Following the announcement ofPokemon Let’s Go PikachuandPokemon Let’s Go Eevee, Nintendo has been working to clarify some confusion. TheseLet’s Gogames are not part of the main series ofPokemonRPG games, which includePokemon XandY, andPokemon SunandMoon. Those follow-ups, which were announced duringE3 2018for the Nintendo Switch, are still in development and won’t be released until 2019.
ManyPokemonfans likely confused theLet’s Gotitles for the mainPokemonRPG series due to the abundance of leaks and rumors over the past month. Not to mention Nintendo’s somewhat frustrating ambiguity regarding its plans for the widerPokemonfranchise. The combination of Nintendo acknowledging that aPokemongame for Nintendo Switch would be released in 2018 along with leaks revealing theLet’s Gogames as far back as April easily ledPokemonfans to believe these were the RPGs they were waiting for. We now know this isn’t true.
For now, Game Freak continues to work on the next majorPokemonRPGfor the Nintendo Switch with a tentative release window of late 2019.
Here’s how Game Freak director Junichi Masuda described the connection betweenPokemon GO,Pokemon Let’s Go, and the upcoming iteration of the corePokemonRPG series:
“With the launch of Pokemon GO in 2016 and the global sensation that ensued, millions of new players were introduced to the world of Pokemon. For many people, Pokemon GO was their first experience with the Pokemon brand, so we have crafted these two new titles to be an accessible entry point to our core RPG series while giving our longtime fans a new way to play Pokemon.
Masuda’s insinuation with this quote is twofold. First, he claims that Nintendo doesn’t necessarily believePokemon GO’s success will drive mobile players into the mainPokemonseries, or vice versa.Pokemon Let’s Gois expected to bridge the two. Second, his comments also read like somewhat of a warning to traditionalPokemonfans, in thatPokemon Let’s Gomay not be what they’re looking for.
Nintendo’s upcoming E3 media events should help clarify the situation for morePokemonfans. With greater awareness of just what kind of games the Lets Go series will be, the easier fans will be able to distance them from the corePokemonRPG series.
Pokemon’s next generation of RPGs releases in late 2019 on the Nintendo Switch.
