Friends turn into enemies
Two and a half years after the
release "Pokémon Go" finally gets coaching fights. Here's what
it's all about - and if it's worth the game app again.
Do you remember the weeks when crowds of smartphone users suddenly gathered in seemingly random places? After the tremendous hype in the summer of 2016, excitement about “Pokémon Go" has long since disappeared.
But although the game, which uses the location data of
the smartphone for the hunt for pocket monsters, has largely disappeared
from public perception, millions of people are still driving away their time
each day.
In recent months, the number of users even increased
continuously. According to Sensor Tower app analysts, the game hit its best
ever since November 2017 with $85 million in revenue, with new installations
doubling to nearly nine million downloads year-over-year.
In
total, "Pokémon Go" has been downloaded from the app stores over half
a billion times since its launch and has sold over $2 billion.
First cooperation, then competition
The development team of Niantic, which is currently also working
on a mobile "Harry Potter" game of similar orientation, supplies
"Pokémon Go" until today not only with fresh monsters. It also
regularly brings new ideas for employing the players in the app. For
example, this year, research tasks have been introduced, role-playing
collectible quests that reward rare Pokémon as a reward. And since the
summer, friendships can be made in the app, send virtual gifts and swap
monsters.
However, the comrades could soon be competitors, because
"Pokémon Go" finally gets the most requested by the community
feature: the coaching fights.
Fighting between the monster hunters is one of the highlights of
the classic "Pokémon" titles. And the rapid accumulation of
creatures of various characteristics and attacks in the smartphone variant
offers the best conditions for a variety of tactical arguments.
Fast and easy
"We've redesigned the combat system from scratch to make it
fast, fun and social," says Niantic developer Matt Slemon, explaining what
"Pokémon Go" players may experience with one of the next updates.
An important design decision was allegedly made only after
extensive internal testing: Per coach are sent in the mobile game only three
monsters in a fight. The traditional group of six players quickly got out
of the way, says Niantic programmer Rob Giusti, because "the players
constantly changed the Pokémon to counter the opponent, which dragged on terribly."
In
"Pokémon Go", coach fights now take less than three minutes:
constantly tapping on the screen causes a monster to attack incessantly and at
the same time fills the energy bar of a particularly strong attack (or actually
two attacks, because for each of its Pokémon the coach is allowed one more)
Unlock special attack). Which attack is triggered in the heat of the
moment depends on the situation and the enemy - it is a touch of tactics, which
is subtly enhanced by an energy shield, which can be triggered a few times
individually.
Do not annoy anyone
In addition to speed, the developers have written frustration on
the flags. Both players will be rewarded with resources and special items
for their participation. In addition, you can fight in three different
leagues. At the lowest, only Pokémon with a maximum of 1,500 competition
points will be sent into action, giving even casual players a chance to
win. The pros let their highly bred creatures compete in a master league
without any restrictions.
Because they are playfully rather unpretentious and devoid of
finesse, the coaching fights will have to draw their thrill from the social
interactions between players. So it's not surprising that Niantic is
trying to really bring the gamers together for the battles.
To start a fight, a QR code needs to be exchanged between
related players. Only those who have eagerly collected friends and sent
gifts may also compete against their contacts at the two highest levels of
friendship from a distance.
"Pokémon Go" remains even probably in last major innovation
of the year. The whole thing is so little complex that it should probably
appeal to the largest possible audience. What the most passionate fans
have hoped for is not the coaching fights.
