Get up and Pokémon GO! An introduction and review for Nintendo's newest venture into the mobile market

With the recent release of the much anticipated mobile game, Pokémon GO, I decided to share some of my opinions on the game, as well as some information about the game itself in my own words. I've been following Pokémon GO news since its announcement, back in September, which has since garnered over 26 Million views. Since then, news has been scarce, with the secretive Niantic Labs staying mostly silent on development. If you've been following closely like me, it sure has been a rollercoaster since announcement to release!

"Hype Graph" all credits go to reddit user /u/Pudinx

What is Pokémon GO?

Pokémon GO is a Augmented-Reality location-based mobile game. It is a joint venture by Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, and Ex-Google Startup Niantic Labs. It was officially released just on July 6th to Australia, New Zealand, and the US on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It is a spin-off installment of the popular Pokémon franchise, and one of Nintendo's first ventures into the mobile market - following the debatable success of Miitomo. The concept is simple: the player travels around in the real world in search of virtual Pokémon using their smartphone's GPS. Along the way, the player can find Gyms to compete in and Pokéstops to collect resources, these will be placed in locations of interest around the world. The ultimate goal of any Pokémon game is, as its catchphrase states, to "Catch'em All!", collecting at least one of each species of Pokémon in order to complete the Pokédex, and this spin-off is no exception. There are also three teams, Team Mystic, Instinct and Valor, each with their own set of beliefs about Pokémon. Upon reaching level 5, the player must choose between the three teams and fight for their teams to capture as many Pokémon Gyms as possible.

Origin and development

So, how did this idea come about? Surely, it wasn't easy. Nintendo had previously only used its core IPs in its own consoles, and moving into the mobile market is a very risky move, especially with a franchise like Pokémon, which has one of the largest fanbases of any videogame franchise. 

The Joke

Pokémon GO originally started out as part of an annual April Fools joke from Google for 2014, going by the name of  "The Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge". The joke announcement garnered 17 Million views, and left many Pokémon fans to wonder whether or not a location-based Pokémon game would actually be feasible.

link

Niantic Labs, creator of Ingress

After looking at the feedback for "The Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge", and feeling comfortable working with Tatsuo Nomura, senior project manager of Niantic Labs, began to look into possible directions to take the idea. What they found was Niantic Labs' own IP, Ingress. Ingress was originally released back in 2013 in Beta, and had gained a small following and community. It is a game where players from two opposing teams must compete to capture portals and land in the real world using GPS. These portals were located at local landmarks and points of interest, and could also be 'hacked' for resources. This later became the basis upon which Pokémon GO would develop.

The late Satoru Iwata, CEO of Nintendo '02-'15

Former Nintendo CEO, the late Satoru Iwata, although strictly against core development in the mobile market, was the one to push Nintendo to explore the mobile market. He acknowledged that they were a viable means to promote Nintendo's core titles. Shortly before his passing, Iwata announced Nintendo's future plans for the mobile market.

yes, banana

All of this culminated in the inception of Pokémon GO. Pokémon GO uses the same location based mechanic of Ingress, as well as borrows from Ingress' already established database of user-contributed Landmarks and Point of Interest. It splits Ingress' portal functionality into two: Gyms, to capture and lead for your team; and Pokéstops, to gather resources. It also adds some new mechanics: Wild Pokémon, Incense, Gym Challenging etc. The Pokémon GO announcement speech was dedicated to the late Satoru Iwata. A closed beta was conducted in Japan, Australia and New Zealand starting Late March.

The GO Plus

The Pokémon GO Plus is Nintendo's hardware contribution to the game. It is an optional accessory that negates the need to take out your phone to play the game. It notifies you when you encounter a wild pokémon and allows you to try and capture it by pressing the LED button on the device.

Initial Launch and my review

Pokémon GO launched to a rocky start. Initially, the game was soft launched without a word on Android in certain locations and on the App Store in New Zealand on July 5th. This caused a frenzy on /r/pokemongo and users began to install the APK on android, and create New Zealand Apple IDs just to access the game. This unexpected flood quickly took the servers down before Niantic could even fully release the game worldwide. Even now, after the full release, Pokémon GO players worldwide are experiencing varying levels of glitches and server issues. This really speaks to the success of Pokémon GO, but also the lack of preparation on Niantic/Nintendo's side. My experience with the game has been pretty limited due to the constant ups and downs of the servers, especially with Pokemon Trainer Club accounts. 

My review

Gameplay was generally smooth. As a fan of the Pokémon franchise since a young age, I found the experience to be very enjoyable, a dream come true, even. The AR, though gimmicky, was a lot of fun to look at. Pokémon in the real world? Sign me up! The wild pokémon capture mechanic, thankfully, doesn't take long, so you won't be stopped in the middle of a street to battle a wild Rattata, pointing your camera at an ATM. You also have the ability to just turn off AR mode and battle in a virtual environment, which I found to be easier. In my area, I found an extreme lack of Pokéstops and Gyms, mostly because the recycled database used to generate these structures were from Ingress, a game that wasn't very popular in my community. When I did find the occasional Gym or Pokéstop, though, everything ran as it was supposed to. 

I found a lack of social features, however, that were originally advertised in the announcement. Things like trading, player to player battles and global/regional team chat would be very welcome in my opinion. There were also a few visual glitches and bugs, one significant bug causing the game to freeze during capture and throw the shiny new wild pokémon you found in a limbo. Nonetheless, overall, the gameplay experience was enjoyable, but could definitely be improved upon over time by squashing out remaining bugs and expanding on mechanics. 

the so-called "Pokémon Limbo"

I also love the UI and models. Though it doesn't quite stick with its source material, Pokémon GO's graphics fit with its intended audience and acknowledges the difference between console and mobile games. But I seriously hate that Gastly model. Ugh.

I'm so sorry

Items and IAPs are also handled really well. Nintendo has previously stated that the game would be in a "free-to-start" format, meaning that you may need IAPs to progress. I don't feel that's the case. The items you begin with, the items that are given to you as you progress, and resources from Pokéstops would definitely be enough to progress in my opinion. I say IAPs are handled really well because they do not give a really unfair advantage. The IAPs only include coins, a currency used to buy extra perks or items. Perks/Items that can be bought include no rare or otherwise OP items, i.e. Master Ball, Revive etc., items that are already dropped from Pokéstops, and inventory expanders (enough as it is) and XP doublers (Player levels don't contribute too much to the game). Additionally, you can earn coins by defending gyms, negating the need for the IAPs.

/u/ficklr

Overall, not considering the server issues that the game is experiencing, the game is worth trying out, especially seeing as it's free. 

So if you're a fan of Pokémon or just interested in the Augmented-Reality location-based game genre, try it out! Get up and GO!