@RARMSTAR I think Mbun is right in that you probably won't have to catch a whole lot of Pokemon to beat the game, but if you do you'll be able to use the Candy Jar system or whatever.

Speaking of,

a tweet just came in that kinda shows off that system a little bit better. It looks like catching certain types of Pokemon will reward you certain candies to boost a specific stat (similar to how fighting certain Pokemon would reward you EVs in past games). They weren't kidding with how they made EV training much more simplified for this game, which I think makes sense for the casual fans coming in with this title.

Just preordered the Eevee/Pokeball Plus bundle on Amazon! So stoked to actually play this bad boy.

It's also confirmed that these main characters are not the characters from original games/the anime as evidenced by the "rival" character. Sad you don't have dick-head Blue/Gary in this one, but I guess it's to be expected.

Also, although it's been pointed out elsewhere on the interwebs, I love how they kept the original dumb dialogue from the NPC trainers. "Oops! Light-years isn't time... It measures distance!"

But man, this game is so slick. I seriously can't wait until it comes out!

Speaking of new information, this video compiled a list of infro from several internet sources: Eurogamer Source, IGN Source, A slightly less credible news source

Here's a rundown of all the new info:

• It's confirmed there will be wild Pikachu and Eevee that will be able to be evolved.
• The PC you can store Pokemon in is now mobile and part of your inventory, meaning you can now switch Pokemon on the go!
• Characters from the anime (i.e. Jessie and James) will be appearing. This makes sense considering this is based on Yellow.
• Turns out, EXP is earned by catching Pokemon and Trainer battles. Assuming you get the EXP share at the very start, then the catching EXP makes sense as it'll go to your whole party (and explains why those 2 Pokemon in the trailer, Pikachu and Bulbasaur, were both Lv. 18).
• Breeding will not be available in these games.
• It seems they are revamping stats in this game (i.e. IVs and EVs) to make them simpler.
• It is confirmed that when you send Pokemon to the Go Park, you have to capture it again in order to have it join your party, and the Go Park will be unlocked about half-way in the game. (also seems like Mbun is right in that it actually sends the Pokemon over and not just a copy)
• The 2019 game has been in development as long as the Let's Go games, and both were being developed simultaneously.
• According to Masuda, if these games sell well enough, it's possible the "core games" will have 2 series of games from now on (i.e. the Let's Go remakes and the more traditional new rpgs).
• The story and game of Let's Go will not really be all that different from Yellow.
• It doesn't sound like the 2019 game will be the "breath of the wild" reinvention of the series people are hoping for as Masuda expressed some serious concerns with open world gameplay (specifically that too much direction down that path will no longer make Pokemon so readily accessible to brand new players); but he wasn't 100% against the idea either.
• According to IGN: "When in handheld mode, you must use motion controls to aim the Poke Ball, but press a button to throw." (This kinda goes against the info that you have to do a throwing motion to catch Pokemon, but would be nice if true).
• While you can't send Pokemon to your Pokemon Go account, you can send gifts (such as that never before seen Pokemon in the trailer being that one exception). There are also other ways to connect between Let's Go and Go that haven't been revealed yet.

Edit: Might as well add things that Pokemon tells us to "wait for more information" on. This include 1) connectivity with the Pokemon Bank and the upcoming 2019 game; 2) Mega Evolutions and Z moves; 3) exactly how stats (including the simplified IVs and EVs, the connection with CP, and the transferring of Pokemon from Go to Let's Go) work; 4) other methods of connection between Go and Let's Go.

@mbun Huh, that is weird. It's also unfortunate. Although I'm down with the new catching system, even I'll find doing a throwing motion every time tiresome after a while. Then again, we don't know yet, but assuming leveling up is not based on catching Pokemon like Pokemon Go and instead some other method (so you don't have to catch every single Pokemon you come across), it might not be that big of a deal.

So GameXplain came out with an analysis video of the trailer yesterday that answers some questions.

Here are some of the biggest things from the video (for me at least):

• The layout of the overworld is almost identical to Red/Blue/Yellow, but stylistically, is much more akin to Fire Red/Leaf Green in most places (additionally, some places have been completely over-hauled like Cycling Road)
• Gyms will be returning (some were worried this would be gone, but it looks as though all 8 gyms from the original game will be present).
• Not only will all ~151 Pokemon be able to follow you around, but when bigger Pokemon are in your first slot, you can ride them, and it doesn't seem to be in select locations ala X & Y either, but any route where you'd have been able to ride your bike.
• Speaking of bikes, it doesn't look like the bike makes a reappearance in this game (at least you don't need it for bike road in this version) but this isn't 100% confirmed.
• Alolan forms of the 151 Pokemon will be making a return (although it remains to be seen if we'll see a return of Mega Evolutions).
• HM moves will not be returning for this game (although I presume the moves will still be present converted into TMs). However, there are still obstacles like trees you can cut suggesting there will be something else you'd use to get past them (like key items or something)
• Because @Mbun brought it up before, it seems all but confirmed there won't be unlimited Pokeballs as indicated by the counter at the bottom of the catch screen.
• The method of co-op featured so far is tied to player 1's Pokemon and items only, and there is nothing so far to suggest that player 2 can import/export their own save data (including Pokemon and items)

There a few other neat little things they go over, but these were the big things imo.

There are still several questions I have that are still unanswered, most of which that were also raised by GameXplain as well:

1. How do we level up our Pokemon? It doesn't appear as though you get any experience from battles as there doesn't seem to be any EXP bar? Will we level up similarly to Pokemon Go via candies and stardust? Or will it be something entirely different (such as Super Training in X and Y for example)? While grinding via wild battles is gone, it seems as though there is a way to raise your Pokemon's level at your own pace as evidenced by the level 18 Pikachu and level 18 Bulbasaur.
2. Also, as GameXplain points out, Pokemon seem to have a CP ala Pokemon Go while you are attempting to capture it. But when you battle trainers, it goes by levels and stats and not CP, so how does CP translate into normal Pokemon stats?
3. I think its been announced that you only import Pokemon into Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee from Pokemon Go and that you cannot export them back? But do you actually send the Pokemon over, or does it just send a copy to your Switch? Additionally, Pokemon transferred only appear in the Go Park, but are they stuck there or can you take them with you? I heard a rumor from bloodworth in the reaction stream that you'd have to capture it again after a certain point (like maybe you need a certain number of badges for certain pokemon or something) so that way you won't just dominate with OP Pokemon from the beginning, but idk if that's true or or not. Honestly, I hope the game just sends over a copy instead of your actual Pokemon from Go so that way you don't forever lose them in Go.
4. Finally, I know that online features are to be simplified, but will we still be able to connect to prior games to transfer Gen 1 Pokemon, connect to the Pokemon Bank at all, or connect with the game coming out in 2019?

@mbun Hey it's better than nothing. Glad we cleared that up, because there really was a lot of conflicting info (some sources said no online period, while another source said there was and to disregard the first statement as a mistranslation lol)

@namzor Just want to point out that this game is a full RPG based on Pokemon Yellow. I'm even willing to bet they expanded the story moments against Team Rocket and such to make it a little different from previous experiences, but if you've never played a Pokemon game before, I'm betting this will be a great place to start.

@world_rejector I'd argue that the trailer did a great job of selling this as its own full game with some Pokemon Go mechanics (and inter-connectivity thrown in) than just a Pokemon Go expansion. Also, to be fair, this was just the initial announcement. I bet we'll see more of this at E3 which should a LOT of remaining questions we all have at the moment.

@mbun Okay, you made a pretty good point about how tall grass is mostly avoidable and how darker tiles in caves would probably fix my ultimate gripes with forced random encounters (or any other location that you have to cross that has them, like in that underwater dungeon in X and Y)

"Oh I'm sorry, are those pesky POKEMON interrupting your POKEMON game?!" ngl I legit laughed out loud to this haha. Nice jab.

You made a good point about the price tag for the game. As for the Pokeball Plus, I was surprised when it said 3 hour battery life as well, but there's no way it can be that short while you use it in Poke-walker mode. Like, it's got to be in a power saver state or something if it's really only counting your steps and shouting "Pikachu" when you shake it. Also, I really hope this isn't the only title that utilizes this device. Like I seriously hope its compatible with future Pokemon games (and since how many buttons do you need to play main Pokemon titles anyway???). That said, I seriously wish this was a legit joycon that had all the buttons on it spread around it (and not just the one on top) but then again i have no idea if that would be super uncomfortable to use or not.

@mbun said in Pokémon Announcements: Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee / Quest / 2019 Game!:

@darkenraul1 said:

Gen 3 = Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/Fire Red/Leaf Green
AND Let's Go Pikachu/Let's Go Eevee

You're talking about remaking remakes, and that's not what Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee is. It is pitched as a remake of the Gen 1 game Yellow, not a remake of the Gen 3 games Fire Red / Leaf Green even if GameFreak ever decided to go down that terrible road of remaking remakes.

Okay, fair point. I think the basis for this idea is less of it being more similar to Fire Red and more of the release order since this just so happened to be a "Gen 1" remake right after a Gen 3 remake. We'll see who's right with the next remake to come out I guess, but I have a feeling that these games will be so popular they'll stick to the "Let's Go" brand name.

How is local co-op an issue

Because Nintendo is about to start selling online and pushing people to pay to use their online, so they need products to give incentive for people to buy into said paid online, and every game that could have online but lacks it is dropping the ball.

what if the kid has no internet and this was online co-op only?

I never said online only. I said it should have online. Nintendo needs to stop forcing local coop only. It's a crutch they've leaned on entirely too long, and they can't keep making the excuses when they're trying to sell people online now. If I see one more fucking Mario Party without online come out, I'm going to scream.

I think it should be both local AND online, but still, this is absolutely nothing to criticize at all.

If you yourself agree it should be both, then yes it absolutely is something to criticize.

I know you never said online only, but my point is that if we criticize this game for being local play only why don't we criticize all the games out there that are online only? Shit man, I prefer local only over online only, and idk about you, but I think you might be the only one bummed by this as I haven't seen anyone criticize local co-op play so much before (especially when its just optional).

As to my point as I think having both is best, that doesn't contradict the point I was making before that an optional feature that only serves to enhance the game is something not deserving of criticism. But this is a pretty pointless point to keep arguing over so I'm just going to drop it. I'm stoked for this, your not, hopefully they make this local and online in the future.

there is a design flaw in this system

The human system. People have had five Generations of Pokemon to learn about the existence of field effects of abilities. Lots of the games have NPCs that straight up tell you about them, so I'm going to blame the people who refuse to read these days and skip through all dialogue. I'm never going to blame a developer for a problem that stems from a user being unwilling to pay attention and learn.

Common man, there is so much pointless dialogue in Pokemon that of course people are going to drown out trivial stuff. Sure, repels are a solution and once they run out a pop-up comes up to ask if you want another, fine. But the problem is that this is the default. It's not whether there's a work around or not, its the basis of random encounters in the first place. They are annoyances that disrupt the flow of gameplay in any game and (in their archaic form) are never fun.

The games that did it smart use semi-random battles (i.e. creatures in the overworld you can either ignore or encounter, but you don't what it is until you engage)

During the latest RPG Limit Break, I tuned into the Dragon Quest VIII run for a bit, and the runner was turning around back and forth to forcibly respawn enemies in his field of view slightly far off to hunt for Metal Slimes to grind faster. It was super finicky and tedious, and this system is still yet better than what we're going to receive in Let's GO with our more top down view of the field.

Honestly, what we need is more like in Sun / Moon where the trees would shake and have Pokemon inside them, so you could hunt areas that would likely have the kind of Pokemon you're looking for, but you would also have the grass to grind it out for the general populace of the route in it. Could have things like logs, bushes, burrows, shallow caves and pools, etc. added to routes to make them feel more lived in and alive while also acting as many spawn points. If you wanted to go the extra mile, occasionally the Pokemon in these could peek out, so they're not all always visible on the field, but you could be walking and occasionally spot something you want really quickly before it hid itself again. Going forward we basically just need to get closer to Pokemon Snap without being stuck on a track for natural habitats to take shape.

Well you never have unlimited Pokeballs

Okay there are some cool ideas here. Personally, I'd still like any system that just does away with the idea of random encounters. Really it should be the opposite of the default, where you dose yourself with pheromones or something if you want to grind up or something (I've seen that in a few games). I do especially like the idea of going off the beaten track to find Pokemon, almost like you're hunting these guys down like in Monster Hunter or something.

We don't know that yet. Nothing during the trailer showed an amount of Pokeballs you have left or selecting a type of ball, so it is easy to assume in this new game you just throw balls from an unlimited supply until shown otherwise.

I mean, I guess, but no game (not even Pokemon Go) has unlimited balls. Odds are it'll be easy to stock up, but will definitely not be unlimited.

the website says you can catch them using button controls if you want

Actually did not know that. Cool. That helps with the handheld problem at least.

Yup, site says "Now you can use your Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Con to toss a Poké Ball at your target with one hand, either by pressing a button or flicking your wrist." (wanted to double check to make sure I was correct)

Are you getting this game, mbun? I know you seem very much against a lot of the ideas they're doing here, but are you gonna check it out to see if its as bad as you think it is, or will this be a hard pass for you? I'm gonna get this because I'm overly optimistic (and want that Pokeball Plus lol), but that $60 price tag is a tough pill to swallow from what we've seen so far imo.