pokemon

It took me a while but I finally figured out that I only like Generation 1 Pokemon games. I tried Pokemon Sun but bounced off it. I finished Pokemon Sword but was desperate for the credits towards the end. I realized that I enjoyed Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee a whole lot more than this game and it was all due to nostalgia.

Pokemon Sword was fine. The Galar region was well crafted and filled with many touches inspired by England. Large open spaces gave the region scale like I’ve never seen in a Pokemon game before. I was pleasantly surprised to discover how many spaces I was able to enter and explore. Sure many homes were carbon copies of one another, but it was still an appreciated detail that made each new town/city seem massive.

In-between the major city hubs were wild areas where Pokemon roamed. It was a neat idea that should have been leveraged more. More game could have been wrung out of it but instead I found myself just blitzing through most of it after capturing what I could at the time. The desire to “catch them all” is the primary reason to tread and retread these areas. Different Pokemon will appear depending on time of day and weather. I explored and hunted around these parts for a bit but I just didn’t have an affinity to these newcomers to revisit often.

I pushed forward and wrapped up Pokemon Sword in just over 30 hours. By the end, I was desperately pushing through the final series of battles with sheer brute force. I relied on Hyper Potions, Revives, and a trio of over-leveled Pokemon to carry me to the end credits.

I wasn’t driving forward for story reasons, I just wanted to see the spectacle. While the story was a snore, the spectacle was not. Every Dynamax moment or Gym Leader battle was awesome. Pokemon never felt so grand and I think they nailed the atmosphere of those battles. I just wish the story was as captivating.

As straightforward as the story was, I felt the gameplay was a bigger offender. Earlier Pokemon games leaned in on the game aspect of this series with weird areas like the secret Team Rocket bases with teleporters and conveyor belts. There were caves and other areas that felt like puzzles with TMs and other treats hidden within. The Galar region was noticeably more grounded coming from Pokemon Let’s Go and the Kanto region. There was little to no figuring out in this game. It all felt too straightforward.

There’s fundamentally nothing wrong with Pokemon Sword. In many ways it’s superior to its predecessors. Battles are more complex than ever. The Pokemon are more complex. The Gym Leaders are stylish. The spectacle is more grandiose. But I just felt it all didn’t resonate with me like Pokemon Let’s Go did. It took me a couple of games as of late but I finally realized that I’m not a Pokemon fan. I’m just a fan of Pokemon Red/Blue

Verdict:
It was okay

Ratings Guide

Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee was made for people like me. People who only played the first couple of games and believe the original 151 are the most memorable Pokemon to date. I’ve tried Pokemon Sun/Moon but found it too slow and too talky for a Pokemon game. All I wanted to do was to drop in, set out, and catch Pokemon. Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee gave me that and then some. 

I felt it was a satisfying remake of the first generation Pokemon titles (Pokemon Yellow specifically), it evoked the classics while making smart improvements along the way. The most notable alteration was replacing the random wild Pokemon encounters with Pokemon Go styled catching. Catching them required me to run into them in the world, sedate them with berries before using the right Pokeball and throwing technique to catch them. Fortunately, there were still a handful of Pokemon which required the classic style of weaken before catching.  

I found the visuals to be simple but very charming. I don’t know if it was a conscious decision to not push the Switch to its limits but I and the Switch’s battery welcomed it. Playing the game in portable just felt right. It was nice to see the game hold up on the big screen but Pokemon will forever be a portable title first for me. It was also strange that the Pro controller wasn’t a viable option. I get the appeal of playing one handed with a single Joy-con but sometimes I just want to relax with a proper controller.  

New features like two on two battles, categorized bags, and expanded stat pages were welcomed additions. I don’t know if those were taken from the recent games but they didn’t overcomplicate or deviate too far Pokemon Yellow. It’s that smart blend of old and new that made Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee a joy to play.  

Verdict: 
I liked it 

Ratings Guide