Many Pokemon fans likely confused the Let’s Go titles for the main Pokemon RPG 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 wider Pokemon franchise. The combination of Nintendo acknowledging that a Pokemon game for Nintendo Switch would be released in 2018 along with leaks revealing the Let’s Go games as far back as April easily led Pokemon fans 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 major Pokemon RPG for the Nintendo Switch with a tentative release window of late 2019.
Here’s how Game Freak director Junichi Masuda described the connection between Pokemon GO, Pokemon Let’s Go, and the upcoming iteration of the core Pokemon RPG series:
Masuda’s insinuation with this quote is twofold. First, he claims that Nintendo doesn’t necessarily believe Pokemon GO’s success will drive mobile players into the main Pokemon series, or vice versa. Pokemon Let’s Go is expected to bridge the two. Second, his comments also read like somewhat of a warning to traditional Pokemon fans, in that Pokemon Let’s Go may not be what they’re looking for.
Nintendo’s upcoming E3 media events should help clarify the situation for more Pokemon fans. 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 core Pokemon RPG series.
Pokemon’s next generation of RPGs releases in late 2019 on the Nintendo Switch.
