The PokeBall Plus will hand Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee players Mew for free. That’s good news. Today, Nintendo also provided a bit more information on gameplay. Mew comes pre-installed on the PokeBall Plus accessory. News of the gift was provided during the Nintendo Direct E3 2018 presentation. PokeBall Plus works like a Joy-Con controller with the Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee games. Because it has motion control capability, when a wild Pokemon appears, users can “throw” the PokeBall Plus accessory. Obviously you won’t actually throw it. Just keep it in your hand and make the throw gesture. The accessory includes a pressable analog stick and button, so players can control the new games entirely if they want. Interested parties can pick up the accessory in a Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu or Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee bundle for $99.99 or the regional equivalent. PokeBall Plus will also work with Pokemon GO and will be sold seperatley from the games. Additional game information was unveiled via the Nintendo Treehouse Live presentation at E3 2018 in Los Angeles, where Game Director Junichi Masuda from GAME FREAK gave a demonstration of the game. Various gameplay elements were shown, including parts of Viridian Forest and Pewter City, and a familiar face to Pokémon fans—Brock! Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let’s Go, Eevee Additional game information was unveiled via the Nintendo Treehouse Live presentation at E3 2018 by game director Junichi Masuda. In a Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee demonstration, various gameplay elements were shown, including parts of Viridian Forest and Pewter City, and Brock. Integration with Pokemon GO comes through GO Park, which allows the player to progress further into the game by befriending Pokemon in Pokemon GO. This allows Pokemon originally discovered in the Kanto region to be transferred the Let’s Go games. These Pokemon will then need to be caught with a PokeBall. Players can use a variety of Candies to strengthen their Pokemon in a new training system. Later in the game, players will be able to send their Pokemon to Professor Oak to receive these Candies. The ability to trade and engage in single and double battles with other players online was reiterated. This includes local wireless communication. Trading and battling online will require an active Nintendo Switch Online membership, the paid service launching this September. Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee will release for Switch on November 16.<doc-sep>It’s not wrong to feel skeptical of Pokémon: Let’s Go. On the surface, the game is an upscaled version of Pokémon Go mashed up with the first-generation Pokémon games. The pitch is that this is Pokémon for budding Pokémon fans. So where does that leave us who play video games because of Pokémon, and have been doing so since the series launched more than 20 years ago? After trying out Let’s Go, Pikachu! during E3 2018, I have good news: It’s as fun as any other mainline Pokémon game. In fact, it may even be more so — if you’re open to the fact that this beautiful, charming little game is about the journey, not the destination. I spent my Let’s Go, Pikachu! demo walking through Viridian Forest, one of the most iconic areas in Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. The differences from that game are immediately clear, however: A Pikachu clung to my trainer avatar’s shoulder as I traveled around. So did a Charmander, which I had released from my Poké Ball to accompany Pikachu and me. I even got to interact with Charmander, whom you can bend down to chat with at any point. If there’s anything you need to know about me, it’s that I am in love with Charmander and everything Charmander-related. Needless to say, I nearly cried when my Charmander looked up at me and the game translated its cheers: It was happy to be walking with me. This is the kind of sweet touch that’s hardly found in the Pokémon games, although it’s a hallmark of the anime that’s based on them. That players can build close relationships with their Pokémon — something we haven’t seen in this capacity since Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver — seems to be ripped straight from the anime. It’s absolutely wonderful, and makes the Pokémon world seem that much livelier. The anime influence is major, both in the interactions with Pokémon as well as other humans. But equally influential is Pokémon Go, which the development team drew from for the wild Pokémon battles. That sounds like a turnoff, or at least it was for me. And it’s definitely not the most exciting thing to just swing a controller at the screen as a circle gets smaller, just as in Pokémon Go. But the battles at least look beautiful, and the game flashes the stats you need to know about each Pokémon at the start of them. That eliminates any need to repeatedly catch a Pokémon in the hopes that it’s the level you want it to be. It’s hard to say quite how challenging Let’s Go! will become outside of this obviously simplified battle system, though. I assume it won’t rise to the same kind of complex, strategic difficulty level as the handheld games, as even trainer battles seem to focus more on presentation than skill. (It’s fun to see a trainer command their Pokémon on a very detailed battlefield.) That really seems besides the point, though, and considering that we’ve played a game set in this region before, it’s nice to look at it from a different angle. It’s really, really, really nice. The whole thing is just ... pleasant. And sometimes, with Pokémon? That’s actually enough. I’m amped to just enjoy quality time with my buds on Nov. 16, when Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! launch.<doc-sep>
There wasn't much information about Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee during the Direct, but the post-show Treehouse Live saw producer Junichi Masuda offering more details about the game. Here's everything that was discussed during the Masuda segment during Nintendo's Treehouse Live. NEW DETAILS Your Rival's name is Trace, and he's kinder than the original Rival and is also easily scared. Your partner Pokémon (Pikachu or Eevee) will shake their tail when an item is nearby in the overworld. TRAINING AND RAISING Wild Pokémon may have a red or blue aura around them. Red means the Pokémon is larger than normal, blue means smaller. The size of a Pokémon affects the amount of experience gained. Catching Pokémon still gives experience, and quality of catch gives bonuses. CP works the same way as it does in Pokémon Go as an overall indicator of a Pokémon's stats. Catching Pokémon will give candy that trainers can use to strengthen stats. (Quick Candy will strengthen the Speed stat, for example.) ONLINE PLAY AND TRANSFER Players can go online in Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee to trade or battle. Online battles can be single or double. A matchmaking password is needed to play with a friend online. Transferring Pokémon from Go send them to the Go Park (which replaces the Safari Zone in Fuschia City). Then speak with a Pokemon and try and catch them again. When transferring from Go to Let's Go, they will be stronger and harder to re-capture. You can use as many Pokémon Go accounts to Let's Go. In exchange for transferring, The Pokémon Go game will get candy. Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee will release for Nintendo Switch on Nov. 16. So what do you think of the latest details for Let's Go? Which version of the game are you going to get? Let us know in the comments section below.