The one thing that Game Freak and The Pokemon Company have been very clear about when it comes to next year’s Pokemon game, widely assumed to be a new generation, is that it will be more like the traditional handheld Pokemon games that fans have come to know and love, and less like Pokemon GO or its Switch brethren, Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! which are due out in November this year.
Speaking with Famitsu in an interview, Game Freak’s Junichu Masuda, who has directed multiple Pokemon games, including the upcoming Let’s Go games, has reiterated that the 2019 game will be a lot like handheld games. According to Nintendo Everything’s translation, Masuda said, “As for the 2019 title, we’re working with the idea that everyone will be playing on their own Switch. It’ll have the same kind of feeling as the previous games on handheld systems.”
Which is good to hear. He also hinted that Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! which, going by everything we know until now, lack any connectivity with any Pokemon game other than Pokemon GO, may be forward compatible. “There have been times where you couldn’t bring Pokemon over from previous titles – I imagine that created some bad memories. I want to try and change that, if I can,” he said.
Now, this at least makes sense- Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! mark the debut of a brand new Pokemon, presumably the first Gen 8 Pokemon- so it makes sense that they will have to have some kind of connectivity with future games. I can only hope that the connectivity is total and full, so that I can send forth my lovely Pikachu to join me on my journey through whatever new land Pokemon 2019 will take us to.
Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! launch on Nintendo Switch exclusively, on November 16 this year.
