Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu!

 Switch
User Score
6.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1782 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 952 out of 1782
  2. Mixed: 283 out of 1782
  3. Negative: 547 out of 1782
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  1. MoonDark
    Nov 17, 2018
    0
    I'm dissapointed by this game ....it's the worst Pokemon game ever . A commercial move of course .... Nintendo MOVE your ass and develope a very Pokemon game on Switch !!!
  2. Torinia
    Nov 17, 2018
    0
    No abilities, no items, broken stats, bugged battles, frame drops on Viridian forest
    Fake mainline game, it’s a phone game legalized for a gaming console.
    The battle system confuse the new peoples, they will be more confused when the real next mainline games will come out. It’s better to play Pokémon 3ds games, 3ds games are better also for the kids who start playing for the first time    No abilities, no items, broken stats, bugged battles, frame drops on Viridian forest
    Fake mainline game, it’s a phone game legalized for a gaming console.
    The battle system confuse the new peoples, they will be more confused when the real next mainline games will come out. It’s better to play Pokémon 3ds games, 3ds games are better also for the kids who start playing for the first time in their life.    … Expand
  3. pokemonfan12354
    Nov 16, 2018
    0
    Unbelievably bad game. This game has no content. Thoroughly disappointed...
  4. yshdmt
    Nov 16, 2018
    0
    Can't be played with Pro Controller. Beware. Game is too easy. Feels slow..
  5. Zisis151
    Nov 16, 2018
    1
    Would you look at that, another Kanto remake! Only this time, it's fully priced but with less content. No wild battles, no breeding, no wonder trade, no REAL rival and NO ENDGAME... Unless you like to call Master Trainers endgame.. fine, but I'll call them a lazy and sorry excuse of an endgame.. The animations are also terrible (if there are any), which make the moves themselves lookWould you look at that, another Kanto remake! Only this time, it's fully priced but with less content. No wild battles, no breeding, no wonder trade, no REAL rival and NO ENDGAME... Unless you like to call Master Trainers endgame.. fine, but I'll call them a lazy and sorry excuse of an endgame.. The animations are also terrible (if there are any), which make the moves themselves look boring and dull. Is this what you want people? Spending more money for less content? If you care about the future of gaming, the future of Nintendo or even the future of Pokemon, then stay the **** away from this cash grab.

    P.S. I will never accept such a **** argument as "this game is made for the casual crowd".. I mean how much more casual can a Pokemon game get? I was 7 years old when I beat Pokemon Blue (which might actually be the most difficult out of all)... 7 YEARS OLD! And you're telling me that it needs to get more casual? Everytime I play a Pokemon game, I catch whatever Pokemon I want and faceroll everything until the elite 4 which gets A BIT challenging. So screw this game and everyone who thought that this was a good idea.. Also screw the Pokeball controller and it's Mew exclusivity. This game is a fraud    … Expand
  6. Chrom1
    Nov 16, 2018
    0
    Unchallenging, unremarkable, and unimpressive. A step in the wrong direction overall.
  7. hotglaceon
    Nov 16, 2018
    0
    Such a lazy, shallow attempt to pander to nostalgia it should be illegal
    gamefreak is a million dollar company and this is what they **** out? This is your brain on mobile.
  8. steven310250
    Nov 16, 2018
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Pretty much the same typical pokemon game you ever expect from Game Freak. Nothing screams challenging single player content. For a JRPG it's pretty low in standards. I'm just going to cut to the chase and give you what exactly what you want.

    Is there single player post game content and is there any good replay value?

    Yes there is post game content such as the master trainer battles, and SPOILERS! You get to fight trainer Blue, Red, and Green. As for replay value, no. Most modernize pokemon games from the 3DS era onto the Switch STILL weak in the replay value department.

    There! That's pretty much what there is to it. If you want to buy the game because it's "Pokemon" then by all means go ahead, but if you pretty much play every single game in the generation. Expecting more of a hardcore single player challenge, more post game content, higher replay value for single player content. I'm terribly sorry but you're sadly mistaken if you think you'll be getting those.

    Funny enough, the story is just as bland as X and Y. Despite it being a remake and all. Then again, Red, Blue, Yellow, Fire Red, and Leaf Green always had terrible stories. Don't expect that to change.

    Overall, it's just another cheap cash grab, lack of replay value and most of all. Another babies' first JRPG. It's not worth playing and I suggest everyone to turn away from it and hold off until gen 8 comes around. Though let's be real honest. Gen 8 will be **** too so long as Junichi Masuda, Shigeru Ohmori is at the helm of directing these games. Nothing will ever change.    … Expand
  9. 5kyLegend
    Nov 16, 2018
    0
    A disaster of a game. GameFreak's laziness masquerades as "a game aimed at beginners": these games are lacking elements that would have made the experience more broadly enjoyable without actually hurting the beginners (no Sevii Isles? No difficulty option?). It's one thing to make a game for new fans - it's another thing entirely to just be lazy during the development and then act as ifA disaster of a game. GameFreak's laziness masquerades as "a game aimed at beginners": these games are lacking elements that would have made the experience more broadly enjoyable without actually hurting the beginners (no Sevii Isles? No difficulty option?). It's one thing to make a game for new fans - it's another thing entirely to just be lazy during the development and then act as if everything is simplified because of that. Common excuse? The lower budget then. Which makes no sense for a $60 game. This should have cost $25, and instead what we got is a full priced release that better not be a preview of what's to come in the next year.
    To top it all off, this is using a basically upscaled port of the engine used on the 3DS, as this does not offer graphics worthy of a home console game (even for a Pokémon game, this could have a much more interesting, detailed overworld), and yet it STILL manages to have its framerate dip at times.

    Truly, a disaster that better not set a precedent for the upcoming titles, sold at more than twice the price it's actually worth. Keep that in mind when reading reviews from the press, who didn't have to pay for this title.    … Expand
  10. crashcount
    Nov 18, 2018
    2
    The reviews leaving 10/10 or 0/0 are both disingenuous, but Pokemon Let's Go is ultimately a disappointing entry in the Pokemon series, and a big regression compared to earlier titles.

    If you're an adult, you will likely find this game to be a bad purchase for the price point. It's an extremely watered down experience; many features such as abilities, held items, weather and battling    The reviews leaving 10/10 or 0/0 are both disingenuous, but Pokemon Let's Go is ultimately a disappointing entry in the Pokemon series, and a big regression compared to earlier titles.

    If you're an adult, you will likely find this game to be a bad purchase for the price point. It's an extremely watered down experience; many features such as abilities, held items, weather and battling wild Pokemon have been removed, whereas battle animations (or complete lack-thereof) haven't been touched. This all leaves battles boring both visually and mechanically. There is no challenge to be had, and the game also suffers from lag in some areas because it's badly optimised.

    Overall I played around 20 hours before loosing interest. I don't feel it's worth the price point at all, and I would not recommend purchasing it when there are far better games available on the Switch.    … Expand
  11. zentor
    Nov 17, 2018
    3
    1. The game is way too easy. It's impossible to lose a battle. You gain so much experience, that you will always be over-leveled relative to your opponent but also have a team of 6. In the original, going through Mt. Moon was a grind and you either had to fade out or go back to the Pokémon Center. In this game, you just blaze through it with your overpowered and over-leveled starter.

    2.    1. The game is way too easy. It's impossible to lose a battle. You gain so much experience, that you will always be over-leveled relative to your opponent but also have a team of 6. In the original, going through Mt. Moon was a grind and you either had to fade out or go back to the Pokémon Center. In this game, you just blaze through it with your overpowered and over-leveled starter.

    2. Exp. Share should not be mandatory, and it is broken. The experience each Pokémon gains does not change according to relative level differences. This means that the forsaken Magikarp you buy before Mt. Moon will be hopelessly under-leveled, as it belongs to the slow experience group. Moreover, any Pokémon you catch will usually be under-leveled relative to your starter. The only way to train these Pokémon on their own is to remove all other Pokémon from the party and go around catching useless Pokémon in combos.

    3. There are no wild battles. I honestly cannot understand why they thought this was a good idea. I'd welcome novel ways to capture Pokémon. I mean, you could try befriend them and they would willingly want to join you - a bit like what happens with the starter. The new catching mechanics on their own are stale and boring. Moreover, the fact you don't have to battle wild Pokémon means there is no risk-reward to catching Pokémon in places like the Victory Road, Mt. Moon or the Rock Tunnel.

    4. Very poor frame rate performance in many locations (e.g. Viridian Forest) and poor overworld animations.

    5. Lack of content. If the game is focusing more on catching wild Pokémon, it makes no sense to remove all the next generations.

    Very disappointing. I think this game is going to simply gather dust.    … Expand
  12. amiibro24
    Nov 17, 2018
    2
    At first, I was excitied when Nintendo announced Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee but after seeing more and more gameplay, I started to lose interest in it that I cancelled my preorder for it. No wild battle catching mechanics, no EV Training, no breeding, no nature, no abilities. To me, it's not a remake but more of a downgrade to Pokemon Yellow. Plus, the game seems like it isn'tAt first, I was excitied when Nintendo announced Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee but after seeing more and more gameplay, I started to lose interest in it that I cancelled my preorder for it. No wild battle catching mechanics, no EV Training, no breeding, no nature, no abilities. To me, it's not a remake but more of a downgrade to Pokemon Yellow. Plus, the game seems like it isn't challenging enough. It's just seem too easy, like it's holding your hand and repetitive. Graphics wasn't much of an improvement and the camera angles haven't changed. The overall world hasn't changed either. No new places to explore and you have to continuously catch pokemon in order to level up your pokemon team. I'm a HUGE Pokemon fan but personally, this game isn't something I would buy $60 for. I bought instead Pokemon X, Omega Ruby and Ultra Sun.… Expand
  13. ErmaJim
    Nov 16, 2018
    0
    De verdad es un juego terrible, temo por el futuro de la franquicia, no debemos apoyar la casualizacion de este juego.
  14. abvilla
    Nov 18, 2018
    10
    Al principio no me animaba mucho el juego por opiniones de "expertos" y lo que me mostraban en los avances en los videos, ya que cambiaba muchas cosas en relación a las entregas anteriores, pero ahora que llevo muchas horas de juego, debo decir que me estoy divirtiendo como un enano xd, estéticamente es hermoso, la música está genial y el hecho de que la captura de los pokemon sea algoAl principio no me animaba mucho el juego por opiniones de "expertos" y lo que me mostraban en los avances en los videos, ya que cambiaba muchas cosas en relación a las entregas anteriores, pero ahora que llevo muchas horas de juego, debo decir que me estoy divirtiendo como un enano xd, estéticamente es hermoso, la música está genial y el hecho de que la captura de los pokemon sea algo similar a pokemon go no me resulta molesto, ademas de que eliminaron el spawn espontaneo de la hierba por los pasos y ahora los pokemon aparezcan físicamente en ella, me resulta atractivo y divertido. Si bien hay muchas cosas recortadas como por ejemplo las habilidades, es en pos para los nuevos usuarios no se mareen con tanta información. Debo decir que esta entrega es un buen inicio para los novatos, como tan bien uno lo fue con pokemon rojo y azul que tenían muchas menos cosas que let´s go.… Expand
  15. Rod1
    Nov 16, 2018
    2
    Sorry this Pokemon isn't for me, is boring and too easy. I think the game was made for children, don't recommend it.
  16. emmyemmy
    Nov 16, 2018
    3
    Haha oh man, I ordered a switch on the announcement of this game. What a mistake. And $60 for this? The $40 3DS games have 10x times more content. Hell, even the red and blue remakes on the gameboy advanced from nearly 15 years ago had more to do. It feels like a watered down game meant for mobile. Now if that's what it actually was then maybe it would be fine, I would understand if theyHaha oh man, I ordered a switch on the announcement of this game. What a mistake. And $60 for this? The $40 3DS games have 10x times more content. Hell, even the red and blue remakes on the gameboy advanced from nearly 15 years ago had more to do. It feels like a watered down game meant for mobile. Now if that's what it actually was then maybe it would be fine, I would understand if they were limited by hardware or something but they're not. Nintendo has already shown what the switch is really capable of and astounded us with things like Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. In comparison this is utterly pathetic. Especially as one of their mainstay franchises.
    It just feels so barebones. So many basic features have been stripped away. Of all the features removed the absence of wild battles is the most noticeable. Sure they could be annoying but that annoyance mostly came from the fact that these encounters were randomised. They found the perfect remedy for that by having pokemon appear in the overworld, the player can now decide what pokemon to encounter when they choose. But why then remove the battle element? Having to use this silly catching mechanic for the entirety of the game is just not fun and the joycon controls for it are awful. At least those battles gave some kind of variety to gameplay. And it should be noted that by removing wild battles you're not just stripping away one the most fundamental elements of every mainline pokemon games gameplay but from the story too. The whole reason you're given your starter pokemon in the first place is to protect you from all the other pokemon in the world. In the original red and blue Professor Oak yanks you out the grass and tells you it's not safe out there. Here in let's go the pokemon in the overworld don't even bother chasing you, they just stand around waiting to be caught. The only challenging aspect of wild encounters now is making sure you've brought along enough pokeballs. Theres very little challenge in the game overall. The incredibly broken candy system and the exp share which is stuck on at all times make the trainers who are already pushovers no obstacle at all. Most pokemon games are fairly easy but at least there was online play to supplement that but here online features are incredibly limited, there's no GTS, Wonder Trade, or Battle Spot and you can only battle or trade with friends locally. With no challenge in the main game, very little post game content and limited online features its just a dull experience overall. The bland visuals don't help either. The environments feel sterile. I was initially somewhat excited to see a revisit to kanto, but only because I was interested to see how it would be reimagined with the capabilities of the switch. There is no re-imagining though, instead we just get the same maps and layouts, outdated grid system included, lazily rendered in 3D. They're reusing the models and animations for pokemon that they made 5 years ago for x and y and i've noticed some reuse of animations from sun and moon for npcs too. And fair enough, we're approaching nearly 1000 pokemon now, it's not worth the time to redo those every game, but surely then that should also afford you time to actually put care into rest of the games visuals. And the soundtrack that I've seen a lot of praise for, in the end just turned out to be generic midi orchestrated versions of the originals that lack any real personality of their own.
    And all of this is excused because its meant for children and to bring new people into the franchise. So did children not buy any of the previous games? Were those games not designed with them in mind? Did the kids back in the day who's nostalgia Gamefreak are now banking on drop out of the franchise back then? No. A lot of the 'accessibility issues' this game tries to solve were never really problems in the first place. A full understanding of the complexities of breeding, training and battling required for competitive play online were never necessary to make it through the main story. And you never had to touch online if you didn't want to. This already simple game series didn't need diluting further to make it more accessible. And with Pokemon currently being the highest earning media franchise, i don't evenk think accessibility is even an issue for them anymore anyway.
    Really not optimistic about the 2019 games if this is all gamefreak has to show for the switch.    … Expand
  17. LeVeR
    Nov 16, 2018
    0
    Pokemon Let's go is a disgrace to anyone who actually liked pokemon prior to this games release. No wild battles, no held items, broken online play. This is a refurbished game from 20 years ago with less content than all but a few of its predecessors. A move introduced in this game called Baddy Bad describes this game quite well. The only thing I liked about this game was the wild pokemonPokemon Let's go is a disgrace to anyone who actually liked pokemon prior to this games release. No wild battles, no held items, broken online play. This is a refurbished game from 20 years ago with less content than all but a few of its predecessors. A move introduced in this game called Baddy Bad describes this game quite well. The only thing I liked about this game was the wild pokemon in the overworld, unfortunately it is ruined by the fact that i cannot battle them. Even if the targeted audience is children, this game is a huge **** you to any longtime fans of the franchise; I hope Gamefreak does not continue down the path of Pokemon Go-like games. If you want a fun experience in Kanto I would recommend playing FireRed or LeafGreen. You will find that they have more content than these games ever will with a roster more than twice as big. Not recommended.… Expand
  18. Maarten95
    Nov 17, 2018
    2
    This isn't the worst game I have played, its just painfully average. I understand that the switch doesn't have the capability's like the ps4, but the graphics of this game are downright ugly. Everything feels so uninspired and blank. Simple things as the background haven't change since the 3ds era. Its such a shame.

    Lets move on to the battles. Gamefreak managed to make the game even    This isn't the worst game I have played, its just painfully average. I understand that the switch doesn't have the capability's like the ps4, but the graphics of this game are downright ugly. Everything feels so uninspired and blank. Simple things as the background haven't change since the 3ds era. Its such a shame.

    Lets move on to the battles. Gamefreak managed to make the game even easier then sun and moon. You don't have to battle wild pokemon anymore. It takes another bite out of the strategy these games used to have. Now you don't have to worry about your pokemon's moves PP. The fun part about pokemon games was the catching mechanic. Taking down the HP of each pokemon, inflicting status effects all to make the catching proces more easy. Its completely gone in this game. Now you just keep throwing stuff at pokemons. Its like they thought "hey, lets change pokemon red in a huge safari zone".

    I'm so frustrated with this game. This was supposed to be the first big step for pokemon to a new console generation and they blew it. Luckily we still got smash this year, because Nintendo really dropped the ball this year.    … Expand
  19. caronte69
    Nov 17, 2018
    6
    esperaba mas de este juego, demasiado fácil, pokemon inicial demasiado fuerte, ya no parece un rpg, se imaginan tloz y que empieces con 999 rupias y 3 botellas con hadas? la experiencia del juego es aburrida por lo fácil que es, no me gusto
  20. sneedy
    Nov 16, 2018
    1
    This game get's a 1/10 because it is hideous, bland, boring, ugly, and has terrible graphics. I'm only giving it a 1/10 because all the 0 reviews will probably be taken down by Nintendo.
  21. Nuadu
    Nov 17, 2018
    10
    Really loving this game, Yellow was my first game and this really has all the stuff I remember but improved with just the right amount of new stuff, if this is an indication of how the next generation game will be I fully approve. Openly visible pokemon like that is something I have always wanted and it works really well, love the pokemon storage being portable. Actually really liking theReally loving this game, Yellow was my first game and this really has all the stuff I remember but improved with just the right amount of new stuff, if this is an indication of how the next generation game will be I fully approve. Openly visible pokemon like that is something I have always wanted and it works really well, love the pokemon storage being portable. Actually really liking the just capture pokemon mechanic, catching a bunch of pokemon is more fun than battling every single one in my opinion.… Expand
  22. pokeanon
    Nov 17, 2018
    1
    The good: You can have following pokémon. You can ride some pokémon. The master trainers

    The bad: Insultingly easy, it is press A to win. Eliminated wild battles, I dislike the GO catching method. Eliminated competitive play, the whole breeding aspect!. Eliminated 6 entire generations from the pokédex. Eliminated day and night cycle. Protagonists are too young. Rival is too friendly.    The good: You can have following pokémon. You can ride some pokémon. The master trainers

    The bad: Insultingly easy, it is press A to win. Eliminated wild battles, I dislike the GO catching method. Eliminated competitive play, the whole breeding aspect!. Eliminated 6 entire generations from the pokédex. Eliminated day and night cycle. Protagonists are too young. Rival is too friendly. Excessive focus on cuteness. Basically, it is a step in the wrong direction for the series, relying on nostalgia by genwunners and the success of Pokémon GO mobile. Make the games a challenge, please! At least provide difficulty options!    … Expand
  23. Ocosu
    Nov 16, 2018
    10
    I'm going to say this right now. Do not listen to these people doing everything in their power to hurt the sales on this game. Most didn't even buy the game and are just riding hate trains that have been formed by youtubers/streamers since the game's reveal.

    I was very 'eh' about this game initially. I remember first watching the trailer, losing my smile, and just kind of writing these    I'm going to say this right now. Do not listen to these people doing everything in their power to hurt the sales on this game. Most didn't even buy the game and are just riding hate trains that have been formed by youtubers/streamers since the game's reveal.

    I was very 'eh' about this game initially. I remember first watching the trailer, losing my smile, and just kind of writing these games off as a do not buy. I kept watching trailers though, and eventually decided to give them a shot even if I didn't think they were going to do well. I was wrong. These games are amazing in every sense of the word. They're fun, beautiful looking, beautiful sounding with the remastered music, and a real throw back into the roots of what pokemon was meant to be.

    Yes, wild battles are gone. Yes, breeding is gone. Yes, it only has the first 151 aside from the newly revealed pokemon, but it doesn't stop them from being fun. It has it's core elements and a lot of cool things they added that weren't even part of the original games. I won't say what those are to avoid spoiling, but it's worth your money. Even if you're eh like I was, you might just find yourself surprised.    … Expand
  24. Qgamer
    Nov 25, 2018
    9
    Those who whine about the easier difficulty should go figure that this entry was made with newcomers in mind. It's a Pokemon game for the really little ones and their brothers, sisters, parents. But one that has some surprising difficulty to it later on in the story. I hate it when people decide to destroy scores based on their entitled notions of what they believe this game should be toThose who whine about the easier difficulty should go figure that this entry was made with newcomers in mind. It's a Pokemon game for the really little ones and their brothers, sisters, parents. But one that has some surprising difficulty to it later on in the story. I hate it when people decide to destroy scores based on their entitled notions of what they believe this game should be to them. So I wrote this to say that if you're a parent with a small child that likes Pokemon Go, it's a blast to play this together. It's Kanto of old with some fun new twists thrown in, and having Eevee or Pikachu with you feels amazing. It's like playing the anime. Don't listen to the manbabies that think every game should catter to their crystalized taste of what a Pokemon game is. I've had loads of fun with Sun and Moon, but also with this simpler entry, and I don't even have kids. But I can still appreciate it for what it tries to do. And since Nintendo will introduce the next chapter of de main series next year, I don't really understand what these people complain about.

    A lot of critics say that the main series is more complex than this game, they also say that Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee feels like a spin-off with an easier approach to its systems, one that might be cool for new players who think Pokemon Sun and Moon are too daunting for them to get into. They are right. And I want to extend a hand to those players, who love Pokemon Go, and want to try something a bit more hardcore, but not as much as the mainline RPG games. This is made for you, but also for those who like Kanto and gladly see it in HD on the big screen. Honestly, this game is polished as hell, it's not bad or broken in any way. It's loads of fun too, but it's just different from what we're used to with Pokemon RPG's. And that is fine.    … Expand
  25. Rad_Dudesman
    Nov 16, 2018
    5
    It's a decent game for newcomers, but it's no doubt stripped down and simplified.
  26. bowser12
    Nov 16, 2018
    10
    This is the BEST Pokemon game in years. It looks super clean, is a nice throwback to the old days and has plenty to do for the avid pokemon fan. Ofcourse smogon players aren't real pokemon fans so they'll just bash this game, while its actually one of the best iterations in the franchise! I can recommend it to anyone who loves pokemon:)
  27. Mythra
    Nov 16, 2018
    10
    It's crazy to see how enjoyable this game is, the visuals are simple but so clean with such a great art style, the soundtrack is so good for my ears, the game is a wonder and takes pokémon is an exciting direction!
  28. PeregrineOmega
    Nov 16, 2018
    10
    Let me preface this review with the fact that I own both a Blue and Yellow cart, both with 151 Pokemon on them. Yes, I have an original Mew, obtained through legitimate means. I own Crystal with max gen 2 Pokemon as well. The list of titles of games goes on. I have a Charizard and Chansey foil, too. And that Mewtwo you could only get from Nintendo Power. So yeah, safe to say I am a PokemonLet me preface this review with the fact that I own both a Blue and Yellow cart, both with 151 Pokemon on them. Yes, I have an original Mew, obtained through legitimate means. I own Crystal with max gen 2 Pokemon as well. The list of titles of games goes on. I have a Charizard and Chansey foil, too. And that Mewtwo you could only get from Nintendo Power. So yeah, safe to say I am a Pokemon fan.

    Let me also preface with the fact that this won't even be the only Switch game. If you aren't down for an entry level experience, there is a "core" Pokemon game representing the 8th generation coming along in 2019. There's no reason to bash this game in lieu of that. More ttraditional mechanics will return.

    The hate for this game is unwarranted. I can only imagine the review bombers are those who never even gave the game a chance. It's sad that this is what "reviews" have become. Never even giving a thing the chance to be what it is.

    And Let's Go, Pikachu IS a great game. A solid entry in the Pokemon game list, and certainly worthy of being the first, full-fledged big-screen Pokemon game. While it is lacking some of the modern conveniences and mechanics from some of the later titles, it's not without charm or depth.

    What this is, is a re-imagining of Kanto for a modern audience who, perhaps has only really heard of Pokemon via the wildly popular mobile game. The catch mechanics are similar in many ways, and it allows for (one-way) integration of Pokemon from your GO! account.

    That is where the similarities to the mobile game begin to part ways, however. Battles are more in the traditional sense, like the 1st gen we fell in love with. There are few new interesting mechanics, and mega-evolutions are still a thing, as well. While the challenge isn't as pronounced in the early game, it's not without the depth of team building that is suggested to be lacking. You can absolutely build and tweak individual stats, and more effectively at that, since you don't need to trade out abilities for things like CUT.

    It is a beautifully rendered image of Kanto, as well. The music is fantastic, too. There's a lot of nostalgia here for those of us who actually played Red/Blue/Yellow.

    It doesn't have the depth and complexity of X/Y or Ruby/Sapphire. Nor should anyone expect it to. No one should be surprised by what this game is, there have been plenty of early reviews and gameplay demos to give us a pretty good idea of what's going on here.

    Aside from that, the "core" game is still coming. So if that's what you're looking for, then avoid this, and don't downvote it just because you don't intend to buy it. If it's not for you, it doesn't make it bad, and Game Freak should be given credit for stepping outside of the box and changing things up a bit for the new generation.

    Don't sleep on it just because there are haters. Give it a shot if you've actually given a fair look and it still interests you.    … Expand
  29. sonicpulsar
    Nov 18, 2018
    10
    Wow, this is a great Pokémon adventure and Kanto never looked so gorgeous. It’s beautiful both on TV and handheld, and the soundtrack and use of the Pokeball really satisfying.
  30. SilvaGolden
    Nov 16, 2018
    10
    I'm totally charmed by the soundtrack, the visuals, the cuteness, the end of random encounters. Fantastic game, refreshing!
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2018
1
#1 Most Shared Switch Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 84 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 65 out of 84
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 84
  3. Negative: 0 out of 84
  1. PLAY! Zine
    Mar 5, 2019
    85
    A simple, nostalgic return to the Kanto region, offers little if you are a series veteran eager for complexity and challenge. But if that's not your main interest, Pokemon Let's Go has it all! It's a simple, cute and fun game that will keep you hooked for hours. An excellent starting point for newcomers, and a great nostalgia trip for those in a search for one.
    Read full review
  2. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Feb 26, 2019
    85
    If you've got a kid in your life who's never played Pokémon before? Buy this game immediately. [Issue #37 – January/February 2019, p. 67]
  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Feb 8, 2019
    78
    It’s hard to make sense of the game that’s basically a Switch port of iOS/Android remake of Pokemon Red/Green. Is it a step forward, step backward – or maybe just a shameless cash-in? Turns out, it’s a great remake – the world looks exactly as we imagined it back when we were staring at black and white pixels of original Red/Green. [Issue#235, p.44]
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