Let Nintendo and The Pokémon Company Show Off Their Upcoming Pokémon

Nintendo has made sure to feature at least one Pokémon title at E3 in recent years. It’s one of the most popular franchises they’re involved with, one they co-own between The Pokémon Company, and both receive a good chunk of the profits. But they noticeably don’t make it a habit to announce many titles at E3, so as not to take attention from the comparatively smaller games they plan to show, because that’s how large the franchise is. This especially applies to the mainline games and remakes of them, released on a nearly annual basis at this point, though there are exceptions.

This was the purpose of the surprise Pokémon 2018 Video Game Press Conference held this week, which pulled back the curtain on three projects mere days before E3 2018’s start. There’s been an insane amount of excitement for the first mainline Pokémon game on Nintendo Switch since plans for it were confirmed on Nintendo’s E3 2017 Spotlight, excitement to the point that the product can’t possibly deliver. It was a nice little event, even though the biggest title wasn’t shown.

Pokémon Quest was the smallest announcement, an action RPG for Switch and smartphones developed by the always-reliable Game Freak, who also handles the mainline games. It takes place on Tumblecube Island, named such due to all the objects and Pokémon resembling cubes. The object (ha ha) of the game is to befriend Pokémon from the Red and Blue installments, and explore the island to find treasure with them. But there are battles with wild Pokémon along the way, fought by tapping the screen to keep the feral creatures back. Players can also cook and feed Pokémon to maintain friendships and befriend others.

This game surprisingly released for Switch shortly after the reveal, though the smartphone version will arrive later this month. It’s a free-to-start game, a free-to-play game named such by Nintendo to make consumers aware of its numerous in-game microtransactions. There are three Expedition packs available for a variety of prices, which include bonuses like batteries and cooking items, though they’re all sold together for $29.99. Stones that can be attached to Pokémon to make them stronger are also sold for a variety of prices, so it’s easy to see how they’ll make the money back here– if it takes off. We’ll know if it sold well if the companies involved send out a press release touting its success.

The biggest announcement was for Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! for Switch, titles Pokémon fans figured were the mainline games they were waiting for at first, but there are a few twists. Instead of being experiences entirely akin to mainline games like the recent Pokémon Sun and Moon titles and their Ultra successors, these games represent a fusion of elements from Pokémon Yellow and Pokémon GO, aimed towards newer Pokémon fans who enjoy the latter title. They’ll start players off with either Pikachu or Eevee depending on which version they purchase, and they’ll go on a mostly traditional Pokémon-style adventure. It will have only the 151 Pokémon from the first game, though some evolutions for them from newer games will be included.

But there are notable gameplay changes. For one, the games get rid of traditional battles with wild Pokémon, which are replaced with a system where players focus on throwing Poké Balls in attempts to catch them, Pokémon GO style. This is done by physically flicking the right Joy-Con, and a special Poké Ball-style variant is being made specifically for these games, sold separately for $50. Anyone playing in the Switch’s handheld mode has to flick the entire system to throw Poké Balls, which could look awkward.

The only traditional turn-based battles the games have are against other trainers, and there’s no option to turn off Joy-Con flicking. It’s definitely aimed more towards Pokémon GO players who want to give a mainline-style game a shot, especially given how Pokémon caught in this game can be transferred to that title.

Whether Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! will scratch the itch of those who’ve been fans of mainline Pokémon games for years will depend on the game’s structure, which we’ll get a better impression of in previews of soon. In fact, it would be a surprise if they weren’t given at least two demonstrations from Nintendo Treehouse staffers during E3 week. The games will release worldwide on November 16th, and if they’re successful, this could become a series of alternatives to the mainline titles.

Before too many crazier Pokémon fans thought the Let’s Go series would be the only new mainline games for a while, it was quickly confirmed that the next Generation of Pokémon games will be coming to Switch in the second half of 2019. (Of course, there are still insane reactions around despite this clarification.) It takes time to recreate so many Pokémon models for HD resolutions, which is why the above Let’s Go games will simply have the old 151 Pokémon. Don’t expect this to be shown until the Let’s Go titles have been on the market for at least a few months.

There’s a lot of Pokémon-related content coming in the near future. Though it’s customary to announce Pokémon games before E3, I’m still glad they got this out of the way, so it won’t overshadow Nintendo’s other announcements. Hopefully the Let’s Go games are adequate-enough experiences to hold fans off until the next Pokémon Generation arrives in late 2019, or we’ll never hear the end of it.