It's not unusual for The Pokémon Company, whenever a new console comes out, to milk the franchise a bit with spin-offs instead of releasing the new generation outright, but the transition to the Switch presented us with a rather unusual instance of that trend: Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee is a Gen VII game that's kinda Gen VIII, but also it's neither, and it takes us back to Kanto in a remake... spin-off... Pokémon GO... something.
Okay, let's start at the beginning: LGPE is a mix between Pokémon GO and a sequel-remake-reimagining of Pokémon Yellow. It takes place in Kanto like the GBC game and following more or less the same blueprint: you play as an aspiring trainer from Pallet Town who, along their friend/rival, is heading to Professor Oak's lab to receive their first Pokémon. You are not Red: this is a world where Red, Green and even Blue do exist and have become accomplished trainers before you, but at the same time, it's not quite a sequel, as you're pretty much going through what was Red's story in the original games. And that's somewhat disappointing -- I would have loved to see a Red 2/Blue 2 style of game, an entirely new story taking place in Kanto, but alas, Game Freak wasn't feeling that bold.
As for how it remakes Pokémon Yellow specifically, if you're old like me and played Pokémon Yellow back in the day, you'll remember that it mirrored the anime in a few ways, most notably in that, unlike Red, Green and Blue, it didn't feature a choice of starters at the beginning of the game, with the character -- by default, named Ash instead of Red -- receiving a Pikachu who hated being inside Pokéballs. That Pikachu was the first instance of two mechanics in the series, the first being Pokémon that follow you around in the overworld, and the second being Friendship. Both of these together meant that you could talk to Pikachu and, from its reaction, gauge how it felt about the current situation as well as about you, its trainer.
This was extremely well-received, and it's a quality LGPE sought to bring back. Like in Yellow, your trainer doesn't get a choice of starter, instead obtaining either a Pikachu or Eevee who stays outside its Pokéball following you around, taking part in cutscenes, using HMs (don't ask me how that works) and just generally being your bestie. They can be pet, fed berries and even customized with clothing, accessories and hairdos, and like its 90s predecessor, will react to the environment and to story events.
Game Freak really pushes the cuteness of its mascots with these games -- and it works. LGE's Eevee is a lovable creature, and even though it lacks the slowly developing relationship Yellow's Pikachu had, it more than makes up for it in presence and charisma. To further tug on those nostalgic heart strings, other elements from Yellow and or the anime, like Jesse and James, some character designs and the aces for certain trainers, are also present, and while the story is mostly unchanged, interactions with major characters in the universe have been added or reworked in order to make them more memorable.
But do those changes make for the definitive way to experience the first generation of Pokémon? That's probably a "no". There are some definite advantages to playing LGPE, but one has to consider that they're more interesting to the nostalgic Gen I player than to a newcomer, as the context behind those changes is important for them to be appreciated. More importantly, though, as a remake, there are multiple issues with LGPE that make it less of an attractive package.
The most maligned one -- for good reasons -- has to be the Pokémon GO capture system. No longer do you enter battles against wild Pokémon in which they can be weakened, then caught or defeated. Instead, the GO system is recreated almost one-to-one: you, the trainer, face the Pokémon in first person and toss balls at it until it either stays in the ball or runs away. Much is said about the use of motion controls, and yes, they're bad, but they're more of an inconvenience instead of the core of the issue, one you can almost totally circumvent by playing with the Switch in handheld mode.
The real issue is that this system just sucks, full stop. Whether the balls are thrown by motion controls, swipes, button presses or mind powers, it remains shallow and uninteractive, reducing an iconic aspect of the franchise to a skinner box. I have strong opinions about Pokémon GO, and in Let's Go defense, at least it doesn't feel exploitative like that game does. At least, when one inevitably runs out of Pokéballs, they can run to the nearest PokéMart and get more. But it is still a bore, not to mention a source of frustration when you finally encounter that one mon you wanted and... it runs away after a couple of balls.
Worse is that this system is at the core of the game, since Let's Go places far more importance on catching Pokémon than it does on battling. Unlike every other game in the series, capturing wild mons gives more experience than fighting trainer ones; plus, there are no Effort Values, but there are candies earned from captures that fulfill the same role when used. The result is that your power level oscillates wildly over the course of the game, and that, other than the cash flow they provide, battles are virtually useless. This, in turn, makes the midway sections of the game a grind to push through, since you've run out of low hanging fruit Pokémon to catch, but trainers, on the other hand, become much more numerous.
The real kicker, though, is the removal of secondary mechanics and areas that might help break down the boredom. Fishing is the first one that the savvy player will notice, but it's the absence of the Safari Zone that hurts the most: the one area where the Pokémon GO mechanics could be considered tolerable was ripped out of the game to make way for a GO integration monstrosity, an unimaginative and laborious version of the Pal Park of sorts that allows one to bring in mons from the mobile game. If you're old enough to remember the Pal Park, imagine if it was just a flat plaza and you had to catch every creature you brought in for real, with your own Pokéballs and their real catch rate. It's pure pain.
Other cuts includes traits and held items, further reducing the depth of the game. Megas are introduced later on into the game to compensate, but they come so late, they hardly matter, and the lack of traits means they're mostly a stat boost. Furthermore, all extra content from FRLG is absent -- no Sevii Islands to speak of. Finally, and perhaps most confusingly, certain puzzles have been dumbed down from their original versions. Cerulean Cave's original layout was in conflict with the appearance of Pokémon in the overworld, so they just... removed the core of the dungeon from the game, replacing it with an open area. Similarly, Silph Co hands you the Card Key almost instantly, whereas the original recontextualized the level through that item, making for a much more interesting design.
It's the sum of all these factors, plus the game's pricing at $60 -- man, I miss the 3DS -- that makes it a harder sell over just playing FRLG, since as old as that one is, it is a remake with more depth and much higher fidelity to the original. That said, LGPE is not all bad: it presents a decent 3D rendition of Kanto, and the care given to the Pokémon, what with the overworld animations and the exceedingly cute cover mascots, is sure to at least warm the heart of long time series' fans.
Okay, let's start at the beginning: LGPE is a mix between Pokémon GO and a sequel-remake-reimagining of Pokémon Yellow. It takes place in Kanto like the GBC game and following more or less the same blueprint: you play as an aspiring trainer from Pallet Town who, along their friend/rival, is heading to Professor Oak's lab to receive their first Pokémon. You are not Red: this is a world where Red, Green and even Blue do exist and have become accomplished trainers before you, but at the same time, it's not quite a sequel, as you're pretty much going through what was Red's story in the original games. And that's somewhat disappointing -- I would have loved to see a Red 2/Blue 2 style of game, an entirely new story taking place in Kanto, but alas, Game Freak wasn't feeling that bold.
As for how it remakes Pokémon Yellow specifically, if you're old like me and played Pokémon Yellow back in the day, you'll remember that it mirrored the anime in a few ways, most notably in that, unlike Red, Green and Blue, it didn't feature a choice of starters at the beginning of the game, with the character -- by default, named Ash instead of Red -- receiving a Pikachu who hated being inside Pokéballs. That Pikachu was the first instance of two mechanics in the series, the first being Pokémon that follow you around in the overworld, and the second being Friendship. Both of these together meant that you could talk to Pikachu and, from its reaction, gauge how it felt about the current situation as well as about you, its trainer.
This was extremely well-received, and it's a quality LGPE sought to bring back. Like in Yellow, your trainer doesn't get a choice of starter, instead obtaining either a Pikachu or Eevee who stays outside its Pokéball following you around, taking part in cutscenes, using HMs (don't ask me how that works) and just generally being your bestie. They can be pet, fed berries and even customized with clothing, accessories and hairdos, and like its 90s predecessor, will react to the environment and to story events.
Game Freak really pushes the cuteness of its mascots with these games -- and it works. LGE's Eevee is a lovable creature, and even though it lacks the slowly developing relationship Yellow's Pikachu had, it more than makes up for it in presence and charisma. To further tug on those nostalgic heart strings, other elements from Yellow and or the anime, like Jesse and James, some character designs and the aces for certain trainers, are also present, and while the story is mostly unchanged, interactions with major characters in the universe have been added or reworked in order to make them more memorable.
But do those changes make for the definitive way to experience the first generation of Pokémon? That's probably a "no". There are some definite advantages to playing LGPE, but one has to consider that they're more interesting to the nostalgic Gen I player than to a newcomer, as the context behind those changes is important for them to be appreciated. More importantly, though, as a remake, there are multiple issues with LGPE that make it less of an attractive package.
The most maligned one -- for good reasons -- has to be the Pokémon GO capture system. No longer do you enter battles against wild Pokémon in which they can be weakened, then caught or defeated. Instead, the GO system is recreated almost one-to-one: you, the trainer, face the Pokémon in first person and toss balls at it until it either stays in the ball or runs away. Much is said about the use of motion controls, and yes, they're bad, but they're more of an inconvenience instead of the core of the issue, one you can almost totally circumvent by playing with the Switch in handheld mode.
The real issue is that this system just sucks, full stop. Whether the balls are thrown by motion controls, swipes, button presses or mind powers, it remains shallow and uninteractive, reducing an iconic aspect of the franchise to a skinner box. I have strong opinions about Pokémon GO, and in Let's Go defense, at least it doesn't feel exploitative like that game does. At least, when one inevitably runs out of Pokéballs, they can run to the nearest PokéMart and get more. But it is still a bore, not to mention a source of frustration when you finally encounter that one mon you wanted and... it runs away after a couple of balls.
Worse is that this system is at the core of the game, since Let's Go places far more importance on catching Pokémon than it does on battling. Unlike every other game in the series, capturing wild mons gives more experience than fighting trainer ones; plus, there are no Effort Values, but there are candies earned from captures that fulfill the same role when used. The result is that your power level oscillates wildly over the course of the game, and that, other than the cash flow they provide, battles are virtually useless. This, in turn, makes the midway sections of the game a grind to push through, since you've run out of low hanging fruit Pokémon to catch, but trainers, on the other hand, become much more numerous.
The real kicker, though, is the removal of secondary mechanics and areas that might help break down the boredom. Fishing is the first one that the savvy player will notice, but it's the absence of the Safari Zone that hurts the most: the one area where the Pokémon GO mechanics could be considered tolerable was ripped out of the game to make way for a GO integration monstrosity, an unimaginative and laborious version of the Pal Park of sorts that allows one to bring in mons from the mobile game. If you're old enough to remember the Pal Park, imagine if it was just a flat plaza and you had to catch every creature you brought in for real, with your own Pokéballs and their real catch rate. It's pure pain.
Other cuts includes traits and held items, further reducing the depth of the game. Megas are introduced later on into the game to compensate, but they come so late, they hardly matter, and the lack of traits means they're mostly a stat boost. Furthermore, all extra content from FRLG is absent -- no Sevii Islands to speak of. Finally, and perhaps most confusingly, certain puzzles have been dumbed down from their original versions. Cerulean Cave's original layout was in conflict with the appearance of Pokémon in the overworld, so they just... removed the core of the dungeon from the game, replacing it with an open area. Similarly, Silph Co hands you the Card Key almost instantly, whereas the original recontextualized the level through that item, making for a much more interesting design.
It's the sum of all these factors, plus the game's pricing at $60 -- man, I miss the 3DS -- that makes it a harder sell over just playing FRLG, since as old as that one is, it is a remake with more depth and much higher fidelity to the original. That said, LGPE is not all bad: it presents a decent 3D rendition of Kanto, and the care given to the Pokémon, what with the overworld animations and the exceedingly cute cover mascots, is sure to at least warm the heart of long time series' fans.