Pokemon GO: Concept vs. Reality – How Does it Hold Up?

Pokemon Go concept

It may have come to your attention over the past week or so that a little game called Pokémon Go has taken the mobile gaming world by storm. It has swiftly become the biggest mobile game ever in terms of active players, and it’s showing no signs of stopping.

Last September, the game was announced via a very impressive teaser released via the official Pokémon YouTube channel, and since then Pokéfans of all ages have been eagerly awaiting its release.

Over the past two weeks, millions of players from all over world have been happily reliving their ‘90s nostalgia in their attempts to be the very best (like no-one ever was), but is Pokémon Go really all that special? And has it delivered on its initial promises?

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In order to answer this question, I refer you to the announcement video. In case you haven’t seen it, or if you just need your memory refreshing, here it is.

Now, you’d be naive to come away from watching this trailer and assume that everything you saw is exactly how the end product is going to look. It was a proof-of-concept video, designed to demonstrate how the game might play.

In its current form, Pokémon Go allows players to catch most of the 151 first generation of Pokémon, join one of the three teams and battle at gyms to take control of them and represent their team. The trailer shows off a plethora of features that we’re yet to see in the game, and I’m going to break down some of the concepts shown off in the trailer and give my two cents (or Pokédollars, heh).

 

Trading

Pokemon Go trading
In the announcement video we see players trading Pokémon – a feature that has been present in the main series games since the days of Red and Blue. Trading has always been a fundamental aspect of Pokémon, and it is important for two main reasons. Firstly, it encourages players to interact with each other which is one of the main appeals of Pokémon Go. Secondly, it enables Pokémon that have been caught by the players to become a bargaining tool of sorts, and it will be up to the players to decide what Pokémon is worth trading for what. If you’re trying to level up and evolve your Pidgeotto and your friend has 20 Pidgeys, it might be worth you trading some Pokémon that you don’t need in order to get those Pidgeys, and transfer them for candy. Simply put, it will allow the game to become much more interactive, which can only be a good thing.

 

Battling

Pokemon Go battling
Battling is already present in some form in the current game, albeit limited specifically to gym battles. In the trailer we see some very flashy battles between various Pokémon, and what appears to be double or even triple battles taking place between groups of players. Much like trading, battling is an intrinsic part of what makes Pokémon great to play with others, and it would be great to see the ability to challenge nearby trainers to battles without being tied down to fighting in gyms only. And who knows, maybe somewhere down the line we will see double battles.

 

Group Events

Pokemon Go group events
In the climax of the announcement trailer we see hundreds of players teaming up to take on Mewtwo. Pokémon has plenty of legendary creatures that seem too mythical and exclusive to simply show up randomly as you’re exploring, so it makes sense that they would save rare and exclusive Pokémon like Mew, Mewtwo and the legendary birds for special events. Teaming up for the chance to snag yourself a rare Pokémon absolutely plays to the strengths of the game, and I’m sure that we will see something along these lines show up in future updates.

 

Proximity Prompts

Pokemon Go YouTube
Source: YouTube

An interesting concept that is shown in the trailer is the idea that when a player is near a Pokémon, an arrow and distance from the player appears, essentially allowing for the player to seek out critters that may be hiding or in hard to reach spots. Technically the game already has a similar feature, displaying silhouettes of nearby ‘mon and showing one, two or three pawprints to determine how far away they are. I understand that it may be difficult to implement this feature in the same way as it was demonstrated in the trailer but this would be a really interesting way to liven up your Poké-hunting and add a little more variety to the overall experience.

READ MORE: Pokemon GO Review

 

“Throwing” Pokéballs

Pokemon go pokeballs

This is unlikely to happen and was probably just done to convey the idea of the app rather than a realistic future update. However, I wouldn’t put it past Niantic, or perhaps a third-party company, to produce some form of motion sensor in the form of a wristband or peripheral connected to the app, whereby the “throwing” motion of the player would throw a Pokéball in-game. Gimmicky? Sure. Would people buy it? You bet.

Niantic’s long-term plans for the game are unknown, but if they are to retain such a high player base for the future, things are going to have to be shaken up to keep trainers interested. And who knows, perhaps one day we’ll have a game that looks more like the initial trailer.

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