This review was written in 2021 about the Nintendo Switch/Mobile title Pokemon Quest (which was released in 2018) and it is exclusive to this site and has never been published elsewhere in this or any other form.
Pokemon Quest (2018)
Developed by Game Freak, Pokemon Company
Available on Nintendo Switch and Mobile. Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.
I’ve been a firm believer of the mantra “gotta catch em all” since some point in 1999 when I first bought a copy of Pokemon Blue from Electronics Boutique on Dawson Street in Dublin. The store itself may be long gone but my appreciation of Pokemon – and specifically the original generation of 150 adorable pocket monsters – hasn’t left my side two decades hence.
Part of this is, of course, because the Nintendo Company have been so successful in being able to market their successful billion-dollar project globally from cradle upwards and you’ve never really managed to forget about its existence. In that vein, with the launch of mobile title Pokemon Go in 2016, a brand-new opportunity allowed Game Freak to take that even further and Pokemon fever hit us all, whether we’d previously been fans or not. Not bad for a company which originally offered IOUs to employees based on mediocre Japanese sales.
Pokemon Quest joins a long (long) line of Pokemon titles, but that number is significantly reduced when you consider this game is completely free to play. Originally launching on Nintendo Switch, and later mobile, it’s a rather basic exploration title across the Kanto region (the name given to the area from the original Generation 1) were the Pokemon look as if they’ve spent a little too much time in Minecraft. You play an unnamed (and unseen) Pokemon explorer who arrives on the island but decides not to leave your boat, instead trusting exploration to a Drone and befriending a ‘starter’ Pokemon after which you establish a base camp and explore the various regions in the island.
As you progress through the game, you’ll acquire attributes and points and, some naturally, level up. But perhaps the most unique part about this Pokemon title is that you won’t be collecting any Pokemon with Pokeballs. Instead, you’ll be intrusted with a cauldron and a recipe book which you can use to “boil a broth” and attract Pokemon to your base camp. There’s a very random quality to this because you’ll never know who might turn up, and specifically hoping that one Pokemon might join your team is risky business (I didn’t even see a Ghastly for 15+ hours). Additionally, the game is littered with “shiny” Pokemon and these are rarer, presenting Pokemon you may already have but in a slightly different variant – the joy of the collector!
With all free games there’s a very addictive quality to this title, and you’re encouraged to invest the time in repeating tasks and gathering supplies, hoping that the dinner you cook will attract the Pokemon you want and so on.
There’s also some great DLC, and considering there’s no cost to the game at the outset, the DLC itself is effectively a chance for you to say “yes, I enjoyed playing this, let’s make it work even more” and will help you gather more items per quest, level up faster and also give you up to three extra cauldrons – helping you to create quite the feast. Adding to this further, a random Pokemon will appear at your base camp every 22 hours, and ultimately help boost your numbers even further.
For me, one of the best bonuses about the DLC was being able to acquire a Snorlax and a Laprus; both of whom can be received with the furniture modelled in their image and who otherwise might not be so easy to come across. If only the same thing could be said about that Gengar balloon! Speaking of evolutions, however, cooking will only bring forth the original stages of each Pokemon and so evolutions (for all those looking to have a Charizard or even a Metapod) will only occur by levelling up. If you’re looking for all 151, then obtaining three Charmander’s is an absolute priority (not to mention any possible Shiny variants).
Because the title is limited to the original Generation One Pokemon, I found there was a great nostalgia about this game, and even though there are ‘only’ 151 to collect this can take some serious crunch time to achieve. Naturally, the inclusion of those rarer shiny Pokemon also means that you’re unlikely to be caught short anytime soon. Sadly, and possibly due to the lack of interest, there hasn’t been any real update provided to the title since it was launched – and Pokemon Quest remains the finished product it was on launch.
Having invested over five hours already into this game and purchased a mountain of DLC, I would thoroughly recommend, and hope that (despite the time since it’s release) the pandemic may have encouraged Game Freak to at least rethink an update. Given the 25th Anniversary of Pokemon in 2021 and the continued reinvestment in Pokemon Go since that platforms launch, Pokemon Quest might arguably be considered a failure; though it shouldn’t, as it’s fun and provides you with hours of entertainment doing something you love.
Pro’s: Officially licensed by Pokemon, free to play immediately and dedicated to the original Generation of Pokemon
Con’s: Can be tricky to master, takes a considerable investment to achieve master throw status (but worth it) and doesn’t incorporate any other generations or expansion.