Pokemon Go is Going, Going Good, Not Great

Hands-on with Pokemon Go was a good time, but it'll definitely need some work. 

9

Ever wanted to catch a Meowth while you're on the throne doing your business? True Life: I Caught Pokemon While Sitting On The Toilet.

Now that I've got your attention, I recently spent about a week or so with the Pokemon Go Field Test beta, and I've come back with part 1 of my thoughts. I didn't realize I'd have so many passionate opinions on the game when I first dove in, but as it turns out I've got a lot to say about it.

"After spending about a week with Pokemon Go, I'm convinced that's the truth. Despite some technical hang-ups (this is the field test, after all) and other curiosities, this is an extremely unique and beneficial way for Pokemon and Pokemon fans to interact with each other in a whole new space. And I'm confident with a little tweaking, it can be perfected to make a title that'll supplement the handheld titles nicely. But before I want to gush about the high points that made me excited to try the complete product when it finally rolls out, some discussion must be had about the lows, and unfortunately there are quite a few I'm concerned with."

Piquing your curiosity? You can head over to Modojo to read the rest, but I'll leave you with this little tidbit:

"By my house a Mark's Feed Store restaurant with a pig statue outside was given the name "Dirty South Oink," a pretty stupid name by all counts, with poor grammar and spelling in its description as if added by another player. We all know other players, especially those on mobile devices, shouldn't be the ones to decide what to name or how to describe these landmarks, so if that is the case I would hope there's a more official process in place to check and verify the names of landmarks and offer high-resolution photos instead of the terrible cell phone images some had attached to them, which really ruins the immersion factor."

Yeah, Dirty South Oink. Oh lord.

Senior Editor

Fueled by horror, rainbow-sugar-pixel-rushes, and video games, Brittany is a Senior Editor at Shacknews who thrives on surrealism and ultraviolence. Follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake and check out her portfolio for more. Like a fabulous shooter once said, get psyched!

From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 30, 2016 6:55 AM

    Brittany Vincent posted a new article, Pokemon Go is Going, Going Good, Not Great

    • reply
      June 30, 2016 7:22 AM

      Looking forward to part 2 with the mechanics. Still pretty interested in this, even though I didn't really get into ingress (mainly due to a lack of other players in the area). Curious to know if pokemon go will have the same reliance on others to make it playable.

      • reply
        June 30, 2016 7:28 AM

        Honestly, I can't really see how other people would make it more viable. I feel like most of the joy of the game comes from capturing your own Pokemon and challenging gyms for control. There actually isn't all that much interaction with others, unless you organize your teams online and make it a bigger deal than it is. I wish it did have more of that online/multiplayer component.

        • reply
          June 30, 2016 7:30 AM

          How do challenging gyms work? Does it still seem like it'd be ok with not many people playing? That reminds me that I wonder if there'll even BE a gym in my small town, ingress was really bad for that as well.

          • reply
            June 30, 2016 7:44 AM

            Churches, fire departments and other areas of congregation tended to be gyms in my area so you'll probably end up having somewhere to go, as long as you have one of those buildings. I'll cover the gyms in my next piece but basically you challenge others for supremacy at the gym that's already taken. You can leave a Pokemon to defend an empty one if you happen upon it.

    • reply
      June 30, 2016 10:11 AM

      omg, the gammar. That was harder to read than it should have been.

      "After spending about a week with Pokemon Go, I'm convinced that's the truth. Despite some technical hang-ups (this is the field test, after all) and other curiosities, this is an extremely unique and beneficial way for Pokemon and Pokemon fans to interact with each other in a whole new space. And I'm confident with a little tweaking, it can be perfected to make a title that'll supplement the handheld titles nicely. But before I want to gush about the high points that made me excited to try the complete product when it finally rolls out, some discussion must be had about the lows, and unfortunately there are quite a few I'm concerned with."

Hello, Meet Lola