Pokèmon is the highest grossing entertainment franchise of all time, with a revenue of over $59.1 billion USD. Now with its resurgence from Pokèmon GO, it may be at the precipice of getting a second wind as an ever bigger worldwide entity at the dawn of an entirely new generation. Pokèmon: Let’s Go could be the product to assist the franchise in recapturing that lightning in a bottle, to enrapture old fans and new into the Pokèmon echo-chamber of television, merchandising, and games as it did to some of us 20 years ago. The only difference between then and now is an already established fan base of newcomers hungry for more Pokè-related content, and a wide audience of millennials clamoring to relive the nostalgic days of old once again.
Folks who have been long-stay fans of the Game Freak games anticipate this title as well, despite it being a spin-off game and not an 8th generation installment with new characters and Pokèmon. Pokèmon: Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee will introduce new mechanics and functions that will potentially carry over into the 8th generation game, which Game Freak says is expected next year. This means the game is well into development and speculatively has been built off of the Pokèmon: Let’s Go template in some form or fashion, making this spin-off a perfect preview of things to come. When games transition from a handheld to a home console, playstyle is something be of concern, but the versatile Nintendo Switch with its undocked mode and touchscreen capabilities makes the title even more intriguing for the avid Pokè gamer.
For newcomers, those new playing capabilities, alongside its Pokèmon GO cross-trading are the hook for consumers to purchase Pokèmon: Let’s Go. According to a Pokèmon Company International representative, “With the launch of Pokèmon GO in 2016, millions and millions of new fans and players took their first steps into or re-discovered the world of Pokèmon.” The rep continues, stating “Pokèmon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokèmon: Let’s Go, Eevee! have been designed with this new generation of fans in mind, to expand their Pokèmon experience with a first step into the Pokèmon RPG experience that so many gamers have come to love over the last 20 years. These games have been designed with kids, families, and the Pokèmon GO player in mind.” Even if some are newcomers to Pokèmon games, everyone knows of Pokèmon, whether they grew up watching the show or seen its massive merchandising presence, people are familiar with the franchise concept. This resurgence of the franchise due to GO is what the company is capitalizing on to garner new fans.
The Nintendo Switch is a console that already leans heavily on nostalgia and its iconic first-party franchises. A bulk of its current library consists of ports of older titles, new installments of its most famous titles like Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda, as well as remakes of classic titles enhanced with a contemporary spin. Pokèmon: Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee fall into the latter category, using Pokèmon Yellow, an enhanced version of Pokèmon Red/Blue, as its inspiration. Setting the game in Kanto leans further into the nostalgia by limiting the amount of Pokèmon in the game to its original 151. Even the Pokè Ball Plus, a Pokè ball-shaped Joy-Con peripheral Nintendo is pushing alongside the game, functions as a glorified Tamagotchi– raising the level of whatever Pokèmon you put inside when walking and interacting with it outside–factors into the nostalgic vibe of the title. These things garner the attention of the older audience who fell off when newer titles like Gold/Silver/Crystal were introduced without having to worry about new lore or a substantial amount of new things established over the years, like Electabuzz and Pikachu having a pre-evolution form.
Pokèmon: Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee also changes up its tradition of battling to gain experience points (also known as EXP), to now catching Pokèmon for EXP instead, leveling up your entire party in the process. You even capture Pokèmon the same way you would in GO, by flicking your screen or Joy-Con stick to precisely toss the Pokè Ball at the monster you desire. What always made this mechanic feel so hollow after spending an extended period of time playing GO, is that it made up the core of the title’s gameplay. In Let’s Go, the mechanic is balanced with traditional Pokèmon RPG elements that to this day Niantic has only scratched the surface with the newly implemented Raid Battle feature and its version of Gyms.
Character models, revamped motion-controlled catching, and the new level up mechanics echo the same ideas from Niantic’s breakthrough app Pokèmon GO. The app became a pop culture phenomenon in 2016, garnering new fans to the Pokèmon franchise in the process. Now, to fans’ delight, Pokèmon from the app can be transferred to the Switch title and vice versa. What makes Pokèmon: Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee so special and ultimately what makes Nintendo so genius is catering this title to its three fan bases: older fans who loved the games at its height of popularity in the ‘90s, longtime fans who have stuck with the franchise from the beginning till now, and new fans who never played a Pokèmon title outside of Pokèmon Go. What ties these three types of fans is the loving nostalgia of Pokèmon.
In the past several years, the entertainment industry has witnessed a surge of reboots and remakes. Across film, television and video games, media franchises like Star Wars, Dragon Ball, God of War and The Karate Kid have found new footing. One franchise, though, has broken the mold in terms of establishing global prominence. Whereas other titles have dipped in and out of popularity, Pokèmon has steadily retained its pop-culture relevance. Launched more than 20 years ago, nostalgia has played a key role in its unyielding success and the title's gaming-focused culture is longing for more. Now, Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! are exactly the next projects that will satisfy the title’s nostalgic die-hard fans but more importantly, garner new ones, helping Pokèmon spread its cultural dominance even wider.
The Pokèmon phenomena began in the late ‘90s with a breakout anime series, a trading card game that as of March 2014 has sold over 21.5 billion cards to 74 countries in 10 languages, and later a theatrical film that grossed $163.6 million USD worldwide and spawned over 17 feature-length movies. However, what started this sensation was the release of Nintendo Game Boy’s Pokèmon Red/Green by Game Freak in 1996. Released two years later in America as Pokèmon Red/Blue, the titles introduced an entire generation to video game role-playing mechanics and the age-old past time of collecting. Specifically for the die-hard fans, the game established the Kanto region — a part of the world the games have revisited more than any other setting featured in the Game Freak titles.
Longtime Pokèmon fans have been waiting for the franchise to make its transition to a Nintendo home console since its first game on the Game Boy. Many have anticipated a Game Freak Pokè title with enhanced graphics, gameplay, and new innovative ways to collect their favorite monsters in a way handheld systems like the Game Boy or the Nintendo DS couldn’t produce with its limited hardware. With the newly announced Pokèmon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee, we’re getting just that. The graphics build on the 3D graphics Pokèmon X/Y presented, making Let’s Go’s enhanced 3D graphics appear as less of a tease of things to come and more of an introduction to the future of the franchise. All of this is thanks to Nintendo’s new mobile home console the Switch, which combined its hardware and system exclusive titles with the mobility and exclusive games previously reserved for Game Boy and DS handhelds like Pokèmon.
Pokèmon: Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee sets players back in the nostalgic Kanto region from Red/Blue, but this time in a fully realized capacity from its monochrome days and even its colorful Game Boy Advance remakes FireRed and LeafGreen. The games will support cooperative multiplayer – a feature fans new and old have awaited for decades. If another player shakes a second Joy-Con, they will join the current player and will be able to partake in battles with Pokèmon trainers and wild Pokèmon encounters, allowing them to aid in the catching of wild Pokèmon.
In all games proceeding Pokémon: Let’s Go, wild Pokèmon are only encountered randomly in caves, tall grass, and the sea. However, the new 3D plane now allows Pokèmon to be seen instead of being randomly encountered after a few steps, another huge feature fans have been waiting for that was teased in GO. This allows players to encounter specific Pokèmon they may want to capture, instead of rolling the dice on every random encounter. We were able to game test a build that was available at this year’s E3. It allowed us to explore the Viridian Forest and actually seeing Pokèmon out and about was one of the highlights of our experience playing. It made the world feel inhabited compared to the original, which only had opponents and nonsensical NPCs (non-playable characters) making up Kanto’s population. Navigating the graphically enhanced forest and exploring first-hand how its design has been replicated to perfection from the original games was the cherry on top.
