Pokemon Let's Go! Pikachu/Eevee Review

Gameplay:
Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eeevee are JRPG monster catching games (For the minority that may not be aware)... They are also remakes of the original set of games (Green/Red/Blue), albeit with different mechanics and minor changes to location layouts and such. Just as in the first iterations of these games, you start out as a small town boy (or girl now, if you wish to start singing Journey) and work your way up to becoming the champion of the Kanto region. The core difference in these games are the way Pokemon are caught and the way in which they level up, this is both a blessing and a flaw... To catch a Pokemon, you must now simply throw a ball at it and battles are nowhere to be seen. I was using the Pokeball Plus controller to do this which made the whole thing 'feel' a little more authentic and fun, however I soon longed for the days of battling these wild creatures to tame them enough that they may stay inside my little red and white balls. I can't help but feel that this mechanic was implemented to get the old Pokemon fans to try out the newer "Pokemon GO!" app and the the "GO!" fans to try the older style of gameplay and in trying to please both falls short on doing just that.
To elaborate on the bonuses of this new mechanic, you must watch carefully for each species nuance as they jump about or occasionally lash out in defense, then when the time is right you can throw a ball using either motion controls or (If playing in handheld mode) the left stick. You can also use berries to help calm the monster down or make it more inclined to stay inside your capsule. Also with this comes the chance to level up your entire party of Pokemon every time a creature is caught, with bonuses given to new Pokedex entries, how well timed and accurate your throw was, if the Pokeman was oddly sized (Big and small) and if it was caught on the first throw. This is a GOOD thing! It means that you can no longer over power just one of your critters and take it through the whole game, failing to experience the wonder of all the other Pokemon and their moves and animations along the way. Now, you must pick different types of Pokemon for each trainer battle you face, especially as the game goes on.
Unfortunately, this mechanic got old fast for me. The very battle system and in all of it's variety and colourful animations ends up having much less of a presence and there was nothing done to remedy this, when an easy fix would be an implementation of the recurring trainer battles (Originally added in 3rd Generation Pokemon games). I couldn't help but think how a system of both worlds could have been kept in the wild encounters, with something akin to being able to wear the critters down just like before, then being able to shake the controller to throw a ball at the end, with the former making it more likely to stay caught in your ball.
Obviously for those inclined, the new berry bait system could also be included, with players having the choice to opt to buy more powerful berries to get an easy catch early, should they choose to forego a move set battle. This would be likely to make things more one sided, with most players choosing to battle first to save their precious money earned, but could be balanced out if they added an experience loss (Something around 40 or 50% less party experience if the Pokemon was worn down, first). Not everyone would want to put in double the time to stay with the old mechanics, in fact it would probably end up with most of the old school players eventually wanting to explore more the berry bait and instant ball toss mechanic. As a player of the originals, I myself would certainly be swapping in and out of the two methods. You see, once all the trainers along a route have been beaten there is no way to have fun with the classic JRPG mechanics in those areas. You are forced to throw ball after ball, bait after bait and swing your hand in a motion akin to hammering at your door after your partner has locked you out for coming home too late and too intoxicated. I certainly enjoyed studying each movement of new species for a while but it got old when it was the ONLY way to catch Pokemon and especially when it created a new irritating micro-management system of having to send off duplicate species to Professor Oak every route (I like to keep a tidy inventory!). Of course, sending off those Pokemon does give a bonus of a candy type that will increase a Pokemon's stat but I largely ignored these because of the fact that it would ruin the new difficulty added by this new catching mechanic that I so liked. See, with a balance of the two mechanics, we could see players enjoying leveling up first and needing less candies as a later thought. Over all, though, it was still fun enough to run through the game at least once, but not sure if I would come back for more. The gameplay earns a decent enough 6.5/10.

Music: The musical score of this game is as good as it was back in '95 (Or perhaps created in 94, before or during development?) and let me tell you that for the time restraints allocated (Needing short but sweet musical loops) to the composer, they always feel exciting, refreshing and enjoyable (With a large chunk of nostalgia for those who spent hours on the original series). They really do bring a sense of wonder and atmosphere to the journey and there are very few tracks that I don't enjoy just listening to in the background whilst writing this very review. Key changes, time changes and sweet melodies included, even if you're not a musician you'll love the effort put into this soundtrack, now made even better with real instruments instead of 8-bit chip tune notes. The music easily gets a 10/10.

Presentation:
I feel that the way the game is represented visually is what the developers and some players imagined the original trio to look like in their heads, with vibrant colours, more detailed environments and Pokemon walking around bringing the place to life. Whether it is the red roof tiles on the houses, the beautiful blues of the ponds and oceans or the emerald green of the trees and their more verdant shadings, it is just fantastic. The game doesn't push the Nintendo Switch to it's absolute limits visually but it's definitely very charming and brings the game to life where the original games may have fallen a little short. The visuals receive a well deserved 9/10.

Extra:
As previously mentioned I was using the Pokeball Plus accessory. This is sold separately and not necessary to complete the game. The bonuses to it are obvious, though, with the ability to transfer Pokemon from your GO! account to the game and get goodies in the GO app from doing so. The other fun little extra is hearing a Pokemon upon succesfully catching it as well as other little sound bites similar to how the Wii Remote worked. The down side for me was (first of all the minor gripe) that the sounds inside the ball would sometimes stop playing when they should and more worryingly, sometimes the ball would stop responding as it should, with the stick click to progress conversation not doing anything and with the cursor being uncontrollable during "Play with Pikachu" at times. I had to back out of the mode and sometimes go to the Switch Home Screen before the cursor would start working as intended again. I wasn't sure if this kind of motion control malfunction was also hindering my throws sometimes but it certainly felt like it. Luckily, I always had a decent amount of money and balls as I always play vigilantly, no matter how simple the game but I could see this being more trouble for younger gamers if they don't play carefully they could end up with little money and too few pokeballs to level up enough to make it to the end. I wouldn't suggest getting this accessory if you are not intending to go for a full Pokedex or use it heavily with Pokemon GO and the new Sword and Shield titles.

Over all:
Let's Go! Certainly achieves in it's appeal to nostalgia and it's access to a younger audience that may not be used to JRPG mechanics, but uses this as somewhat of a crutch. There's certainly no reason to not at least give it a try if you're a more old school fan but don't expect to be returning as many times as you did to the first addictive trilogy. The fact the game runs well, still has a fun atmosphere, with it's visuals and music that is almost unmatched by any other monster catching title I can think of, makes it a title worth picking up. Over all the game gets a worthy 7.8/10.