Pokemon Go – Review
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It was going to happen eventually.
Normally, as many regular readers may know, I scorn those who fall onto the bandwagon of whatever’s popular. From Call of Duty to awful film reboots and sequels, to overpriced food.
But this time, I have been sucked in by the hype and the promise of a rewarding 6-mile hike.
That reward being any one of 142 Pokémon currently available.
Pokémon Go has eclipsed hundreds of other popular apps on various stores over the last two weeks, with over 7 million people online a day, wandering around to catch what is essentially code suspended in your camera. And I love it.
It’s the most interactive, most fun app I’ve had for a while. It could almost be classed as a fitness app, the amount of walking you need to do in order to progress. But let’s go over the basics.
The game begins with you being introduced to the Professor. Not the one from the original; this one is, um, a bit more:
Hunky?
Anyway, he starts you off with some Pokeballs, and then three of the original Pokémon will appear. Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur. There is a cheat to get Pikachu but it’s finicky and annoying. So, you tap on your favourite then try and catch them by flicking Pokeballs at them. Once you catch them they are then yours! To look after and evolve at your discretion.
But it doesn’t stop there. Then you have to go out into the world, and whenever your phone vibrates, tap the Pokémon and catch that fool.
You’ll also see various icons and stuff on the map, and these mean different things.
These things are Pokestops. You have to be so close to them, then spin the image around, and collect whatever comes out, whether it’s Pokeballs, Potions, Revives, or Eggs. You will need these stops, as you’ll find yourself running out more than once.
Eggs are used in incubators to hatch more Pokémon. Potions and Revives are used for exactly what you’d think they were. When you hit level 5 you choose a team (#TeamInstinct) and are then able to take gyms for your team. Eggs hatch after you walk a certain distance; you’ll find that the 10km eggs yield better Pokémon, including Scyther, Magmar, and Snorlax. The 2km and 5km eggs are common to uncommon Pokémon.
It’s a tremendous amount of fun, just by yourself on a wander or with some of your friends. We all agree that Nintendo cashed in on the perfect age group, and nostalgia. But this is what we all wanted when playing with cards in Year 4. We wanted to hunt for creatures larger than life.
And this app gives us that.
But seriously, if I don’t get something decent from this next 5km egg, I’m deleting the app.
And #TeamInstinct all the way:
