As usual, several video games of Japanese origin have just been approved for release in China. One of them is a title from the super-successful multimedia franchise Pokémon, which means that Chinese gamers will have the chance to try out one of these colorful titles in which they can catch monsters and make them fight each other. The game chosen is rather strange, as we’re talking about Let’s Go Eevee.
Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee is coming soon to China… And where is Let’s Go Pikachu?
Chinese Nintendo is a Twitter account that specializes in reporting all imports and approvals of Nintendo games and systems in China. It recently reported that some Nintendo Switch titles were approved for release in that country, but there was a rather strange choice that surprised all fans. Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee was approved, but not Let’s Go Pikachu.
As I’m sure you already know, the main video games in this franchise usually come paired in two separate versions (e.g. Red & Blue, Ruby & Sapphire, Sword & Shield, etc.) and both are exactly the same, with minimal differences in the creatures you can find in each. And Let’s Go Pikachu & Let’s Go Eevee, originally released in 2018, are no exception. This perplexed all the fans who wondered: why Let’s Go Eevee was approved, but Let’s Go Pikachu was not, when they are basically the same game?
Some people speculate that it’s because of the similarity between Pikachu and Winnie The Pooh, since the Chinese government has banned images of the character due to people using him to mock their president, Xi Jinping. Of course, there are many other Pokémon titles that were approved for publication in China, and Pikachu appears in every one of them, but this one may be the exception for having the yellow rat on its cover.
This particular omission caused a reaction from Chinese fans of the franchise, who began posting images of the covers of the two games, only Let’s Go Eevee’s keeps its colors, while Let’s Go Pikachu’s is in black and white. This banner is usually accompanied by the hashtag #国行宝可梦只过审一半, which means “Only half of this Pokémon game was approved in China.” So it’s good to see that, despite the strange circumstances, fans in China are keeping their sense of humor and expressing it through this sarcastic meme on their social networks.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu hasn’t been approved yet and got stuck in the process, but that would be too unusual Wouldn’t it make more sense for both titles to be reviewed at the same time? At least Chinese players will be able to enjoy Let’s Go Eevee officially, more than 6 years after its original release. This is in addition to two other excellent video games that will now be available for purchase in China: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Samurai Shodown.
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