Out of all the mainline Pokemon games, no it is not a spinoff, Let's Go Pikachu is probably the most underwhelming. It is nice to revisit Kanto for nostalgias sake but the region isn't particularly interesting and for what is more or less a remake, the game had a lot of heavy lifting to do. I cant in good faith say that it succeeded.

First things first. The Pokemon Go mechanic. In this game, instead of fighting wild pokemon battles as per usual you just catch them in a very similar minigame to what its like in, you guessed it, Pokemon Go. This mechanic is a pretty big point of contention among players. Most seem to just straight up hate it for being too different to the regular formula. I wasnt looking forward to this to begin with, but as someone who actually finds Pokemon Go to be a pretty fun time I was glad the series was trying something different. Its a neat little mechanic. I wish it was added in addition to being able to battle wild pokemon instead of instead, but it was a welcome change of pace. I also am glad they decided to stick with roaming pokemon instead of random grass encounters, makes the game feel much less like a chore and Im glad it seems to be a staple of the series moving forward. The other big feature added is pokemon following you around, something we havent seen since HGSS over a decade ago. This game does it.... eh. Somehow Diamond and Pearl did it worse, but your pokemon is gonna constantly despawn and respawn or lag really far behind so it takes away from the coolness of it. The feature is the best part of HGSS in my opinion, and it works a lot better without the 3d graphics. Its nice they tried though, I guess.

Now is usually the part of the review where id be talking about positives but I really just dont have many. It's pokemon. Pokemon will always be a solid lighthearted relaxing experience. But this far into the series lifespan its starting to get stale. Even with a few new changes it still feels as easy and unengaging as many of the other games in the series. The only good thing i have to say is your companion is adorable, and being able to dress them in matching outfits is top tier cuteness. Beyond that, this game just completely failed in capturing my intrigue. I enjoy pokemon as a whole enough that I obviously finished it, but there were very few moments throughout where I was actually enjoying this one. I was so unimpressed by this title I didnt bother nicknaming a single party member besides my Pikachu, lovingly named "Poop". The game also for some reason tried to downgrade the movesets back to the kind of thing youd see in the old games, but... why? theres a reason learnsets have evolved since then. Charizard doesnt learn a stronger fire move than Ember until nearly level 40 when you're already almost done with the game. You'll be relying on TMs a lot, and sucks for you if you dont manage to find one: now you're stuck using shitty moves that only draw out the slow and easy gameplay even longer because you're doing shit damage.

I dont think Let's Go Pikachu is a bad game. Its inoffensive. But its the epitome of the lazily heartless and charmless direction the series seems to be heading. At least Legends: Arceus was a step in the right direction. Holding out hope for Scarlet and Violet.

Final Team
Poop the Pikachu - lvl 54
Blastoise - lvl 54
Venusaur - lvl 53
Charizard - lvl 53
Marowak - lvl54
Jynx (Useless) - lvl 50

Time Played - 38 hours 15 minutes
Nancymeter - 52/100
Pokedex - 83/151
Game Completion #76 of 2022
July Completion #4