Pillow Talking’s Review of POKÉMON GO
Someday Productions LLC and Pillow Talking are pleased to present the following review of the game POKÉMON GO by Game Reviewer Nicholas Dunn
Pokémon Go
by Nicholas Dunn
We’d been hearing about Pokémon Go’s release months in advance but I don’t think even the experts could have predicted the hype that has come about as a result of this game. I usually am a console gamer and my first game ever was Pokémon Yellow; however, I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into this beautiful phone game concept – one which undoubtedly will open doors for more games like this in the future.
What I will say right off the bat is that the game satisfies in just the simple idea that you are catching Pokémon in your own neighborhood. Now in my experience, what also has been great is that for people who may be a bit shy or socially awkward, they’ve been coming out of their bubbles (or their moms’ basements) and getting out into the real world – and maybe even walking a couple thousand kilometers a day (that’s how much it takes to hatch an egg!). Now I’m sure when the hype dies down, fewer people will be playing but at the moment, it’s bringing the masses outside and with such wide diversity – you may see a grandparent playing with their grandchildren alongside a businessman or a group of young adults, all who are playing Pokémon Go and interacting with one another. It’s actually quite beautiful when you look at it from a sociological or communications point of view.
But there are some issues that I see. First, you’ll need to spend at least an hour a day on the game to feel as if you’re getting somewhere; the reward system with eggs, gym battles, and in collecting all the different types of Pokémon takes place only in short bursts which can be very grinding. This is unusual for a phone game – other mobile games allow you to feel like you are instantly progressing therefore you don’t often get bored. Another issue is that there are more water-type Pokémon than any other and that’s because the fire, ground, electric, psychic, and fighting types are rare to come by (excluding Eevee evolutions). This may be a problem for the future of the game when it comes to keeping users interested. Normal, poison, insect, and flying types are very common (but dragon types are and should be rare – after all, THEY ARE DRAGONS!). I also wish there was a better way to tell what your eggs will hatch into or at least be given the option to transfer eggs like you can with Pokémon, so that way you’re not always hatching Pidgeys, Eevees, and Rattata. Overall there are still a lot of little things that can be tweaked a bit but I’m happy to hear that the latest update will fix some of the issues.
What is great is that there are over 20 years of Pokémon content that this app can release every few months to keep trainers (users) interested. I personally loved everything up to the 4th generation, so that’s a great perk to me. The game also has a great feel to it and the mechanics are simple, but have enough complexity to keep die-hards happy. The game brings people together, is fun for all ages, and can be competitive to the point where people are creating mass groups just based upon what color team they choose (Mystic is blue, Instinct is yellow, and Valor is red). I do hope that they add a fourth option for players to be Team Rocket – it would give people a chance to be bad guys; and let’s be honest, there always are players who like to be chaotic.
No matter what, it doesn’t matter what team you’re on – just go out have fun, make friends, make rivals and for the love Lugia, if you see a Dragonite, please tell me right away because it is my all-time favorite Pokémon!
Nicholas Dunn
Some say he is a madman, others say he is a master of his craft, and his family thinks he is wasting his life away. Whatever your perspective, Nicholas Dunn is an experienced traveler within the gaming community. He dabbles in every style of gaming from FPS to platforms to those about which one might ask, “Why was this game even made?” He explores it all and now wishes to share his stories about gaming with the online community.
