Once again, I’ve returned to Kanto to catch them all. Here are my impressions after playing Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee for a week now.
Spoil Alert: I like it.
Returning to Kanto
When Pokemon first came out, I was in high school. The Pokemon phenomenon was in full swing around the world and I was curious about what it. So I did what any teenager would do at the time, I downloaded a ROM (GASP! That’s illegal!) to play it. I found a copy of Pokemon Green on-line and started to play. I loved it so much that I saved the money to buy a GameBoy pocket and Pokemon Red.
That was my first trip through these games. I couldn’t get enough of them. When Yellow came out and I could get all three starters without trading, I saved my money again and bought it on launch day. I actually even completed the Pokédex by catching and trading all 150 Pokémon at the time. Later, I would play through Gold and not finish, Ruby and not even get close.
I thought I had run out of love for Pokemon. But then Nintendo released FireRed and LeafGreen. Out of nostalgia, I picked up FireRed and played through the game. I beat the Elite 4, and started to plan out my team but never got too far into it. Still, it was one of my favorite games brought back to life and updated.
I picked up some of the sequels and played through them, but they never caught on like Kanto region did.
Years later, I really had the desired to play Red and Yellow again. Luckily for me, they had just come out on the eShop for the 3DS. I bought Yellow and started to play before it just felt like I had gone through them too many times.
And while I haven’t gotten in to the game like some, I continue to check in on Pokemon Go. I like to play while I go on walks, but I’m not trying to collect them all.
I thought Pokemon had been burned out in my mind. That’s why I wasn’t sure that I would pick up Nintendo’s latest: Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee.
But because of reviews and the never ceasing pull that Nintendo and Pokemon have on me, I broke down and bought it.
Game Play changes
I wasn’t sure going into the game that I would like the fundamental changes made to something that’s been around for so long. I’m glad to report that I do, for the most part.
Catching Pokemon
The first biggest change has been the way that you capture Pokemon. No longer do you have to whittle down a Pokémon’s health and look for status changes before you attempt to catch one.
Catching a Pokemon in the game is now closer to Pokemon Go for better and worse. Instead of whittling down a Pokémon’s health, you can calm it with berries and try a better quality ball and that’s pretty much it (at least so far). A colored ring will appear on the Pokémon and begin to shrink before it starts over again. The ring has 3 main colors: green, yellow, and red. Green is the easiest to catch and red is the toughest. The thing about the ring is, it can seem random. Sometimes a good throw on a red Pokémon can catch it, and sometimes a good throw on a green ring won’t.
The mechanics for catching a Pokémon changes based on how you’re playing. If you’re using a single joy-con you actually use a throwing motion to send the ball flying. This is fun at first, but not as intuitive as spinning a ball on the screen and flicking it. I struggled some time if the Pokémon moved to the right or left of the screen to throw the correct way. Sometimes, I’d throw what I thought was straight and the ball would fly off to the left.
If you’re playing in handheld mode, you move the Switch around like a camera to try and get the best angle. Then you push a button to throw. I find this much easy to do
Regardless, the process of catching has been improved I think. I’d love it if we could blend the systems so that you can fight and wear down the Pokémon and then throw the ball. Right now
The early part of the game has changed from forming your team and starting to figure out which Pokémon you want, to catching lots of Pokémon. That’s not a terrible thing, but something that I missed. Still, getting players used to catching makes sense.
Box system
Another great change is the box system.
No longer are the PCs in the game world bound to the Pokecenters. Now, you can change your team on the fly. Thank the Lord. You no longer have to travel back or hope you make it to the next PC to change your party or inspect a Pokemon that you might want on your team.
I think this will allow you to make A-teams and B-teams during the journey and also allow you to have access to those Pokémon you need at the right time.
The Wild
Random battles are gone!
Similar to Pokemon Go, Pokemon actually show up on the map. Since you don’t battle wild pokemon anymore, it’s not really a huge deal to traverse the grassy areas anyway, but now you can actually see what Pokemon are out there.
Finally, another change is that you can actually catch the starter Pokemon in the wild. Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander can actually be caught in the wild now. It amazing that it’s taken over 20 years for this to happen.
Chains
Chains aren’t new to Pokemon games, but with being able to see the pokémon now, you can make chains. The game even highlights chains as you earn more experience points. Get a high enough chain in an area and rarer pokémon start to show up as well.
Since the emphasis has moved to catching Pokémon a bit more, the chain is the new way to grind it feels like.
Still to come
I haven’t made it too far into the game just yet, I’ve only gotten 2 gym badges, I have lots still left to explore.
I haven’t even gotten to trade Pokemon from Pokemon Go to this game yet, which should help finish that Pokedex. It also brings out a new Pokemon.
I’m sure there’s other surprises in store for me down the road as well.
Wrap up
So far, I really like Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee. While the game is far from fresh, the changes have put a unique spin on a game I know so well. I’m planning to continue my journey through Kanto.
I will say that the beginning part of the game lagged a little bit. I felt like I was grinding while catching Pokemon and battles were a little far apart, but things seemed to balance out after the first gym.
Are you planning on playing this version? Would you get Eevee or Pikachu? Are you over the Pokemon craze? Let me know in the comments.
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