Let’s Go, Eevee! retrospective review – still having a ball

We’re quickly coming up to the release of the Switch 2, so it’s time to take a look back at some of the iconic games Nintendo released in the last few years. That’s where this retrospective Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! review comes from.

Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee released in November 2018, marking nearly seven years since their debut. We can now compare them to several other Pokémon games on the Switch and see how they hold up. While the games are similar, I own the Eevee version, so we’ll focus on that.

These games serve as HD remakes of Pokémon Yellow, splitting the one title into two to match most other releases in the franchise. The charm of the GameBoy game is still there, though modernized to welcome another generation of gamers into the magic of Pokémon’s first generation.

Let’s Go, Eevee! brings you back to the region of Kanto – the OG, the first place we meet Ash, Charmander, and Magikarp among so many more iconic critters. You begin in Pallet Town, where Professor Oak tells you that you get a Pokémon of your own and that your journey starts here. Amazing! This is what we’ve all waited for. You then make your way through the world, starting encounters with wild Pokémon, catching them, battling other players, and working through your badge collection.

We all know the story. We all know what happens. What we’re looking at here is whether the game is good, whether it holds up, and whether it falls in line with other – let’s be honest – disappointing Pokémon releases on the Switch.

The positives of Let’s Go, Eevee! (and Pikachu) include the sheer nostalgia of the game. Not everyone has Pokémon Yellow knocking around, so it’s a great opportunity to return to a game from your childhood or discover it while still in your childhood, depending on how old you are.

My favorite thing was the buddy Pokémon. I wasn’t going to spend $50 on a game I’d already played, but what? I can have a Paras trotting alongside me? I can ride an Aerodactyl through the streets? OK, fine, take my money. To be fair, I had a great time with it and it might be one of the best Switch games, in my opinion.

The biggest positive, though, is that it works. It doesn’t stutter. There are no frame drops. It doesn’t have clipping or character models going haywire. I had a pretty rubbish time playing Pokémon Scarlet – outside of the cutscenes, there were so many issues with the graphics and how well the game worked. Or, didn’t work. Pokémon Legends: Arceus also had some crispy graphics, though did run a bit better. We never got solutions for this, and looking back at how well Let’s Go runs and how nice it looks compared to the later games is astonishing.

Another key difference to the later games is that you can play Let’s Go, Eevee! with someone else. How lovely. You can both throw balls at an unsuspecting Bellsprout! Plus, you don’t need a second controller as the game requires only one Joy-Con per person. This may be divisive, but I find it sort of endearing. It means you can lie on your side and play the game with one hand poking out of the duvet, and for a lazy girl such as myself, this is a win.

I do wonder what happened to the “Let’s Go” franchise, though. It’s been nearly seven years, and we still don’t have another remake. Or any DLC to expand the area, despite many people assuming it would come. Perhaps Let’s Go is just a game to bring Pokémon Go players to the Switch by giving an easier entry point with fewer mechanics. I would like to see another Let’s Go game, though, as it seems a waste to set up a new franchise and then leave it in the dust.

It is also a bit odd to me that you can get the Alolan variants of some Pokémon in Let’s Go. I mean, I guess it makes sense, as Alola and Kanto exist at the same time and people in the world do travel, but it signaled to me that there would be an expansion to the game and… there wasn’t. I also didn’t like Meltan and Melmetal’s designs and didn’t even try to catch them in the game via the convoluted Go integration method. I also skipped the overpriced, tiny Pokéball controller that came out around the same time. Even for Mew, I’m not spending an extra $40 on top of a $50 game.

Overall, I still recommend Let’s Go, Eevee! – and Pikachu if you prefer the electro-rodent. It’s a good and fun remake that’s faithful to the original, but with a refreshed soundtrack and a nice new style to match modern expectations. The full price tag may be a little high for what it is, but it is definitely worth your time if you enjoy Pokémon.

If you need a specific counter to a type as you come up against the elite four, we’ve got lists of the best ghost Pokémon, best electric Pokémon, and best fairy Pokémon that may help.