Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! + Poké Ball Plus Pack

I gave this game 5 stars even though it is less complex and competitive than in previous games because I know that the intentions of this being played down was to ease in and introduce new players so I am basing the review as if I were to recommend it to a new player who might be interested in this.What I liked: Little details that I appreciated such as when Pikachu's tail would wiggle when it's close to an item and when shiny pokemon appear, their sprites on screen are shiny compared to the past when you would have to randomly encounter everything after chaining to find the shiny. Which also brings me to my next point. I love how the Pokemon roam free now. I hate random encounters in any game. I also love how you can fly and ride on certain Pokemon. I would love to see more Pokemon options to ride in the future. You can have any pokemon follow you and when the shiny ones follow you, they do appear on screen accordingly, which is a nice touch. I also like how you can take your Pokemon for a walk in the new pokeball that came with my bundle. I found it pretty neat that the center also lights up and vibrates when here I just expected it to vibrate. I also use the pokeball as my controller most of the time too. The mew that was in it was pretty neat also. I found it interesting how they incorporated the battle system and the Pokemon Go catch system. I feel grinding is less stale because of this, actually.What I thought was just okay: The pokemon level up insanely fast because of EXP share that you can't turn off (at least, last I checked). The feature isn't too bad because the incredibly fast leveling pace is matched by the gym leaders so you don't go in fighting Koga at level 50 when he's at level 30 something. This is balanced off and unless you grind a lot, usually your level matches the gym leader's. Also, catching Pokemon also gives you EXP which contributes to the faster leveling pace. I wouldn't say I hate this feature as it appears that the developers have taken this pace into consideration. Perhaps it's just something as silly as just getting used to it after playing the games for 20 years.TL;DR: I would recommend this to someone just starting out or someone who just wants to casually play a game and isn't in the mood to pick up a game where you know there's a part you dread doing so you procrastinate by picking up this game instead.

I will preface this review with the fact that I’ve played every single mainline Pokémon game in existence (along with a few spin-off titles), so I have a basis to start from with this review of Let’s Go!So I initially was a little weary about this purchase as I was told a few things prior to ordering, that were actually incorrect.I was told that: you can only catch certain Pokémon. (Kind of like Pokémon XD)This is false. You can catch all of the original Pokémon, I think the reason this may have been misconstrued is due to the fact that the Pokémon are now roaming about in the wild, visibly, instead of hiding in tall grass, unable to be seen. Honestly, I actually preferred this. I loved seeing the Pokémon roam around, as it makes the world feel more lively and that the Pokémon are part of the world, instead of hidden away in the tall grass. Although I do under stand people liking the randomness of the spawns, which is fine. I don’t mind that, I just enjoyed having the world feel more alive.I enjoyed the Pokémon Go style of catching Pokémon actually, which I didn’t think I would. The ball as a controller made it a blast, and playing with a friend (or if you wanna play with two controllers by yourself to grind for xp) makes it even more fun, plus you get more xp for having them help. However you don’t really battle the Pokémon (aside from the legendary Pokémon and snorlax), you level your Pokémon through catching alone, which can get grindy at points, but no more so than doing it through random battles as in the other main games. I’d argue you actually level up much faster via this way than battling, especially if you’re playing with a friend and get perfect throws.I loved pikachu, every interaction was so cute and reminiscent of Pokémon Yellow. I loved that you could get all the starters as you could in Yellow. The legendary battles were fun, although frustrating at times during the catching process.Overall, this game was a blast and it has gotten me super excited for Pokémon Sword and Shield, and I recommend it to anyone who’s a die-hard Pokémon fan, or even for children or others looking to get into the series.

...with some refreshing twists.This game brings back all my nostalgia from when i got PKMN Red, Blue, and eventually Yellow. Everything is rendered beautifully, and my partner pokemon, Pikachu, melts my heart every time i play with him.At first the lack of wild battles threw me for a loop, but i grew to enjoy just running in the field catching pokemon. Pokemon that i could actually see in the grass, so if i wanted to avoid battles, it became a weird game of bullet hell.If you want pokemon battles, all the trainers, Gym Leaders, Rocket Grunts and the Elite Four are still there waiting for you to challenge them. There's even a few Alola NPCs here and there. After beating the Elite Four, there's some post game content that will keep you hunting pokemon for a long time. 153 Master Trainer battles.The pokeball plus is a fun controller to use when playing, its got a button on Top (B), a joystick button (A) Motion controls (Shake for Y), the joystick, lights, and speakers. It's currently the only way to get Mew (151) in the game, but it was a fun purchase in the end. you can even take pokemon from Let's Go and take them for a walk. They will level up like crazy. DO NOT, however, buy the Pokeball Plus used. Buy it new so you are guaranteed to get Mew from it. You can only get Mew from the Pokeball Plus ONCE, after that, the ball is empty, no one can get a mew from that ball ever again.The simplified mechanics make the game easy to understand. No hold items, no abilities, no EVs/IVs (A concept i still struggle with) and just the gen 1 pokemon (plus Meltan and Melmetal for the people with Pokemon Go). All in all, this is a great game for anyone just starting out in pokemon. It's where the adventure started for a lot of us veteran players and a great start for new comers.