Pokémon Oh No?
Back in May when Pokemon Let’s Go was only an ambiguous reveal trailer, I was extremely excited for the game. It felt like a genuine shake-up of the formula, which is something I’ve been hoping for ever since Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. However, back in May, details on the game were scant. Since then, we’ve become inundated with more information, and now that the Let’s Go is relatively fleshed out, I’ve become far more skeptical about this title. In fact, Pokemon Let’s Go is starting to feel a whole lot more like Pokemon Oh No.
The conceit of Let’s Go from the start has been that this is a fresher take on the series that plays off the success of Pokemon Go to pull in people who have perhaps found a new affinity for the Pokemon series with the mobile game, but haven’t yet returned to the core series. That in of itself isn’t a particularly bad objective; but my objection is in how Game Freak is going about reaching those ends.
Unfortunately, the more I read about Let’s Go, the more that it appears as though the inherent gameplay depth associated with the core Pokemon games is being stripped away. Pokemon has always been a fantastic series due to the way in which it operates on many levels. You can play these games at their simplest; brute forcing your way through opposing trainers with a few favorite Pokemon. That is how I started out with Pokemon, and I had a great time using that playstyle. But, as I played more and became further interested in the series, I began to take advantage of the series’ other aspects; type advantages, items, and the like. Then, I went to the next level, utilizing different battle strategies, assigning moves, and training against wild Pokemon. Then, I got even deeper, experimenting with team synergies, EV training, and delving into the metagame.
While that might sound complicated, the ingenuity of Pokemon is that you can peel as back as many or as few of these layers as you’d like and still greatly enjoy your time with the game. The deep end of Pokemon is there for the most experienced players, but you don’t have to come anywhere near that if you don’t want to. And, if you do find yourself confused at any step, later Pokemon games have gotten incredibly generous with tutorials to the point where they nearly bend over backwards to ensure that everyone is up to speed. X/Y and beyond have even taken the liberty of offering various hidden mechanics such as EVs and friendship in easily understandable forms by way of Super Training and Pokemon Amie, respectively. Literally every aspect of modern Pokemon is broken down and explained to the player. In fact, it is never been easier to get into the series.
However, Let’s Go seems to be throwing all of that out the window in this entry, dumbing down and railroading nearly every aspect of Pokemon into a compromisingly casual take on the series. Now, I don’t look down on casual gaming by principle. There is undoubtedly room in the industry for casual gaming. But, when casual systems replace pre-existing gameplay depth, then we have an issue. Casual games should be built from the ground up with that style of play in mind. When executed upon correctly, a great casual game plays well to both markets; naturally, the casual, but also the hardcore. Think of Wii Sports Resort, one of the best casual games Nintendo has ever released. It plays well to every type of gamer because it is built on the principles of casual gaming. Simplicity, replayability, fun factor, accessibility, and so on. Wii Sports Resort isn’t a pared down version of a pre-existing idea.
When you try and take an already established, mechanically deep series like Pokemon, and retroactively strip out said depth, you alienate a portion of the already existing player base. Especially when said series already makes the effort to boost up and include newcomers. This is not an instance in which the game in question is objectively too complex to jump into; it makes every effort to keep everyone together. Stripping out wild Pokemon battles, simplifying EV and IV systems, requiring players to use super-effective Pokemon in gym battles, even locking out Kanto evolutions that originate in later generations, all in the name of intuitive design is actually, spoiler alert, poor design. If Game Freak truly is worried about accessibility, solve that problem creatively; don’t solve it by stripping out anything that could be considered complex. Think about it this way; you don’t need to cordon off the deep end of the pool to ensure people don’t drown; you just need to have a lifeguard on duty.
Taking an experience that people have already come to love and and cutting out the complexity is a cheap way to lower the barrier to entry, especially because it, in turn, that lowers the ceiling as a result. Pokemon Let’s Go just feels like a husk of what Pokemon has come to be. I have no issue with making the series more inclusive by adding Go mechanics; but not when they come at the expense of the traditional experience. Why couldn’t we have gotten a spin-off that remakes Kanto with the full suite of Pokemon features, with added tutorials and Go mechanics layered on top? The game could even feature a sort of “simple mode” which plays out as the game we have now. But, as it stands, Let’s Go just feels like a shift laterally for the series that simultaneously takes one step forward, and a few steps back. This game just feels like a missed opportunity. It appeals to one demographic, while stripping out the depth that over ten million players have been coming back for game after game. I am still willing to give the game a shot, but as of now I am supremely skeptical.
Hey Everyone,
I think I've FINALLY found the optimal way to post to Penguins With Capes! I've really started to enjoy the challenge of making video, and I've actually posted more over on YouTube than I have here on the blog. But, the unscripted videos that I've made (such as one in which I discussed the 4Chan Ultimate leak) just didn't live up to the level of commentary that I like. So, I've moved into video essays. Then, I figured that since I'm writing a script to read in the video anyway, I might as well cross post that here! Starting now, this will be the new format at Penguins With Capes. In addition to just posting the raw text as I have above, I'll also be linking to the video, should you prefer to listen instead of read. I'm still getting used to talking to the camera and reading a script, but I'm improving with each video! I hope you enjoy this new format. Thanks!
Abram
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