Genre: RPG
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo

Within the game's opening seconds, Eevee-- or Pikachu if one has bought that edition-- leaps from the background and leaves "paw prints" on the player's television. The child-like sense of magic and wonder is off the charts, and continually establishes itself as the release's modus operandi. The game's world is presented from a mostly -- other than during battles and cut-scenes-- fixed-perspective, three-quarters overhead view, with "Pokemon Go"-esque simplistic textures and pseudo cel-shared character designs. The game's various seaboard escapes, grassy knolls, and creepy caves convey a nice sense of atmosphere, even if the whole affair fails to push any technical boundaries.

It's been said that there are people who talk a great deal, without actually saying anything. Music in Nintendo's contemporary games is a bit like that: it has boisterous, booming instrumentation, pre-recorded from a full-set orchestra-- and yet, once the game is switched off, it's tough to recall what all of the bombast was even about! Other than the cool sounding horns in this title's remixed battle song, the soundtrack feels a bit flat and like a missed opportunity, especially when one reflects on the "Ys Book I & II"-characteristic Red Book-remixes of yore. The game does encouragingly rely on text prompts over voice overs, and the Gameboy creature sounds are also retained, creating a nice juxtaposition.

Designed originally as somewhat of a "my first RPG" for children and their Game Boys, the Pokemon games have always focused more on the "accessibility" end of the genre's spectrum. And yet, even a "bridge over the mobile players" series side-entry such as this has a sprawling-albeit-recycled world to explore, to go along with the usual battle-oriented collect-and-level-up mechanics, which are still as enjoyable as ever. There are some occasional pacing issues, with areas full of repetitive, trivially easy "trainer" battles, one after another-- and the game's waggle-based capture mechanic invokes the worst of the Wii dark ages, although it can be replaced with a simple button-press by playing in handheld mode.

Like fellow 80s and 90s sensations "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" or "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers", Nintendo's "Pokemon" series continues to live on, and for good reason: its core loop of battle-laden exploration married to collectathon-mania is irresistible. This particular iteration is very obviously a main-line side-show, and its low difficulty and mildly watered-down mechanics betray that fact-- and yet, unlike other series spin-offs such as "Pokemon Snap", Let's Go is a full, traditional-style release in its own right! What's more, it has one of the best "comfy couch", drop-in co-op implementations ever, lending itself to lovely parent-child play-togethers. Let's Go is far from perfect, and will undoubtedly get overshadowed by the next, hardcore "mainline" release-- but it still manages to be closer to a dinner than an hors d'oeuvres.