Nintendo has done it again! They've managed to build massive hype for the Switch, and confuse the absolute heck out of me in the process.
I followed yesterday night's live tweeting and announcements from the presentation, and I have to say I was suuuuper confused at first. Now I think I'm a little less confused, but I'm still working out some of the details.
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What I want to talk about in this post is the new game(s) coming to Switch on November 16: 'Let's Go Pikachu!' and 'Let's Go Eevee!' (get those pre-orders in on Amazon!)
From what we can tell, these games (let's just call them both Let's Go!) will be close to a "core-RPG" Pokemon experience, but not quite. Before we go further, check out the trailer below.
Let's Go! is a reimagining of -- not necessarily a remake -- the Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition. These games ARE RPGs, and are not just Pokemon Go for the Switch. While these are not the "core-RPG" Pokemon experience, they're still goin to be close.
Nintendo and Game Freak are making Let's Go! a game that will, in my opinion, be a test for merging the Pokemon Go and core-Pokemon RPG experience together.
The catching mechanics of Pokemon will be closer to Pokemon Go, but the game itself will play out closer to an RPG.
You can't battle wild Pokemon. This is my biggest hangup with the game right now. Instead, you just use the Pokemon Go catching mechanic. There's even a new peripheral to go along with it. The Poke Ball Plus will allow you to control the game as a controller, and (wearing the strap, of course) throw a pokeball to catch wild pokemon.
Instead, you'll be able to battle other NPC trainers (and players), but it's not clear yet how the battles will work or even how pokemon stats or other mechanics from the RPGs will work. We do know that you'll get experience for both catching Pokemon and battling trainers, but the leveling system is not yet finalized.
Co-op is definitely in! You'll be able to play simultaneously with two players. Again the details there are slim. You'll also be able to integrate your Pokemon Go-caught Pokemon into the game by transfering them via Bluetooth. Once transferred, they'll be sent to a certain area in Let's Go! to be caught by the player.
It's clear that Nintendo wants this to be a 'more accessible' version of Pokemon like Pokemon Go was, but a step back towards being an actual game. I see this as a test for them, but as we all know ... if it's Pokemon, it's already predestined to be a successful test.
Count me in as wildly excited! I'm also playing Pokemon Quest (already available for Switch) and will post about that tomorrow.
Won’t be playing this, and a lot of people are mad online about this! we wont a full pokemon rpg but in HD graphics with a huge world and close up camera.
Well good luck with that! 😛
They’re making a new core RPG for Switch, which is as HD as you’ll get. You’ll never have that Elder Scrolls style pokemon RPG. Never.
This game confuses the heck out of me.
I don’t know what else to say!
I’m super excite this was their announcement. I don’t have a switch and I was not looking forward to missing out on a pokemon game. But this doesn’t attract me in the least. I’ll very happily miss this.
I still have a potential switch exclusive core generation game coming in 2019 to worry about, but at least for the moment I can breathe a sigh of relief that this looks super super skippable.
Get ready to buy one in 2019! 😉
I’m still holding out a TIIIIIINY bit of hope that it will be crossplatform with 3DS.
Tiny
Pls
I’ll be passing on this one and waiting for the “real” Pokemon game in 2019. Not a fan of Pokemon Go mechanics.