Pokémon Let's Go! - Pikachu and Eevee

[Pikachu315111]

A lot to comment on though I'll have to spread it over several days. For today I'll focus on the map. I quickly went over it and these are my findings:

NOTE: I'm not going to mention route layout changes unless they're significant.

1. Pallet Town maybe has a forest area next to it now?
2. Viridian City, right of the Pokemon Center there looks to be something that was an empty plot of land with flowers in previous games. It looks like a garden now.
3. Vermilion City keeps the FRLG change to its harbor having surfable areads to the left and right. The right are has the "T" platform where the infamous truck should be, though oddly it's not drawn on the map (and Mew has been drawn at the very top of the map). Also how is the SS Anne suppose to go anywhere now that Route 17 is no longer a bridge?
4. Route 13 now has a surfing area below where it connects to Route 12.
5. Route 17 is no longer the Cycling Road. It looks like a park now with patches of grass and benches throughout. It also has wind turbines. It still has some long paths but not one that completely goes the length of the route.
6. Fuchsia City has an interesting layout change. They moved the Mart so it's just above the Pokemon Center. The top right (or right area of the zoo) no longer has Pokemon displays but a small park area with benches.
7. Here's another odd thing. The Safari Zone has been replaced by the GO Park... yet in that area they still show off the Pokemon you generally caught in the Safari Zone. Assuming this map is showing you the general location you can catch Pokemon, does that mean you can still catch these Pokemon here even though the Safari Zone has been replaced? If so, how if the GO Park only suppose to have Pokemon you sent from GO?
8. They finally included Cinnabar Island's volcano! Question is, will it be made into an explorable area?
9. Route 23 looks to have removed the random boulders scattered throughout the upper half of it. Also the entrance to the Indigo Plateau has pillars in a form of a circle in front of it instead of a "maze" of statues.

I can't for the life of me make any sense of Blastoise's position on that map. Anyone got any ideas?

There are several questionable Pokemon positioning:

1. The Gen I Eeveelutions are right next to Pallet Town. Why wouldn't they put them around Celadon City, the place you not only originally got Eevee but also where you can buy the Evolution Stones?
2a. Why is Lapras is Fuchsia City? Sure, one is on display there, but you can't get it there. You get Lapras as a gift in Saffron City.
2b. On that same note, Mr. Mime is gotten via a trade on Route 2.
2c. AND Lickitung is a trade on Route 18.
3. Now you can catch a Ditto on Route 15... in Blue and Red. But in Yellow (which these games are a remake of) it's only in the Pokemon Mansion and Cerulean Cave.

No idea why Blastoise (as well as Venusaur and Ivysaur) aren't with Squirtle/Wartortle and Bulbasaur. Other out of place Pokemon is Electrode and Butterfree, and Persian's placement would only make sense if this was Gen II.

 

[Blitz]

Several things:

1) Jessie and James

Hide

2) This trailer

Notably showcases the player battling Zapdos and Moltres in their respective locations (Power Plant, and seemingly the Victory Road) rather than doing the Go catch sequence. Sorry Sevii Islands people ;(

 

[Worldie]

I was leaning more towards not buying this... until I saw the map. For some reason it makes me wants to play through Kanto again...

That tends to be the whole point of trailers and creating hype, to get people to buy the game :P

I'd really want to get PLGO myself for both nostalgia and who knows maybe it's even fun, but I always wall myself on the "do I really want to spend 60 bucks for this?" :(

 

[asshole]

Honestly, I don't think another Gen 1 remake is the way to go about this. Like I get they have all this neato new technology and wanna put Pokemon GO in the mix, but at the same time, why actually put these games as a new installment of the main series? It just seems like a moneygrab to me.

I might just be being cynical, but man, I agree with the people with a distaste for this. It just seems pointless.

 

[Worldie]

It just seems like a moneygrab to me.

I mean, it IS a money grab.

It's shown several times that its main purpose is to get people to buy something while wait for gen 8 as well as potentially hook up new players that mainly played GO only or have Switch as their first console.

Spoilers: game companies make games for money. Real world tends to work like that.

 

[asshole]

I mean, it IS a money grab.

It's shown several times that its main purpose is to get people to buy something while wait for gen 8 as well as potentially hook up new players that mainly played GO only or have Switch as their first console.

Spoilers: game companies make games for money. Real world tends to work like that.

Sure, but all cheekiness aside, why wouldn't they release something new and refreshing for old and new players alike? Sure, It gets people to be able to experience pokemon on their new system, but why not do it in a way that everyone can enjoy, and not doing it shamelessly for nothing but profit? Look, I get it, gaming companies need money. We all do. But when it comes down to it, does it mean that moneygrabbing is ok? I don't really think so. Just because it happens a lot doesnt mean we need to keep supporting it.

 

[Worldie]

The purpose behind using Yellow as foundation was stated quite well in the original Trailer, and honestly I can give them credit for that.

It's for encouraging people who started playing pokemon 20 years ago with gen 1 and now have kids to play it toghether.

 

[asshole]

The purpose behind using Yellow as foundation was stated quite well in the original Trailer, and honestly I can give them credit for that.

It's for encouraging people who started playing pokemon 20 years ago with gen 1 and now have kids to play it toghether.

Yeah, I know. Just sounds like an excuse to remake the game again. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
i do want a pikachu with a bowl cut tho. uwu

 

[Siggu]

So you now can give Pikachu and Eevee the same haircut as Ronaldo in the 2002 World Cup, huh?

Hide

I'm still on the fence on whether the new quality-of-life features (such as Wild Pokemon in the overworld and 'PC anywhere') are enough to make me buy this game, considering it's based on the one I've never completed (as I found the second half of Yellow vastly inferior to the first one)

 

[asshole]

I'm still on the fence on whether the new quality-of-life features (such as Wild Pokemon in the overworld and 'PC anywhere') are enough to make me buy this game, considering it's based on the one I've never completed (as I found the second half of Yellow vastly inferior to the first one)

Ok so I can agree with you on the PC anywhere aspect, but the overworld wild Pokemon aspect sounds like it could be cool, especially in future games. I’m excited to see the next installment of Pokemon (because I’m probably not going to buy this one) and see what new features and monsters they introduce. Hopefully some new visually appealing pokemon, like flygon is and toxapex isn’t, for example. Also uhh... wym the second half of yellow is inferior to the first?

 

[Pikachu315111]

Finally have time to fully develop my thoughts:

Misty:
There's three things I want to talk about with Misty. First her design. I like the clothes they put her in, they're an updated/higher detail version of her Yellow clothes which were made to more look like the anime's version of Misty. However, I couldn't help but notice that post they drew her in the stock art:

Like part of me gets what they're trying to show, Misty in an action ready pose. But the other part of me can't help but think this is a bit of a provocative pose (the way she's bending over brings to mind how in anime or game they would have the big breasted girl bend over to not only have her butt pointing out but also so you could clearly see her cleavage). I'm just questioning the pose a little bit, I sort of get what they were going for but still feel a bit uncomfortable when they put an underage girl in possible suggestive positions (especially one who wears a tank top and short shorts).

Moving away from that, how about Cerulean Gym's design? Once again, it too has an audience area on either side with people watching (though at least it makes a bit more sense here than in Brock's Gym; at least when there aren't battles there are people swimming and diving. BTW I'm hoping if Celadon City the audience is just girls and in Viridian Gym it's full of Team Rocket grunts, lol). Though the most notable change is that the pathway to Misty is similar to the path to Brock in Pewter City. The difference is, aside Cerulean City being a pool setting and Pewter rocky terrain, is that at the very beginning you have to battle one of the Gym Trainers (who are waiting on a diving board and dive down to battle when they spot you), but after that one you can take the same zig zag path to get around the other two Gym trainers like in Pewter Gym. Now this isn't much different from the original layout, but just strikes me odd how it's the same pathway design and I hope it's just something for these Gyms and not the others. But overall I like what they did with the divers, that's a cute idea and hopefully the other Gyms show that creativity.

Finally the last thing I want to discuss: Starmie using Scald. Well, on one hand it's nice to see that they're not limiting Moves to just Gen I (though have they confirmed Abilities yet?), but jeez Scald this early? Like in the original games Water Pulse off Starmie already hit hard enough at 60 Power (and the annoying chance to Confuse), but now it has Scald? Unless they're decreasing Scald's power to 60, I can think of three reasons for this difficulty spike: 1. It was done because of the co-op mode, 2. It was done because they buffed Pikachu (and I guess Eevee too) so it was more of an even match, and/or 3. Misty is going to give the TM for Scald because difficulty scaling, what's that? Also they now have the Gym Guide making sure you have at least one Pokemon with Type advantage.

Riding & Following Pokemon:
So while it's still up in the air if there are Poke Rides, what we've been seeing with the player riding an Onix, Charizard, Lapras, and now Arcanine is that if the extra Pokemon you have following you is large enough you'll ride it instead of it following you. I really like this, of course if your Pokemon was big enough you'd ride on it. Though this does bring up some questions: are flying ones like Charizard only allowed to fly over land or can they fly over water? Are Pokemon you ride in the water unable to be taken out on land (like you can only take Lapras out in water)? Also, what does this mean for Poke Rides and field obstacles (if there's no Poke Rides will they bring back HMs? Could it be they won't have field obstacles?)? Well, for now let's see what Gen I Pokemon could potentially be rideable:

Venusaur & Blastoise (It's kind of unfair for only Charizard to be rideable. Now I can see Blastoise being a water ride, though Venusaur I'm not so sure had enough room for the trainer without them sitting partially or directly on Venusaur's head)
Pidgeot (We all remember that famous scene in the anime: Ash riding his Pidgeot to defeat Fearow. It would be a shame not to be able to ride on Pidgeot)
Tentacruel (surfing)
Ponyta & Rapidash (Once again, the anime made riding on them look pretty cool...)
Dodrio (Suppose the same episode made Dodrio look fun to ride)
Dewgong (surfing)
Cloyster (surfing)?
Rhyhorn (& Rhydon?) (Now in Gen VI we've had Rhyhorn as a rideable Pokemon, so would they have it remain as one. If so, what about Rhydon? Rhyhorn makes sense as its a quadruped, but Rhydon is a biped. Though would be funny if Rhydon was made a rideable Pokemon while surfing)
Kangaskhan (Admit it, you also want to ride in its pouch)
Seaking (surfing)?
Tauros (It was a Poke Ride Pokemon)
Gyarados (question is over land or surfing? Could they possibly do both?)
Aerodactyl (flying)
Articuno, Zapdos, & Moltres (flying)
Dragonair & Dragonite (similar situation with Gyarados. Though with Dragonite they could do the same thing they did with Charizard)

Before moving on, they also showed a following Pokemon can find hidden items in the overworld. A cute idea but how does it work? Can only the following Pokemon find it or can the player go to that location themselves and find the item there. I'm assuming its a random thing that happens, though if that's the case this mechanic can either be very simple or have some complexity to it (like having a table of what Pokemon can find what items on what routes).

Starter Stuff:
More info on how they're making the Starters super special awesome sauce. In addition to clothing you can also give them a hair style... and I don't think any looked that good. The ones they showed off look pasted on instead of them having changed the model so the hair style naturally blended in.

I'm also concerned about the Pokemon Refresh-like mechanic in Let's GO: that it's only for Pikachu and Eevee. So far we've only seen them being interacted with mainly because they have the customization option. I hope that's not the case; I'm alright with Pikachu and Eevee being the only ones you can dress up (hey, if an opposing Ditto uses Transform on Pikachu/Eevee would it copy the clothes like it should or would the game default it to looking like a normal Pikachu/Eevee?), but we should be able to interact with all the Pokemon even if their animation is just carried over from Gen VII.

Pikachu and Eevee can be either gender AND they added a gender difference to Eevee where the female's tail's white and brown border is more heart-shaped similar to female Pikachu's tail end being heart-shaped. The gender difference thing is alright and curious if it's just for this game or something that'll now carry on. But it's them being either gender that has me wondering something: did they change Eevee's gender ratio (at least for the Starter one)? Because Eevee's gender ratio is 7 male: 1 female and if they don't change it than those who want heart tailed Eevee are going to spend a bit of time soft resetting. Actually, with them having the customization option for them, maybe they should let us choose what gender we want our Pikachu and Eevee to be so we can get a move on.

Finally I noticed an oddity in the English Trailer. When choosing your starter you're choosing off a table with three Poke Balls. Now looks like you automatically choose the middle which is revealed to be Pikachu/Eevee... but what are the other two? If one is Eevee/Pikachu that Trace then gets, then what's the third? One thought I'm having is, if Red & Blue are their own NPCs, that to replace the Starters they picked Oak set up a Pikachu and Eevee as choices for you and Trace. So in other words, the Starter that got passed over when Red & Blue picked their Starters has now gotten passed over AGAIN. Though still, what Starter is it? If you meet Red and Blue in the game, is there a mechanic where certain actions would change what Starter they have... and maybe they can finally have that additional Professor Oak battle where he uses the Starter that wasn't picked?

Run & Legendary Battle:
So Pokemon can run away like they do in GO so that looks like it'll be annoying.

Also it looks like for Legendary Pokemon you'll be battling them first. So would they work then like traditional battles where you weaken them and then throw Poke Balls or do you first need to defeat them before being given a chance to capture them the GO way? Could there be other Pokemon aside from Legendaries that'll have this mechanic, and if there is are they scripted encounters or can a wild Pokemon require you to defeat it in battle before attempting capture?

Multiple Pikachu: In the second Japanese trailer they show a scene where the player is running with multiple Pikachu and you can see more suddenly appear and start running with the player too. What's that about? It is a mini-game? A side quest of some sort? If you have the Eevee version would they be Eevee instead of Pikachu?

Jessie & James: AWESOME! It's funny to think how Ash has never really appeared in any of the games despite being the main character though Jessie & James have thanks to Yellow. And now that the engine is better I wonder if they'll have a Meowth with them on the overworld that talks. Also, Jessie's hair was never meant to be seen in 3D graphics, lol (remember, Jessie's hair is impossible to have in anything other than 2D drawing as, like with Mickey & Minnie Mouse's ears, it's always in the same default position no matter what angle you look at it. ~The More You Know~).

 

[Caramel Prisoner]

Also they now have the Gym Guide making sure you have at least one Pokemon with Type advantage.

Hang on, is that a thing for EVERY gym now? I thought it was bad enough that they forced you into that for Brock, but they do it for Misty too?

 

[Pikachu315111]

When can we customize Jynx's hairstyle? Need it so badly xD.

Honey, that's assuming that Jynx's hair isn't already...

FABULOUS!

- Another failed attempt to make Eevee look cute.

Eevee only wants to please you...

I bet Scald is the TM Misty gives out now, so we’ll get modern TMs at least.

Hmm, so if they're going off at least Gen VII's TM list then the possible TMs each Gym Leader can likely give are:

Brock: Smack Down, Sandstorm, Rock Tomb, Rock Polish, Stone Edge, Rock Slide
Misty: Rain Dance, Scald, Surf, & Waterfall
Lt. Surge: Thunderbolt, Thunder, Charge Beam, Volt Switch, Thunder Wave, Wild Charge
Erika: Solar Beam, Energy Ball, Grass Knot
Koga: Toxic, Venoshock, Sludge Wave, Sludge Bomb, Poison Jab
Sabrina: Psyshock, Calm Mind, Light Screen, Psychic, Reflect, Rest, Dream Eater, Trick Room
Blaine: Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Flame Charge, Overheat, Will-O-Wisp
Giovanni: Earthquake, Bulldoze

Yikes, even I'm having a hard time thinking up something that's fair. Main problem is that, if going by some form of level scaling, we reach a problem with Misty. Either she gives Scald or Rain Dance. Now to make a proper level scale you'd probably just have her give out Rain Dance since from there you could create an okay scale curve. Of course that kind of sucks you don't get an attacking Water TM and gotta wait till Surf. But if Misty gives out Scald than what about the other's? Charge Beam and even Volt Switch kind of don't measure up to Scald, neither does Grass Knot or Venoshock. Of course all have strong options to give out: Rock Slide, Scald, Thunderbolt, Energy Ball, Sludge Bomb, Psychic, Flamethrower, and Earthquake; but that just completely throws difficulty scaling out the window.

So either Misty gives out a disappointing TM, she gives out an OP TM making the next few Gym Leaders' TMs feel a bit underwhelming, or all Gym Leaders give out OP TMs.

They really need to scrap the current TM list and start from scratch, there's so many holdovers that it has made the list uneven.

I was leaning more towards not buying this... until I saw the map. For some reason it makes me wants to play through Kanto again...

That's HD nostalgia for ya. Sure you played through Kanto enough times you could make a map of the region from memory... but when you see the updated graphics or that beautifully drawn map it just makes you want to jump back into the region that you went through all those years ago, where the only responsibility you had was school and chores...

Sorry Sevii Islands people ;(

Huh, didn't think about Sevii Islands. GF, you're not going to take the word "remake" literally again, are you? Cause there's no reason not to include the Sevii Islands as a way to expand the post game, just cause it wasn't in the original Yellow doesn't mean you shouldn't include it. You added a "side quest" where you watch a Slowpoke do nothing for a cutscene, to me that screams "we have little additional content idea to add to the region itself so we have no reason not to include the Sevii Islands".

I'd really want to get PLGO myself for both nostalgia and who knows maybe it's even fun, but I always wall myself on the "do I really want to spend 60 bucks for this?" :(

I'm in the same boat as well. Would like to play it but my problem is I don't play GO and don't really have anyone to play co-op with. And with it seemingly having no connectivity with the main series I can't really justify it in my mind to get this. While I believe games can attract an audience from outside their target demographic, from how I see GO it's a game very much built for its target demographic to almost a point where if you don't play GO or have someone else to play with you should just wait till Gen VIII. Not I re-iterate, that's not necessarily a bad thing, though at the same time I wonder if GF should maybe be expecting lower sales then usual because of this.

Honestly, I don't think another Gen 1 remake is the way to go about this. Like I get they have all this neato new technology and wanna put Pokemon GO in the mix, but at the same time, why actually put these games as a new installment of the main series? It just seems like a moneygrab to me.

Saying these games were the next installment of the main series is their major mistake here, in my opinion. No, these are side games, at best can maybe become a parallel series to the main series.

Otherwise, I think they've been wanting to do a Gen I remake since jumping to 3D (just look at the pandering they did in Gen VI and especially Gen VII). However since we got the Gen I remakes already it would feel REALLY shallow to just do a re-remake even with all the new features added in since Gen III. Now personally I would have preferred if they did something completely new, like make a Kanto game taking place in the most recent point in the timeline thus having over 10 in-world years of changes to play around with (not to mention maybe have a more direct connection to Alola, making it sort of the transition game from the 3DS to the Switch). BUT if they insist on doing just a remake (lazy...) I would rather see them experiment with the idea even if it doesn't appeal to me but does give me a sneak peak of what I could expect from a Switch main series game (also tries bringing over people to the Pokemon series so it can continue existing, that's no bad either).

And a money grab? From a series that releases two versions of the same game with only slight differences? Surely you jest.

Hang on, is that a thing for EVERY gym now? I thought it was bad enough that they forced you into that for Brock, but they do it for Misty too?

I don't see why they wouldn't. Since originally the Gym Guide did only tell you the type match-ups, I guess this gives him a reason to be in the game. Though hopefully he only does it once and after that you can use any Pokemon you want (which is real easy since you can swap Pokemon in your PC any time you want now).

 

[Theorymon]

They really need to scrap the current TM list and start from scratch, there's so many holdovers that it has made the list uneven.

Probably not too relevant to this game (even though I'm gonna be one of those crazy people who plays competitive Let's Go), but I think a better solution for the future would be to just add some weaker TMs, so have more than 100 TMs. Have the weaker TMs for gym leaders to give out, while stuff like Scald is late game or post game.

 

[Worldie]

So either Misty gives out a disappointing TM, she gives out an OP TM making the next few Gym Leaders' TMs feel a bit underwhelming, or all Gym Leaders give out OP TMs.

Considering PLGO is a game mainly aimed at actual kids, I'd not be too surprised if it DOES give out OP TM in the story.

I don't think it's supposed to be a hard game at all, so having overpowered moves given out by Gym Leaders wouldn't be too big of a deal.

(+, remember in gen 1 Gym leaders actually boosted your team's stats tecnically :P )

 

[DrPumpkinz]

I'm not really sure what everyone is worried about. Sure, Misty might give Scald, but she's also using it on you. Getting strong TMs from Gym Leaders is balanced out by Gym Leaders using those same strong moves. With any luck, not only will the Gym Leaders have strong moves, but all trainers will have competant movesets (looking at you, Alola Elite Four).

 

[Kanburi]

Famitsu had another interview with Masuda.

Q　ポケモンLetGOのポケモンは2019発売予定新作へは連れて行けるのでしょうか？
「発売時期が異なるソフトから新しいソフトにポケモンを連れていけないことがあり、よくない思い出を作ってしまいました。そうならないように努力したい」

Question: Will the Pokemon in PLG be transferable to the new game in 2019?
Answer: There have been times in the past that Pokemon were unable to be transferred to new games because the games were sold at different times. However, we want to avoid this in the future.

Source

 

[Worldie]

That answer doesn't really answer the question though.

Well played I guess.

(Not that it particularly matters unless somehow pokemon in PLG have some XD-like unique tutors I suppose)

 

[Karxrida]

You know how you need a Water- or Grass-type to get into Brock's Gym?

Every Gym will have some requirement similar to that.

 

[Melons-N-Soda]

Ugh........

 

[Siggu]

You know how you need a Water- or Grass-type to get into Brock's Gym?

Every Gym will have some requirement similar to that.

If they do it right this could be a pretty nice idea. Especially if they include some kind of requirement that makes the gym harder than it would otherwise be - though I find it unlikely.

As long as there is no "use Eevee/Flareon/Growlithe/Arcanine/whatever-I-could-be-forgetting-of" requirement in any gym, I'm fine.

 

[OrangeGuru]

You know how you need a Water- or Grass-type to get into Brock's Gym?

Every Gym will have some requirement similar to that.

I don't have a Switch, so I won't be getting this game (and I probably wouldn't even if I had a Switch), but this is a little worrying. I hope the requirements are more along the lines of "be Level X or higher to enter" because if it forces you to have pokemon of a certain type that would be really disappointing. Considering Pokemon games have always been manageable in terms of difficulty, this hand-holding of sorts would really bother me as a player. And it could really limit teams and make them all appear similar, considering there aren't that many type-effective options against the early gyms. Like if I want to grab a ground-type after I take on Surge, I should be able to.

 

[Worldie]

I'll repeat same things I've said on Discord.

Yes, I do agree that this is possibly annoying for players like us. Or for speedrunners.

Then you should remind you are forgetting what this game is designed for.
This game is designed for
- Complete novices of the Pokemon Series, with the aim of hyping them into buying generation 8 games
- Very old players so they can kill time playing Pokemon with their kids

It looks pretty obvious that the game will have severe handholding everywhere. I don't quite see the problem with it.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

I'll repeat same things I've said on Discord.

Yes, I do agree that this is possibly annoying for players like us. Or for speedrunners.

Then you should remind you are forgetted what this game is designed for.
This game is designed for
- Complete novices of the Pokemon Series, with the aim of hyping them into buying generation 8 games
- Very old players so they can kill time playing Pokemon with their kids

It looks pretty obvious that the game will have severe handholding everywhere. I don't quite see the problem with it.

While obviously not ideal, it might make for some interesting routing decisions.

 

[OrangeGuru]

I'll repeat same things I've said on Discord.

Yes, I do agree that this is possibly annoying for players like us.

Then you should remind you are forgetted what this game is designed for.
This game is designed for
- Complete novices of the Pokemon Series, with the aim of hyping them into buying generation 8 games
- Very old players so they can kill time playing Pokemon with their kids

It looks pretty obvious that the game will have severe handholding everywhere. I don't quite see the problem with it.

The thing is, I want to like the game and I think there could have been a better way to compromise all around. I mean if you think about it, I (and probably many other experienced players out there) didn't need a game like this to get into pokemon games. I got through Pokemon Crystal fine enough on my own without needing this handholding stuff. The game still looks decent and looks like a nice attempt at integrating Pokemon GO and being the first Switch game