Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee are Nintendo Switch remakes of the first generation of Pokemon games from 1996. Though the first generation of Pokemon has been remade already in the form of Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green, this was almost 17 years ago. This makes a revisit to Kanto, the regional playground from Generation 1, a great choice to appeal to the nostalgia of fans who are familiar with it. Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee developer Game Freak took this opportunity to change up many aspects of the normal Pokemon formula in a big way to appeal to a new, younger generation of fans.
Though Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee changed many features that fans of the mainline Pokemon games would have been familiar with, many of the new features were a warm welcome to the franchise. This helped bolster the success of Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee as it had sold a staggering 3 million copies the first week it came out, making it the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch game at the time since the console's release in 2017. All of this success coupled with the buzz around the 90s and 2000s nostalgia should hopefully lead to a Pokemon: Let's Go sequel.
What Pokemon: Let's Go Was A Success
The success of Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee may have been surprising at first, but has since proven that a return to the past is certainly profitable. The games helped propel the Nintendo Switch's massive sales, which alone should stand to reason that a sequel would hopefully be in the works. The Pokemon: Let's Go games introduced many tweaks to the formula, making it not only more appealing to newcomers, but a breath of fresh air for fans of the original games.
One major change is that instead of forced random encounters, players will see the available Pokemon roaming around in the overworld. This gives players more control to focus on what Pokemon they would like to encounter, as opposed to hoping for that rare Pokemon after many uncertain attempts. This new change also helps emphasize Pokemon height and weight as Pokemon who appear on the overworld will sometimes have a colored swirling aura which tells the player whether it's Tiny or Large. This affects how much experience a player's Pokemon team will receive when they catch it.
Catching Pokemon has also been reworked in the Pokemon: Let's Go series. Inspired by Pokemon GO, Pokemon: Let's Go implements motion controls allowing players to swing their Nintendo Switch Joy-Con or the Pokeball Plus motion controller to simulate throwing a Pokeball. Though not everyone was a fan of the motion controls, it goes to show that Game Freak is willing to experiment.
When a player encounters a wild Pokemon, they won't use their own Pokemon to battle and weaken them, but instead throw berries to help leverage a successful catch. Legendary Pokemon such as Mewtwo will need to be weakened with the player's Pokemon before they can attempt to catch them, making them feel like true boss-level Pokemon.
What Will Pokemon: Let's Go 2 Be Like?
With the major success of Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, fans can hope that a sequel will indeed come to fruition much like after Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green fans saw a return to Johto through Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver. This leads to speculation that if fans do see a Pokemon: Let's Go 2 it would make sense to be set in the Johto region featured in Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal. Since Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee were mentioned by Junichi Masuda as being more a remake of Pokemon Yellow than that of Pokemon Red or Blue, it stands to reason a Pokemon: Let's Go 2 would more likely be a remake in the spirit of Pokemon Crystal.
The mascots of Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee were of course Pikachu and Eevee, so the mascots for Pokemon: Let's Go 2 would likely continue the partner pokemon theme. The original box art of Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow featured starter Pokemon, while every mainline sequel since then has featured Legendary Pokemon. If Pokemon: Let's Go 2 follows this formula, the box art Pokemon could be Lugia and Ho-Oh, as they are usually paired together. If it is assumed that the sequels will be a spiritual remake of Pokemon Crystal, then perhaps it will follow the partner Pokemon theme.
Back in the day, when Pokemon Gold and Silver were about to release, fans weren't sure what Marill was when pictures of him surfaced. Fans dubbed him "Pikablu," as the next Pikachu-like mascot. Perhaps the sequels could be called Pokemon: Let's Go Pichu and Marill, if Game Freak decides to stick with featuring the main partner as they played a key role in the first Pokemon: Let's Go.
However, Pichu is a baby Pokemon and Marill's baby variation Azurill wasn't introduced until Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. Still, since the second generation introduced Pokemon breeding as an important mechanic, and as it wasn't included in Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, Game Freak could bring back breeding once again in Let's Go 2.
The Future of Pokemon: Let's Go
One of the wonderful things about Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee is it allows fans to go back to an era of Pokemon when it was a much simpler concept. On top of this, it refreshes an older generation of Pokemon onto the mainline Nintendo Switch Pokemon games as Pokemon caught in the Pokemon: Let's Go series are compatible to be traded forward. This lets the mainline games continue on the trajectory that they are on, while also giving older fans of the series a sense of nostalgia without missing out.
The Nintendo Switch could soon allow fans of the series to access Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh regions with the upcoming Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes, and Galar regions. The only other console to allow so many Pokemon regions in one would be the Nintendo 3DS. As fans of the Pokemon franchise are already getting remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl this year, it's possible Pokemon: Let's Go Johto could see a May 2022 reveal and later a November 2022 release. Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee were announced in May of 2018 and then released the following November, so it isn't impossible.
Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee are out now on the Nintendo Switch.