Review: Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee

After the immense success of Pokémon GO on smartphones, which attracted a large new audience to the already popular monster-hunting series, Nintendo now comes with Pokémon Let's Go.

Switch's unique, unique adventure reinvents the first episodes of the franchise in a way that simplifies some processes and builds a bridge between the guys who met the series (or came back to it) through GO Pokémon and the hardcore gang that never left to follow the main episodes in portable video games.

Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee bring the journey back to Kanto, the first ever Pokémon featured in Red, Blue, Yellow, and the remakes of FireRed and LeafGreen (and, of course, the amazing turnaround in Gold and Silver , where it is possible to go to Kanto after exploring Johto).

So the scope of play is less than in most episodes of Pokémon. We have here only the 151 little monsters of the first Pokédex, as well as their versions of Alola and also the novice Meltan and his evolution, Melmetal. The gyms are eight and there are a handful of side events, many familiar to those who played the first games or saw the beginning of the Pokémon anime.

The great differential of Let's Go is because of the way many processes have been simplified to provide a smoother gaming experience that makes it possible to explore more of the world, get to know the little monsters and their powers, and not slow down as much during the journey.

In this aspect, the biggest change is the capture system of Pokémon. It is no longer necessary to fight against them, to weaken and then to play the PokéBola to try to capture: it is only to begin the confrontation and to deal with a system similar to the mobile Pokémon GO, in which a circle appears in the target and the smaller it is in the hour to play the larger ball a chance to capture the creature.

Playing with the Switch connected to the TV or in tabletop mode you can also use Joy-Con motion sensors to mimic the movement of playing a PokéBola - a less accurate method than simply pressing the button when playing in portable mode .

Since we are talking about controls, Let's Go presents a confusing menu of options. The most traditional (and probably comfortable for more experienced players) option is in portable mode, with two Joy-Con coupled. With video in TV mode or tabletop it is only possible to control the game using only one of Joy-Con.

In case you take the left one without the Home button to go back to the Switch main menu while playing with the one on the right, you take the Share to capture images and videos of the game. With the Poké Ball Plus accessory you lose both Home and Share but gain a slightly more accurate motion sensor to flip Pokéballs - but the analog stick of the peripheral is not at all comfortable.

Finally, it is very strange that the game does not support Pro Controller, which could perfectly work the same way as the game in portable mode with two Joy-Con docked. Fortunately, it looks like details that can be fixed in the future through updates if Nintendo chooses something like that.

There's no such thing as a random franchise, as the Pokémon now appear on the screen and it's up to you to try to catch and flee from those who do not interest you (like the Zubat hordes infesting the caves). And it's no longer necessary to keep Pokémon in virtual boxes on computers around the world. They are all accessible at any time in your inventory, naturally encouraging you to test more monsters and combinations of teams.

The gaming experience flows better, but this has also resulted in an easier game. Whether it's with Pikachu or Eevee, mate defined based on the game edition you play, the mascot is very strong and easily defeats opponents coaches, including gym masters. Capturing Pokémon and participating in duels yields experience points for the entire team, further streamlining the creatures' evolution.

In time, fluency and ease do not mean simplicity. Let's Go introduces new ways to evolve the attributes of the little monsters and capture Shiny versions that will leave even the hardest hardcore after finishing the journey and see all the surprises that the games reserve.

The whole epic is even more enjoyable thanks to the charming graphics and music of Let's Go. Kanto's humble pixelated world comes to life with colorful 3D graphics in high definition, giving even more detail to this universe already explored by so many people. The classic trails return with the same whim, packing the journey well. Note that while Pikachu and Eevee have anime-style voices the other Pokémon preserve more primitive grunts, as we hear in portable games.

I confess I was a little frustrated with the much-hyped connection to Pokemon GO. The option is enabled much later in the journey, to c