Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee – PET ME!

While Pokémon Let’s Go has been out for awhile, the experience of game play across generations is worthy of discussion.  I got Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee the week it was released. I can only speak to the experience as one with the Pokéball controller.  This controller, for me, was the selling point. In fact, I did not even own a switch until the game was released. I must say, I fully enjoy the game.  I mean, to be able to play as Ash, discovering Eevee was so satisfying and priceless. The environment takes you back to the initial Pokemon show and is representative of what you expect from the Pokémon universe and the Pokémon Go games.

As I walked around the space and truly felt the joy of connecting to the childhood desire to “catch em all.”  Honestly, that experience of “catching em all” would be the end of the experience for me, except that Nintendo has done a thing that I hadn’t even considered with this game.  While I fully enjoyed the opportunity to use the Pokéball to catch Pokémon, the opportunity to pet the Eevee was the highlight of the game for me.

Not only did my 12 year old daughter get engaged with the game, when I showed her classmates, they were equally enthralled with the chance to pet an Eevee on a large screen display. My daughters were utterly thrilled when I showed them how to use the Pokéball controller to pet the Eevee. To date, my daughters have over 100 hours logged in playing Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee on the switch.  While some parents may see this commitment to video games as a problem for their parents, I see this as an opportunity to connect with my daughters and their peer groups.

While the girls did not fully connect with the game, they did connect with the experience and they also talked about their experiences of catching Pokémon. As a mother, this provided the cross-generational opportunity that many gamers and researchers have talked about  in regard to Pokémon Go. Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee does a great job providing cross-generational play and connection. Pokémon has provided gamers a new opportunity to connect across generations.