Pokémon Go Review

10/2/2016

By now most us who were even remotely interested in Pokémon Go have given it a try. It had a somewhat rocky launch, with login issues and slight Pokémon tracking bugs. For all its issues though, Niantic has done a decent job of making it work. What is Pokémon Go though?

Pokémon Go is a free to play mobile game, available on iOS and Android, that allows you to walk around and capture Pokémon ‘in the real world’ via the use of AR. It’s a simple concept, but it has a few features that make it a bit unique as far as mobile games go. The most defining feature is the need to actually go out and walk around. Certain types of Pokémon are limited to certain types of areas, which encourages walking and exploring in real life. As you explore, landmarks will be marked as Pokestops where you can restock on a random assortment of items such as potions and Pokeballs. These Pokestops recharge after a certain amount of time so that you can continually harvest materials if you desire.

In order to further emphasize the need to walk and get exercise, distance travelled is actually directly implemented into the way you can acquire some Pokémon as well. Capturing Pokémon is simple enough: you see it pop up in the game, you tap on it then you throw Pokeballs at it with a flick of your finger until you capture it (hoping it doesn’t run away). The way to evolve or level up Pokémon is directly related to how many Pokémon candies you own. Candies are acquired three ways: capturing Pokémon, hatching Pokémon from eggs or assigning a Pokémon as your ‘buddy’ which will drop a candy after a set amount of distance traveled. Eggs are really where walking comes into play. The Pokémon that can hatch from an egg are completely random, with higher rarity Pokémon having a better chance of appearing based on the distance you need to walk to hatch the egg. The thing is, eggs usually drop the highest amount of candy. I’ve seen upwards of 25 candies pop out of an egg with the hatched Pokémon. Couple that with walking around trying to find Pokémon to capture and you have an immediate exercise motivation. This is what I love most about this game.

I’ve had random conversations with other people hunting for Pokémon not just in America, but in Japan as well! It’s a pleasing phenomenon when you can openly enjoy yourself and share in these experiences with other people. I truly appreciate the effect the game has not only on physical activity, but also on social activity. This is the ultimate goal of the game, and I’d say it accomplishes it quite well. To help fuel this social aspect is the concept of choosing teams. You can choose to join Mystic, Valor or Instinct (Blue, Red or Yellow) to represent as you capture gyms. This has led to a sort of heavy camaraderie and rivalry on par with the type of interactions you’d expect from the Hogwarts Houses!

Anyone who’s played Pokémon knows that collecting isn’t the only aspect of the series, though. The other half is battling. This is where the game is sorely lacking. You can battle for controls of gyms. Control of a gym also nets you the opportunity to get Poke Coins, which are used to purchase items from the store (and thus nullifying the need to spend real money on said coins). Your Pokémon have levels, which will help determine who you can and can’t face against. The problem is that each Pokémon has two preset moves randomly assigned and never changeable. To top it off, the ‘combat’ consists of simply tapping the screen repeatedly to do your basic attack, tapping and holding to do a special attack (when you have the energy for it) and swiping to attempt to dodge attacks. I’ve noticed that the dodge has been largely inconsistent, so realistically you’re just mashing your screen with the occasional tap + hold for a special attack. There’s no strategy and thus the combat is extremely dull and insulting in comparison to the franchise roots. What’s worse is that it’s so easy to lose the gyms that nobody ever really keeps control of gyms for long. I feel like there should have been some kind of leeway time period where people could keep hold of their gyms before another team could come in and try and take it.

To help escalate the issues, preventing this game from being as amazing as it should be, is the problem with battery. Due to the game’s constant need to access GPS, it must remain open for it to function. This means that you can’t just open it and then put your phone in sleep mode if you want to just walk and hatch eggs. Turning on a battery saver option allows you to put your phone upside-down which effectively turns off the game’s display. Keep in mind your phone’s display is still on, but it’ll just be a black screen. This helps reduce battery usage a slight amount, but still expect to carry portable chargers.

To help alleviate this is the recently released Pokémon Go Plus accessory which allows you to do some basic functions such as ‘spinning’ Pokestops and throwing Pokeballs at Pokémon you pass by. There are some limitations, of course, but this at least allows you to run the app in sleep mode and thus lower battery usage by a lot. The downside is this accessory costs money for an otherwise free-to-play game.

When it really boils down to it, Pokémon Go sets out to inspire people to get out of their houses and move around by using one of the most beloved video game properties in the world and does so quite effectively. For people looking for that concept intertwined with the core principles of Pokémon as a whole you’ll be a bit disappointed. In defense of Niantic though, they have been updating the game with features as quickly as they’re able, with the promise of normal Pokémon battles to come soon.

As it stands, it’s an enjoyable experience that is one of the more unique mobile apps out there. I still enjoy it to this day (though less frequently than launch), and still aspire to catch ‘em all!

- Teepu

Verdict: GREAT

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