I love Pokémon games, I have loved them since my first copy of Pokémon Yellow, and I even enjoyed my time playing Pokémon Go before it became a chore, then a few months later I stopped playing.

This meant I was getting sick of the throwing mechanic – so when Pokémon: Let’s Go announced it was how you’d be catching Pokémon, I can honestly say I was disappointed, but also a little intrigued.

Pokémon Let’s Go is a kind of remake of Pokémon Yellow. Yellow is famous for Pokémon Red / Blue but with the anime’s spin whereby your character picked up a Pikachu for turning up late, and the Pikachu follows you round rather than being contained in a Pokéball. Depending on which game you grabbed, in Pokémon Let’s Go you will have Eevee or Pikachu following you around the Kanto region.

Early on I must warn you it isn’t a remake of the games, so I wouldn’t recommend naming your characters Blue and Red, or it will get awkward early. The biggest change the game has is the previously mentioned catching mechanic. You see Pokémon in the wild and when you walk into them you move to a Pokémon Go catching screen. Doing this gives your party Pokémon experience so it winds up being an easy way to become overpowered, but more importantly, it doesn’t feel like anything is missing form the game by removing traditional battles for these Pokémon.

In fact, it swings the other way.

There are plentiful bounties of traditional battles thanks to trainer battles and having played so many hours of Let’s Go I wonder if too many battles is why I got bored of Sun and Moon. Strong Pokémon like legendaries you must beat in a battle before you go into the Pokémon Go catching screen, but it’s refreshing to have a different way to interact with the Pokémon world than the gameplay that hasn’t changed since Red and Blue.

Another notable feature is you get a touch more customisation with your character. Instead of male or female avatar, you can also change skin tone. It’s a minor change, but the array of minor changes added together add to a fresher feel for the game. Other small but significant changes include seeing Pokémon in the wild, so being able to avoid them, or go after them as you see fit, and being able to release another Pokémon to follow you while your partner (Pikachu or Eevee) sits on your hat.

The gimmickiest aspect of Pokémon Let’s Go must be the Pokéball Plus which you can use attached to your hand to give the feeling of catching Pokémon by doing a throwing action with Pokéball in hand. What was more surprising is thanks to the button on the front being a joystick, and a hidden button, you can play the whole game comfortably with the Pokéball Plus. I was comfortable lying on the couch playing the game on my TV with it for a controller.

It is a more expensive Edition, which I would struggle to justify when the game is still fantastic in handheld mode, but if you also play Pokémon Go you can use it for that, which makes justification easier. But if money isn’t an object then there is a lot of fun to be had playing the game with this quirky controller. The game’s not perfect, it still has its quirks and annoyances. Some Pokémon you let out of their balls will run in front of you, which meant I regularly accidentally spoke / patted Pikachu instead of talking to someone. Letting a Pokémon out lets you find items, so this got annoying until I realised my Pidgeotto flew behind me.

Also, when the game is docked you can’t use a controller. It forces you to use either the Pokéball Plus or a Joy-Con as an equivalent. This is kind of daft because if you prefer it controlling like it does in handheld mode but want to enjoy it on the big screen because it’s gorgeous, tough luck. This is an unforced error, but it is what it is.

Pokémon Let’s Go isn’t perfect, but it’s a damn refreshing take on a classic series. It mixes in streamlined mechanics to making catching Pokémon less of a chore and has plenty of battles, so you won’t be missing out on that classic Pokémon turn based battle system. I don’t know what I want from the next Pokémon game, but I hope it doesn’t make a hard return to the old mechanics if this game shows what can be achieved while remaining faithful.

The post Pokémon Let’s Go (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Nintendo opened its activities for the annual E3 2018 video game trade show with a bang – and a smash. Showing world-first footage of Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate.

Nintendo shared details about the latest entry in a series with sales of more than 40 million worldwide. A new game built for Nintendo Switch, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lets up to eight players square off in action-packed battles that are all about smashing beloved video game characters off the screen. Legendary game worlds and fighters collide in the ultimate showdown at E3 2018.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will include every single fighter ever featured in the series’ nearly two-decades run, making it one of the biggest crossover events in gaming history. Fans can enjoy returning favourites like Ice Climbers and Pokémon Trainer, as well as newly announced fighters like Ridley from the Metroid series and Inkling from the Splatoon series. The game supports a variety of controller options, including Nintendo GameCube controllers (original or newly designed), Joy-Con, or the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. With Nintendo Switch, players can throw down whenever and wherever they like in handheld or tabletop mode while enjoying online play.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate combines many stages and new items with gameplay that makes it easy for players of all skill levels to jump in. All Super Smash Bros. series amiibo figures are compatible with the game, and any fighter’s amiibo figure from other series will also be supported. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is set to launch on the 7th of Decemeber 2018, exclusively for Nintendo Switch. It is being developed by Nintendo, Sora, Ltd., and BANDAI NAMCO Studios, and is directed by Masahiro Sakurai.

Nintendo also announced that Fortnite, the Battle Royale phenomenon from Epic Games, will be available for Nintendo Switch from 7:00am AEST today. Players can download it for free from Nintendo eShop, then test their mettle in thrilling crucibles of combat. The action never stops with Fortnite on Nintendo Switch, where players can build and battle together anytime, anywhere. Team up online with friends in the same room or around the world. Weekly updates and new gameplay modes will keep the action fresh for seasoned Fortnite players and newcomers alike.

At its E3 booth Nintendo gave attendees their first chance to play Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, two Pokémon games launching for Nintendo Switch on 16^th November. Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! are a new way to experience Pokémon that lets players adventure with their partner Pokémon in the vibrant Kanto region, discover fresh and exciting Pokémon encounters and Trainer battles, as well as share the adventure cooperatively with a friend anytime, anywhere on one Nintendo Switch console. Players can even transfer Kanto region Pokémon into the game from the Pokémon GO app. These games serve as an entry point to the Pokémon series for newcomers, but they also provide fun and engaging experiences for Pokémon fans of all ages. A new controller, called Poké Ball Plus, comes with Mythical Pokémon Mew and is sold separately from the games. Poké Ball Plus includes a pressable analogue stick and button, so players can control the new games entirely with the controller, if they want. Nintendo also announced two bundle versions of the games, in which players can purchase either Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! with one Poké Ball Plus.

Additional Upcoming Games Announced

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Expansion Pass owners also will gain access to Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country to be released on 14th September. In this new story mode, players uncover the full history of Jin and the fall of his homeland, Torna, which existed 500 years before the events of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. This new storyline will also be available as a stand-alone packaged version on 21st September 2018.

Super Mario Party: Inspired by classic Mario Party board game play, the beloved series is coming to Nintendo Switch with new mini-games and play styles that make use of the Joy-Con controllers. Super Mario Party includes features like character-exclusive Dice Blocks that add depth to players’ strategy. Up to four players take turns rolling the dice, and individually race across the board searching for Stars. In Toad’s Rec Room Mode, new gameplay links two Nintendo Switch consoles for side-by-side fun. The game launches on 5th October 2018.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses: A new episode of the Fire Emblem series comes to Nintendo Switch for the first time in autumn 2019. The player can manoeuvre the main character freely and interact with other characters to build relationships and gather information at various points within the game. This turn-based tactical RPG will put new strategic twists on battling, with formations of troops supporting individual units on the battlefield. Players will get to know three main characters – Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude – who play key roles in the story.

DAEMON X MACHINA: A new fast-paced mech action game from Kenichiro Tsukuda is coming to Nintendo Switch in 2019. Players take their fully customisable Arsenal powered suit on a variety of missions to thwart the enemy at all costs. They can choose and equip their Arsenal with a multitude of weapons, obtain more from downed enemies, and swap them on the fly to suit their strategy in the face of ever-changing threats.

Overcooked! 2: The kitchen mayhem returns in this sequel from Team17 and Ghost Town Games that’s brimming with even more recipes, characters, kitchens and co-op madness. Bake, barbecue or broil with up to three other players in wireless local and online play modes. Save the world from clumsy cooking when the frantic food-juggler arrives on 7th August 2018.

Killer Queen Black: Redesigned from the ground up, the acclaimed arcade extravaganza that became a multiplayer phenomenon is coming to Nintendo Switch. Players can hop on a snail, hoard berries or wipe out the enemy’s queen to claim victory for their team in Liquid Bit and Bumblebear Games’ Killer Queen Black, when it launches first on Nintendo Switch later this year.

Hollow Knight: Venture through the beautifully hand-drawn, mysterious landscapes of a vast forgotten kingdom in Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight, an action-adventure filled with gripping combat and haunting secrets. Hollow Knight on Nintendo Switch also includes the new items, areas, characters and bosses from the currently released content packs – all available today.

Octopath Traveler: Players can take another early look at Square Enix’s upcoming fantasy epic when the Octopath Traveler Prologue Demo arrives on 14th June in Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch. Play the demo, then use the save data transfer feature to carry your choices into the main game, once purchased, where players can live the stories of each of the eight travellers and freely explore the world of Orsterra. Octopath Traveler is scheduled to launch on 13th July 2018.

More great games are coming in 2018, including EA Sports FIFA 19 from Electronic Arts, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate from Capcom, Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dark Souls: Remastered from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus from Bethesda Softworks, and Starlink: Battle for Atlas from Ubisoft, which includes characters and content from Nintendo’s Star Fox franchise that are exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version of the game.

The post NINTENDO SMASHES E3 WITH 2018 LINE-UP appeared first on Shane the Gamer.