you must travel to and then capture said Pokémon within Let’s Go to add it to your party.

Withholding such a key part of Pokémon Let’s Go’s appeal suggests that Game Freak are serious about this being a ‘proper’ Pokémon game. But Let’s Go feels like an important transition for Pokémon as it makes its debut on Switch; it is a game that has decided to modernise and streamline in places, but retain much of the core appeal that has made Pokémon such a success over the years.

You can battle and trade online, while there is still the opportunity to meet face-to-face and wirelessly swap creatures and pit them against each other. As is the series’ tradition. While new for this Switch version, there is drop-in/drop-out local co-op that allows a second player to help out exploring the world, capturing and battling. Perfect for parents and children to team up.

“There are lots of different play-styles that have been introduced,” says Masuda. “You have the two controllers now, you can play with it outside, play it in the living room, link it to your smartphone, play with the Pokeball Plus device as well. So in terms of hardware, the playstyle has evolved with this title.”

So, yes, an evolution then. But one that retains the core Pokémon ethos, moving it on to fresh hardware and a new audience.

“This is a new experience for us as well,” says Masuda. “We anticipate that players will have fun playing it all together and forming new connections with people playing this game. It was tough, but at the end of the day we think it is a good match for Pokémon.”

When is the Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee release date?

Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee are both released for Nintendo Switch on 16 November 2018. As is tradition for Pokémon games, two versions are to be released, each with version-specific Pokémon to catch as well as the titular companion Pokémon.