Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! were shown only briefly during Nintendo’s E3 2018 presentation, but a dive into the gameplay directly afterward showed us just how deep Game Freak’s Nintendo Switch adventure will be. If you’re a fan of Pokémon Yellow or the animated series, you’re going to be very happy.

Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda sat down with Nintendo’s Bill Trinnen and Teresa Lillygren to show off a live demonstration of Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! that explored the Viridian Forest before making its way into nearby Pewter City. During this time, we got to see the game’s gorgeous environments, filled with Pokémon that roam around – you won’t be getting sucked into random battles this time around.

Once you’ve entered “battle” with a wild monster, you use the motion controls on your Joy-Con to catch them, and you can choose to use several different throwing motions instead of a simple overhead throw. If you’re playing with the Switch in handheld mode, you will still be able to use traditional button controls. Even though you won’t have your Pokémon out during this section of the game, they’ll still earn experience points, level up, and gain new moves. There will also be trading with other players via a four-digit “match code” in case they’ve tracked down one you haven’t found.

Before you choose to catch a particular monster, you’ll be able to tell if they’re larger or smaller than average based on an “aura” they give off. Depending on their size, they’ll glow either red or blue, so you won’t be forced to stop and cross your fingers that it’s worse capturing one.

With a strong party by your side, you’ll be able to go into the Kanto-region gyms you remember from the original games. We saw the Pewter City gym during the gameplay demonstration — with Brock looking just as he does in the animated series — and it’s filled with enormous boulders and even a viewing area for the locals to watch your battle.

If you have a friend nearby, they can shake a Joy-Con controller to enter battle with you. Against other trainers, these play out much like in the traditional role-playing games, with each attack having a limited number of uses, and Pokémon can also earn experience this way.

Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! both release for Switch on November 16. The Poké Ball Plus launches the same day and includes Mew pre-installed.

Related Posts

Your charging cable might get a workout if you try ‘Charchery’

The concept is as simple as it is destructive: you plug your charger into the phone to nock an arrow, and you physically yank it out to fire. It is undeniably clever, bizarre, and almost certainly a terrible idea for the longevity of your hardware.

Your Fable reboot preview is here, open world Albion looks gloriously chaotic

The hook is familiar, your choices matter, people notice, and consequences linger. The difference is scale. This is a fully open world take, with townsfolk on routines who respond to what you do, even when you think no one’s watching. It’s still chasing that mix of heroics, petty crime, and dry British humor, only with modern action RPG muscle.

Nintendo’s latest product wants to cheer you up with random quips

Nintendo first teased the Talking Flower during a Nintendo Direct showcase last September. The company has now shared more details about the product, and confirmed when it will officially go on sale. Based on the flowers in the Super Mario Bros. Wonder game, the Talking Flower is exactly what its name suggests: a potted flower that speaks around twice per hour, delivering lines like "Sometimes it's nice to space out" or "Bowser and his buds can't get us here, right?"