Pokemon is a massive part of Nintendo. It has been around since the days of the Gameboy and has jumped from various platforms as gaming has evolved. Now with the Nintendo Switch out on the market, people have been wondering how developer GameFreak will use that hardware to their advantage with the series.
At an event in Tokyo, Japan tonight, Nintendo revealed a bunch of new Pokemon games for Nintendo Switch. First, there was Pokemon Quest, a sort of appetizer for the main course which will come to smartphones and Nintendo Switch. Then we have Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! These games are more traditional Pokemon games based on the Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition from the 1990s. Both games feature very beautiful graphics and new systems made specifically for the Switch.
You can play in co-op, by yourself, and even connect it with the popular 2016 mobile game, Pokemon Go! It’s sort of unclear how it works at the moment but presumably, you can catch the critters with your phone and port them over to your Switch and vice versa while getting special benefits. You can get a taste of it in the trailer below.
On top of that, you have the Pokeball Plus device which you use to catch Pokemon in-game like a Joy-Con and even carry with you in real life, almost like you’re taking care of it as a pet. This appears to be an optional separate device so you won’t have to flashback to the days of letting your Tomagachi die. You’ll also be able to customize Pikachu and Eevee with different outfits if you chose to.
One other detail that came out of all of this was that a new entry in the core Pokemon RPG series is on the way in the second half of 2019. There’s no name or other details, it’s unclear how much of a difference there will be between it and the Let’s Go titles but we’ll likely find out more around this time next year.
The Pokemon: Let’s Go titles will release on Nintendo Switch on November 16th, 2018 along with the PokeBall Plus device. Pokemon Quest is out now on Switch for free with the mobile version coming at the end of June.
